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

[Khorod]

PC1:"I go into the tavern, do I see anyone there?"
DM:"There are several people eating & drinking. One of them is a large man in chainmail with an axe."
PC1:"I go up to the guy with the axe and say hello."
PC2:"Hello"
PC1:"You look dangerous and heavily armed; let's go rob tombs and camp together for the rest of our lives."
PC2:"OK"

That comes from a comic strip called Zogonia in Dragon Magazine 296. I think 296.

How about this one: the PC's are each invited to the will-reading of a prominent member of the community. "The good lord had heard of you, and several other gifted young people..."

You can stop there, or you could also have it be either a) a trap by an evil so-and-so to take out the gifted youth of the region in preparation for activitities 10 years down the line. Or b) a long term plot to create a group of people that can be blaimed for a bunch of criminal acts. This creates a low/mid level nemesis for the party at the same time.

 

[Mort]

Starting my last campaign, I had a mugging break out and the PC’s were the ones that helped, and then got to know each other – throw in constant danger from there.

I also think letting the players come up with a justification is a great way to go.

Here’s one I’ve been dying to try out – suggested by a friend – it requires mature players (reason apparent in a second):

1. Tell the players you are running a high power campaign and that each player is to generate a character at 20th level. Give the players lot’s of leeway and let them do pretty much whatever they want.
2. Tell they players they’re characters have been sent on an important mission to area X (fitting an appropriately high level incident in your world).
3. Once there do something you (the DM) have always wanted – put them up against a challenge that will annihilate them in matter of rounds (yeah, I know they’re 20th level, like there’s nothing bigger) as in assured total party kill.
4. Once the characters are all dead tell your players to each create a 1st (or whatever) level character that is investigating the disappearance of his former character (connection is up to the player but should be strong enough to want to investigate thoroughly).

This should get the characters together with an instant story arc – and as a bonus they know you’re not pulling punches.

 

[Corinth]

On the day of King Eldarion Telcontar's coronation, the PCs meet before him and receive a charge to go forth into the land once known as Angmar and retrieve three lost treasures. In this way shall Durin's Folk, the Men of the Reunited Kingdom (and its allies) and the Firstborn who remain renew their bonds of friendship for each people shall recover a treasure that is unique unto them: the Axe of Durin, the Spear of Gil-galad and one of the lost Seeing Stone of Numenor.

(Oh, and the PCs are all first level. Getting there is half the fun.)

 

[Saeviomagy]

One by one, you run each (1st level) character through an encounter in a cave, where no matter what, a medusa/cockatrice/beholder turns them to stone with it's gaze/touch.

Centuries later (or even millenia, different for each PC), they're turned back to flesh by a passing wizard or cleric, or someone else with stone-to-flesh ointment, who wants to turn them back for a reward (hey - they look like a party of adventurers - who else goes hunting medusa's? And adventurers always have cash, right?).

Or how about -
The party start the campaign dead - they died during some large-scale event. A powerful cleric is trying to use true-ressurection to bring back a legendary hero who died in the same cataclysm as the characters, but since the name of the hero has passed from the worlds knowledge, he just has to try ressurrecting everyone who died on that day in that place...

Or -
Each of the characters is an acquaintance of someone who got impregnated by a dragon (we all know how randy dragons are...). A powerful enemy of the dragon is collecting all the offspring for some ritual, and the dragon comes calling, wanting to know what's going on. Each of the characters will have lost someone from their lives to the dragon's enemy, so will have a reason to try to help track them down...