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What keeps your party together?
- Thread starter Ambrus
- Start date
celewritor
First Post
I'm not sure I've ever done "you all meet in a tavern" at least in a game I ran. Some previous ideas (not all of which I had a hand in setting up):
Military: everyone is in the army (also helpful for steering early plots).
Childhood Friends: When you only have 50 to 400 people to talk to period your choices in firends are limited.
Over the Rainbow: maybe you first met by happenstance, but after that gate blew and you found yourself on another world, you tended to stick together.
The Mission: Someone (the king, a wizard, a bereaved parent) hired an unlikely band of adventurers, stuck them together, and sent them on a mission. They stick together either for further missions or perhaps the reward requires them to travel to the city in order to get the most reward (like a big diamond).
The Guild: they were trained by the same guild (like a thieves guild). Avariant could be belonging to the same street gang.
Military: everyone is in the army (also helpful for steering early plots).
Childhood Friends: When you only have 50 to 400 people to talk to period your choices in firends are limited.
Over the Rainbow: maybe you first met by happenstance, but after that gate blew and you found yourself on another world, you tended to stick together.
The Mission: Someone (the king, a wizard, a bereaved parent) hired an unlikely band of adventurers, stuck them together, and sent them on a mission. They stick together either for further missions or perhaps the reward requires them to travel to the city in order to get the most reward (like a big diamond).
The Guild: they were trained by the same guild (like a thieves guild). Avariant could be belonging to the same street gang.
Gilladian
Adventurer
One campaign - they were a military unit (put together by the father of one character to protect his adopted child). Eventually they bonded and became close friends.
In another - they were all members of a household (mostly servants/hirelings protecting the family's daughter who wanted to be an adventurer). Once they achieved her goal, the group found other mutual goals that overrode the original one.
In the third (current) campaign - I have no clue. A wizard wants power and fame, a druid wants to aggravate her family a nd being an adventurer is the way to do it. They're the only two PCs, so they hired some men at arms and off they went... they have nothing in common except a desire to adventure.
But overall, the metagame desire to play together is the real glue that works. If that's not there, nothing else will do it.
In another - they were all members of a household (mostly servants/hirelings protecting the family's daughter who wanted to be an adventurer). Once they achieved her goal, the group found other mutual goals that overrode the original one.
In the third (current) campaign - I have no clue. A wizard wants power and fame, a druid wants to aggravate her family a nd being an adventurer is the way to do it. They're the only two PCs, so they hired some men at arms and off they went... they have nothing in common except a desire to adventure.
But overall, the metagame desire to play together is the real glue that works. If that's not there, nothing else will do it.
awayfarer
First Post
My RM group all met in a bar but there's a catch.
1: Everyone else is already in the bar
2: My character (A fugitive wanted for murdering a relative) walks in.
3: My characters cousin (Another PC) convinces him to take it outside.
4: Drunk guard starts giving us lip on the way out, we both deck him and he's knocked clean out and bleeding rather badly.
5: Other guards show up and act a bit rash. They start shooting and all hell breaks loose. Three other PC's accidentally kill or dismember a pair of guards.
6: Last PC shows up to find a thief (one of the three in step #5) stealing her horse. He won't give it up and she won't let him get away with it.
We went from having one fugitive murderer in the group to several as we mowed down rather a lot of guards on our jaunt out of town. This was not intended to be an evil campaign.
My WLD group sticks together because we're stuck in the dungeon with no way out. The Eberron game I'll be starting eventually has all the characters as part of The Citadel in Breland. Seems like that "You're in the military" thing is pretty popular.
1: Everyone else is already in the bar
2: My character (A fugitive wanted for murdering a relative) walks in.
3: My characters cousin (Another PC) convinces him to take it outside.
4: Drunk guard starts giving us lip on the way out, we both deck him and he's knocked clean out and bleeding rather badly.
5: Other guards show up and act a bit rash. They start shooting and all hell breaks loose. Three other PC's accidentally kill or dismember a pair of guards.
6: Last PC shows up to find a thief (one of the three in step #5) stealing her horse. He won't give it up and she won't let him get away with it.
We went from having one fugitive murderer in the group to several as we mowed down rather a lot of guards on our jaunt out of town. This was not intended to be an evil campaign.
My WLD group sticks together because we're stuck in the dungeon with no way out. The Eberron game I'll be starting eventually has all the characters as part of The Citadel in Breland. Seems like that "You're in the military" thing is pretty popular.
RedWick
First Post
Current group all works for a freelance adventuring guild. They get assigned to teams and sent out on jobs. As the exact number of members of the guild is undefined, this helps with those occasions when one PC might die as a new PC can be sent in to replace a deceased party member. As an added plus, the new PC already has a reason to get along with the party.
KrazyHades
First Post
The group I DM for is held together by some not-played-out backstory. The Cleric, who had a nature deity, once saved the Druid's wolf companion. And such and such...there is plot behind the story which we didn't play out, because they met one at a time. This campaign is JUST starting, and with a group of mostly enthusiastic-but-newbie just a few sessions into it, in a homebrew world, but I have high hopes!
Evilhalfling
Adventurer
3 of 4 are members of the RGS (Royal Geographic Society) bored noblemen in seach of adventure, acclaim and pressed wild flowers.
So far pressed wild flower (species) 4, dead RGS fellows 1
The fourth is a native guide.
So far working very well. The guide is a wanna be chief on the outs with his tribe. (ie powerless young male)
So far pressed wild flower (species) 4, dead RGS fellows 1
The fourth is a native guide.
So far working very well. The guide is a wanna be chief on the outs with his tribe. (ie powerless young male)
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