Group Backgrounds

Although the PHB has detailed rules on how to create a character, it pays very little attention to the need to build a party. This would take the form of advice on selecting different and complementary character classes, making sure all required skill sets are covered, and so on. Additionally, though, there could possibly be the concept of a "group background", which talks about how the party came together, the ties that bind them, and so on.

And, of course, the Inspiration system (or my side-dishes) make that fairly straightforward: just define the group background as an additional trait, and when the party works together especially well to reflect that grant all relevant members Inspiration. (It might also be worth introducing a Group Inspiration pool, allowing the group to bank a few Inspirations that any PC can then draw upon as needed.)

Way back in the  mists of time Dragon magazine published an article entitled "Keeping the Party Going" (issue 177). This gave several examples that might be useful as a starting point, although I do tend to think brewing up the relevant trait on a per-campaign basis may be better. Anyway, the examples were as follows:

• The deocentric party - all the characters follow a common deity.
• The town party - all the characters come from the same town, which is now threatened.
• The familial party - the characters are all related.
• The mercenary party - the characters are mercenaries who have been hired to do a job.
• The guild party - the characters are all members of the same guild (whether thieves or otherwise).
• The quest party - for whatever reason, the characters have all sworn to complete a common quest.
• The clan party - like the familial party, but a wider group.
• The chance-meeting party - because why not risk your life with random strangers?

An example of the trait associated with the party might be "You are all sworn to quest to recover the Holy Grail. When you work together and successfully uncover a clue to its location, you each gain Inspiration."