DMs, how did you bring the party together?

[Desdichado]

I like to do one of two things:

1) PCs all work for the same patron/employer, and he hands out missions after assigning them to work together.

2) During the chargen pre-session, the characters themselves figure out why they're together and what they're "party dynamics" are going to be like.

 

[Zeddan]

I've used employer, secret agent of evil tricking the party, the tavern, and also used, when all else fails..."You've known each other for a while."

In the campaign I just finished playing in the DM used the Tavern.
We didn't leave there for 6 hours of playing times, and he finally had to have the Inn catch on fire to get us to leave. That was pretty funny.

 

[DM with a vengence]

I had the party as part of the same platoon scouting deep in enemy territory. They were attacked by overwhelming numbers, and in a massive battle everybody was brutally slain.

The party is resurected sometimes later by some unknown power. They need to figure out a way to complete their origional mission, and get back home.

 

[Black Omega]

It usually involves an initial job to draw people together.

In my current Rokugan/FR game half the group got to know each other on a caravan while on their way to the Empire from the Forgotten Realms. The other half started in the Empire knowing each other. Both were on their way to Bugaisha and met there while accepting a chance to fight bandits.

My Modern Horror game had the PC's all associated with the Edinburgh University Institute of Praeternatural(sp) Studies. They got to choose if they were students, professors or otherwise 'associated'.

 

[gunter uxbridge]

Best campaign start I ever did was quite fun. The PCs got caught up in the seige of a small fortress/village in the middle of nowhere. Some were just passing through when the BBEGs army swooped in, some were from the village, etc. They all took refuge along with the rest of the civilian population before the army surrounded the keep and were conscriped into its defence. Flash forward to four months later, and the PCs have been serving in the same unit that has been whittled down from 12 men to four or five. The food has run out, disease is rampant and the fall of the keep is inevitable. What the PCs do here is up to them. Stay and fight, run for the hills, try to bring back reinforcements, its all good. One of the best plot hooks I ever did.

The PCs in my case chose to go back to the nearest large city (Daggerdale, a FR game) and get reinforcements. The city refused, but gave them some goods to try to run the blockade. By the time they got back the keep was in ruines, the BBEG army gone and everyone was dead. Perfect time to introduce plot line number 2, the Mysterious Figure Searching Through the Rubble for Clues to a Powerful Artifact.

 

[Quinn]

Stuff that I've used in the past:

1) The group are members of a military unit on a warfront and are asked to scout out an area together. Some characters didn't exactly fit into a military mindset and so it seemed somewhat awkward.

2) Ask the players to figure it out before the first game and present me with their own story of how they got together. This works well for me, though you may need to police the ideas a bit to make sure they aren't really off the wall or problematic.

3) Start the game by describing the fireball that erupts in the middle of a crowded inn. The players are all just outside of the range of the fireball and uninjured, but get caught up in the chaos caused by the attack.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

Similar to the orc attack scenario, except the attack was by bugbears and the PCs had all served in the defense of the village.

 

[arwink]

At present, one party was put together by the church, and the second are a group of veterans from a War within the campaign.

Usually I just ask the PC's to come up with an excuse for themselves.

 

[aurin777]

I've seen many, many used, but I am partial to a few:
1) Same employer. This makes it easy. He's hiring specialists, the PCs are exactly that, instoparty.
2) The party gets caught up in the same mess. If an encounter is happening, players can be swept up with one another and everything can just take off from there.
3) NeMoran's vault. Even though the adventure is a tad lacking, a very much so like the premise for an openning adventure. All you have to do is find a reason for PCs to have a key. Then, the Pcs are all found and they find out the holders of the keys are all entitled to the inheritance to a dead wizard. All they have to do is go get it.

Well, there ya are.
~~Brandon

 

[Cedric]

Had a GM throw us an interesting curve once...

We all showed up disoriented in a strange room and a fight was going on.

A tall man, in resplendent robes points towards some of the combatants and yells, "Attack them!"

We were all compelled to attack. And we managed to triumph. Turns out we were all the "beings" that showed up when the ultra-high level wizard cast a special version of summon monster. He basically summoned adventurers.

heh, it was fun...and since we were then stuck in the middle of nowhere...we worked together to get home.

Cedric