Starting a new game

[BSF]

I'm dropping a little bit of filler space so if any of my player's lurk here they can bow out gracefully.












OK, I am starting up a new campaign and I am trying to avoid any railroading. However, I am having a difficult time finding a non-cliche reason why they should be adventuring together. I have been hoping that the players can provide a common thread that will work, but they seem a bit hesitant.

Basically, I think we are all in that pre-campaign doldrum where they aren't sure how to grab the reins and are simply looking to me to give them a starting place.

Let me give you a little information about campaign.

Initially, it will be focused around a wealthy City-State. Once the group gets a feel for individual goals, they can go anywhere. Or, they may decide to make the place their home base. I am looking to begin introducing strong political elements into the game, because I have never done that. I think it will be fun.

None of the characters has very much political clout in the city at this time. Most of the characters are journeying to the city from a far-off land. Most of them have interesting goals, but there is very little overlap so far.

The characters include the following:

A Rogue who is very self-serving. She isn't a legitimate citizen of the city. Her basic schtick is that she is a city guide.

A Martial-Artist (Beyond Monks) that is on a quest to find hidden holy texts for his order. He is a foreigner.

A Wizard that is basically one step above being a serf to his wizard's Guild. He is hoping to get a little adventuring success under his belt so he can move up to a journeyman status and have a little more freedom. (Long term goals are significantly more ambitious, but that is for later in the game.)

A Shaman (The Shaman's Handbook) that is on a personal quest to find his true place in the world.

A Wanderer (Swashbuckling Adventures) that got tired of the psuedo-pirate's life he was leading and has headed someplace where nobody knows his name (yet).

A Cleric of a Sea God that washed up a few months ago. I don't have his full history, but from what I can tell, he isn't quite sure who he is yet. (Possibly an amnesiac.)

A Ranger who I don't have much history for yet.

A Psionic Warrior that has left his homeland, and their constant war with the Yuan-Ti, to make a better life in a new land.

Right now, I am thinking that the city guide might work as a hook to get all the characters to meet. But, then it still boils down to the "you all meet in a tavern" thing. I am looking for something a little more creative and I think I am probably too close to the problem to see a nice workable solution.

My initial adventure hooks that I am thinking about dangling out there are as follows:

- A conversion of the Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh series. (Check out the haunted house, find out it is a cover for smuggling operations, etc) This will take place in a nearby town.

- A Faerie dragon that is having fun at the expense of a local tribe of goblins. Unfortunately, this is causing some ire to build up as the golbins have no idea who is responsible for the problems they are encountering. All they know is that one of their holy stones keeps ending up in a nearby vinyard. These goblins actually work for the City-State and cannot be simply eliminated. The local lord of that area wants the goblins to be happy and is afraid that somebody above him will decide he is souring relations with the goblins. I like this one because if gives the PC's somebody that will owe them later if they succeed. As well, it makes them interact with goblins beyond the pointy end of a sword.

- A conversion of the Lost Island of Castanamir. (Go find out why nobody has heard from this powerful wizard in a while.)

So, does anyone have any ideas how I can start off the campaign without too much railroading or a cliche meeting?

 

[Piratecat]

In a thread recently, someone suggested taking a cliche opening and turning it around. For instance:

The PCs are all in a fairly rough tavern, along with a lot of other adventuring types. A mysterious wizard and several thugs show up and announce that they are recruiting adventurers for a mighty quest. Lots of people volunteer - and the wizard picks the people who are not the PCs. Then, after the newly formed adventuring group of NPCs leaves with the wizard, his thugs decide to eliminate witnesses by killing everyone else in the tavern.

This gives them a rival group of adventurers and an enemy in one easy step.

Unfortunately, this might make the group more focused than you want them. I suggest that you come up with a knowledgeable local (known by the rogue) who can play the part of the mysterious sage without dragging out cliches. An elderly and overweight matron who's as hard as nails, for interest, or an incredibly skinny halfling who acts as gossip monger. This person can focus the group towards 2-4 different potential adventures, or introduce them to other locals.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Ask the players I say, let them do some of your work. During the pre-game setup ask them how they came to be together and the reasons for adventuring, the answers you get may direct your game in ways you never thought about. It also gets the players thinking about each others characters and interaction.

 

[BSF]

Ask the players I say, let them do some of your work. During the pre-game setup ask them how they came to be together and the reasons for adventuring, the answers you get may direct your game in ways you never thought about. It also gets the players thinking about each others characters and interaction.

Alas, I have but I have not received much response. I know it isn't because they aren't creative, because they are. I am just sensing some hesitation to take an idea and run with it.

 

[Piratecat]

They need someplace to start. Tell them "you all know X" or "You're all interested in X", and use that to let them develop their relationship.

 

[Hammerhead]

In a thread recently, someone suggested taking a cliche opening and turning it around. For instance:

The PCs are all in a fairly rough tavern, along with a lot of other adventuring types. A mysterious wizard and several thugs show up and announce that they are recruiting adventurers for a mighty quest. Lots of people volunteer - and the wizard picks the people who are not the PCs. Then, after the newly formed adventuring group of NPCs leaves with the wizard, his thugs decide to eliminate witnesses by killing everyone else in the tavern.

This gives them a rival group of adventurers and an enemy in one easy step.

Unfortunately, this might make the group more focused than you want them. I suggest that you come up with a knowledgeable local (known by the rogue) who can play the part of the mysterious sage without dragging out cliches. An elderly and overweight matron who's as hard as nails, for interest, or an incredibly skinny halfling who acts as gossip monger. This person can focus the group towards 2-4 different potential adventures, or introduce them to other locals.

Hmmm, how would Thief say this?

Oh yeah, STEAL!

The wizard and the MA could both be trying to track down a library; the wizard for the spells and magical knowledge, and the martial artist to find a text or clue to the texts of his/her order.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Alas, I have but I have not received much response. I know it isn't because they aren't creative, because they are. I am just sensing some hesitation to take an idea and run with it.

Do the twenty questions thing.

Do you know who your family is?
How many brothers/sisters?
Is your family alive?
What does your father do?
Who is your best childhood friend?
Who is your current best friend?
Are they alive?
In the party who do you like/trust/dislike?
Is wealth important to your character?
Is fame?
Who trained you in your current character class?
How did you meet the party?

As you can see there are a number of plot hooks built into these questions that during a game you can pull out and use at any time in a campaign.

Question and tell them you want to build a story and background, that this is much their game as yours.

If that does not work, they find themselves at the Tower, a school that trains orphans from the last great dark war. They have come of age and now they have been brought together to fight the coming darkness but first they have to prove themselves with a small adventure, if they come back they will be assigned to handler for future adventures. I based this on the agricultural military schools created in the USA.

 

[BSF]

I hear you. But, most of the characters have very developed backgrounds and there is almost not opportunity for overlap with each other. Heck, one of the players has written up a 26 page history for his character. Fortunately, that is handwritten, so it isn't as long as it sounds. I have been looking for any way to link these characters and there just isn't a common thread that works very well so far. I am sure that once I get them all together, things will fall into place very rapidly. I'm just trying to avoid the arbitrary, dictated opening scenario.

*sigh* Each player has given me a lot to work with. I have future plot hooks galore. I am _so_ excited to run this campaign. The existing players are developing more complex characters, we have a new player that will be new to gaming, and I am lucky to be adding an EN Worlder to the mix. I am also trying to stretch my DM'ing abilities by stepping inot areas that I have not tried to adjudicate and storytell in the past.

At this point, I think I will railroad the initial adventure a bit and see if I can get the group to mesh. Or, at least get a feel for what characters might not work within the group. (Some of the characters have personalities that might be too self-serving and the rest of the group might not want to adventure with them any longer.) Here is my initial plan: I will go with my second adventure choice - helping a local lord deal with his loosely allied goblin neighbors that are being tormented by a faerie dragon.

Because the local lord wants to keep this a bit hush-hush, he is looking for a group of adventurers that have no existing political ties to the City-State. He will call in a small favor from a local wizard's Guild to set this all up. The wizard's guild will assign one of it's apprentices (The Wizard PC) to the group. Then, it will send out one of it's agents to pull together a group to check out the problem. They are looking for a range of abilities that might help the situation. Toward that end, they will enlist the aid of

-an orphaned city guide that might not have a clean slate (The Rogue)

-a spooky spell caster that they might want to learn more about (The Shaman - who the wizard will be instructed to keep a subtle eye on.)

-a fighter type that seems a little unusual (The Psionic Warrior)

-and the well-trained mercenary that will be there to defend the apprentice (The Martial-Artist).

They may also call in a favor with the local Sea God church (The Cleric) because the church often opposes City policies and do not have a strong political standing that will pose a threat to the Lord.

Finally, they may round out the party skills/strength with some cheap labor (The Wanderer).

I am thinking that the Ranger might actually serve the Lord in question and will be thrown into the mix when the party arrives to help out.

I think this will give them that initial hook and then the rest will fall into place over time. Hopefully, this isn't too arbitrary overall. I really want the group to have a while to feel out the storylines they want to pursue and choose the directions they want to go. Free Will is supposed to be a big component of this game thematically.

What do you all think?

 

[Hand of Evil]

The Mentor - I have brought you together because my people tell me each of you have an unique skill (not ture but they don't need to know that) that sets you apart from others. Evil stalks the land and I need you to stand forth and hold that evil at bay.

Oh, if you are wondering what do you get out of it, lets just say there are rewards for this line of work, lots and lots of reward.

-----------------

Basicly the players meet in the study of some powerful NPC, all tell the story of being asked to to meet this person, how it interested them, and now they meet each other. They are then given the mission.

 

[Mimdalf]

Alpha Phase

Well, here goes my first post, I'm new to this board and I came to this thread to express ideas and I love "brainstorming". I have years and years of DnD experience, but I nolonger have the time to play Well, so what we have is the opening to a great campaign lots of material for down the road, but how do we connect these players? The opening game can be the most dramatic start to a successful campaign one the players can remember fondly, or it can be quickly thrown together just to get the game going. You could have an entire scene ready and written to post on a board or sent to the players by email where you set the scene i.e. late evening, and end to a large celebration. The streets still filled with common folk, when suddenly screams erupt and a dark figure dashes through the crowd, a horrid figure with the stench of the grave. The figure clutches a small wailing bundle and darts around you. You set the scene and have the players ready with a few paragraphs placing themselves in the scene and the events that led them to that moment. Play begins with action an event that bystanders witness and say "Wow, you work well together", or "I've been looking for individuals such as yourselves..." Just an Idea