This exercise is designed to help players create character bonds through debts, rivalries, and shared past experiences. Position players in a circle (around a table or room if enough) and give them each one random question. Players may talk out answers for each character.
How did the person on your right save your life, and how has it changed your relationship?
How was the person to your right a rival to you when you were younger?
What betrayal did the person on your right commit against you, and why do you still let them stay in your circle?
What competition did you and the person on your right both enter, and who won?
What dangerous situation did you and the person on your right survive together, and what was lost in the process?
What debt do you owe to the person on your right, and why haven’t you repaid it?
What family connection (distant or close) do you share with the person on your right, and how does it complicate your relationship?
What is the person to your right desperately trying to prove to you, and why do you refuse to acknowledge it?
What long-standing promise did you make to the person on your right, and why is it proving difficult to keep?
What mutual enemy have you and the person on your right fought against, and how did it change your dynamic?
What odd habit does the person on your right have that makes you suspect they are hiding something?
What piece of advice did the person on your right give you that you ignored-and now regret?
What rumor did the person on your right spread about you, and why haven’t you confronted them about it?
What secret do you and the person on your right share, and why would it be disastrous if it got out?
What skill did you teach the person on your right, and why do they refuse to acknowledge it?
What unanswered question do you have about the person on your right, and why are you afraid to ask it?
What unfinished business do you and the person on your right have, and why has it remained unresolved?
What unspoken agreement do you have with the person on your right, and how do you maintain it without words?
What valuable lesson did the person on your right teach you, and how did it cost them?
What was stolen from you that you suspect the person on your right might have taken, but you have no proof?
What was the biggest argument you ever had with the person on your right, and why do neither of you talk about it anymore?
What was the last favor you did for the person on your right, and what do you suspect they haven’t told you about it?
Why do you owe your current reputation to the person on your right, and do you resent them for it?
Why do you suspect the person on your right is secretly protecting you, and what are they getting out of it?
Why do you trust the person to your right more than anyone else in the circle?