This game has a relationship mechanic VERY similar to that found in Dragon Age(dare I say stolen from dragon age). Its detailed in the players guide but I also want to give you guys some information about it here as well.
As you all probably know this adventure path starts in the town of Sandpoint and you will be traveling over the crown of the world to Tien. This long and arjuous journey is to dangerous to do yourselves so you will have 4 NPC's with you at all times. It is very very important that you build relationships with these NPC's as you will be stuck in a caravan with them for MONTHS on end. Please take every opprotunity you have to interact with and develop relationships/friendships with all NPC's that travel with you. Short Bio's of the 4 main NPC's are in the spoiler labled NPC bio's.
You can either build a confrontational or friendly relationship with the 4 starter NPC's and there will be other NPC's along the way that you can also start relationships with. Some in-game events can spontaneously change a relationship from friendly to competitive or vice versa. You can also deliveratly do this by changing your relationship score by half.
When you first meet a significant NPC, I will inform you that you can build a relationship with that NPC. If you’re interested in building a relationship with that NPC, Let me know and I will start recording a relationship score between you and that NPC. The record of Relationship scores will be kept in the campaign information section.
Relationship scores level as follows:
5 or less Association
6–11 Friendship/Competition
12–30 Fellowship/Rivalry
31 or more Devotion/Enmity
Association: You and the NPC know each other, but not well enough to have formed a significant opinion about each other.
Friendship/Competition: You are a good friend or known competitor of the NPC.
Fellowship/Rivalry: You have strong ties to the NPC, either through deep mutual respect and admiration or through a strong sense of competition and conf lict. As long as the other NPC is alive, you gain a +1 morale bonus on all Charisma-based skill checks.
Devotion/Enmity: You and the NPC are devoted to each another, or are actively opposed to one another. If you reach this Relationship Level with the NPC associated with your Campaign Trait, the trait bonus granted to you from your Campaign Trait doubles. In addition, your relationship with the NPC is strong enough to grand you a boon, whether your relationship is friendly or competitive. The nature of this boon differs for each NPC—I will inform you what kind of boon you earn at this stage. The effects of this boon last for as long as the NPC is alive and active in the campaign.