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

[Rolzup]

If at all possible, I like to link the PCs together *before* the first session. E-mail is a great thing for this; the players can communicate back and forth , and determine what the characters know about each other. Ideally, you can jump right into play for the first session, and not spend too much time on the introductions and forcing the PCs to figure out *why* they should trust a bunch of strangers.

(And really, who's stranger than the typical PC group, eh?)

One starting idea that I've had....

The PCs grew up together, in or near the same small town. They knew each other well; as friends or as enemies would be for the individual PCs to decide. Eventually, they all left town, heading out into the Big Bad World to seek their fortunes. And now, years later, they're all coming home...

(The "Why" would vary depending on the tone of the campaign. Maybe they all promised to meet on a particular day, or they're here for the harvest festival, or because they've had dreams that drew them back)

...only to find the town afire, the townsfolk -- their families included -- dead and/or missing, and the culprits nowhere to be seen. If they don't band together and set out in search of vengeance, I'd be very surprised indeed....

Rolzup

 

[alsih2o]

have them all be called as witnesses in aminor crime they all see committed. this could be ballooned up later to bring the beginning back

over the course of waiting to testify they could all get to know one another. this also allows for loyalty to be tested with offers of small bribes for changed testimony and such.

 

[orchid blossom]

One campaign I play in began with the characters called to a funeral. An old ranger had passed away, and in his travels had met either ourselves or our parents, and had left us bequests.

The game started with the characters arriving to recieve the bequests, but the executor couldn't get into the rangers home due to a pack of dogs the old man had kept. That was our first adventure. Most of the dogs just had to be calmed, but his companion was dangerous and had to be put down. After that we found some journals mentioning our characters and his plans to bring us together into a group. After we cleaned out the house the town asked us to do a couple other things, and next thing you know we're an adventuring party.

 

[WonkaMania]

Hey there everyone!

Thanks for the great ideas so far! I've read them all and I'm still thinking everything over, so feel free to give any more ideas if you have any!

Wraith Form, Thank you for the advice! Perhaps I should kind of explain more of what I'm thinking though. I got the idea from a few NeverWinterNights on-line Persistant World modules that I've been playing. This one has it set up that you may NOT rest unless you have some food to do so! Characters in that world can buy food rations which are expensive, or you can buy a skinning knife and some oil relatively cheap. When you kill an animal, you can skin it to get it's hide and also meat. You then use the oil to create a campfire and cook your meat on the fire! A different one that I play in is the same in that you can *not* rest unless you eat food. In this world you pick your food off of plants and trees, or get eggs from chickens, milk from cows, and then use the cooking tradeskill to "make" something to eat! (a salad, a pie, etc..)

I thought those where both *very* cool ideas, and made it a bit more realistic and FUN! Oh, I just killed those orcs, but I'm down a few hitpoints, I'll rest now. Hmm.. no food.. I'm hungry.. oh, here's a berry bush! MMmm.. good berries.. ok, nap time now! hehe.

Really, I kind of want the game to be an experiment in *acting*! Sure their will still be quests and killing things and combat will be just as important as it normally is, but I also want the non-combat things to be important as well! Going to go down into a dungeon? Better take some food and water with you, who knows how long you'll be down there! Ahh.. you also have encumbrance to think of, so no you can't bring a month's worth of food with you! hehe!

I presented the idea to my group to see if they would like to play in this type of campaign, and there was an over-whelming response of *yes*! So, all in all, I think it will be pretty fun if I can pull it off and do it right.

~Wonka

 

[Wraith Form]

Most of the dogs just had to be calmed, but his companion was dangerous and had to be put down. After that we found some journals mentioning our characters and his plans to bring us together into a group.

The punch line? The journals also mentioned that in order to Save the World Once Again (tm) the party required the companion to help them, otherwise the planet would explode. DOH!

 

[Stormrunner]

Since your setup is obviously strongly character-driven, my suggestion is:
Background
background
Background.

Have each player answer a set of questions about their character. Where did they grow up? Who were their parents? Who do they love most/hate most in their life? What memorable thing happened to them when they were six?
If you want this to be "an adventure in acting" then the players are going to need to go into this kind of detail about their characters anyway.
Then start looking for ways to tie them together. Were two characters both raised by druids? Maybe they've been companions since childhood. Is Alice the granddaughter of a famous knight, while Bruce was trained in the fighting arts by "an old, retired knight"? Bingo, Bruce was trained by Alice's grandfather. And so on; you may have to make a few minor changes to some of the PC's stories but if your players are sufficiently detailed you should be able to find something for everyone. It's not necessary to tie everyone to everyone, just make sure each PC is tied to at least one other PC.
Then have the first adventure tug on those links to bring them all together. It doesn't have to be all at once.
The most recent time I pulled this off and it worked was a cyberpunk campaign. Casey (PC #1) is a skilled burglar and car-thief with a passion for seafood. While doing a little fishing in the wilderness outside the city she notices a fancy limo, pulled over to the side of a deserted road, lights off, one driver sitting in the car obviously waiting for something. It's pretty clear that these people are up to something shady. Being an impulsive type, she carjacks the limo while the driver is taking a piss, and roars off, back to the big city. Knowing the car is hot, she brings it to Locksley (PC #2), a smuggler/fence/blackmarketeer type who can arange to have it "chopped" for parts. While disassembling the car they find a body in the trunk, plus a jacket and an expensive corporate-style palmtop computer. Locksley calls his streetdoc friend Zackariah (PC #3) to dispose of the body; meanwhile Casey calls HER best friend Jojo (PC#4), an ace mechanic, plumber, and sometime seductress - "You'll never guess what just happened!". No-one, not even Jojo, can crack the (expensive, executive-level) security on the palmtop, so they go in search of a hacker. Fortunately, one of Jojo's current boyfriends is Rocko (PC #5), a quintessential Tough Guy (think Wolverine from the first X-men movie, without the claws), and HIS best friend is Xue Wen, a young Chinese martial artist and Zen hacker (PC #6). Another of Jojo's lovers is an NPC bartender (both Jojo and Locksley loaded up on the social skills and Contacts, correctly surmising that info-gathering was going to be a BIG priority in a cyberpunk world). So yes, they all meet at a bar - but after a lot of lead-in, and not by mere random chance. Note that, e.g., Zackariah and Xue Wen knew absolutely nothing about each other and had never met - but Zack knew Locksley who knew Casey who knew Jojo who knew Rocko who knew Xue Wen.

Character creation wasn't entirely random either. At the start I told the group, "We need at least one of each of the following: a combat specialist, a stealth specialist, a computer specialist, a smart person, a charismatic person, someone with government connections, someone with Mob connections, someone with media/entertainment connections. Plus it would be nice to have a healer, a mechanic, and/or a skilled driver/pilot. Pick one or two of the above and build a character around it."

If you can pull off something similar with your group, it gives them all a reason to hang out together after the first adventure concludes, other than just "We have fought side-by-side, now we are buddies".

 

[Wraith Form]

Wraith Form, Thank you for the advice! Perhaps I should kind of explain more of what I'm thinking though. I got the idea from a few NeverWinterNights on-line Persistant World modules that I've been playing. This one has it set up that you may NOT rest unless you have some food to do so! Characters in that world can buy food rations which are expensive, or you can buy a skinning knife and some oil relatively cheap. When you kill an animal, you can skin it to get it's hide and also meat. You then use the oil to create a campfire and cook your meat on the fire! A different one that I play in is the same in that you can *not* rest unless you eat food. In this world you pick your food off of plants and trees, or get eggs from chickens, milk from cows, and then use the cooking tradeskill to "make" something to eat! (a salad, a pie, etc..)

**SNIP**

Really, I kind of want the game to be an experiment in *acting*!

**SNIP**

I presented the idea to my group to see if they would like to play in this type of campaign, and there was an over-whelming response of *yes*! So, all in all, I think it will be pretty fun if I can pull it off and do it right.

~Wonka

*Sigh* I'm glad to see all is good in the world after all. Good luck! Sounds like you have a lock on things!