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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Grogg of the North" data-source="post: 7056966" data-attributes="member: 6682960">This is one of those questions that seems so easy but is incredibly deceptive.  If I knew the magic formula for an awesome story/campaign I'd be writing them for a living and then going to bed on a giant pile of money.  Like a dragon.  So as I struggled to come up with an answer, I decided to think less about awesome campaigns and more about what characters I remembered the best.  And, for me, the ones that had the more interesting story were the ones that not only had relationships with other (N)PCs but also accomplished something outside of dungeons.  The warmage that used his rewards to open his own tavern/brewery, won the girl's heart and got married.  The cunning rogue that used the crisis in the city to get himself pardoned, stepped into the city's leadership, and attempted to woo the princess.  So for those characters, not only did they have meaningful relationships but they were able to accomplish goals during their downtime.  They didn't cease to exist when there were no dungeons to delve; no monsters to slay.  But, all of that is only possible if you have a DM that is willing and wants to help you do these things!  I played a half orc barbarian once whose goal was to go find himself a nice place in the wilderness, build a great lodge and host other like minded hunters.  They would take turns hunting great beasts and monsters to each prove their strength and worth.  When that campaign ended (it died with a whimper) I was no closer to accomplishing that goal at level 17 than I was at level 1.  So, in a round about way, I would have to say that for a good story not only do you need relationships between characters and NPCs but your character needs depth.  They need to accomplish something personal.   A character that "left home to seek his fortune as an adventure" is kind of lame.  Why?  What does he want to do with that money?  Does he want to raise his parents from the dead?  Does he want to become king by his own hand?  Is he going to use that money as tribute to the nearby dragon and save his village?  If your character effectively doesn't exist when the party returns to town then there isn't much depth there.</blockquote>

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