What innovative ways have you come up with for PCs to get together

[Maraxle]

I had the first three players meet at a tavern after being called there separately by a group who had noticed their previous actions (I was starting them above 1st level) and thought they could use their help. The other two characters were introduced a session later, when the person who called the meeting brought them to their meeting place (they were uh, sidetracked in the first adventure). They were introduced as already having been a part of that meeting caller's organization.

In another group, it started off as a solo quest. Then the second PC jumped in to help out in a brawl out in a town common.

 

[Maerdwyn]

Jail Break
Each PC has to have been convicted - rightly or wrongly - of a crime. Players write up the background of their conviction, and the reason they want/need to escape. Execution of their plan is the first adventure.

Test of adulthood.
All the players are kids and have to pass some sort of trial in order to be considered adults by their society.

Armistice.
For a campaign started at level 2+. All the characters were conscripts in a war. They together the same unit, but now that the war is over, they are free to go.

 

[Kilmore]

I started one campaign in a caged trundel on the way to the guillotine. Most cooperative (with each other) bunch of PC's I've ever seen.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I make the players decide how they know each other. It puts the burden of "getting along" on them.

I am the same way, let the players work it out in their background. It is sometimes amazing what they come up with and anything they do come up with is usable as a plot element in a game!

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Best one yet was in a WFRP game, one player was a pit fighter that lost big and thrown in a shallow grave. Another player was a graverobber (soon to be doctor) that found him and helped. They had to run from town when a witness came forward and said he saw the player raise the dead and the other was a zombie, if not a vampire!

 

[EOL]

Armistice.
For a campaign started at level 2+. All the characters were conscripts in a war. They together the same unit, but now that the war is over, they are free to go.

I did something similar all the characters were conscripts but then their side lost the war. The PC's are among the survivors and flee into a nearby forest where they run into one another. Their first adventure to get out of the warzone alive.

 

[Buttercup]

These are some good ideas! Keep 'em coming. I'll be copying this thread into my EN World Folder o' Goodies.

 

[ForceUser]

In my current Vietnamese campaign, they were all sought out for duty to the Emperor under the direction of an Imperial sorcerer who acts as their superior.

 

[shilsen]

All of them wake up at the same time, to find themselves lying on a stony plain under a blood-red sky. As they sit up, each one realises that he can't remember where he came from, and perhaps a little more importantly, he isn't breathing and doesn't have a pulse.

 

[tburdett]

1) All the PC's show up for the reading of a will. So many possible ways to go from here.

2) All of the PC's are looking for the same guy for whatever reason. Maybe he owes them money, or maybe he stole something from them, or maybe a little of both. They bump into each other at his last known address. 5 minutes after they find his dead body the watch shows up and starts asking a lot of uncomfortable questions.

3) Amnesia. All of the PC's wake up in a shack down by the river. Mutilated bodies lie all around them but they have no memories of the event or who they are. Their armor, weapons, and equipment should give them some general clues about what they are, even if they don't know who they are.

4) All of the PC's show up to witness the execution of an old friend. Each of them know the guy being executed, but not each other. Each of them fervently believe that the guy is innocent and have to decide whether or not they will help him escape.

5) All of the PC's are contacted by a secret society that is intent on overthrowing the local government (which is rumored to be evil and corrupt). When the PC's show up for the meeting they quickly learn that it's a trap.

Hope you find one or more of these useful.

 

[Dagger75]

My group got together,

A recently captured ancient Elven fortress needed to be manned. The fortress now belongs to Cormyr and was part of Myth Drannor many centries ago. Anyway the castle needed strong, smart resourceful people to help keep it safe. I made all the characters come up with reasons that they would have worked for the crown. Then sent them to castle and they got to know one another.

ALSO- When you start a new game, make each person make a story on how they know the characters sitting on there left. Player 1 knows Player 2 but not Player 3. Good thing Player 2 and Player 3 grew up together at Castle Wolfenstien. You would be suprised at some of the complicated stories they create.