The true treasure ofDungeons & Dragonsis the party members we meet along the way. After all, this is a group game, and when you get that synergy going with your friends, it’s normal to always want to play the game with the same people. From that, making your characters match makes things cooler or funnier, at least.
Though we’ll leave the details of backstory and goals with you and your group, we’re here to suggest a few themes for the party, aka things all PCs can share to make the campaign either more enticing narrative-wise or just some funny ideas for shorter campaigns - whatever suits you and your friends best.
10Everyone’s The Same Class
If you want to make your characters feel like a unit, giving them the same class is a fun concept, and it’ll make the game more challenging since this is a pretty unbalanced party concept, depending on which class you go with. And you can still have some variety by having each player choose a different subclass.
Our top recommendations would be bards, just for the fun of playing as a band, warlocks with the same patron, for funny roleplaying moments, paladins, for the ultimate crusaders' fantasy, or clerics, because their subclasses are varied enough that you can make a balanced group. Any class works, though.
9Family
Simple And Fun
A common concept when players want to share backstories is to make them family, like siblings. Why not extend this idea to the whole group? All characters can be siblings, or you’re able to go further and have different relatives in the mix.
You can have funny dynamics, such as the healer or the tank being one of the parents, and roleplay the dynamics of parent and child both in combat or during social encounters. More distant options can work, such as cousins or even found family, in case the players want to use very distinct species that make blood relations odd.
8Playable Monsters
Hidden Or Not
This idea can go a few ways: You can all pick a type of creature that can hide among people, such as vampires and werewolves, or, if the DM is on board, you can all pick a literal monster from the Monster Manual and play as them rather than a PC.
There is also the option of picking a monster with a player version, like goblins, and making your monster clan with them. You could alsoadapt monsters into playable versionsif you still want to have a class attached to the character.
7Playable Familiars
Where’s Our Wizard?
Another idea that doesn’t involve using standard PCs is to choose animals or creatures that can be used as familiars and develop them into player characters. Players can use the NPC stats or homebrew a PC version like the previous idea. We recommend the latter because many familiars have a CR of zero and, therefore, are extremely weak.
Along with the animals from the Find Familiar spell, you’re able to check other options, such as imps, quasits, and pseudodragons, or even search for any creature (tiny or small) that fits the role, like tressyms.
6Ex-Convicts
What Are We, Some Kind Of Suicide Squad?
Giving every character a shady past is also a compelling concept for the narrative, and it can go many different ways. The party can meet in prison and escape together; they can be from the same former criminal organization and try to better themselves, or they could work for someone as expendable henchmen.
Whatever the route is, having a group of former villains who are together (whether by choice or not) and are now trying to be better is great narrative material. Players can roleplay how difficult it is to change their ways, or the consequences of their former villainy can come for them.
5Old Characters
One Last Adventure
Instead of creating characters about to start their adventuring life, you have a group of characters who have all quit such a life decades (or centuries) ago. They’re all old, minding their own business, living their final days peacefully.
Until something happens that forces them out of this retirement. Their decades of not fighting can be used to justify a low level if necessary, or this can also be a premise to starta campaign at a high levelalready.
4Young Characters
Our First Adventure
The opposite also works here. Instead of old characters or even young adults who are trying to be adventurers, the story can revolve around teens. Every NPC will try to keep you out of harm’s way and tell you that you’re too young to get involved with dangerous stuff.
Because of this setback, there will be the added challenge of people constantly trying to talk you out of things or even not taking your skills seriously - why trust the fate of the world to a bunch of teenagers, after all?
3The Same Villain
Hate Unites People
Usually, the BBEG is introduced during the campaign, or the DM picks the bad guys from the players' backstories and uses them. However, why not immediately introduce the villain during the character creation process and involve them in everyone’s backstory?
Not only is it a fun way to have the DM involved in the character-creation process, but it also connects everyone to the bad guy even before they show up. Plus, everyone hunting the same person is a justifiable reason for the PCs to meet one another.
2An Entourage
A Story About Side Characters
DM, create a very important person for the story. A noble, someone from royalty, an influential merchant or politician, you name it. The story is about them, but they’re also weak and completely incompetent regarding combat or even decision-making, preferably.
Then, the story revolves around the actions of this character’s guardians, bodyguards, servants, jesters, or whatever fits the PCs. It gives the DM a fun character to roleplay andtag along with the group,and it’s also a fun concept where the story revolves around the ordinary folks who are just doing their jobs, or going above and beyond their jobs.
1An Actual Narrative Theme
What Do They Have In Common?
We’ve suggested serious and silly topics, but if you and your group want to take narrative seriously while not doing something extravagant, just give everyone a theme for their backstory before writing it all down.
For instance, have everyone write a story about loss, trauma, redemption, destiny, etc. One word that will guide everyone when writing and make all characters share a common theme, making them relatable to one another.
A great example is the origin companions from Baldur’s Gate 3, where they all share trauma from systems or people that tried to control, use, or erase them.
