You can define a pre-existing relationship with any NPC before you ever talk to them. This skips the "stranger" phase and lets you start with history already in place.
By default, every NPC treats you as someone they've never met — even if you intended them to be your spouse, your child, or your oldest friend. This is by design: RPBuddy doesn't invent relationships you didn't define. That means no hallucinated backstories or assumed familiarity, which is a common problem on other roleplay platforms.
The trade-off is that if you forget to set a backstory for someone you "know," the first conversation can be awkward. A character you intended as your son might greet you like a stranger who wandered into his house.
If you have NPCs with pre-existing relationships to your character, always set their backstory before your first conversation.
The NPC will act on the backstory immediately. They'll reference the shared history naturally in conversation — no awkward introductions needed.
You can also set backstory during NPC creation in the Location Wizard.