[DL] Random silly chart - Relations - LONG (really)

[Kirk Monsen <munchwolf@yahoo.com>]

A few people here have mentioned problems about giving
a starting group of players a reason for their
characters to be together.  Someone suggested that the
players need to spend some time and figure this out
themselves instead of leaving the burden to the GM. 
Well if your players are still stuck, here's a simple
little tool for your players to use to figure out how
they know each other.  Warning: I have not tested this
idea out yet, and this is only a general guideline. 
Hopefully some people here will get some use out of
it.

Relations:

How it works:  Each player draws a card, and using
these cards will link their characters together.  Aces
are high, jokers are ignored for now.  The player (A)
who draws the highest card goes first.  Any ties can
be settled by spades high, followed by hearts,
diamonds, clubs.  He then chooses another player (B)
who he wants to be related to and gives him his card. 
Player B selects which card will determine the nature
of their relation, and then players A and B work out
the nature of the relationship.  When they've decided,
player B then takes the unused card and selects
another player (C) who he wants to be related to and
gives him the card.  This continues until all players
have been linked together.  Note: you cannot select a
player who has already been selected, and the process
will end with the last person holding a card.  At the
Marshal's discretion that card can be discarded, or
linked back to the first player.

What the cards mean:

Family: Jack - Ace
These are people you are bound to through blood or
marriage.

Ace - Close direct family member.  This includes
brothers, sisters, and parents. 
King - Not so close direct family member.  This
includes cousins, aunts/uncles, grandparents or other
distant relatives.
Queen - Close indirect family members.  This includes
brother, sisters, or parents related through in-laws,
half relations, step relations or adoptions.
Jack - Not so close indirect family members.  This
includes distant relatives through in-law, half
relations, step relations, or adoptions.

Friend: 7-10
These are people you would trust your life with.

10 - Close childhood friend.  Someone you grew up with
and have known all your life.
9 - Not so close childhood friend. Someone you've
known for a long time (same home town?), but only
recently (past 3-5 years) have you really associated
with them.
8 - Close recent friend.  Someone you've recently met
(past 3-5 years) and clicked with instantly, becoming
good friends.
7 - Not so close recent friend.  Someone you've
recently met (past 3-5 years).  It took a while for
the two of you to warm up together, but now you would
trust them with your life.

Associate: 2-6
Associates are people you know, but might not fully
trust.

6 - Family friend.  Your families know each other, and
that is how you two met.
5 - Friend of a friend.  Both of you have the same
close mutual friend.  For a twist, both players could
have a mutual enemy.
4 - Reputation.  You both have known of each other for
a while.  This could be because you grew up in the
same hometown, or have shared occupations in the past.
3 - Survivors.  Both of you have gone through a
traumatic experience together.  Maybe one player saved
another's life.  Maybe both are outlaws who work
together.
2 - Just met.  You both have just met and don't really
know anything about the other person.

Wild: Joker.  If a player draws a joker, he places it
down in front of him, and draws another card.  When
they become linked to another player the joker is
discarded, and the link is given an unusual twist
determined by the players or Marshal.   

A joker could represent an unusual family relation. 
Some examples are: Twins, siblings separated at birth
only to recently be reunited, aunts/uncles younger
than their nephews/nieces, cousins who turn out to
really be siblings (or vice versa), etc…

It could also represent unusual friendships.  Some
examples are: Close friends who've drifted apart due
to betrayal, unfavorable associations (blackmail or
crime), ex-lovers, etc…


Example of how it works:

Alice, Bob, Chuck, Dave, and Ellen have a problem. 
Whenever they game together it mostly disintergrates
into party conflicts, backstabbings, general chaos. 
Frank the Marshal wants to put a stop to this and
tries this method.

Alice draws a 9 of clubs.  Bob draws a 3 of hearts. 
Chuck draws a joker and then a queen of spade.  Dave
draws a queen of diamonds.  Ellen draws a 7 of hearts.

Since Chuck drew the highest card (queen/spades) he
goes first.  He selects Alice, who chooses to use her
9 of clubs.  Since the joker is activated a twist is
applied to their results.  Working together they
decided that Alice's family was more well to do, and
Chuck was a child of one of her parent's servants.  He
despised her as a child, and she considered him
beneath her.  Tragedy struck when Alice's father died
in the war and Rail Barons destroyed the family
fortune.  Chuck now feels pity for her, and remains
her loyal servant despite her being a pauper.

It's Alice's turn next, and she selects Ellen.  Ellen
looks over her 7 and queen (originally chucks) and
decides to use the queen.  They decide after Alice's
father died her mother remarried.  Ellen is her step
sister.

Ellen then chooses Dave giving him her 7.  He also has
a queen and they decide that he is Ellen's step
brother, which means he is Alice's real brother.

Dave takes the 7 and gives it to Bob (the only player
left), who has a 3.  Bob is a bit anti-social and
decides to use the 3 (survivors).  Together they
decide that both Dave and Bob spent a small time
fighting in the war, but the horrors were enough to
cause them to flee the battle field together.

Now if you really want to tie up all loose ends Bob
and Chuck use the 7 to figure out how they are
connected.  When Dave and Bob fled the battlefield,
Bob had been wounded, and they needed a place to lie
low.  They were being hunted as deserters and couldn't
exactly go back home.  Dave also wanted to check in on
his sister's since he heard of trouble, but he
couldn't bring a wounded man with him.  It would be
suspicious and make it difficult to evade the law. 
Dave decided to leave Bob with Chuck.  Although Chuck
at first was reluctant, the two discovered they had a
lot in common.  Spending long nights talking about
their pasts the two have become really good friends.

So where does this leave the party?  Dave returns to
Chuck's with his two sisters and tells them of a
horrible story of how Rail Barons have stolen the
family land.  Also Dave was spotted by a local law
man, and is now wanted.  He declares he is moving out
west where it is 'safe'.  His two sisters agree to go
with, and Dave reluctantly accepts.  Bob is torn
between staying with Chuck, going with Dave, or trying
to survive on his own.  Chuck feeling he has an
obligation to Alice chooses to go along with, and Bob
realizing safty in numbers heads west with his new
friends.


Some things to note.  Using this system after a couple
of links are formed, some unexpected links will also
appear.  An example would be how Dave and Alice turned
out to be siblings even though no one had an Ace. 
Likewise the joker seemed to carry over to other
players.

Also, this is just a guideline to help create a
stronger bond between party members.  In the original
group without this system if Dave was killed by a
praire tick, the other players would probably say, "oh
well, roll up another character."  With this system
though his death would have more impact on the groups
dynamics.  Bob just lost his war buddy, and Alice and
Ellen lost their brother.

Final words: What do you do if you want to add new
players?  Simple, have the posse choose a card and
they get to select who the new player is linked to. 
The new player and the selected player then decide how
the link works, and why the new player is out there.

What do people think?

-Munch Wolf

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