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web_fiascoI love Fiasco (by Bully Pulpit Games – if you haven’t checked it out, you should. It’s basically the opposite of the OSR games I play, which is 100% part of why I love it).

I also (obviously) love D&D.

I’m starting a new 3.5 D&D game in two weeks. A chunk of the groundwork is set already, but characters aren’t finalized. So yesterday I sent out word to the players to not set their character ideas in stone.

I’m taking a bit of NeoClassical Geek Revival in allowing them to spend their skill points and assign their feats as the game progresses with the caveat that they must all be established before the characters reach level 2.

But more importantly, and more topically, why not bring in some Fiasco to our D&D campaign setup? Well, one reason really… I want the group to work together, not to create a fiasco.

So, I’ve started working (with help from the two D&D-like Fiasco playsets) on a “playset” for my D&D character generation. One that is tuned not towards setting up a fiasco, but towards setting up a party of characters that may well work together as the game progresses. I’m using a pair of Fiasco playsets as a base to work from here – The Dungeon Delve and Dragon Slayers – but modifying them to suit less fiascos and more cooperation (and to suit a party of level 1 characters).

Today I present the first part of this chargen system – Relationships. Over the next week and a half I hope to be able to finish off Desires / Needs and Locations (I’m omitting Objects from this, as we’ll be handling birthrights differently and you know as well as I do that the players will focus on Objects if they have the choice since it gives them more stuff).

Relationships

1. Family

     1. Siblings
     2. Distant Cousins
     3. Family Friends
     4. Cousins who are equally likely to inherit
     5. In love with the same person
     6. Black sheep of the family

2. Friends

     1. Friendly Rivals
     2. Childhood Friends
     3. Friend of a Friend
     4. Former co-workers
     5. Neighbours
     6. Mentor & Student of one trait or another

3. Fellowship

     1. Longtime adventuring companions
     2. Reluctant Allies
     3. Bound together by a sacred oath
     4. Members of a guild
     5. Traveled to town together
     6. One’s the brains, one’s the brawn

4. Secrets

     1. The only survivors
     2. The only two who know the secret
     3. Members of a secret cult
     4. Witnesses to an assassination
     5. Each carries half of a treasure map
     6. You keep him close because he knows your secret

5. War

     1. Brothers in arms
     2. Mercenary and Employer
     3. Fought in the militia together
     4. Served opposite sides in the last war
     5. A blood debt still needs to be repaid
     6. Refugee & Helping Hand

6. Magic

     1. Both carry a curse
     2. Trained together
     3. Blessed by the same church
     4. Servants of the same supernatural power
     5. One dreamed that the other would save their life… long before they met
     6. Linked together by a dark ritual