PCs meeting by circumstance

[dreaded_beast]

Have you had PCs meet by circumstance (a condition that accompanies or influences some event or activity)? As opposed to them just knowing each other from the start of the campaign, or meeting in a "mundane" fashion.

What are some of your examples?

How would you say it is different from PCs being hired by the King to save the Princess, or meeting in a tavern and hearing about an adventure to go on?

 

[Hurtfultater]

Have you had PCs meet by circumstance (a condition that accompanies or influences some event or activity)? As opposed to them just knowing each other from the start of the campaign, or meeting in a "mundane" fashion.

What are some of your examples?

How would you say it is different from PCs being hired by the King to save the Princess, or meeting in a tavern and hearing about an adventure to go on?

I've played in an Unknown Armies game in which the PCs broke out of prison together. Being handcuffed together does (temporarily) enforce party unity. I've also been in All Flesh Must Be Eaten game in which the PCs happened to be in the same resteraunt and another in which they were the only competent non-zombies on a cruise ship. It changes the game by forcing more simulation of how people form a team and learn to trust each other, and it takes longer for layered relationships between characters to form, even though simple but ambiguous ones start almost immediately. I find throwing people together works better for one shots, but if you haven't done it, it's worth a try.

 

[jayaint]

We had a player re-shuffling... three out, two in one time during a lull in the campaign. When we sat back down to play, the king had summoned the three returning players to his High Tower to show us the ring of enemy troops encircling his keep. "Another" adventuring party (of two) were waiting to volunteer when we returned to his throne room. Our party had to be in a nearby city in just a few days, so we had to take on the two new players to fight our way out of the siege and get on the road.

It was like they had always been a part of the party, it gave us a common goal, and we were off and running without a bump.

 

[ST]

I had one game where the PCs had stopped at a gas station off I-95 at the same time. There was a gunshot, and they ended up in a Mexican standoff until they figured out none of them were responsible. (At that point one of the characters, an FBI agent, said something like "Nobody leaves until this gets sorted out.") That was a heck of a coincidence.

In my latest game we made the characters as a group, but we're not going for a party-style game (they're just people who live in the same town, who happen to have seen through the fabric of reality but haven't told anyone yet for fear they'd be locked up.) I've been cutting back and forth between characters, and the players have come up with interesting and believable reasons why their characters would seek each other out. I think we're probably going to end up with two groups of two PCs in that situation, and they might even end up working at cross-purposes. (I told them I was OK with that, so they're not being obstructive or anything.)

Actually, several of the PCs have met at this point, but they don't realize in-character that they share a common bond. The players are enjoying this.

Nevertheless, I'm a fan of letting the players come up with reasons to be involved in the scenario.

 

[ThirdWizard]

In a campagin I was playing in after one PC died, his new PC joined us in a very interesting way. The party was captured by some gnomes and imprisoned within their gnomish prison. It was quite the lavish place, very comfortable, with a large button on the wall, something in gnomish written above it. After a few days a PC pushed the button, and the floor tilted and dropped us into a dark, cold, prison cell, much to the laughter of the gnomes.

In the lower cell was a druid (new PC) who had been there for some years; apparently the gnomes in charge had completely forgotten about him! When they realized their mistake they released him with us. He had a deep hatred for gnomes and during the campagin would always blame strange occurances on gnomes. Whenever something would go wrong it would be the gnomes. Probably one of the most memorable intro a PC has gotten that I've seen.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Let's see, the last several campaigns I've run I've introduced the PC's in the following manners:

-The PC's were all passengers in a carriage that came under attack, forcing them to work together to survive - they also were all headed to the same town for a variety of reasons, so that they had a reason to stay together after the attack.

-The PC's were all students or otherwise connected to a Hogwart's-like University of Magic. I asked each PC to come up with a connection to the University, and then I used that the connect them for the first few adventures.

-The PC's all were from the same small town that came under attack, and the local lord gave them a task to perform, choosing each based on their connections in town - ie: the local Druid requested that his apprentice go along; the local Lord sent both his (unwanted) son and one of his guards, etc.

-The PC's came together in two groups during a war - half the group were soldiers sent to investigate an enemy outpost in a small village and make contact with a supportive noblewoman, and the other half was coming to the village because one of them had inherited a small tower there from his Uncle. They came together when the bad guy soldiers kidnapped a villager that one group wanted kept alive, and the noblewoman asked the soldier group to help.

 

[reveal]

In my current Eberron campaign, none of the PCs knew each other save for 2. The PCs were all on the Lightning Rail on the way to Sharn to meet a common friend. During the trip, the PCs were attacked and they were given word their friend was in trouble. Once they arrived in Sharn, they witnessed their friend being murdered. From that point on, they've been working together.

 

[kirinke]

Hmm. My first character....
She was being held under a domination spell by a naga. The other characters rescued her. She has since been slightly.... well slightly mad. Been great fun to play her. She's firmly chaotic good.