Campaign Introductions

[dmgorgon]

Hi

I'm starting a new 3.5e campaign and I'm wondering if anyone would like to share some of their experiences.

What is the best campaign intro you have run/experienced?

 

[Ahnehnois]

Probably the best I've ever done was a session where I established day in the life for three typical nonadventuring characters, intercutting between them, gradually established a series of seemingly minor but increasingly consequential supernatural happenings, and gradually pushed them towards each other, finishing with a thrilling chase that left the characters on the precipice of coming together.

To me, the best part of the Lord of the Rings was always the beginning. Getting a sense of what normal is, what the characters are fighting for, where they're coming from. It provides context for the entire campaign. Also, the transition from normal life to the campaign is fun to play out.

 

[dmgorgon]

That's very true. It's definitely something to consider. I've seen many intros that are the exact opposite of that. They force the characters to be important from the start.

One thought I had was to give them all a common affliction. In this case they don't have to know each other, but when they realize they are all in the same boat and have to work together to fight their way out of a dangerous situation. It saves awkward introductions and helps look beyond issues of racial distrust and unnatural friendships.

I'm leaning towards a hard hitting intro that puts them right into the action before they can even blink.

 

[Ahnehnois]

"In media res" is the term. That's good too; to me it's better to have a long prologue for an extended campaign and get off to a quick start for a shorter, more contained story, but it certainly can work regardless.

One thing about doing it that way is I would put a little more work into defining the backgrounds of the characters and perhaps start them at a somewhat advanced level, depending on what you have in mind. To my mind, if the characters are going to be important from the start of the time being played, it suggests that perhaps they should have spent some time off screen doing stuff before that point, unless you're going for a real heavy hand of fate that thrusts some teenagers into the limelight.

 

[TwoSix]

In general, I've found the more work you do before the game starts tying the characters to both the campaign world and each other, the smoother and better the initial sessions go.

Having inter-PC connections helps encourage the players to view other player's characters as more than just mechanics.

My two best introductions have been in Dresden Files and Beyond the Wall, two games (one FATE-based, the other OSR) that mandate character backstory connections as part of the character creation process.

 

[Tovec]

I've run all kinds, played a few kinds.

It comes down to a few general requirements. What kind of game do the players want to play? What kind of game do you like to run? Where do those things intersect? Another important distinction is how many players are playing, and their backgrounds. A game with 6 people runs differently than 4, 2 or 1. An epic game is massively different from a lower level one.

One suggestion I have is to examine the Game Mastery Guide from pathfinder, it has a lot of good resources that help map out a campaign and its more or less game agnostic.

 

[dmgorgon]

unless you're going for a real heavy hand of fate that thrusts some teenagers into the limelight.

That's my thought for the intro. Of course, the DM has to be a bit heavy handed.

 

[Ahnehnois]

That's my thought for the intro. Of course, the DM has to be a bit heavy handed.

That can definitely work (of course, pretty much anything can if you do it well).

To my way of thinking, when doing this, it helps to have a clear goal and some in-game rationale for what is going on, even if the players don't know it (possibly ever). I find it makes my life much easier when I think that some dragon has picked the PCs as his champions or some demon lord is going to be reborn through one of them, as opposed to them simply being important because they're PCs. The common affliction you've posited probably does this if you ask yourself why they all have this problem.

 

[dmgorgon]

Yes, I would certainly want the mystery of the situation to propel their actions for the campaign. Having them quest for sage knowledge or long lost tomes is always good. Of course, revenge can also be a motivator.

I guess my main concern is how long I could keep it up for. If the purpose of their unification ends at 20th level, that's a long time for a single plot device. Even if it does evolve it can be taxing on everyone. The PCs must have a feeling of victory and progress. I'm thinking that at most I could push such a story to 10th level.

With that in mind, I'm looking over the Curse of the Azure bonds module for what not to do

 

[Grogg of the North]

I've done In Media Res a few times. That was fun. Having everyone in a caravan, asking what they're up to and then immediately declaring for initiative.

Usually though I give a short blurb about the recent events and rumors. If players want to know more I'll provide details. I try not to establish too much about what's going on just because I don't want to get too attached to what's going on and the world. I'd rather have the players drive events than respond to them.