Compelling the PC's to an unknown destination... how?

[shilsen]

Excellent suggestions.

The only problem with that approach is that I wanted the underground city to be unknown and unheard of. The adventure starts out with the PC's investigating a newly exposed 'ruin'. Noone expects there's a whole civilization under the ruin. The inhabitatants believe the surface to be desolate and have not come to the surface in a over a thousand years.

As far as the PC's know at the start, they're just exploring a ruin for whatever reasons they come up with (for being an adventurer) at character creation. And therein lies the problem... once they discover that the whole campaign (at the start) is underground, there's nothing stopping them from returning to their hometown or wherever except the fact that I don't have any of that established! I've only fleshed out the underground city and environs.

That's not a problem. Player knowledge does not equal PC knowledge.

The PCs may not know about it, but tell the players that they should design PCs who, when they make this discovery, will be interested in exploring the underground city.

 

[Gold Roger]

The entrance is on a isolated island. The PC's shipwrecked on the island. Sooner or later they'll investigate.

 

[Cedric]

They find the remains of an explorer (adventurer) whose somewhat cryptically worded diary details the lost civilization and theorizes on the massive amounts of unguarded treasure just waiting to be cataloged.

 

[Baron Opal]

A farmer plows up an object with unique writing. PCs go to the area to see if there is more stuff to be had. This could even be something acquired in an antiquities shop or magic shop.

A small meteorite lands in the area. After the last bit of star iron, adamantium, dragonshards, whatever is removed one of the PCs notices masonry in the impact crater. Has the benefit of involving other comepting teams of adventurers.

A young druid is tasked with (controlling / eliminating) a fire (elemental / spirit) that is (destroying / dominating) the local wildlife. After the climactic conflaguration, a swath of forest and underbrush is burned away. Underneath lies a lost ruin...

Have the first adventure be completely unrelated to the overall story arc. The important part is that the landscape is changed somehow that reveals the next, major hook.

 

[Aeric]

If you don't want them to leave the underground civilization, simply have the entrance collapse behind them.

 

[Brimshack]

You know if nothing else, you can always just turn to the layers and say look the game is that way. Going back to town means the end of the game. I mean sometimes you just have to level with the players (we used to joke in my campaign about dungeon halls with signs on them that said "under construction." You don't want to do that too often, but no need to mince words when it comes right down to it.

That sais, if you give the players a reason to search the ruins, you can always just carry that underground. Maybe it's really there. or maybe what they are looking for is part of some bigger thing that is probably in the city.

I do think you ought to consider at least mentioning to the players that they should be prepared to do some dungeoneering, even if you don't spell out just how much. Maybe they know a little dungeoning is possible or something. The reason I say this is it cuts down on player grumbling if they have a chance to design characters appropriate to the setting. At the very least some players may want to think twice about playing a druid.

 

[adwyn]

All the players need to know up front is that the focus of the campaign will be subterranean.

Beyond that just let them discover underground peasants wearing gold in abundance and have some NPC make the comment about gold (mithril if necessary) being worth next to nothing to these people. Worked on the conquistadors like a charm.

 

[LostSoul]

I would say this to them:

I have an ancient, forgotten, underground city/civilization I want [you] to explore but I can't come up with a justifiable reason that compels [you] to get there.

Just tell them that this campaign is going to be about exploring what you have written up.

 

[el-remmen]

How about this?

Look for a primary theme to ask of all your players for their characters that will lead them in that direction without giving away what is going to happen.

Case in point, in my "Out of the Frying Campaign" I said no matter what character they made they needed to have a reason to avoid conscription in the civil war going on in the setting.

I then ran two intro sessions where they found a way out of the war which led them to the real adventures on the mountainous island of Derome-Delem and the exploration of a part of my setting I had just made with the idea of setting a campaign there.

So what can you ask of them that will help lead them where you want them to go?

Maybe all of them are orphans and the sigils on the entrance to city match strange birthmarks they share?

Maybe they all have been having different prophetic dreams but the one thing that is the same in all of them is a vision of a city no one has ever heard of before? And you can ask them for the dreams and work that into the plot of the campaign.

Maybe they just have to make "eager treasure-hunters"?

Eh. . . I tried. . .

 

[magnusmalkus]

Wow.

THAT'S what I'm talkin about... I'm sitting here slapping the side of my head goin' "Why didn't you think of that!"

The 'missing relative' angle is simplicity at it's finest. I like that approach. If I get newbie D&D players, I'll probably use that approach.

The civilization expert who notices a gap in the timelines for that culture is a SUPERB reason to get them into the adventure. I'd just need to make sure the PC's don't mind following someone elses quest. That'd be great if I get only one or two players, I can bring alond a 'mentor' NPC to help them out.

Shilsen also makes a good point... player knowledge does not mean PC knowledge. And I dont have to tell ALL. The truth in fact is that the PC's will know within the first game night that there are people under the ruin and they are organized... somewhat. And I can give them general hooks that dont give away too much. It is only fair to have them create PC's that are going to have an interest in the setting.

I particularly liked these ideas most:

Maybe all of them are orphans and the sigils on the entrance to city match strange birthmarks they share?

Maybe they all have been having different prophetic dreams but the one thing that is the same in all of them is a vision of a city no one has ever heard of before? And you can ask them for the dreams and work that into the plot of the campaign.