Beginings

[The Mad Hatter 10 6]

I would think that every DM out there is at one time faced with the problem of pulling a party together when starting a new campaign. We are all tired of the usual "You are all in a Tavern when..." beginnings too.

I would like to start a thread for everyone out there to post how they brought their PCs together at the onset of a new campaign. What story lines and plot hooks where used to bring the group together and decided to adventure together as a cohesive group? How many companies out there were started by a few folks meeting up and saying "I'm an adventurer, you're an adventurer, so lets work together?". We know this would only make for a tenative group at best... no one would know one another, so that trust that would truely be required for a group of people to work together and put their lives in each others hands would never really work that way... so what have you done in the past?

 

[Tonguez]

1. "The storm continues unabated and you watch in horror as the ship sinks beneath the waves behind you and your small liferaft is left alone in the darkness..." ie the Stranded and no choice but to cooperate option

2. "Since before dawn the town has been abuzz as preparations are made for the days festivities, soon people from the many clans will gather escorting their champions to meet in competitions of strength, speed and cunning..."The Festival option

3. "The sign was clearly displayed, Brother Lukatus Curator of the Holy Museums and Libarires was seeking workers to assist in excavation of an archaic site on the Northern Peninsula, interested parties should seek Brother Lukatus at the Museum of History"*see below

4. "The Grand Circus Maximus invites all talented artistes, acrobats, jongleurs, joculeurs and performers of every kind to join our latest greatest performance. We begin our tour at the Grande Theatre in 2 weeks apply now!"*

*I've used the 'casual laborer shtick a few times and even created an employment bureau to hire workers on to various projects

Other than that I do a lot of Meta-party formation eg I tell the PC that they will be (for instance) agents of the Church and then ask them to say why they are there and how they got involved (eg the Fighter is a Temple Guard, the Rogue was raised in the Church orphanage, and the Scorcerer is an unordained neophyte who has sort holy orders after fleeing from his family.)

In my current campaign I told the PCs that they are all from the same village, are friends of the chieftains son and are being groomed by the elders for future leadership positions.

 

[wighair]

I began my game in the following way:

It was set in Daggerdale (an area with lots of adventuring types) and the characters were all former members of an orphanage there. The had all arranged to meet up for the Shieldmeet festival at the orphanage, one or two years after they had left. When they got there they discovered that the owner had fallen into trouble and been kidnapped. The characters ended up trying to rescue this former father figure.

The reason for the kidnapping was related to the background of one of the players and an heirloom passed into the care of the orphanage, eventually meant for the PC. This item could be anything in your campaign and could well lead to further adventure.

I think an orphanage is often overlooked for possililities. In a world were there are many adventuring types it is quite probable that there would be alot of children born out of wedlock and also with the adventuring job being what it is, alot of orphans.

This allows begining characters to be virtually any race and also means they will know each other. If you have any characters that wouldn't fit with the background they can always be the buddy of one of the guys who do. Also, of course, this gives you the chance to play the "you are the really the long lost heir of..." card later in the game. Or indeed, "I am your father Luke!", or "you have the blood of the dragon emporers" or whatever.

Hope this is useful.

Mel.

 

[Valmur_Dwur]

My current PbEM has the group of seven captured by Slavers, branded, then shipwrecked upon an island. They have just defeated the last Slaver and now are in search of shelter. It is from the module "Treasure Hunt" and they are currently 0 level commoners with hopes of making it to first level

 

[khyron1144]

My current method

I don't know if this method would work in anybody else's campaign, but here's what I did to turn a one on one campaign into one that occasionally involves group adventures:
Everyone's a freelance adventurer looking for work. One of the PCs becomes sheriff of a small border town that suffers from frequent raids. The other PCs (and the NPC buddies) are his deputies.
This even offers a semi-convincing rationale in case things require later one on one adventures. Whenever a player can't make it to a session his PC is the one that stays behind to hold down the fort.
The main drawback is that the sherif has some power over his deputies and could order them to go on suicide missions or something of that sort, but since the issue hasn't come up I'm going to not worry about it for now.

 

[Moe Ronalds]

This probably wouldn't work in all campaigns but in my Campaign the fighter and his comrades from another adventuring group were all attacked on their mission to map out a new continent in hopes of civilizing it. He was the only survivor, and was kept for interrogation by the druidic tribe of which one of the other PCs was a member of. Eventually, the fighter got them to let him go and provide a guide for him (A druid (PC) named Gock (yes. there were jokes made. We're 13, it's to be expected) with a baby raptor companion). On their way out of the jungle, they were encountered by a female wizardess who used the last charge of a wand of teleport, and ended up in the wrong area.

 

[Buttercup]

Here's one I'd like to use at some point.

One of the characters has been given a map by his grandfather, as the old man lays dying. With his last breath he says something cryptic, which relates in some way to the other characters. For example, "Seek a brother of the sun, feet that run through heather and a lass with dragon blood to help you. Hack, cough, sputter...." That sentence would apply if the other party members were a cleric of Pelor, a halfling with the family name Heathertoes and a female sorcerer. It would happen that all of the party were the grandchildren of a group of adventurers who meant to visit the places on the map, but never did. Or maybe they did, but had to leave in a hurry....

Coolest would be if none of the PCs had ever heard of any of the places mentioned in the map.

 

[randomling]

My PCs (there were only two, so it seemed OK at the time) met because they arrived at the same village at the same moment to attend a festival that was taking place there. And of course, within minutes they were drawn into mystery, murder and mayhem...

I think the first words exchanged were:

"This is all your fault, dwarf."