Relationships
Connect creations, choose relationship types, manage bidirectionality, and keep the social map accurate.
Why relationships matter
Standalone creations are useful. Connected creations are powerful.
Consider an NPC in isolation:
Mira Thornwood - bartender, knows secrets, former army scout
Now consider Mira with relationships:
Mira Thornwood
- works at The Rusty Anchor Tavern
- served with Captain Aldric (they have history)
- sells information to the Thieves Guild
- knows most dock workers and sailors
- hiding from someone from her army days
The connected version gives you:
- Where to find her
- Who else she knows
- Campaign markers (who is she hiding from?)
- Conversation starters (she and the captain have history)
- Reasons for her behavior (Thieves Guild connection)
Relationships create depth without requiring you to remember everything - Campaign Familiar shows you the connections when you need them.
Creating relationships
From an creation
- Open any creation
- Scroll to the Relationships section
- Click Add Relationship
- Start typing in the Link to box - an autocomplete searches your whole campaign and suggests matching creations. Pick one.
- Choose the relationship type. The dropdown is context-filtered: it only offers types that make sense for the two creation types you’re connecting (for example, an NPC linked to a Faction offers leader, worships, and serves).
- The bidirectional box is checked automatically when you pick a mutual type (ally, enemy, friend, rival, family, romantic, partner, knows). Leave it or uncheck it as needed.
- Optionally set strength, add a description, or override the sentiment.
- Click Add
Tip: Don’t have the target creation yet? Click Create New Creation in the picker to make it and link it in one step - no need to leave the form.
The Party character sheet is simpler. The full editor above is the general Creation relationship flow - available from any NPC, location, item, faction, or Campaign Marker - and it offers relationship type, strength, description, sentiment override, and the bidirectional setting. The Party character sheet exposes two lighter controls instead: NPC Relationships and Faction Affiliations. Their Add Relationship button just searches for an NPC (or faction) and adds a simple link - it does not prompt for type, strength, description, sentiment override, or bidirectionality. Use the general Creation flow when you need those properties.
Quick linking
When creating creations, add relationships as you go:
- Creating an NPC who works at a tavern? Add the “works at” relationship immediately.
- Creating a faction leader? Link them to the faction.
- Creating a quest item? Link it to its location.
Building connections during creation is easier than trying to link everything later.
Relationship properties
Each relationship has:
| Property | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Type | The nature of the relationship (ally, enemy, works at, etc.) |
| Target creation | What this relationship points to |
| Strength | 1-10 scale for relationship intensity (defaults to 5) |
| Description | Additional context (optional) |
| Is bidirectional | Whether the relationship applies both ways |
| Sentiment override | Force a sentiment color when the type’s default doesn’t fit |
Strength
Strength helps you gauge relationship intensity. It defaults to 5 (a relationship’s row only shows a strength figure when it differs from 5):
- 1-3: Weak connection (acquaintances, passing familiarity)
- 4-6: Moderate connection (friends, regular business)
- 7-10: Strong connection (close allies, bitter rivals, family bonds)
Strength also drives edge thickness in the Connection Map: 1-3 is thin, 4-6 medium, 7-10 thick.
Description
Add context that doesn’t fit elsewhere:
- “They were rivals until the siege, then fought side by side”
- “He doesn’t know she’s been reporting to the Guild”
- “She saved his daughter’s life - he owes her everything”
Relationship types
Campaign Familiar provides relationship types organized by purpose:
General relationships
| Type | Description | Bidirectional? |
|---|---|---|
| ally | Works together toward goals | Yes |
| enemy | Actively opposes | Yes |
| family | Related by blood or marriage | Yes |
| friend | Personal friendship | Yes |
| rival | Competes against | Yes |
| romantic | Romantic involvement | Yes |
| knows | Aware of each other | Yes |
| partner | Business or adventure partner | Yes |
Hierarchical relationships
| Type | Description | Bidirectional? |
|---|---|---|
| employer | Employs the other | No |
| employee | Works for the other | No |
| mentor | Teaches the other | No |
| student | Learns from the other | No |
| leader | Leads an organization | No |
| serves | Serves or obeys | No |
| commands | Gives orders to | No |
Faction membership is not a relationship. You won’t find a “member” type in the Add Relationship dropdown. To make an NPC a member of a faction, add them to that faction’s member list on the faction page - membership lives there, not as a relationship row. (Older campaigns may still show legacy “member” relationships; they display fine, but new ones are created through the faction’s member list.)
Other connections
| Type | Description | Bidirectional? |
|---|---|---|
| protects | Guards or defends | No |
| suspects | Distrusts or investigates | No |
| owes_debt | Owes something | No |
| created | Made or built | No |
| worships | Reveres or follows | No |
Location relationships
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| located_at | Found at this location |
| lives_at | Residence |
| works_at | Place of employment |
| frequents | Visits regularly |
| owns | Property ownership |
| guards | Protects this place |
| imprisoned_at | Held captive |
| born_at | Birthplace |
| died_at | Place of death |
Story linking
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| part_of | Belongs to a larger whole |
| involves | Participates in |
| leads_to | Connects or progresses to |
| contains | Holds within |
| triggers | Causes to happen |
Bidirectional vs. one-way relationships
Bidirectional relationships
A bidirectional relationship applies both ways from a single link - it shows up on both creations without creating a second row, and the Connection Map draws it without a direction arrow:
Mira -> friend -> Aldric Reads the same from either side: they’re friends.
Exactly eight types are bidirectional by default, and checking the box for one of them is what makes it mutual: ally, enemy, friend, rival, family, romantic, partner, knows. (Choosing one of these auto-checks the bidirectional box for you.)
One-way relationships
Every other type is one-way and asymmetric:
Aldric -> mentor -> Young Guard Young Guard -> student -> Aldric (you create this separately if you want it)
One-way relationships include: employer/employee, mentor/student, leader, serves/commands, protects, suspects, owes_debt, created, worships, and the location and story types.
Natural pairs
Some one-way relationships have a natural opposite. Campaign Familiar does not create these automatically - add the second link yourself if you want both directions recorded:
| If A -> B is… | Then you might also add B -> A as… |
|---|---|
| employer | employee |
| mentor | student |
| commands | serves |
| protects | (no natural opposite) |
Relationship sentiments
Relationships are color-coded by sentiment in the Connection Map:
| Category | Color | Relationship Types |
|---|---|---|
| Hostile | Red | enemy, rival, imprisoned_at |
| Negative | Orange | suspects, owes_debt |
| Friendly | Green | family, romantic |
| Positive | Blue | ally, friend, mentor, partner, protects, worships |
| Neutral | Gray | All others |
Colors help you quickly see the emotional landscape of your world. When the derived color doesn’t match your intent, set a sentiment override on the relationship (see below).
Building a connected world
Start with core relationships
For each NPC, establish:
- Where they live and work (location relationships)
- Who they know (ally, friend, enemy)
- What organizations they belong to (add them to the faction’s member list)
This minimum set creates a foundation.
Add complications
Interesting relationships have tension:
- Allies who disagree on methods
- Friends on opposite sides of a conflict
- Family members who don’t trust each other
- Debts that create obligations
Connect across creation types
Don’t just link NPCs to NPCs:
- NPCs to locations (where they can be found)
- NPCs to factions (who they work for)
- NPCs to items (what they own or protect)
- NPCs to Campaign Markers (what they’re involved in)
- Locations to Campaign Markers (where things happen)
- Factions to factions (allies and rivals)
The more connections, the richer your world.
Use the Connection Map to find gaps
Periodically check the [Connection Map](/guide/world-building/connection map-visualization/):
- Orphan creations (no relationships) might need connections
- Clusters might need bridges to other clusters
- Central nodes are important - they should be developed
Tips for managing relationships
Quality over quantity
A few meaningful relationships are better than many generic ones. “Ally” tells you less than “ally with description: They trust each other in battle but argue about everything else.”
Update after sessions
When relationships change in play:
- Enemies become allies
- Allies betray each other
- New connections form
Update the relationships. Your data should reflect the current state of your world.
Use relationship history
Campaign Familiar tracks relationship history - when connections were created and how they’ve changed. This becomes your campaign’s social history. See Relationship History & Sentiment Override below.
Let players see connections
When players learn about a relationship, consider making those creations Player Visible. The Connection Map becomes a tool they can reference.
Relationship history & sentiment override
History timeline
Every relationship keeps a timeline of how it changed over the campaign. Each entry records:
- A date and a short note
- The kind of change - created, updated, or a manual note you added
- Previous values and the strength change (for example,
+3) when an update altered the strength or type
Use it to remember why two characters drifted apart, or to narrate a rivalry that thawed into an alliance over several sessions.
Add your own notes. Beyond the automatic created/updated entries, you can add a manual note at any time - “Reconciled after the siege,” “Found out about the betrayal” - building a running social history without changing the relationship’s mechanical fields.
Sentiment override
Each relationship’s color in the Connection Map is normally derived from its type (see Relationship Sentiments). When that default doesn’t fit your story, set an Override sentiment in the relationship form - choose Hostile, Negative, Neutral, Positive, or Friendly. The override wins everywhere the relationship is shown: the Connection Map edge, the relationship chip, and tooltips.
Example: a knows relationship is Neutral by default, but if this particular acquaintance is a dangerous informant, override it to Hostile so it reads at a glance.
Relationship suggestions
On an creation’s page, Campaign Familiar can propose relationships you may have missed. Open the Suggested Relationships section (collapsed by default) to see them. There are two kinds:
Name-match suggestions
These are generated locally - no subscription needed. Campaign Familiar scans your creation descriptions for the names of other creations and suggests linking them. If your tavern’s description mentions “Captain Aldric,” it suggests connecting the two. For each suggestion you can:
- Accept - creates the relationship
- Dismiss - hides it (it won’t come back for this creation)
Up to five show at once, with Show more for the rest.
AI-assisted suggestions
The AI-assisted Suggestions panel goes further: it reads the surrounding campaign context and proposes connections with a confidence score and a short reasoning. For each one you can:
- Accept - creates the relationship
- Dismiss - hides it
- Save for Later - keeps it on your suggestions list to revisit
AI-assisted suggestions require an AI subscription (Companion or Power). The name-match suggestions, and every other relationship feature on this page, work with no subscription.
Faction-membership (“member”) suggestions are never offered here - manage membership through the faction’s member list instead.
Related
- Creations overview - All 8 creation types
- [Connection Map](/guide/world-building/connection map-visualization/) - See relationships visually
- Relationship types reference - Complete type list
- Creating NPCs - NPC relationships