Have you had any fun intros to a campaign.

[Phyon]

Well I am seeing if any one else has played or been a DM in a game with just a funny/crazy or dumb intro

I think my most memorable intros to a game was something like this.

"You are in a tavern completely drunk after celebrating a grand adventure where you pillaged much treasure and slayed a great beast the town is honoring you for your great deed you performed. After a night of partying away you head to your room to pass out when you feel a twinge of pain in your chest your vision goes blurry as you fall to the ground you notice a dagger sticking out of your chest. "

Not totally how it went but about right after that went on to kill all the other PCs in grizzly fashion but that was my favorite of the stories. though i think it was the third guy ending up getting executed for murdering some one in a Inn.

But I am starting up a campaign soon and was seeing how people like to do fun intros other then you are all in a tavern and some one needs help. So what ones have you done or just a idea you think would be cool?

 

[theskyfullofdust]

I'll bite

I once started off a game where the PCs were all waiting to see a mighty wizard, who they wanted to help them rid a cursed item or said curse. Each PC had either a curse or a cursed item/weapon; the wizard agreed to do this in exchange for the PCs going off to gather something for him, essentially sending them off on quests until they'd done enough to pay off the remove curse.

 

[Amaroq]

Hmmm... one of my favorites was having the Level 1 Wizard coming home from an errand to the nearest major city, to discover his master dead, and himself the prime suspect. Meanwhile, the Drow had escaped from the Underdark, prompting the rest of the drow to send assassins after him. He hadn't planned on snow, so almost froze to death ... the ranger wound up rescuing him from the cold and the apprentice from the mob, but the assassins tracked them to his cabin and burned it to the ground; the PCs barely escaped with their lifes.

 

[Evilhalfling]

Three days after a Giant Pyramid swallowed the sun, your company is hired to escort some wagons from city A to City B.
Its dark as night, although the moon and stars are continuing to provide light.
Its been getting colder, but is currently no colder than an early winter day.
Plants are begining to look a little wilted.
We were 1st level.

The best example of the feeling of utter powerlessness in a fantasy world.
The sun being swallowed was clearly not our problem. There was nothing we were going to be able to do before the world died. we just had to focus on our own roles.

The fire priests eventually managed to create a ball of fire as a replacement sun, but it was not as warm, or as bright as the orginal. 2 months passed in game before the game ended, and the world not yet gotten its sun back.

The DM was actually running a second (high level) game in the same in the world, they made one attempt to rescue the sun & failed, they were gearing up for a second attempt.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Players wake up in jail to find out they are going to be castrated for lewd behavior.

 

[Scotley]

I've had some success with starting the game in the middle of the action. Usually this is an attempt on my part to avoid the time honored 'you're all sitting in the tavern when an old man walks in...'

In one game worked with all the PC's on their backgrounds and had them all converge on the same place in a city at the same time in the opening moments of the game. They did not know each other, but all arrived in time to rescue a wedding party from an ambush. They would meet again when they all came together to accept the reward offered by the father of the bride for their help.

In another game being run here at ENWorld all the characters are Constables in the same ward of a city. The action started a couple of rounds into a fight. Each round my co-DM and I posted not only the current action, but a flashback to one of the events that led up to the current battle. By the time the battle was over the players were all up on the mystery they were working to solve and could jump right into the investigation. I guess it worked well given that the game is still going strong a couple of years later.

Another game I'm running here started with the reading of a will. All the characters had some connection to the deceased. They were all offered a piece of the Estate in exchange for finishing the decease's life work--a finding and exploring of the Tomb of Horrors. He finally figured out where it was, but didn't live to explore it. I can't take full credit for this one as I had read of a similar start in another thread.

The other way I've seen this tavern scene avoided is to work with the players up front and establish that they are all working toward the same goal before the game starts. The result is the same, but you avoid actually playing out the scene. It can lead to better party design as well if the players are in on the planning. You can even go so far as to let the players decide how they'll get together.

As my time for game prep is at a premium these days I'm drawn more and more to a more cooperative design philosophy. Not only does it let the players do some of the heavy lifting when it comes to generating ideas, but I hope it will also result in greater buy in and interest than me deciding the course of the game.

 

[Amaroq]

I've had some success with starting the game in the middle of the action. Usually this is an attempt on my part to avoid the time honored 'you're all sitting in the tavern when an old man walks in...'

Had a DM do this oh-so-very-well a number of years ago.

Before arriving to the first session, he'd sent us an e-mail about the world, and said, "You will be part of a caravan traveling from X to Y; please e-mail me back to describe your character (for minis) and tell me why you're with the caravan."

We arrive, expecting some backstory, some time in X, the generic introduction to each other ...

No.

Our minis are out, on the table, with a caravan - we're told that we're two days out from X ... and ...

The game starts with my character taking damage as the ratman ambush bursts out of the terrain to attack the caravan.

Everybody roll initiative, even if you aren't a caravan guard like Amaroq's character is.

Effing. Brilliant.

Especially as the caravan gets burned, we get driven away from it, and eventually, outnumbered, make our final stand, thinking "Wow, TPK in our first encounter?" ...

Only to find that losing was the opening scene for the campaign.

 

[weem]

Hmmm... come to think of it, no.

I think all of my campaign intros have been pretty serious.

One-off games? That's a different story

 

[DayTripper]

Two current examples, one for my current campaign and one for the start of a campaign arc for a mid-level character returning from Ravenloft. In my current campaign, all the characters met in a lawyers office having been summoned to the reading of a will. The diverse nature of the party mattered little as the will was that of a (slightly) mad alchemist who died many years ago, he had connections to many communities. His estate was difficult to probate hence had taken many years to track down beneficaries. The PCs inherited a old house on the cliff top, only to find it used by smugglers, whom they promptly evicted...

The campaign arc, due to start later this year will begin having the main PC (a paladin of Heironeous) having been expelled from Ravenloft (he tracked down a holy avenger - what's the fun of having a paladin in Ravenloft with a holy sword...?) he now stands in a forest amidst the ruins of a raided caravan with little more than his holy avenger. Bodies lie strewn about when the other PCs arrive at the scene. Explain that! Oh, did I mention the paladin's race: revenant.

 

[Allegro]

Gave each member of the party a stone with a small animal carved in it. Each PC was given it from a close or distant relative and after receiving the stone started having ultra-realistic dreams from the animal perspective. After individual investigations they were all independently given the name and location of a swamp mage hermit. Who told them about the stones and told them a little bit about the rudimentary power of them. He also gave them the Chinese curse and blessing saying they will live in interesting times. Then a plant zombie attack…