New Campaign - Where do your PCs come from?

[dreaded_beast]

When you start a new camapaign, where do your PCs come from?

If your campaign starts off in a particular town, do they all come from that town? If so, do they own homes, have families, etc.? Do they know much about the town and the land they live in?

If they don't come from the same town, how did they all get to the same area? Were they ordered to go there, just wandering looking for adventure, on the run, etc.?

Do you as the DM determine where the PCs come from and how they got there, do the PCs, or do you work together to determine that?

 

[Desdichado]

I don't mandate. I let the players decide. I'll tell them something along the lines of "you're in this town, whether or not you're from it, and you have to actually care somewhat what happens to it, although you don't have to be a patriotic native."

That's about as prescriptive as I've ever gotten.

 

[reveal]

In my current Eberron campaign I told them it would take place in and around Sharn. I wanted no PCs from Sharn so they would be surprised. But they were free to know each other and travel together. I brought them together by having them all meet on the Lightning Rail on the way to meet a common friend in Sharn. They were attacked and bonded better because of that.

In my d20 Modern campaign before this one, I insisted that all the PCs know each other but everyone came up with their own backstories.

Basically, it all depends on the campaign I'm running.

 

[eris404]

Sometimes for ease of play, the DM may give us a point or two like those above (for example, all characters are from the same town), but usually the DMs in our group let us hash it out or get creative when we create wildly different characters. As a player, I don't think it would be a bad idea to have some guidance from the DM - I'd treat it as a sort of a writing exercise and I'm pretty cooperative anyway. Otherwise, I usually pick a player to be my "buddy" and figure out how our characters know each other. That way at least two of the characters know each other from the start.

 

[adwyn]

I try to give the players a brief overview of where they will be starting, what type of group (adventuring, exploring, military, etc) they should be in, and a brief overview of what;s going on (war, politics, etc) and let them try to come up with something.

 

[Graybeard]

In the games I've played in and ran, it varied. One game I played in had all the PC's starting in the same town. They were all involved in the defense of the town (being attacked by orcs, etc.) in some way. One was a scout, another an archer, another was a fighter, etc. We all met doing these tasks.

A game I will be running soon will have all the PC's starting in the same town/city. It's up to them how they got there and how they know each other. I've played with these guys for years now and have faith that they will come up with something unique. One of my players has a good idea already. The game I will be running is loosely based on Ancient Rome. He wants to be an Aristocrat and have the other PC's work for him.

Should be interesting.

Chuck

 

[IronWolf]

I tend to tell the players where the game is starting, what region or what city (I DM FR games). From there its up to them. If they want to be from there that is fine or they can be from somewhere else and write up why they happened to come to be where they are now. I try to let the players work together to come up with why they are working together in most cases.

 

[Tonguez]

I give the PCs a starting point and a reson to bein town and then ask them to tell me why they know each other

so eg I might say each year the King of Takanui hosts a New Years celebration including athletic competition and theatrical performances, you are in Takanui to participate...

or

You are all employed by the Holy Church and have been summoned to the Holy City of Qahar...

 

[TerraDave]

In the past I have been more liberal, but this time I let them do as much in terms of charecter creation as they could without choosing a region, and then basically required two to be from the region where the campaign began, and another from a bordering one (with a caveat...).

Free choice, given the wide range of regions in the campaign world, can lead to charecters a little to exotic for starting at 1st level play.

But then there is the caveat: one charecter did have a more exotic origin as part of his background, so we compramised: the charecters familly came from farther away, but he grew up not so far away. (a gypsy from Rumania who grew up in Galia and is now adventuring in Albion)

 

[ThirdWizard]

They can be from wherever they want so long as why they're all at the same place makes sense. This gives them a lot of leeway in terms of character concepts, as well as gives nice plot hooks and often good excuses for travel.