Union: Cousins Once Removed

Say you want to make characters who are all from the same small town. Or from related noble houses. Or who all came to this planet on the same generation ship.

Maybe you just want to make up their backstories, or maybe these are characters you’re actually going to play in a campaign.

Normally you could play Union and explore the family ancestry of one character: find out all about the lives of their grandparents and great parents and how all their unions led to next generation, and so on.

But what if instead of just playing one family history, you do quick games of Union for each character, except you intentionally crossover characters in the family tree. Make sure at least one person appears from one of the other histories, either as an actual shared ancestor or someone important to their story.

Maybe we share the same great-grandmother, but our grandparents were different siblings, or even children from different marriages. Or maybe our grandfathers were childhood friends before they got older and became rival suitors for the hand of my grandmother. Or maybe the Fate of one of my ancestors was that one of your ancestors killed them in a duel.

Do that for a while and you will have an *elaborate* shared history full of juicy stories and old grudges… or adorable bonds and crowded holiday dinners.