PCs who don't seem to want to meet

[Kzach]

It can be awkward in real life to walk up to a complete stranger and strike up a conversation. Why would it be any different in an RPG?

Really? Hmm, this could explain a lot of my court appearances.

 

[S'mon]

Sometimes players feel lost and can't think of a way to plausibly bring their PCs together. Also sometimes they can't think of a reason why they would want to go on the DM's adventure, particularly if it sounds unattractive due to extreme danger, unlikable NPC patron, etc.

I always start PC groups as having already met pre-game, and when I bring in a new PC I aim to have a strong reason for their joining the group.

 

[Gort]

If you're looking for a one-shot way to put a party together that's worked for me, try this:

Make the players siblings! It works so well! The characters have a good reason for knowing each other and working together. If someone does something stupid or evil then it's less, "Why am I working with this person, I go off and find some better adventurers" and more "Steve is acting like he's been kicked in the head by a horse again, why did the gods saddle me with such a fool for a brother?".

My current campaign used this and we're currently doing some fun stuff with the oldest sibling who stands to inherit their father's estate. There's also a bastard child in the family because I read Game of Thrones and thought it would be cool to make the rogue a bastard.

 

[S'mon]

BTW the 4e DMG advice says that player party-creation should be done as a group, with each PC already knowing at least 2 of the others, AIR.

 

[prosfilaes]

I've refused to meet the party once. The DM gave the cleric of Tempus an item hidden in a box and told him to hire people for travel. I would have gone along with about anything, but I couldn't in any way justify as a paladin assisting a CN cleric in transporting an unknown item. Eventually the DM tossed my character a dream to tell me it was okay.

 

[Rechan]

Sometimes players feel lost and can't think of a way to plausibly bring their PCs together. Also sometimes they can't think of a reason why they would want to go on the DM's adventure, particularly if it sounds unattractive due to extreme danger, unlikable NPC patron, etc.

God yes.

I remember starting a (failed) adventure of PCs being recruited fresh off the boat to the biggest city in the campaign setting. One player says "Well, I don't want to. My character wants to go explore the city."

Cue deadlock.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

Make the players siblings!

For some reason, I've only played in a game where the PCs were siblings one time. It was an excellent time. A fairly significant portion of the campaign revolved around us trying to lift the family curse. We ran into our parents as villains (who we thought were dead), engaged in all sorts of bickering and sibling rivalries that would not have worked nearly so well for characters who were not related, and generally got to engage with the campaign world in a fun and slightly skewed way.

 

[Rechan]

The sibling business only stretches so far. "So wait, you're a tiefling and I'm a dragonborn, your parents were killed and I'm a noble scion of my clan and we're siblings."

 

[S'mon]

The sibling business only stretches so far. "So wait, you're a tiefling and I'm a dragonborn, your parents were killed and I'm a noble scion of my clan and we're siblings."

I'd require all PC siblings to be the same race, probably human. Other races could maybe be retainers of the family.

 

[vagabundo]

My guess is that these are players who don't have a hook yet, so being "mysterious" is the best they have. It could be a warm up issue; it take a little time to get your imagination into gear. Another reason could be a lack of structure or hooks in the scene. If there are interactive elements then people tend to interact with them, if there is nothing there then they try to move on or just sit by the fire and star in the flames in emo silence (so deep).

The best start I got with a group involved a little exercise I got from enworld. Just after character creation I gave some campaign background and asked the players to describe their pc's history in a line or two to the group. The on the second pass asked them to make a connection to another player's story and then did another pass asking them to make a connection to a different pc's story. There was loads of hooks for me and all the pcs had a nice bit of background.

But if I wasn't going to do that I'd want a dramatic event to bring them together(a tavern brawl, strange magical effect sealing them all in, etc...), otherwise you could have a few loose end pcs who paint themselves in a corner.