What is the “home base” for your party?

[fusangite]

Because I like GMing quest-oriented campaigns, my characters rarely have a base and usually both being pursued and pursuing the object of their quest. It's a personal style thing. The other problem with having a home base for the characters is that they can easily become distracted just with gaining and maintaining power in their base; this tends to require ever-expanding lists of NPC names and stats as I struggle to keep track of anyone and everyone they might seek aid or information from. I don't mind a lot of NPC relationship bookkeeping but I find that urban-centred campaigns send this out of control and I end up tiring of it.

So I prefer a party motivated by a good combination of fear and fanaticism traversing the globe/plane.

 

[Shadowdancer]

A castle outside the City of Greyhawk, which protects a teleportation gate connected to a city on the other side of Oerth (Shelzar, City of Sin), used by merchants to transport trade goods back and forth.

 

[Zimbel16]

Currently, each of our PCs has a different home in the same region (within 100 miles or so of each other). I've also played major campaigns with "nowhere" and "Tavern".

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

I have never played a PC with a home base or who was a member of a group with a home base. In the game I run, though, one PC took over a town and his (fellow PC) henchman PC now operates a ranch in the same town. It's not so much a home base as semi-retirement. I tend to keep my players' characters on the run too much to let them establish a home base. This is another reason I look forward to Ptolus.

I have never run a game for a group that had a name, but I once played (RttToEE) a game in which the group called ourselves "Twelve Seconds [of Bloodshed]" because we almost always defeated every challenge in 2 rounds or less.

 

[frankthedm]

The Wizard of the party had a job at the Karmekian Tower of High Sorcery. He was Dias, Keeper of Spells.

Sadly, that character was eaten by a "Dire Sandshark". He had successfully cast his dimension door to get out of the mouth, but only traveled out to medium range because his either failed to think beyond the BattleMat or desired to “do something” the next round rather than break line of sight and did not expect it to be too fast. It was. The next charge slew him.

 

[Evilhalfling]

They founded a town and spent several years getting it going. The Thief has part ownership in the tavern and a shrine under someone elses temple where he keeps two artifacts. (which they are afraid to use.) The druid and her husband have a nearby grove and a house built up in the trees. The Fighter had a manor house started but was killed before it was finished.

 

[Kurashu]

At first our group lived out of the back of a couple of carts (however, a visit to Hillsfar ruined that). After killing off a lich (that we helped to set up, well two dead characters did), we set up shop down the road in Daggerfalls where one of dwarves in the clan leader now.

 

[Enkhidu]

All these homebases are for the same 16th/17th level party. Like fusangite, we found that introducing such things during play can be time consuming in the extreme. As a result, we use Leadership to model well run properties (making the cohort stationary and key in either the base's defense or management, and the followers as staff). Then we simply handwave the actual leadership numbers and wing it. It's worked quite well.

Homebase 1: A sea-side castle tower and the surrounding countryside. Currently being used as a staging ground by an invading army (though the invaders and the PCs have an "understanding" that basically amounts to "we're fine with you being here as long as you're still slaying the giant led goblin army running rampant with the area").

Homebase 2: A lone desert tower, once the home of a legendary (and supposedly immortal - though more recent legends state that the immortality was recently revoked) mage. The sorcerer in the party is still exploring it's depths and secrets.

Homebase 3: Three estates in three disparate cities - a hovel, a manor, and a house of middling size. Each contains a permanent gate to the Spire, a shining metropolis in an unknown dimension. The Spire is very reminiscent of Sigil in that strange denizens walk the streets rubbing elbows with their enemies, as powerful forces keep the peace. This one was the result of a lucky draw from a Deck of Many Things.

Homebase 4: A Series of waystations and boltholes hidden in out of the way locations. While we have not found all of these, and have not found a way to activate the teleport circles that connect them, we have their keys.

 

[reanjr]

My current group:

Duriel (Human Bard) - lives at home with parents in city
Berry (Gnome Rogue) - adopted sister of Duriel
Brother Luferus (Halfling Cleric) - lives in church rectory in the same city
Father Victor (Human Dread Necromancer) - lives in same rectory
Hannibal (Caliban Ranger) - no home
Wolfenstein (Human Druid) - outcast from his land after setting his house on fire
Jon (Human Fighter) - outcast from his land after sleeping with his officer's wife

Summary:

2 at home
2 at church rectory
3 without home (though two were not by choice)

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Our current group is 15th-level.

We started at 1st-level in the town of Runewood. It's still our base of operations, and the Paladin has become the Marshall of the region, and begun expanding the barracks and Church of Pelor in the town. The party Druid lives at the inn with her husband, the innkeeper.

The Wizard was recently bestowed an estate in a neighboring Holding, and so that serves as a secondary base of operations, though it was badly damaged in a Slaad attack recently.

The Barbarian at one point took over the northern Orc nation, and is now their acknowledged Warlord. He may decide to move there permanently at the end of the campaign, but remains with the party presently, and so still probably considers Runewood his base of operations as well.