Strange men sleazing about in taverns distributing quests is no basis for a system of adventuring.

[Fauchard1520]

First of all, relevant comic.

So how do you guys do it? Do you rely on the tried and true "you all meet in a tavern," or do you try for more inventive means of getting the band together? What's your go-to campaign opener?

 

[Morrus]

I almost always go with the "you already know each other" method.

 

[Fauchard1520]

I almost always go with the "you already know each other" method.

Do you let the players fill in the blanks, or do you like to start with a theme? I'm thinking things like "you're all in a military unit" or "you're all apprenticed to the same wizard."

 

[Legatus Legionis]

.

 

[Celebrim]

First of all, relevant comic.

So how do you guys do it? Do you rely on the tried and true "you all meet in a tavern," or do you try for more inventive means of getting the band together? What's your go-to campaign opener?

I ask each player to come up with ideas for why their character might know some other character in the party.

Then I try to put the characters in some sort of public place. A tavern can work, but I prefer someplace outdoors - fairs and festivals have long been a favorite of mine.

Then I blow the world up.

"Rise of the Runelords" more or less adopted the same general pattern that I've long preferred. Have enough of the characters know each other so that at least parts of the party would naturally be allies, and then throw the characters together in some sort of crisis where they need to work together to survive.

 

[mflayermonk]

Lawrence Watt-Evans' Lure of the Basilisk series is based on this. A creepy old dude (the King in Yellow) sits in the back of a tavern handing out world-shattering quests.

 

[Blue]

Often I ask that there be connections between characters that we work out in session 0. Not that everyone knows everyone, but there is a chain connecting any two somehow. Everyone knows and trusts everyone I think cuts down on good drama in the party with isagreements (and with my players I don't have to worry about bad drama or PvP from in-character disagreements).

My current campaign I had a some end up knowing each other but nothign comprehensive, but started it (with player's permission) with several of them captured by a cult and about to sacrifice them for all intensive purposes and the escape attempt plus a third party hostile to everyone intervening and giving everyone a lot of reason to stay together at least short term - and then they were caught up in a whirlwind of things and by the time came that they could have safely split they were already friends.

 

[Sunseeker]

For my upcoming Ravenloft: the players were all hired by a mercenary company in need of a few extra hands. The players are allowed to decide if they know each other (but both players must agree to this and share at least 1 of their 5 items of "secret information" they're required to come up with for the game) or not. The game essentially starts out with the party having accepted the "intro quest".

Though I do not always have the party "already on the quest" I do keep the "PC's can know each other if both players consent." in all games. Why they're "in town" is usually just chalked up to luck and circumstance. Maybe someone is running from something. Maybe someone is seeking something. Maybe you're down down and out. Maybe you have family here. That's where the 5 items of "secret information" come into play.

The "Weirdo Quest Giver" is just a nice mechanic to keep the players from wandering right off the start, or from excluding a certain PC from the group (yeah I've seen it happen). It's a little trite but you gotta start somewhere.

 

[DragonMan]

Our gaming group almost never starts in a tavern. Some of our starts were:

1) We were all part of a military group
2) We all attend a fair and then the town is attacked by monsters. All of us adventurers run towards the fray whilst all the towns people run screaming in the opposite direction. We had one recently that started in a casino instead of a fair. The casino owner gave us shares of ownership for protecting his business. Which meant that we were his permanent guards and the casino owner had a lot of enemies.
3) NPC puts out a call for adventurers for a long term goal.
4) We each took part in a tournament and the host gathered the best (i.e. the PCs) for a mission.

As a DM, I normally do 'belong to same military/militia unit'.

My first online adventure that I ran started with one fellow (monk) to take on the town bully. Over time, three more people joined up. One joined as a travelling healer, one was hired by the monk, and the other was offered to the group to help with an upcoming mission. Then decided to stay with them. Once when the party was in a very remote area and unable to have a new person join, I converted the NPC to a PC.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I started many campaigns in taverns, but now, I don't have a go-to. I try to tailor campaign kickoffs to the party in such a way as to let them get a feel for what is to follow.

There is one method I've used with increasing frequency: each PC gets to star in a mini-scenario that all eventually tie together. The first time I did it, the thief was doing a little 2nd story work when he triggered a trapdoor that dropped him into the sewers.

...basically on top of a kidnapping in progress (victim: the wizard). The kidappers, caught off guard, turned on the thief. But the wizard woke up in time to take down one kidnapper, and the thief got the other. Together, they found their way out of the sewers.

...unfortunately, right near the people who hired the kidnappers. Chase ensues, and the fleeing duo literally run into a couple more PCs who are having a discussion near a foodseller's stand. The thief, who can practically smell do-gooders, fast-talks them into helping thwart the attempted kidnapping.

A true breach of the peace ensues. At some point, a cooking fire gets toppled when the barbarian (literally) got tossed out of a bar, and The Watch and firemen are called. Everybody legged it towards the wharf as the fire spread and the Watch showed up.

When the all-clear eventually sounded, the PCs- who have been talking to each other, trying to figure out what happened- wandered back to the square to find breakfast. The "do-gooders" droped their meat on a stick, etc., when they realized the pile of ashes before them was the inn they had each been lodged. They had only what they had been carried- everything else was lost in the fire.

At that point, a merchant approached, and offered that twosome a chance to get back on their feet as caravan guards. They accepted, and used a bit of "you owe us" staring to get the thief to join (giving them part of his salary). The wizard, fearing another abduction attempt, volunteered. The barbarian, sobering, sensed an opportunity to make more beer money...