[DM]- How to get party together at beginning of new campaign?

[Sherlock]

If in doubt, have a fight break out! Thats a good way to get a group together.

Also make sure the players make indepth backgrounds for their characters. A good background is a treasure trove of adventure ideas.

 

[Seonaid]

Sigh, I meant following DM Toad's post. Stupid work distracting me from D&D.

 

[Seonaid]

The easiest way to do competitions is figure out one skill or stat and whoever rolls highest wins.

 

[sircaren]

DM Toad,
<SNIP>

I could run with what I had previously said about the cheese festival, and just sort of back it up a bit, so that they are there for the Faire itself and have the games available for them to compete in!

As per how I could run it, the Archery one is easy enough, as well as tight-rope walking (balance skill). How would you suggest to do the others? A few strength checks for the boulder pick up and throw? How would you do the "foot races"..? What do you mean by "horsemanship"..? Pie eating contest..? no idea how to run that one in game mechanic terms! hehe.

</SNIP>

You might just do ability checks. Consider doing double elimination so a freak die roll doesn't kick them out of the tournament altogether.

 

[DM Toad]

here's some ideas I came up with a while ago.

I found that just rolling one competing d20 was not all that fun so I tried to come up with various game styles

Heres what I did for archery

Each archer is required to pass each of the three preliminary ranges. This is to weed out the skilled from the not so skilled or lucky. The targets during the preliminary round is simply a 6 inch diameter circle of leather. The leather must be pierced by the arrow for it to be judged a score. An archer is allowed three arrows for each range. He/she must score 2 of the 3 to advance to the next range.
At each of the prelim ranges the shooter must score 2 of 3 hits.
1 range = DC 10
2 range = DC 13
3 range = DC 16

Assuming the PC(s) are able to make it through each of the preliminary ranges they qualify for finals. The target for the finals changes to a 6 inch circle of leather with 4 rings: a 2 inch diameter black ‘bullseye’, a second yellow ring around the bullseye, and a third red ring around the second, and a white fringe for the fourth circle. The goal of the final rounds is to measure distance and accuracy.

The finals are run akin to a golf skins game. The first round of finals is at DC 18, the second at DC19, third at DC20, and so forth as after each round the competitors take a step back from the target.

All finalists (and NPC if needed to fill the ranks) takes a roll at the first round of the finals. Any player that makes the DC has hit the mark and is elligable could move to the next round of finals. A player that rolls equal to the DC is considered to have hit the white fringe. A player that rolls one better than the DC is considered to have hit the red circle. A player that is two better than the DC is considered to have hit the yellow second circle. A player that is three or more better than the DC has hit the bullseye. Those that do NOT make the DC are out of the game.

A round in the finals is won if there is a player that hit closer to the bullseye than any of the others. Note that hitting the bullseye is the same if you hit it by 10 over the DC or just 3 over. You still hit the bullseye. (i.e. hitting the bullseye and no one else did).

The game is over if this happens and the player with the best shot is crowned champion.

However, if two or more players share the best shot then the round is over and a new one begins and the round is considered a draw. Like a skins game all competitors that hit the targe (regardless how good) will also move to the next round. This allows come from behind wins and you may still have a shot at winning if you make one crummy roll. If no one hits the target in a round that round is shot over.


Foot Races.
Its not all that fun to have competitors just roll one Running skill check and the highest wins...wheres the fun. So for a 100 yard dash I measured who could make up the 100 yards fastest, by having the competitors roll repetitive (sp?) running checks against a DC of 10. For every point over 10 they would add to a running total (that starts at zero). First person to get their total to 100 wins. If they roll a 10 or less, then they don't get to add any points to the running total. Law of averages says those with better running skill will most likely roll DCs higher then 10 and get to 100 quicker. But there is luck involved and the best runner isnt guaranteed the win.

Boulder Toss.
Take the hammer throw or shot put sports today. Its not just a strength heave but there is posture and spins to build up momentum. Ive not done this one before but you could have contestants roll 3 Dex checks against a DC of 20. For every point over 20 on these rolls they get to add to the final strength check. The highest strength check heaves the boulder the farthest. This also gives those dextrous characters a chance.

Just some ideas. I had fun with them when I ran an olympics style games for my home grown campaign. I capped the games of with a mass melee (almost gladiotorial) with blunted weapons that only caused bruising damage. If you lost half your HPs to blunt damage you were out.

It made for a fun gaming session and started pulling people together.

 

[AlphaOmega]

Foot Races.
Its not all that fun to have competitors just roll one Running skill check and the highest wins...wheres the fun. So for a 100 yard dash I measured who could make up the 100 yards fastest, by having the competitors roll repetitive (sp?) running checks against a DC of 10. For every point over 10 they would add to a running total (that starts at zero). First person to get their total to 100 wins. If they roll a 10 or less, then they don't get to add any points to the running total. Law of averages says those with better running skill will most likely roll DCs higher then 10 and get to 100 quicker. But there is luck involved and the best runner isnt guaranteed the win.

Just some ideas. I had fun with them when I ran an olympics style games for my home grown campaign. I capped the games of with a mass melee (almost gladiotorial) with blunted weapons that only caused bruising damage. If you lost half your HPs to blunt damage you were out.

It made for a fun gaming session and started pulling people together.

DM Toad has good ideas here... might have to steal some

as a side note... didn't one of the Traps and Trechery books have some rules of a 100yd dash??? can't find my book but I remember seeing something...

 

[Templetroll]

Or they could all be the victims of a crime.

For info on starting a town, check out A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe by Expeditious Retreat Press.

since it is the end of a faire have merchants packing up to leave after the faire and someone cries out, "Thief! stop that thief!" and a youth runs off. Make spot checks and see several youths moving off as the hue and cry is raised. The party will notice their pouches are missing. This is almost certain to get them involved.

This is a gang of young commoners who are being trained to steal by an old thief, the Fagin type of thing, he has a older fighter as a bodyguard. Could do the Ma Barker thing and the boys are all her sons.

This doesn't have to be a deadly encounter; the old thief and fighter may strike for subdual and escape with none, some or all of the goods. They can reappear later for good effect and the party will get great satisfaction at bringing them to justice.

 

[Wombat]

I am working on a new campaign that will require all the PCs to members of the same secret society. Not only will this give a link for initial characters, but also for future characters (as characters die off).

The players are involved in forming the rough outline of said society -- I really like to get player input in these matters. That way everyone feels involved.

 

[Templetroll]

A good way to do it is have them all in one place for whatever reason, and they are the only witnesses of a terrible crime. Optionally, the authorities could arrive and assume the characters are behind it all. They have to band together to get away from the cops and prove their innocence.

Once they're together, they generally stay together. The players do want to play D&D together, after all.

I did this by having a murder occur in an inn; it was late and the sheriff was exhausted. He just locked the inn down and posted guards outside until morning. The party ended up taking charge inside and investigating thingsnot because they were a party but because they were all strong-willed individuals who were not going to be railroaded or murdered by inaction.

One sidelight was an NPC with a withered hand who stayed in his room. He was not involved in the murder but he was so strange - the wooden door and a table in his room were rotting, the bed was already broken and a pile of refuse used to be a chair. He was secretive, and so unconcerned with the murders and upset armed people investigating them that the party dealt with him carefully.

The crimes were found to have been commited by a skulk; a monster my players had never encountered before. It had camoflauge abilities but could not escape with its loot while there where guards outside. It was trying to kill enough people to drive the rest from the place so it had a chance to escape during the confusion.

The fellow with the withered hand, called Omi the invalid, had the Hand of Vecna, which caused wood to rot by touch. The fellow was evil but vastly entertained by hearing of the murders and the possibility of violence breaking out at any time during the night. He was immune to metal, but cursed to only be able to speak in a whisper. The players found the whispering to be one of the more frightening aspects of the character, along with his sarcastic humor.

It ended with a barbarian having a dalliance with a barmaid and they were attacked. The girl was injured and the barbarian made so much noise in the very first round as he tried to defend her the rest of the party was attracted. They stood and watched from the doorway, blocking it unintentionally as the fellow slashed the walls with his axe. Once the skulk was injured it died quickly and then surprisingly, only one member of the party decided to search the room! She got all the treasure and spent the next several months of gaming using the treasure to help anyone who needed normal gear. The other players never even took overt notice of the magic sword the woman suddenly had.

It was fun.

 

[Wraith Form]

I'm kind of new to DM'ing and I'm going to be starting a new campaign shortly.
*snip*
I'm going to make these characters keep track of encumbrence of their character, and make them eat food and drink water every day. They'll need to hunt for new food, or pick it off of a branch, and they'll need to cook their food.

Hi, Wonka!

I'm not going to candy-coat this, not because I want to discourage you but because (as you say) you're new to DMing, and, well--we've all been there. You're able benefit from the mistakes we've already made--and I'd prefer to not see you make one!

The hunting/gathering/eating & drinking thing is certainly immersive, and I don't claim to know your gaming group (maybe they'd enjoy that level of role playing). In my experince as both a player and a DM, I find that having to role play the daily, mundane necessities of life can get real bland, real quick. It's sometimes easier to gloss over the little things and get right to the "meat" of the adventure.


DM: The orc attacks.

Hrothgar: I step up to him and swing my mace.

DM: No, I'm sorry, you don't. You pass out on the ground.

Hrothgar: Whaaa--?!?!? What are you talkin' about?

DM: You failed to mention that you woke up and hunted for any kind of victuals. Worse, you specificly neglected to tell me that you ate breakfast this morning or drank from the stream near the party's camp. Now Hrothgar is going into hypoglycemic shock and suffering severe dehydration. The orc gets a +8 for hitting a prone figure, plus you're half-unconscious....(rolls dice)....OUCH. That's gonna hurt. By the way, how long has it been since you role played taking a bath? Peee-wheeew!


Now, doesn't that sound terribly exciting? Nah, I didn't think so.

If we want to role play doing the daily life activities of fake people, we can boot up The Sims and get all geeked-out on them. Hook your players with a great story. Role play your heart out via your NPCs--lead by example by staying in character in front of your players. And (as was already mentioned) keep a relatively brisk pace: when things get slow, have two or three guys burst into the room swords drawn and aiming to take down the PCs...as the fight progresses, you can create the reason why these swordsmen are targeting the PCs.

I like the suggestion someone else made a few posts ago: during character generation, tell the players you want them to come up with the reason why they know each other....takes a load off your shoulders, makes them feel that they're contributing (just don't let 'em suggest something too horribly imbalancing--"I'm the Crown Royal Prince. Obey me."), and often leads to additional backgroud hooks (which are adventure hooks in disguse)!