D&D General Your favorite way to start a D&D campaign?

[Ringtail]

I always like to start with a small fight. D&D has a big focus on combat and most players are itching to try out their new abilities. Also, nothing forges a group of strangers into a adventuring party much like a fight. This first fight is usually pretty easy but exciting. At low levels an easy fight can still turn against them so it pays to be cautious.

For example, my most recent campaign I've started (A Fantasy inspired Spaghetti Western using the Brancalonia sourcebooks on the DTRPG) I had a whole scenario planned where the PCs would break out of jail, crawl a small dungeon to freedom and then head off into the woods to establish their hideout and Outlaw Company. After some thought however I scrapped most of the jailbreak section and instead the sesssion began with the Player Characters riding haphazardly upon the back of a speeding carriage while being pursued by four bounty hunters on horseback, after succesfully completing their breakout. Roll Initiative!

 

[Fenris-77]

My answer to this question is in media res. I vastly prefer to drop the players into the middle of something that's going on rather than drop them into a low-stakes situation and just have them decide where to start, so to speak. What that looks like specifically depends on the campaign, it could be a fight, or it could be something more like the chained in a ship example above (which I loved btw, whoever posted it). I'll usually pick something that reflects the themes of the campaign, which is something I always make very clear in session zero. I like the game to start with some momentum built-in I suppose. Not always, but mostly.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

What's your favorite way to start a D&D campaign?

After Session 0, once all the characters are created and the group has sat down, the pizza is ordered and the Witcher Soundtrack is playing...

Classic: we meet in a tavern, and someone asks for help.

Action: roll initiative! Combat starts right away.

Mysterious: you find yourselves walking along a fog-bound road, no memory of how you got here...

What are your favorite ways to start Adventure 1?

What are some of the great, or not so great, ways you have started campaigns?

You are all in the port city of Firenz on the southeastern tip of the Aramala archipelago. Tonight is the first night of the Festival of the Moons, where all folk of the city wear masks or paint thier faces, and anyone you meet could be a pauper or a prince. Mask sellers and face painters are on every corner, and the final touches on the decorations on shops and homes and the streets themselves are being put up with work songs and laughter. You can smell street food being cooked, and musicians are auditioning for owners of taverns and other establishments that will remain open when night falls.

You have the whole day before you, and a few hours before you must meet your contact about a job in the city. What do you do?

 

[embee]

Attack on a caravan is always a good one. The PCs weren't in the same place in the caravan (so they wouldn't have reason to have chatted) but when it's attacked, they have to come together to survive.

 

[payn]

However you choose to start a campaign, its always classic for an out of control wagon to crash and 1D6 goblins tumble out.

 

[BookTenTiger]

However you choose to start a campaign, its always classic for an out of control wagon to crash and 1D6 goblins tumble out.

Classic: You sit in the tavern, surrounded by a wide assortment of fantasy folk. An old man comes up to your table. "Are you adventurers of fierce spirit and brave character? My village needs-" Suddenly an out of control wagon crashes through the wall, and (1d6) goblins tumble out!

Mysterious: You find yourselves walking along a fog-bound road, no memory of how you came here. A large, dark shape starts to approach through the mist. It is a black wagon, lit by strange green lanterns, pulled by a dark horse with glowing red eyes. (1d6) goblins tumble out.

Action: Careening down the market street is an out of control wagon! 1d6 goblins tumble out. Suddenly a second wagon crashes into the first! 1d6 goblins tumble out. There's an explosion behind you as three more out of control wagons crumple together. 3d6 goblins tumble out.

 

[payn]

Classic: You sit in the tavern, surrounded by a wide assortment of fantasy folk. An old man comes up to your table. "Are you adventurers of fierce spirit and brave character? My village needs-" Suddenly an out of control wagon crashes through the wall, and (1d6) goblins tumble out!

Mysterious: You find yourselves walking along a fog-bound road, no memory of how you came here. A large, dark shape starts to approach through the mist. It is a black wagon, lit by strange green lanterns, pulled by a dark horse with glowing red eyes. (1d6) goblins tumble out.

Action: Careening down the market street is an out of control wagon! 1d6 goblins tumble out. Suddenly a second wagon crashes into the first! 1d6 goblins tumble out. There's an explosion behind you as three more out of control wagons crumple together. 3d6 goblins tumble out.

Unexpected: The captain of the sea frigate you are assigned to hands you a mop and orders you to swab the deck. Out of the sky a portal opens up and a wagon crashed onto the deck of the ship. 1D6 goblins tumble out.

 

[Jack Daniel]

Absurdist: You're playing chess with the Grim Reaper while a loud clock ticks on a nearby wall. A mime (fighting the wind) presses his way into view, stops, draws the outline of a door in the air, mimics opening it, and (1d6) goblins in black-and-white striped shirts and berets tumble out.

Dadaist: Nothing happens. Nobody comes. Why? Why indeed. Why are we here? We are waiting. Waiting for (1d6) goblins.

 

[J.Quondam]

Trope subversion: The PCs, having been summoned by a mysterious figure, are walking to the tavern. They are suddenly accosted by a lone goblin, which swells to massive size before exploding. 1d6 wagons tumble out.

 

[Steampunkette]

Backstory: Your father opens a cupboard while giving you a sharp reprimand for your carelessness in becoming a folk hero for fighting the nearby goblin tribe. 1d6 goblins tumble out of the cupboard and kill him, forcing you to leave your home and adventure in the world.