1001 Ways To Get Characters Together

[Darmanicus]

Something I've been playing with if I ever get the courage to DM.......

You wake up suddenly from a hazy trance to the roars of a crowd not so far away, but just out of sight, beyond the portcullis barring the way before you. Looking around you, you see others dressed just as you are......in readiness for battle; they look vaguely familiar and you know you've fought with them before but any other details elude you for the moment.

A voice stirs in your mind and a soft whisper speaks of glory, the exhilaration of battle and the prestige and wealth to be had in the aftermath of it all. The words please your senses as images flash into your head, accompanied by sounds to partner them; you can taste iron and salt on your tongue, the taste of blood and sweat respectively; your nostrils flare as the smell of dangerous beasts is inhaled; you look down at your hand and the whites of your knuckles as you grip more tightly onto your weapon in anticipation......

You will please your sponsor, you will bathe in the blood of her enemies and you shall be rewarded by her after they no longer hold purchase to this mortal coil.

You look around at those who are standing with you and in turn they look back at you; you all smile at each other in realization that your sponsor is theirs and that you are one in your desire to please her.

A rumble sounds and you all face frontwards towards the exit tunnel as the portcullis raises on rusted hinges, squeaking all the way up. You then set off in a cohesive jog towards the arena, and victory.

The cheering grows louder and louder as you near the exit and all of a sudden you and your companions enter the arena; the noise is deafening. High up and carved into the walls are rows upon rows of seating for the spectators: Drow, Orc, Duregar and many other species are crammed together in anticipation of the forthcoming slaughter.

You find yourselves in a familiar cavern as your memories start to return to you all. It’s absolutely huge, stalagmites dot the area as do other features such as clumps of large fungus, trenches and small buildings: it’s so big in fact that you cannot even see the other side for the distance and the intervening terrain.

The tension builds inside you during the expected wait whilst the onlookers place their bets. The voice once again stirs in your mind and that of your companions, again reinforcing your desire to win and please your sponsor. You all look up into the crowd, searching for her face in the vain hope that you might more clearly picture her blessings. Fate surely is with you once again, as in the midst of them all you spot her and focus upon her countenance.

Dressed in ornate robes of purple and blue, and decked out in shining gems to match, she is a wondrous sight to behold. Standing at just over six and a half feet tall she easily overshadows the wretches around her who, quite rightly so, keep a respectable distance form one so superior.

The most eye-catching sight however is her smile………….

Eight purple tentacles, where a mouth might be, undulate slowly towards you, sending tingles of pleasure up your spinal columns: she is so beautiful!

A huge explosion rocks the side of the chamber near you spewing boulders and debris outwards in a gravity defying, sideways avalanche. It strafes the area where your sponsor was standing but thankfully she was spared from any harm and you quickly look to the now gaping hole in the side of the cavern to witness what dared put your sponsor in such danger.

From the hole charge forth deep dwarf and gnome warriors, eyes blazing with fury and murder, as their cleric kin behind them unleash holy magics at the unsuspecting audience. You turn to seek out your sponsor once more and……….

Several crossbow bolts slam into the chest of an Illithid decked in blue and purple, sending her tumbling to her death on the sharp rocks below. What on earth is happening here? You look around to see similarly dressed figures, possibly comrades?, standing by you, each with a look of total surprise and more than a little worry etched on their features…………

 

[John Morrow]

Anyway, lets start this thread with more ways to get players together, I for one will try to come up with more nifty ways of doing the same.

The Irwin Allen special. The PCs are forced together by a disaster, natural or otherwise (e.g., a raging inferno, an earthquake, a sinking ship, etc.), and have to work together to survive through that disaster, thus providing a bonding experience. Think Towering Inferno, Earthquate, Poseidon Adventure, etc. Other options include something creepier like Deep Rising or Night of the Living Dead. Just be sure to give the PCs enough time to talk, plan, and get to know each other. Non-stop action with no time to think can actually backfire and prevent any bonding between the PCs.

I've used something like this once (the PCs survive a starship hijacking gone wrong). My group has also done the circus performer thing and that worked pretty well, too. For that, you just need player buy-in.

 

[The_Gunslinger658]

Wow! thats awesome, in fact I caught bits of Earthquake a few days ago, saw capt Adama, Moses and a few others acting real bad in that disaster flick.
Anyway, I like the idea of an Earthquake, Sharn would be a great place to have one with all those sky scrapers towering above.
Players can be at Margrave university or a high-ups part when it strikes. Perhaps it is natural, perhaps it was man made, a Druids revenge? An invading Army? The ideas are endless.

Scott

The Irwin Allen special. The PCs are forced together by a disaster, natural or otherwise (e.g., a raging inferno, an earthquake, a sinking ship, etc.), and have to work together to survive through that disaster, thus providing a bonding experience. Think Towering Inferno, Earthquate, Poseidon Adventure, etc. Other options include something creepier like Deep Rising or Night of the Living Dead. Just be sure to give the PCs enough time to talk, plan, and get to know each other. Non-stop action with no time to think can actually backfire and prevent any bonding between the PCs.

I've used something like this once (the PCs survive a starship hijacking gone wrong). My group has also done the circus performer thing and that worked pretty well, too. For that, you just need player buy-in.

 

[Mokona]

Start the players on a sailing vessel. Sink the boat and wash them ashore on an island (all alone).

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Why not let the players tell you why their characters are together? They will need an excuse to stay together later anyway unless they are railroaded from one encounter to the next for an entire campaign...

 

[Romnipotent]

So we begin, the X of your are waste deep in a green glue goop on a public street, as all of you were passers by in the unfortunate Festival of the Gummi Bear of Boccob, held annually in (insert town here).

 

[Eldragon]

Some sort of high level officer addresses the PC's: "You knuckleheads are the worst team I have ever seen! It's like you have never worked together before!..." The NPC then tells the tale of how the party's last job was a total disaster, with many humorous details of their own incompetence. The NPC finishes with "Its against my better judgement, but I am going to give you one more shot at redeeming yourselves..."

 

[Lord Zardoz]

If the party is all of the same race, you can declare them all related. You can even do this if there are half orcs or half elves on hand.

Starting everyone in Jail, or just prior to their own execution can also work if you just want them to start in the same place at roughly the same time.

You can also have them all materialize in response to someones use of a Wish spell.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[the Jester]

I like 'the Australia Option.'

The pcs are all on a ship sailing to colonize a distant land. Some are convicts, some are sailors or officers; but all must learn to work together to survive in a hostile new unexplored land.

Haven't done this one- I really considered it with an orcish party some years ago (but sending them up the river and then out on the boat after they'd reached ~3rd level), but never got a good chance.

 

[the Jester]

Some starting points that I've actually used:

All the pcs are at the bar in the local tavern. Suddenly a wizard stands up, screams "MYNAR!!" and casts a fireball into the room, torching the tables (everyone but the pcs, the caster and the bartender).

The pcs grew up in the same small community; one is the squire of another, while a third is the infamous local hermit, etc.

The pcs are students at the same university.

The pcs live in the same city and have a web of connections. Two went to school together, one of whom works at a museum; another is a guard at the same museum; and the final one is a thief trying to steal something from the museum.

The pcs are members in a military unit or fraternal order together (can't quite recall, it's been a long time ).

The pcs live in the same borderlands fortress and work for the same Lord.

The pcs are renting an apartment together because they're poor.