Unique Ways to Start Campaigns?

[Nerdynick]

I'm kicking off a campaign in just under three weeks and I'm looking for a unique way to start it off (you know, other than a tavern). My search-fu didn't turn anything up.

[Gavinfoxx]

Well.. you should tell us a little bit about the campaign, the power level of the characters, the setting, etc. etc.

You could always start it, "You all wake up with a splitting headache and hangover in the town jail. Apparently you didn't do anything bad enough to not get more than a night in there. What happened to the each of you?"

[Tvtyrant]

"Your escaped slaves running from a Mindflayer and its thralls."

[Dragon Star]

Start it in the middle of combat. Or in some prison filled with evil guards. Or maybe the whole party had their minds wiped, got flesh to stone on them, and someone is just turning them back. Or an adventurers guild, if you want something less out there, but not taverny. Or a palace, all the players are nobles and they have to escape their parents if they want to be adventures. Or dead, requiring they finish a quest as ghosts before they can be resurrected. Or completely penniless, as urchins in a city. Or just at a crossroads, where they all meet while traveling, and are going the same way. There are infinite interesting thing you can do.

[DoughGuy]

"You wake up with the worst headache ever. As you look around you see remnants of the tavern that once stood here"

It's not expecially different but have you ever started a campaign in an exploded tavern?

[Amnestic]

I think I remember reading of one person who started his campaign with all of his PCs falling from really high up in the air. Shoved his party together at terminal velocity :smalltongue:

[Zeta Kai]

"Roll initiative."

[TheCountAlucard]

Is it weird to say I started a game with the PCs possessed by demons, and on a journey to the Demon City to meet with the fiendish masters of said city? :smalleek:

[Xtomjames]

I prefer the split start: In what ever campaign setting you're using designate a major locations, places in those locations, and a time chart. Use a percentile for each character to roll for which major location, what place, and what time they'll be starting off at. This works great if a major event of some sort will affect many different places and they choose to send off willing adventurers to discover and stop what ever is causing the event. It also tends to lead to unique and varying introductions amongst characters.

[Godskook]

DM: So, you're yourselves, and you're sucked through a portal into a strange land, that for simplicity sake, I'm just going to rush ahead and say OoC is very D&D-ish. Stat yourselves up, and I'll tell you what you see. Oh, and you get these 'gems' that do X, Y, and Z, which totally justifies letting you start with a class level, despite the fact that you're all probably commoners.

[2-HeadedGiraffe]

I once had a DM start a campaign by saying "You all meet on a train." The railroading only got worse from there.

Seriously, though, starting in a dungeon can be fun. It's a plot-light way to get the group playing together and the characters acting as a team. Another campaign I ran started with the starting town being attacked by merfolk with a mech. I find it's often effective to start with something that makes the players work together. A lot of campaigns where the players aren't together right away or very soon end up with very slow, annoying openings.

[INDYSTAR188]

You're all on board a ship off of the sword coast in the early evening. Your going to a new land with new opportunities to become wealthy and powerful.

You look to your right and are the first to notice a light growing off in the distance.... another ship heading right towards you! Following closely behind the ship is a huge storm, just as you try to shout out a warning you hear someone from the crows nest shout out "Turn the ship about, we need to break starboard!"

As the orders are followed everyone grabs a hold of whatever they can to keep from being tossed overboard. Before anyone can react the other ship slams into the side of yours *everyone is thrown down onto the deck* followed immediately by the storm, the sky darkens, lighting starts lashing down and torrential rain makes it almost impossible to see around you. As you gather yourselves you notice that the other ship was full of dead sailors who are now in the process of boarding your sinking ship!

[Nerdynick]

I'm still not used to how fast this forums answers questions....

Anyway, campaign is 5th level. Characters are as follows: Human Rogue 3/Urban Ranger 2 archer, Darfellan Barbarian 5, Dwarf Fighter 1/Wizard 4 (going for Runesmith), Human Cleric of Pelor 3/Church Inquisitor 2 (going for Warpriest and Shadowbane Inquisitor), Human Duskblade 5, Half-Aquatic Elf Bard 5 (I bumped the half elf a little by giving all the bonuses of the Water Adaptation feat and superior low-light vision as racial traits), and Wild Elf Druid 5

Setting is a custom one. The Rogue and Darfellan are on a ship together, the wizard, cleric, and duskblade are together on foot, the druid is on foot on her own, and the half-elf has yet to describe her backstory to me, but will probably be arriving on foot or live in the city they're starting in.

They're starting in a port city and the first mission will be them being hired (as a group) to put an end to the pirate attacks on the nation's trade lanes (which are unusually frequent and organized). They don't have access to a ship themselves, so they'll have to charter one, commandeer one, Diplomacy a naive captain, or stowaway on one (possibly a pirate ship). They'll soon discover that the pirates are being hired by an opposing nation as deniable assets, leading them into plots between nations.

[kardar233]

I've started a campaign by having my character get drugged into unconsciousness and tossed overboard by his crew who were paid by his father to have him removed, and find himself with the most horrible hangover in an Orc cell about a mile away from where he was washed ashore. Also, he's a mess because he was dragged there, and any noticeable items (such as armor, backpack, main weapons) have been taken.

The next hour consisted of him systematically butchering his way out of the camp, getting in a duel with the chieftain, drawing, and then staging an attack on a nearby city, drawing the orcs into a trap, stealing a boat from said city and sailing off home.

[BinaryMage]

Hmm. So they have to meet as a group somehow. You'll want them to have some sort of shared experience that bonds them together. The most common is a combat, though a roleplaying encounter might work also, if your group likes that sort of thing. If they're to be embroiled in some international conflict, you potentially could expose them to some sign of tensions between the opposing nations or alliances.

[Quietus]

"The first thing you become aware of as you come to is the feeling of the wind whistling by you. Not like a breeze or even wind, but the kind of fast-moving air that burns as it drives past you. A thin layer of moisture coast you and all of your belongings. There's a rhythmic motion beneath you, and the subtle scent of something burnt.

When you open your eyes, this all begins to make a little more sense. You appear to be riding in some kind of covered howdah. The part that doesn't make much sense - you seem to be riding through a cloud, on the back of a gargantuan red dragon. A very unhappy looking, enormous red dragon."

Might not fit given the additional information, but it was fun in my head.

[Slipperychicken]

The party wakes up with some NPCs in a small jail cell, deep in a cave, on an alien swamp planet. No one knows how or why. Shortly after introductions, they hear footsteps and voices that don't sound like any language they've ever heard of.

[Anarion]

Why not start them on a merchant ship, with a larger pirate ship approaching on the horizon and waiting to board them?

They can figure out themselves how they all managed to end up on the same merchant ship (or they met before that and chartered it together if they want) and you can get them into the action pretty quickly yet still do some setup before the fighting starts.

And, as a bonus, the PCs immediately get to start making plans for the arriving ship, thus derailing your entire campaign from session 1:smallbiggrin:

[DemonRoach]

Is it weird to say I started a game with the PCs possessed by demons, and on a journey to the Demon City to meet with the fiendish masters of said city? :smalleek:

That's not weird, that sounds awesome to me :smallsmile:

The only "Unique" start that comes to mind is being on a hilltop seeing a village being over run by a herd of cows on fire (Bad DM! No more Mars Attacks for you!)

[Rogue Shadows]

"Okay, everyone who rolled up a samurai, shugenja, or courtier, roll a d20."

*those players do*

*I point to the one who rolled highest*

"You're getting married! Mazel tov!"

[Soranar]

You're tied to posts, waiting to be eaten by a savage tribe of gnomes when kobolds come to your rescue.

[Rogue Shadows]

You're tied to posts, waiting to be eaten by a savage tribe of gnomes when kobolds come to your rescue.

And/or wanted to kill gnomes, and as long as the gnomes wanted you dead, the kobolds wanted you to live if for no other reason than to annoy the gnomes.

[BinaryMage]

You're tied to posts, waiting to be eaten by a savage tribe of gnomes when kobolds come to your rescue.

Luckily for you, one of them is Pun-Pun and he manages to kill all the 40th level gnome illusionists who were guarding you. :smallbiggrin:

[Thiyr]

"You feel the prison cart shake as it hits bumps in the road. The occasional stone jerks you from your seat as far as the shackles will allow. You are on the road to your death, framed for a crime you never committed. It has been about an hour since you left <city of trial>, and it will be about four more until you arrive at the capitol, to be publicly displayed. Bump. Bump. Bump. You hear the guards complain about the roads, but before they can finish, your world, along with the cart, is turned upside down, rolling to the side. The cart is on fire, and [edit] an extremely muscular gnome tears open the back. He wastes no time with subtlety, tearing your manacles free of the cart's walls. He motions for you to follow him. You see the remains of what would have been a slaughter. The guards are matched man for man, swords at their throats and arms in the sky, their weapons on the ground as a few men begin to bind and blindfold them. Where the cart must have been before, a smoking crater and what look like the remains of some kind of explosive are. 'Welcome to the movement. You know something we need.'"

Edited for style. :P

[WarKitty]

My method? Just tell them in advance what the first plot hook is. Then tell them to figure out a reason why their character was in town and is interested in the hook. I find the players usually come up with more interesting stuff than I would, and it saves complaints of "my character wouldn't be interested in that."

[Divide by Zero]

"You wake up in the middle of the night to find undead attacking the city. Roll for initiative."

[NikitaDarkstar]

Okay so that is one big and varied group right there, and split up, how fun...

The guys on the boat could possibly become shipwrecked and be saved/found by some of the other characters (possibly the water themed half elf?) as they wash up on shore near the port city.

The guys on foot could most likely bump into the druid who's on foot... possibly unconscious after having been attacked? or one group bumps into the other just as they're being attacked/about to be attacked by bandits who happen to be a subgroup of the pirates (or similar.. hey if it's organized from higher levels it would make sense to have people attack the roads to the major port cities too...). They're forced to retreat (or if your group don't believe in retreat, forced to make their way to the city after just barely surviving the attack.), once there they meet they meet the other group talking to the guard captain/general authoritative figure who just happens to mention something along the lines of the pirate and bandit attacks are becoming more and more frequent, if only they had enough men to spare to actually do something about it./seasoned fighters willing to help put a stop to it.

Hopefully both groups jump at the chance and will work together, especially since both groups now have had some sort of encounter with them.

[MrSinister]

I'm running a 4e Ravenloft game right now. I was going to start it out with the group waking up in a Saw-like death trap and have a huge skill challenge to break free. But that is being saved for later. I ended up doing a shared dream sequence where I introduced the cult they will be fighting via a ghostly Vistani tarot card reading.

The characters all woke up bloodied and worn out, with evidence of having fought. They all could speak the Vistani language as well, and they are haunted by the Vistani tarot reader, who died in their shared dream.

[Ravens_cry]

You wake up in jail . . .and offered the choice between a hanging or privateering in the name of </insert nation here>. Yarr.

[Kantolin]

My last campaign started with the group on an enormous raft careening down an underground river fighting against slaad - that was the opening statement.

Chunks of that was never explained either (Or well, there was an explanation, but it was never quite as relevant as the other O_o moments that were going on, so the PCs never asked)

[BobVosh]

Pressganged. Solves everything.

They are high enough they could have gotten a mild reputation and the cpt heard of them and hired them.


My method? Just tell them in advance what the first plot hook is. Then tell them to figure out a reason why their character was in town and is interested in the hook. I find the players usually come up with more interesting stuff than I would, and it saves complaints of "my character wouldn't be interested in that."

Also never underestimate this. It can lead to excellent things.

[halfdragon62]

Here are some I plan to make use of in the future:
1. The Pcs all know each other from their youth, (they were street kids, all survived the sacking of their village, all had the same mentor) and they have survived thus far by relying on each other beforehand
2. The Pcs are drawn together by a common threat, organisation, or enemy eg. They happen to cross paths while simultaneously hunting down the same blackgaurd that slaughtered their loved ones, and form an alliance. The same principal can be applied to a fabled artefact or location - Each pc seeks "The hall of secrets" for their individual purposes.
3. The pcs are each part of an ambassador's retinue during a diplomatic treatise. But the meeting is interrupted, the ambassadors killed, and the pcs (who are of course the only survivors) are framed for the massacre!
4. The pcs have been captured or enslaved. But when the oppurtunity arises, they are able to make a break for it with their equipment. The party needs to work together to flee the country's authorities.

[DoughGuy]

You wake up in jail . . .and offered the choice between a hanging or privateering in the name of </insert nation here>. Yarr.

Good idea but you're forgetting they are PCs. Unless you want them to all voluntarily die or just stage a mass mutiny it is not the path to go down.

[Story Time]

"A small group of adventurers stumbled upon a non-human town and somehow broke their tribal law. As punishment the adventurers' are stuffed into a canon and shot out of it over a lake."

[NOhara24]

"You're in the plane of fire. Roll climb checks to get out."

Good way to weed out the weaklings...and the spellcasters :smallbiggrin:

[Xtomjames]

Sounds interesting to me, though it doesn't have to be the plane of fire. Read the 9 hells stuff and choose accordingly.

[TheCountAlucard]

"You're in the plane of fire."Eh, a low-level energy-resistance spell takes care of that. Nah, the plane of fire isn't going to get rid of a spellcaster - for that, you want either Double Hell, Shadow-Shadow-Bo-Badow, or Scarytown.

[only1doug]

I'm still not used to how fast this forums answers questions....

Anyway, campaign is 5th level. Characters are as follows: Human Rogue 3/Urban Ranger 2 archer, Darfellan Barbarian 5, Dwarf Fighter 1/Wizard 4 (going for Runesmith), Human Cleric of Pelor 3/Church Inquisitor 2 (going for Warpriest and Shadowbane Inquisitor), Human Duskblade 5, Half-Aquatic Elf Bard 5 (I bumped the half elf a little by giving all the bonuses of the Water Adaptation feat and superior low-light vision as racial traits), and Wild Elf Druid 5

Setting is a custom one. The Rogue and Darfellan are on a ship together, the wizard, cleric, and duskblade are together on foot, the druid is on foot on her own, and the half-elf has yet to describe her backstory to me, but will probably be arriving on foot or live in the city they're starting in.

They're starting in a port city and the first mission will be them being hired (as a group) to put an end to the pirate attacks on the nation's trade lanes (which are unusually frequent and organized). They don't have access to a ship themselves, so they'll have to charter one, commandeer one, Diplomacy a naive captain, or stowaway on one (possibly a pirate ship). They'll soon discover that the pirates are being hired by an opposing nation as deniable assets, leading them into plots between nations.

Seems fairly straightforward;

Sea battles viewed from afar: (Visable from several miles away)

The skies darken as a storm gathers from nowhere, all eyes are drawn to the distant sight of a merchant ship being repeatedly hit by lightning. Another ship nearby strangely seems to be completely ignored by the storms fury. As the 2nd ship pulls alongside the first the storm seems to abate. after some time of rendering assistance the ships seperate and the damaged ship limps toward a small port town nearby.

The ship that is carrying the Rogue and Darfellan decides to put into the port to check on the afflicted vessel.

The Other Pc's will hopefully sense a plot hook and close in on the town where the damaged ship put in to investigate (if they don't then you may have problems getting them to engage with your game).

The captain of the ship already carrying some PCs may decide to hire additional protection (eg the entire party) and refuse to leave port until sufficient protection is found ("go find some more help!") leaving the existing PCs to recruit the other PCs.
The PCs ship can be attacked by pirates on its way to the capital, earning the PCs the attention of the merchants guild for successfully foiling one attack.


Sounds fun, go for it.

Edit: Some of your other PC's could already be at the small port town, or they might be near enough to see the sea battle and hopefully intrigued enough to investigate. Should the PC's not already at the port town decide to go the opposite direction some further subtle hints (every NPC they meet talking about it) might convince them to investigate.

Should they ignore the subtle hints then let them sit and watch while the rest of the party gets to fight off pirates.

Then subtly suggest to them that they find a reason to join the game. Perhaps a secret note to the player saying "think of a in character reason to join the party or you will have to continue to sit and watch everyone else play."

[Doughnut Master]

You wake up at 5 AM in the middle of the street. All of your possessions are gone. Yes, even your clothing. Go.


You'll get some creative solutions.

[Nerdynick]

Problem with that is that a few people are fairly new to D&D or brand new to Roleplaying in general.

[Amnestic]

You wake up at 5 AM in the middle of the street. All of your possessions are gone. Yes, even your clothing. Go.


You'll get some creative solutions.

A fiver says that at least two people resort to larceny almost immediately.

[only1doug]

A fiver says that at least two people resort to larceny almost immediately.

What is more Violent than a Violent Hobo?

A Naked Violent Hobo!

[NOhara24]

Eh, a low-level energy-resistance spell takes care of that. Nah, the plane of fire isn't going to get rid of a spellcaster - for that, you want either Double Hell, Shadow-Shadow-Bo-Badow, or Scarytown.

I've only seen one Wizard in a low level campaign (Those that I play with now are a Druid, Cleric, Rogue, Monk and a Fighter. The wizard left after the first campaign when his Color Spray missed the Harpoon Spider we were fighting as the first boss. The spider turned around and one-shotted him.) , he had 5 HP at level 1. I believe fire damage is 1d6. Does the fire have to roll initiative? Or would the campaign just start with everyone being burned?

[Diarmuid]

I'm still not used to how fast this forums answers questions....

Anyway, campaign is 5th level. Characters are as follows: Human Rogue 3/Urban Ranger 2 archer, Darfellan Barbarian 5, Dwarf Fighter 1/Wizard 4 (going for Runesmith), Human Cleric of Pelor 3/Church Inquisitor 2 (going for Warpriest and Shadowbane Inquisitor), Human Duskblade 5, Half-Aquatic Elf Bard 5 (I bumped the half elf a little by giving all the bonuses of the Water Adaptation feat and superior low-light vision as racial traits), and Wild Elf Druid 5

Setting is a custom one. The Rogue and Darfellan are on a ship together, the wizard, cleric, and duskblade are together on foot, the druid is on foot on her own, and the half-elf has yet to describe her backstory to me, but will probably be arriving on foot or live in the city they're starting in.

They're starting in a port city and the first mission will be them being hired (as a group) to put an end to the pirate attacks on the nation's trade lanes (which are unusually frequent and organized). They don't have access to a ship themselves, so they'll have to charter one, commandeer one, Diplomacy a naive captain, or stowaway on one (possibly a pirate ship). They'll soon discover that the pirates are being hired by an opposing nation as deniable assets, leading them into plots between nations.

So...color me a bit confused. It seems like you have a pretty good handle on how you're going to start your campaign already. Were you just trying to spark discussion?

[TobiasMNB]

To get over the newbie problem you could run intro sessions for each of them which lead them all to the same point of intregue/combat etc

[Nerdynick]

So...color me a bit confused. It seems like you have a pretty good handle on how you're going to start your campaign already. Were you just trying to spark discussion?

I'm having problems trying to get the several groups of players in my campaign together under one banner. So, how do the group of three on foot, the pair on the ship, the druid, and the bard all get hired to go pirate hunting?

EDIT: But by all means, do discuss. This thread doesn't have to be specific to my campaign.

[TheCountAlucard]

Color Spray missedErr, no. That doesn't work. Now, the critter could've made its save, yeah, but that's a whole other thing.

Also, that's first level; we were talking fifth level, by which time even the most dreadfully-built wizards should be rocking double-digit hit points, and have access to Resist Energy, which means that the 1d6 is now utterly meaningless.

I'm tellin' ya, the whole "plane of fire" thing... it's not really all that it's cracked up to be. The answer is Scarytown... though in a pinch, the Darkbad will do.

[Fearan]

"Ok, you're in the tavern. And crap-eating Black Pudding in the restroom goes violent"

[Narren]

My method? Just tell them in advance what the first plot hook is. Then tell them to figure out a reason why their character was in town and is interested in the hook. I find the players usually come up with more interesting stuff than I would, and it saves complaints of "my character wouldn't be interested in that."

That's what I typically do. The players feel more invested and involved this way. My players will often build their backgrounds around each other, as well. Maybe not ALL of them, but usually every character has some history with at least one other character.

[smashbro]

some people have been saying to let the players decide: it really depends on the type of players they are. could work, but I know my friends like to be surprised by what i can come up with for them. Offer that to them first, in case they do want to.


If you have to do it, make it all tie together somehow. Not to force them together, but give each of them hints to the whole pirate thing. (my idea keeps them separate for a bit)


Rogue & Darfellan --- "You hear the sound of cannonfire, and head up to the deck to see the commotion. You see pirates looting the ship <insert specific flavor here>. The crew is being overrun and soon enough, you find yourselves surrounded by pirates. <more aggressive or stronger player> is grabbed from behind, and tied up by a half a dozen pirates. <more passive/weaker player> finds himself at the barrel of three pistols."
"Take me ta yer captain."

From there, if they cooperate, the pirates might drop them unharmed at town. If they don't they could escape and swim to town.

Wizard, Cleric & Duskblade --- "As the three of you walk toward __town name___ you see 3 bodies hanging from the city walls, along with the words, "Pirates, you have been warned". As they enter town, townspeople begin muttering, and suddenly one yells and points at the Duskblade."
"It's the Dread Pirate Roberts ______!"

Mob ensues.

Bard --- You enter town, and find a bar to play in for some money. While in there, a bearded man bursts through the doors, gun in one hand, sword in the other, demanding drinks for free (he is already drunk). If he is given the drinks, he could talk to the bard. If not, roll for initiative.

Druid --- a familiar meets you in the woods, and asks for your help. His master is dying, was attacked by pirates, and has family in town.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Pathfinder's Carrion Crown adventure path has a unique way to start. The PCs are all attending the funeral of a mutual acquaintance, and serve as the pallbearers. Then they're part-hired-part-coerced into working together by the stipulations of the deceased, with the promise of a fortune in platinum for each in his will.

[Nerdynick]

Wow, these are some really nice suggestions. I think I have enough to work with, but keep 'em coming just in case (besides, might help another DM)

Thanks guys :)

[Unseenmal]

In the campaign I am running right now, the PC's all woke up in a room in a dungeon. They don't know how they got there or why. And they don't remember anything from the backgrounds they provided me. This is a lot of fun since 2 of the PC's backgrounds were very intertwined and now they have to roleplay not knowing each other at all. They have to fight their way out of said dungeon and go from there.

Every so often, I have them partake in a stat challenge (not skill challenge as I couldn't think of relevent skills to do this)when something happens in-game that could/would spark a bit of memory for that char. Sometimes only one PC will get to do it, other times a few will at the same time. Should they complete the challenge, I give them a scrap of their background as they remembered that bit. I've been using INT to remember something, WIS rolls to figure out if it's really relevant to their backgrounds or made up and at the end, CON to see if they pass out from the sudden influx of memories. The best part is, I don't have to tell them if what they remembered is true or not. So far, I'm told they enjoy it because they are not sure if they are roleplaying their real PC or some made up memory/quirk that they "remembered". I LOVE when they fail the WIS part and I get to give them a fake memory.

By doing this, they have to work together to get out of the dungeon, piece their lives back together, find out what the hell happened to them AND figure out what the Big Bad is. Plus it adds some good roleplaying opportunities and some random flavor that is not normally in our games.

edit: Of course, this is really only viable with in depth backgrounds but I specifically asked for that.

[noparlpf]

"You're floating in a dark, warm space. Suddenly something starts to push and squeeze you and you see a bright light. Someone dangles you upside-down and smacks you. You start crying."

Or do you want it to start a little bit further along? Because I doubt anybody has ever started a campaign from the birth of the characters.

[McClintock]

In a campaign i am working on the PCs will all start in a gladiatorial arena trying to win a spot on the sovereign leader's artifact hunting team. Losing is not an option.

[Ravens_cry]

Good idea but you're forgetting they are PCs. Unless you want them to all voluntarily die or just stage a mass mutiny it is not the path to go down.
I don't mind the latter, and I would tell the players before making characters that it is meant to be a nautical campaign. (Hopefully) they would get the hint, considering the characters get their own ship if they follow through.

[The Glyphstone]

Start the game in a tavern. Then have the tavern attacked by horrifically over-CRed monsters and kill them all.

The real campaign begins when they wake up as spirits, and you pull out the Ghostwalk supplement.

[Dragon Star]

Start the game in a tavern. Then have the tavern attacked by horrifically over-CRed monsters and kill them all.

The real campaign begins when they wake up as spirits, and you pull out the Ghostwalk supplement.

Can I sig this?

[The Glyphstone]

Can I sig this?

Please do.

[Big Fau]

I once had a DM start a campaign by saying "You all meet on a train." The railroading only got worse from there.

That wasn't DnD, that was FF13!



I have started a party off on fire. The party, not their surroundings. That campaign lasted a good five sessions, and by virtue of bad luck managed to set at least one member of the party on fire in each encounter.

I honestly could not tell if they had planned out the friendly fire or not.

[Yanagi]

I'm still not used to how fast this forums answers questions....

Anyway, campaign is 5th level. Characters are as follows: Human Rogue 3/Urban Ranger 2 archer, Darfellan Barbarian 5, Dwarf Fighter 1/Wizard 4 (going for Runesmith), Human Cleric of Pelor 3/Church Inquisitor 2 (going for Warpriest and Shadowbane Inquisitor), Human Duskblade 5, Half-Aquatic Elf Bard 5 (I bumped the half elf a little by giving all the bonuses of the Water Adaptation feat and superior low-light vision as racial traits), and Wild Elf Druid 5

Setting is a custom one. The Rogue and Darfellan are on a ship together, the wizard, cleric, and duskblade are together on foot, the druid is on foot on her own, and the half-elf has yet to describe her backstory to me, but will probably be arriving on foot or live in the city they're starting in.

They're starting in a port city and the first mission will be them being hired (as a group) to put an end to the pirate attacks on the nation's trade lanes (which are unusually frequent and organized). They don't have access to a ship themselves, so they'll have to charter one, commandeer one, Diplomacy a naive captain, or stowaway on one (possibly a pirate ship). They'll soon discover that the pirates are being hired by an opposing nation as deniable assets, leading them into plots between nations.

Have the pirates be raiders and slave-takers--they capture the different PC groups/indiivduals one after another. The PCs meet in the hold of the ship; or a secret island base; or even on the slave-auctioneer's block. Or maybe they're the sole survivors of the pirate ship sinking in bad weather (or because a kraken had at it), or even of a skirmish between pirate bands. The last one would be an interesting twist--they're captive and bound, and suddenly their captors free them and re-arm them because they're frightened of the other buccaneers....

Alternately have the pirate group uses false lights, or an illusion, or something to cause the ship with the two PCs on it to run aground (or get stuck in a shoreside berm or shoal). Coindcidentally, this event occurs on the shoreline path the other clump of PCs are taking. Melee ensues as the crew (and PCs) end up fighting the wreckers trying to pick over the ship's cargo (and, if they're slave-takers, the crew).

As to keeping them together, structure that initial share experience in a way that not only creates a bond but also a shared pool of information/experience that makes others treat them as a group. For example, they're the only people with any knowledge of the pirate group that seized them, or the big finale of their first adventure together involves magic or supernatural events...or just plain strangeness...such that their positions as sole survivors marks them socially.

This could be a variant of the "only you have the knowledge" path above...but more darkly, they could all be stigmatized, because surviving escaping (this pirate group) is so rare that they're suspect as being collaborators or spies. This gives them motive to clear themselves.

[The Glyphstone]

The bits about fire are entertaining, because I had just come up with a new one.

"So, you're all [on the road/in the tavern/in the street]. Player 3, you're on fire. No, I don't know how you got on fire, you guys tell me, and decide how you're putting it out."

[Qwertystop]

The bits about fire are entertaining, because I had just come up with a new one.

"So, you're all [on the road/in the tavern/in the street]. Player 3, you're on fire. No, I don't know how you got on fire, you guys tell me, and decide how you're putting it out."

Nicely done. Very nicely done.


Start a game inside a Mirror of Life Trapping, except all one big chamber, and some minor effect can be had by the players on what's showing on the outside (that is, they make their images show up). They have to convince the random hobo who found the shiny mirror to let them out. He's very suspicious.


Start the game inside someone's mind (presented like one of the numerous books/shows/whatever that put it as a series of rooms, one allowing them to manipulate the guy's senses), and you are all constructs of his mind, or MPD fragments, or guys who got trapped by a bad guy. Small manifestations to outside will be possible, as will occasional total possesion. Get the guy to find a wizard or something to make bodies for you. You might eventually be able to do it just by bugging him so he wants to get rid of you (Warning: might instead result in your destruction through mindrape or something). Mind-affecting spells would form actual manifestations inside, which you will need to fight off. Damage to the walls will destroy his mind, eventually resulting in a mindless shell.

EDIT: Yeah, I know I'm not very good at this.

[Acanous]

"As you all wander about the town market, your attention is captured by a strangely dressed man making a loud spectacle and trying to convince passers by to draw a card from an intricately painted deck."

yeah, propably a TPK, but fun!

[Stix]

"you all die"
/add a weak ghost template to all characters
objectives become
1. find a way to return to the living world
2. find out why you were all killed
3. vengance