Natural 7

Connections

There are lots of ways to connect your characters to the game world presented my your game master. These are just a few short examples:

A Beastly World

What vibes does the world have? Prehistoric, Primordial, Kaiju, the Beastlands, Jungles, Rampage, Horde, Colossal, Mutating, Growth, Burgeoning, Nature, Survival of the Fittest

Your Connection to Beasts

  1. Your community raised packs of beasts most folk would call dangerous (velociraptors, death cows, sharks, vampire wolves, etc.)
  2. You were attacked by a great beast as a child, and it left a permanent scar.
  3. You see the ghosts of extinct beasts in the shadows cast by firelight.
  4. You carry the teeth of every beast you've ever felled on a necklace.
  5. You sometimes hear the chittering of small animals and confuse them for actual words.
  6. You have, or know someone else who suffers from, a strange form of lycanthropy.

A Dead World

What vibes does the world have? Ghostly, Thin Veils, Resurrection, Dead Animation, Necromancy, Gates of Death, Ancient Necropolis, Relentless, Undying, Vengeance

Your Connection to Death

  1. You were marked for death as a child, but the reaper never came.
  2. You often see the ghosts of people you don't yet recognize.
  3. You have an uncanny sense for when there are bones buried beneath your feet.
  4. You were once greeted by a wight who believed they were your butler.
  5. You watched a necromancer raise an entire village of dead peasants and march off into the sunset.
  6. Your heart beats half as fast as it should.

A Draconic World

What vibes does the world have? Volcanic, Scaled, Cratered, Kobolds, Ancient Dragons, Serpentine, Treasure Hoards, Shapechangers, Eggs

Your Connection to Dragons

  1. You carry a dragon's egg. How did you come to acquire it?
  2. You were approached by a scaled elder in your youth who recommended you never tell a lie.
  3. Your family home was raided by kobolds. They took all your gold and wine, but left you alive.
  4. You were born with dragon scales covering one or more sections of your body.
  5. You have an uncanny sense for exactly how many gold pieces someone has in their pockets.
  6. Your family passed down an heirloom to you, supposedly taken from a dragon's hoard.

A Fairy World

What vibes does the world have? Mischief, Tricks, Dreams, Theft, Mirrors, Shadows, Twisted Reality, Strange Extradimensional Pathways, Flowers, Exquisite Beauty, Wilting Decadence, Rotten Horror

Your Connection to the Fey

  1. You were cursed by a tricksome fairy when you were young (you cannot hear the rain, birds are invisible to you, food has no smell, wine has no flavor, etc.)
  2. You always emanate an aroma of flowers or spices.
  3. You have small, vestigial dragonfly wings sprouting from your back.
  4. You grew up with a fairy godmother who lived in a gourd and made lots of pumpkin pies.
  5. You always wear a thistle and briar laurel, mostly because it's interwoven with your hair and skin.
  6. Flowers sprout and wilt around you, reflecting your emotions.

A Holy World

What vibes does the world have? Religion, Prayer, Communal Belief or Suffering, Sanctuary, Light in the Dark, Wicked Evil, A Dark Ruler, Ruined Shrines, Fallen Gods, A Brilliant Deity

Your Connection to the Sanctum

  1. Your family was given/refused sanctuary at a temple in a time of desperation.
  2. You once restored the desecrated shrine of a forgotten deity.
  3. You are frighteningly allergic to incense and holy water.
  4. You took part in a holy ritual in your youth, and it left a lasting mark on your body.
  5. Your religion has been forbidden across the realm.
  6. You have the prayers of your faith painted/tattooed across your body.

Final Thoughts

This post was inspired by a resource I created for my players in a campaign I ran a couple years ago. I think it's important to present your players with ways that they can passively and actively engage with your game world, especially during character creation. Thus, we get connections that can link your character to the vibes/theme of the world so that at the bare minimum they have something interesting to say about the world.

In a game like Daggerheart, these questions are built into character creation as a default with the campaign frames. In other games, you might not already have a list of connections that can help you get a grasp on what makes this world unique and interesting for this specific character.

Thanks for reading!

Things on my radar: