Trying to get the players all starting in the same place believably

[Desdichado]

Accidental double post

You can delete those, actually.

I don't put the kinds of restrictions you do on my characters, so I get a much broader selection of races, classes and alignment than you do.

Actually, I completely ignore alignment altogether.

So, to manage it, I've adopted the Spirit of the Century background exercise as part of my chargen sessions. It's now a mandatory exercise before we start, because I've found that it works so well.

Each player draws the names of two other characters in the group. Then he writes a little blurb; just a few sentences, about some adventure that happened in the past to him. This works well for me because I usually start my games at 2nd or 3rd level, so its a given that they've done something before the campaign starts, but even at first level you can assume that there's been something exciting that happened to them. Then, you take that blurb from each of the two characters that you drew and write in how your character was involved in their story.

The whole exercise shouldn't take more than ten or fifteen minutes, and when you're done, you've got a whole web of relationships between the various characters, as well as some background hooks, that make it very plausible that they'd be working together for the campaign you're about to start.

 

[Shoe]

Spirit of the Century background exercise as part of my chargen sessions. It's now a mandatory exercise before we start, because I've found that it works so well.

Each player draws the names of two other characters in the group. Then he writes a little blurb; just a few sentences, about some adventure that happened in the past to him. This works well for me because I usually start my games at 2nd or 3rd level, so its a given that they've done something before the campaign starts, but even at first level you can assume that there's been something exciting that happened to them. Then, you take that blurb from each of the two characters that you drew and write in how your character was involved in their story.

This sounds like a great idea. i think ill give this a shot. It will also help the players to remember each others' characters' names as this is something that gets forgotten ALOT at my table...once my wife's character hit level 4 (all the way from L-1) with a blank Name:______ field on her character sheet

 

[Shoe]

Spirit of the Century background exercise as part of my chargen sessions. It's now a mandatory exercise before we start, because I've found that it works so well.

Each player draws the names of two other characters in the group. Then he writes a little blurb; just a few sentences, about some adventure that happened in the past to him. This works well for me because I usually start my games at 2nd or 3rd level, so its a given that they've done something before the campaign starts, but even at first level you can assume that there's been something exciting that happened to them. Then, you take that blurb from each of the two characters that you drew and write in how your character was involved in their story.

This sounds like a great idea. i think ill give this a shot. It will also help the players to remember each others' characters' names as this is something that gets forgotten ALOT at my table...once my wife's character hit level 4 (all the way from L-1) with a blank Name:______ field on her character sheet

 

[KidSnide]

In most of the games I've played in (or run), the GM tells the players what type of group the PCs will become (and sometimes where they will first meet). That's just a part of giving the PCs enough information to create their characters. The GM just defines the starting point and the players write backgrounds that get them there.

-KS

 

[Nightson]

Yeah. I suggest letting players know the starting situation, preferably at the start of character creation. I really suggest making characters together as a group. Have people make ties to the other characters, the DMG2 suggest one major positive tie and one very minor negative tie.

 

[weem]

I generally set things up myself with at least "this is how you all got here" explaining to them the events of the last day or so, allowing them to work out all the rest - and I usually come to those ideas after speaking initially with each player about what they had in mind.

I am running my second 4e campaign right now. Here's how the two of them started incase you are interested...

Campaign 1

I had talked to them each before the game separately about why they had come to this particular starting town, so we had that out of the way. When the game started, I told them that this small town they were now in had been attacked for the last few nights in a row (an organized kobold raid of some kind), and on this night they (among with many others) were rounded up to help defend a small western wall. I explained that many of those around them were young and inexperienced - as such they had fallen already and now it was down to just "you four" at this particular part of the wall... so... with arrows buzzing your faces, and small figures armed with various blades pushing towards you... roll init!

Campaign 2

Each player received a note asking them to meet near a large oak a mile outside of town in three days. The players did not know each other, had never met, etc but each had received this letter to meet there at midnight. I explained to them (after discussing their background beforehand) why they were in town, and how they received their letters.

So we played out each of their cautious approaches to the area at midnight where they saw each other for the first time as well as a few NPC's gathered around a man holding a torch. As they all arrived, and the man with the torch accounted for everyone, he was asked "why am I here?" etc.

He responded by relaying a story that he had been attacked down by the docks some time before (a week iirc) by two would-be assassins. He was able to defeat them and "I found this on them", at which point he passed around a note... on it was a list of 7 names... the 4 PC's, the 2 NPC's who were also there and this man (also an NPC). He then asked, "Why are we on this list?" looking at each of them suspiciously...

...at which point they were all ambushed, including the man who called them all there (who died during the fight).

 

[pukunui]

My group has always struggled with team-building. We generally build our characters in isolation and end up with a dysfunctional party of highly-individual PCs with little reason beyond metagaming to not only help each other but to even continue to adventure together in the first place! So now that it's my turn to GM again (I'm going to be running my first Star Wars Saga Edition campaign using the Dawn of Defiance adventure path), I'm hoping to nip that little problem in the bud once and for all.

For starters, we're going to be having a character creation session so that everyone can work together to build their characters instead of having everyone do it at home by themselves with no thought to what anyone else is going to play. I have deliberately withheld my character creation guidelines (how many points they get to spend on ability scores and the like) so that they won't be able to build their characters in advance - although they're certainly free to think about what they want to play.

I have also established that the majority of the PCs were part of a mercenary unit working for the Separatists during the Clone Wars. I'm also starting the campaign three years after the end of the Clone Wars, so any PCs who don't fit that background (I've got one guy who wants to play a rogue clone trooper) still have plenty of time to become an established part of the group prior to the start of the campaign. I'm leaving the finer details up to them, although I am going to give them a list of questions/suggestions to help them with it.

I also really like Hobo's suggestion about using the Spirit of the Century's background development exercise (I wasn't too clear from his explanation as to how exactly it's supposed to work, but I've managed to get my hands on the actual SotC rulebook, so I should be able to figure it out -- and not only that, but I reckon it'll work perfectly since Phase II is all about incorporating World War I into your character's background. I can just substitute the Clone Wars for WWI without having to change much at all!).

 

[Shoe]

For starters, we're going to be having a character creation session so that everyone can work together to build their characters instead of having everyone do it at home by themselves with no thought to what anyone else is going to play. I have deliberately withheld my character creation guidelines (how many points they get to spend on ability scores and the like) so that they won't be able to build their characters in advance - although they're certainly free to think about what they want to play.

the more i read this thread, the more and more likely i think I may be to just have a character building session instead of having peopel bring characters. it seems like it will work out for the best, even if it basically means starting a week later than intended

Thanks for all the feedback guys,
Shoe

 

[Witty Comeback]

Throw all their characters in jail accused of a crime they did not commit and have them find a way to escape.

AKA "The Usual Suspects" method.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I have been DM'ing for around 15 years and consider myself to be pretty good at it. I always find myself with the same problem right before begining a new campaign; How do i get all my players to begin the campaign cooperating? I do not restrict Alignment/race/class other than by use of the 3.5 D&D PHB, so getting the players interested in working to gether can sometimes be a challenge.

Since it causes consistent problems, why not impose at least some limits?

For my campaign, now four and a half years on, I laid out the setting, told everyone they had to make a local character (which restricted races and classes somewhat) and then told them they had to explain who they were related to in town and about their upbringing.

Since all the characters were from a single village, there was no question of how to throw them together -- they all grew up knowing each other. No, no one got to be a half-dragon derro or anything, but they still had nearly all of the PHB to choose from, and the campaign was super-easy to start. And there wasn't a single complaint.

I am leaning towards telling them a back story that links all of thier backstories and just not roleplaying it out, but does that stifle players too much? My games always tend to be a somewhat metagamed/forced cooperation between players and then an awesome epic during which everyone has a blast. I am trying to improve my skills as a game master and this seems to be my major weakness.

Telling players they have to come up with linkages between the characters instead of you dictating a novel at them is definitely preferable.