I’m changing some things up with the blog and looking at a variety of new and old ideas in gaming. I’d like to spend part of today talking about some recurring tropes and ideas that crop up in fantasy storytelling and how they can be used (and abused) in an RPG to some sort of effect. Today’s volume is going to feature The Connections phenomenon. There are a variety of ways this idea can be used to great effect in a fantasy rpg. Let’s take a look at how that can work. Further, we’re going to spend the next few weeks examining other supporting elements that characters rely on in a typical role-playing game. As always, we hope these help you out with setting up your own adventures, campaigns and stories.
Plot Point 10 The Connections
This iteration of a plot trap involves the NPCs that tie a character to the rest of the setting. Close Friends, Family Members and other background characters that are part of a character’s backstory and help flesh out the world they come from. These are an interesting plot point because unlike most of the other things we’ve discussed (with the possible exception of the Patron), the players create these characters as part of their backstories. This means that the DM and player have to work a little more closely on story elements that contain these characters because the player created them, and when they go off the expected script the player may have had in mind for them, it can create a lot of friction. The other important thing i keep in mind with these elements is that if these background elements are constantly threatened, jailed, captured or otherwise put in harm’s way by the machinations of a DM, it can cause an awful lot of friction between player and GM. There is an entire generation of players who made orphan loners who are the last survivors of their homeland as a result of this happening one time too many.
Childhood Friend
Most characters have a friend/group of friends that they made as children, and not all of them end up taking up the life of an adventurer. There are just as many reasons for a character to take up the adventuring life as their are for characters to stay home and join society. Someone has to watch over the family business, or take over the farm, or become the next town mayor. These characters are often incredibly happy when their adventuring friends turn back up, but they know that eventually they are going to head back out on the road again at some point. These characters do a wonderful job of tying the world together for their adventuring friends.
Family
Family is a much heavier story component than childhood friends because the connections are much tighter. Most players who are going to create family ties are probably going to focus on their immediate family, so you’re looking at parents, siblings, maybe some close aunts and uncles, and possibly grandparents. The stories that you can tell with a character and their family is interesting, if the player is up for it. Players that write up extensive backgrounds with family trees are often looking for this kind of interaction, and players that don’t often aren’t. Take a look through the character’s backstory and see what level of interaction your player is looking for, and make sure you have conversations about their expectations while you’re laying plans.
Clans/Houses/Bloodlines
While some characters are focused on their immediate families, other characters focus on larger social groups or affiliations. Dwarves for example are often members of clans, which are larger groups of connected and related families. In Star Trek, Klingons aspire to join the ranks of the Great Houses and this is often an indicator of political power and military Strength. The Great Clans of Rokugan from Legend of the Five Rings are massive bodies of affiliated families and are stratified internally to provide a social structure that society revolves around. If your character is looking towards this kind of a backstory, you and your DM should sit down and figure out some of the particulars of your backstory and figure out what Clan/House/Bloodline your character is a part of and work together to tie your character into the background of the setting.
Why is this a Plot Trap?
This Plot Trap is a Plot Trap because the Connections should realistically be background notes and very rarely pulled into prominence. They are at their core enrichment material to enhance their background and tie them into the setting. If they become constantly entangled in the affairs of the characters by their enemies or a combination of other factors, they aren’t the background elements that the player probably envisioned when they originally put their character’s backstory together. Occasionally putting these elements into a dangerous situation can spur the players to action, but doing it with frequency is probably going to engender ill will from your players.
Key Elements of this plot device
- The Player: Not every player is going to put the effort into creating a backstory that features connections and other elements. If you are going to try and use this element with a player, gauge their level of interest before you start writing grand plans. Some players aren’t looking for this type of a role-playing experience and forcing them into it isn’t probably going to work out very well.
- The Frequency: If you’re planning on dragging a character’s connections into the line of fire, you should probably have a fire low frequency of doing so, and counterbalance it with good things that happen to them as well. If life is a never ending stream of your brother/father/sister/cousin/grandfather has encountered difficulty and you have to save them from it without anything good happening to them, the character (and their player) are likely going to get very tired of it.
- The Consequences: There’s a very real possibility that if you push the Connections hard enough/often enough, the character may walk away. If this happens and you don’t have an idea of what could happen to the Connections if the character doesn’t ride to the rescue, you’ve painted yourself into an interesting narrative corner. The other side of that coin would be what happens to the character as a consequence of their decisions. I would urge on the cautionary side of consequences, because the player has given you at least the hint of an idea that they aren’t happy with this direction in the first place.
Variations
There are a couple of variations on this theme that all work roughly the same way. Let’s take a closer look.
Switched at Birth
In this instance, the character is not actually a member of the family that raised them, (in more interesting cases, there is a similar idea of an adopted orphan which opens up mixed family groups). The character’s real family may be out there looking for them and this opens up some interesting family interactions depending on the character’s actual birth parents.
The Ex
Not every relationship works out, and especially in the case of adolescent relationships, some extremely hard feelings can come up as the result of a failed relationship. Exes often have an interesting ability to influence the lives of each other and an Ex that still lives in the character’s home town can create a lot of odd circumstances and situations when they return home for a visit.
The Rival
This is a version of the childhood friend. This character competed against the player character at some point during their childhood and this was a major influence on both of them. Whether the rivalry grew into a friendship or it blossomed into animosity is a matter of circumstances, but these characters have some interesting potential interactions with a player character.
Conclusions
Connections serve an important role in tying your player characters to the setting at large and are one of the many layers of detail you can use to increase immersion. Those town guards aren’t just generic town guards, they’re Fyodr and Ren, childhood friends of one of the characters who became town guards. The Wizard’s assistant is an apprentice who studied under the same teacher as a PC wizard and stayed home to eventually inherit the Wizard’s position after they pass. There are plots you can weave with these characters but they need to be used sparingly, lest they lose their flavor.
I hope this gives all of you some insights and ideas on incorporating this style of a Plot Element into your game without it becoming a burden to your fun. If you’d like to see more of these, or have a question about a specific plot element that you’d like to know more about, drop me a line on twitter, which you should be able to see over there on the right side of the screen. Game On,
Game Fans.
Almost. Like i said above, i’m going to give you a campaign seed for using a version of this plot trap in a hopefully not crazy way.
Arc Seed: The Lost Ones
This arc seed focuses on the village of Dankrek and sinister goings on around that village. The characters are natives of Dankrek who have been away from home and are returning for a harvest festival. As the characters are in the midst of returning, the village is attacked by persons unknown, and several members of the town are taken in the night. The Characters all have lost at least one of their connections to the raiders and they will have to work quickly to rescue their friends and family.
Part 1: Picking up the Trail
The characters return home during the early morning the day after the attack. The town has been damaged during the fighting, and several townsfolk (including the PC connections) are missing, presumed stolen by the raiders. The characters have several leads to follow and with quick thinking (and some good skill usage) can pick up the trail of the raiders. They head north, towards a group of sea caves. All indicators point to this being the base of the raiders who attacked the town.
Part 2: The Frozen Stars
The Sea Caves are a sprawling labyrinth of tunnels, caves and in some cases finished stone work. Characters investigating this area in depth discover an insidious cult operating out of the caves. They believe a being of great and terrible power is imprisoned deep beneath the waves at the bottom of the caves, and have been offering sacrifices to empower and awaken said creature. The characters will have to work with some speed to save their connections from being sacrificed to this insidious power.
Part 3: The Dweller in the Deep
The characters have successfully rescued their Connections, but a terrible danger has been revealed. The Ancient One trapped in the depths of the Sea Caves is awakening, and it’s slowly extending its power upward towards the surface world. Surviving members of its Cult are empowered by its awakening, and strange things are afoot in the region around Dankrek. The characters learn of a way to put the creature back to sleep, but they will have to enter the depths of the Sea Cave to put this threat back in its prison.
And that’s our 30 minute campaign seed. See you guys next time.
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