The Grackle
First Post
SpiderMonkey said:
If they told me they were going to go kill a bunch of orcs and take their stuff? Everynight.
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What keeps your party together?
- Thread starter Ambrus
- Start date
If they told me they were going to go kill a bunch of orcs and take their stuff? Everynight.
good question
My latest evil campaign is held together by the PCs wearing slave rings tied to an illithid owner of a master ring. They were told that if any of his "Chattel" died, he would select another random member of his party and slay them as well. Its worked out better than i could have hoped thus far, especially considering the various characters DESPISE each other. The banter bewteen the obnoxious kobold beguiler, the snobby drow cleic, the barbaric grimlock ardent and the stoic githzerai monk/psionic warrior have been fantastic. I don't even have to do anything as the DM, they just prod each other along. Really a fantastic campaign thus far.
My latest evil campaign is held together by the PCs wearing slave rings tied to an illithid owner of a master ring. They were told that if any of his "Chattel" died, he would select another random member of his party and slay them as well. Its worked out better than i could have hoped thus far, especially considering the various characters DESPISE each other. The banter bewteen the obnoxious kobold beguiler, the snobby drow cleic, the barbaric grimlock ardent and the stoic githzerai monk/psionic warrior have been fantastic. I don't even have to do anything as the DM, they just prod each other along. Really a fantastic campaign thus far.
Agamon
Adventurer
I always insist that the party isn't just a bunch of individuals, but are a group somehow before the game begins, all marching in the same direction, if you catch my meaning. PArty disagreements are okay; party infighting is not.
So the last party were all members of the church of St. Cuthbert. The current group are all wood elves and halflings from the same area. Party cohesion makes the game more fun, I find.
So the last party were all members of the church of St. Cuthbert. The current group are all wood elves and halflings from the same area. Party cohesion makes the game more fun, I find.
Aeric
Explorer
I usually try to give each player a different hook to get them involved in the first adventure. Because they each have an interest in that first adventure, they have a reason to work together even though they don't know each other yet. By the end of that first adventure, even if it doesn't lead into other adventures, the PCs will have gotten to know each other and (hopefully) learned that they can accomplish more by working as a team than by working alone. And thus the party is formed.
In recent campaigns, we've glossed over any sort of introductory adventures and start in media res, with the PCs already knowing one another and part of an established party. Of course, these campaigns have been pretty light on the roleplaying end of things, so it never comes up. In a game where such things might matter, however, you can always dedicate a session or two to flashbacks or a similar 'origin story' to explain how the characters first met.
In recent campaigns, we've glossed over any sort of introductory adventures and start in media res, with the PCs already knowing one another and part of an established party. Of course, these campaigns have been pretty light on the roleplaying end of things, so it never comes up. In a game where such things might matter, however, you can always dedicate a session or two to flashbacks or a similar 'origin story' to explain how the characters first met.
GeorgeFields
Explorer
Captain & Teneille said:
Seriously...
I'm one campaign I played, we were all priests of Ghaunadaur in the realms. We worked and stayed together due to necessity at low levels. A few of us formed alliances with common goals at higher levels, but we were forced by our god to work together as punishment for a failed mission on the Promenade below Waterdeep. That was the only successful evil campaign I've been part of.
In two separate campaigns I ran, I had a call to mercenaries / adventurers to take care of a local threat. So many answered the call that the mayor held a lottery to see who be actually be hired by the town to do the job. Naturally, the PCs were the ones picked. Also, since so many showed up, replacement PCs were close at hand if needed.
SiderisAnon
First Post
Why Work Together?
I was having problems with party cohesion, so I started a campaign with the rule that all of the characters grew up together on an island. The first adventure was the party saving the island from a curse that turned everyone into statues. (The party were on a ship at the time, away from the island, so they weren't cursed.) By the time the party completed the series of adventures to get the ingredients to remove the curse, they had gained a couple of levels and no longer fit in on the island. They were completely different people. So, they had to band together for further adventuring, because each other was all they had.
Several times, I have gone with the powerful patron hiring the group.
One campaign, one of the PCs was a knight in the king's service. (Very Arthurian.) The rest of the party either served him, his family, or had been hired by the king to help out. (This only works if the players can accept the leader. In this group, it worked.)
In one campaign where I saw absolutely no reason for the party to group up, I had them all hired by the big university to help out with an expedition. Each of the party members was either hired for knowledge or combat ability. Then I started killing off expedition members at the site until the party had to work together to survive. (Unfortunately, the playing style of the players were just too diverse, so the game finally ended.)
Now, I follow a simple rule. Everyone sits down around the table and makes their characters together. You have to tell everyone else the general outline of your character. You can keep your secrets. This avoid problems like one character being all about exploration when another is a politician tied to a specific area, or one character despising and killing on site members of a race that someone else is playing. (I don't mind some tension, but it's no fun when the party has to stop one member from killing the other due to an accident of birth.)
Perhaps it's a little lazy as a DM, because I don't come up with ways to unite the party, but I figure if I went to all the trouble to develop a campaign, the least the players can do is come up with why their character would be a part of it -- and of the group as a whole.
I was having problems with party cohesion, so I started a campaign with the rule that all of the characters grew up together on an island. The first adventure was the party saving the island from a curse that turned everyone into statues. (The party were on a ship at the time, away from the island, so they weren't cursed.) By the time the party completed the series of adventures to get the ingredients to remove the curse, they had gained a couple of levels and no longer fit in on the island. They were completely different people. So, they had to band together for further adventuring, because each other was all they had.
Several times, I have gone with the powerful patron hiring the group.
One campaign, one of the PCs was a knight in the king's service. (Very Arthurian.) The rest of the party either served him, his family, or had been hired by the king to help out. (This only works if the players can accept the leader. In this group, it worked.)
In one campaign where I saw absolutely no reason for the party to group up, I had them all hired by the big university to help out with an expedition. Each of the party members was either hired for knowledge or combat ability. Then I started killing off expedition members at the site until the party had to work together to survive. (Unfortunately, the playing style of the players were just too diverse, so the game finally ended.)
Now, I follow a simple rule. Everyone sits down around the table and makes their characters together. You have to tell everyone else the general outline of your character. You can keep your secrets. This avoid problems like one character being all about exploration when another is a politician tied to a specific area, or one character despising and killing on site members of a race that someone else is playing. (I don't mind some tension, but it's no fun when the party has to stop one member from killing the other due to an accident of birth.)
Perhaps it's a little lazy as a DM, because I don't come up with ways to unite the party, but I figure if I went to all the trouble to develop a campaign, the least the players can do is come up with why their character would be a part of it -- and of the group as a whole.
Herpes Cineplex
First Post
Basically, yeah. It's the easiest and most successful technique around, I'd feel silly if we didn't use it.Ourph said:
We do other stuff, too (communal character generation, restrictions on what types of characters are acceptable, etc.), but the bottom line is always that the party stays together: finding a reason why they stay together is nice, but not nearly as important to the game. If someone genuinely feels that their PC can no longer be a part of the group and there's no way to adjust things to correct that, then they make a new PC.
Also, we usually try to start a game in media res with the party already assembled, because that's much more fun.
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and gets the game off to a fast, exciting start, which is always a good idea
ryan
Gnome Quixote
First Post
This has been the case in Whizbang's Midwood campaign, which I play in: the majority of the party/parties are humans who grew up together in a small village in the woods at the farthest edge of the barony. While it's never been explicitly stated, it's been kind of implied (by both Whiz and the players themselves) that they're collectively the misfits of the town, who tended to gravitate towards each other as a result, even though some of them don't see eye-to-eye on anything, and very clearly get on each other's nerves. (We nicknamed ourselves 'Team Bicker' during the first adventure for a reason.)derendel said:
The few non-human PCs--two dwarves, a kobold, and two gnomes--are likewise misfits, outcasts or self-exiles from nearby communities who also gravitated towards the group as they grew up. Like attracts like, I guess.
Phlebas
First Post
Last few campaigns played or DM'd:
Prisoners on slave ship trying to escape
From same village, returned when village under threat
From city under seige, break out to find allies
Cyran military unit that survived the mourning
Inhabitants of same city, thrown together by chance when caught up in adventure on the road (yes they did meet in a bar)
Bored noble, married couple, rogue warlock and halfling conjurer together because.... we still haven't worked it out yet, but we're doing quite well in cauldron so thats all right then
Prisoners on slave ship trying to escape
From same village, returned when village under threat
From city under seige, break out to find allies
Cyran military unit that survived the mourning
Inhabitants of same city, thrown together by chance when caught up in adventure on the road (yes they did meet in a bar)
Bored noble, married couple, rogue warlock and halfling conjurer together because.... we still haven't worked it out yet, but we're doing quite well in cauldron so thats all right then
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