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killer_monk
2012-11-19, 03:03 PM
What's the weirdest place you've ever started a game? Mine was the time I actually had my entire party fall out of a sky together as reincarnated ancient heroes! That was also the first campaign I ever hosted...

Lentrax
2012-11-19, 03:15 PM
I had a character wake up chained to a wall in a bandit camp with a magical bracelet preventing him from spellcasting. I had to have one of the other players break my hand so I could cast anything to aid our escape.

Geostationary
2012-11-19, 04:35 PM
The outer ring of a city that existed in the space left by broken relationships. It had four other rings including the center, and the further you go in the closer you're forced to be with others in terms of relationship, to the point that in the center you lose track of where you begin and they end. Each ring played to a theme of closeness with others, so the outer ring was a modern tree-city where everyone was acquainted, followed by a land of coffeeshops and cafes, followed by a land of eternal sunsets, bridges, and piers, then a city of intimate places in the twilight hours. The innermost region was an obsidian desert, similar to the Kalahari, where it was eternally night, with a tower and secret library at the very center, a-la Wan Shi Tong. The depth of a relationship was also as good as water, so you could swim and even drown in relationships there.

The players later infected the populace with a fungal PA system that they totally don't notice and is perfectly normal and stop playing with that mushroom, along with a mushroom-person administrative staff and guard.

Nobilis lets you do crazy stuff.

Science Officer
2012-11-19, 04:55 PM
My modern-day GURPS campaign started at Comic-Con... that was pretty cool.

CarpeGuitarrem
2012-11-19, 04:58 PM
A tavern tent in an encampment outside the Morgul Vale, something during the 2nd Century Fourth Age.

Morcleon
2012-11-19, 06:18 PM
Once started a campaign confused, naked, with no equipment, and trapped in a small metal box. It actually took quite a while to find the way out of the box... :smalltongue:

Vitruviansquid
2012-11-19, 08:00 PM
Most of my campaign starting points are pretty tame, but this time I'll be starting a one-shot horror game during the sack of Jerusalem in the First Crusade, when the streets supposedly ran ankle-deep with blood.

Unbeknownst
2012-11-20, 12:14 AM
I once started a campaign tied to a tree. Gagged and naked of course.

j1mw1lson
2012-11-20, 12:20 AM
I once started a campaign tied to a tree. Gagged and naked of course.

You know, I kind of assumed you were once you mentioned tied to a tree. :smallamused:

Grimsage Matt
2012-11-20, 09:18 AM
Capones pub. Capone is a drunken little deity who is also the patron of gangsters in me games. So, it's a speak-easie of a god, with the occasional steam bike roaring through, and the not so infrequent thunder of chaingun fire.

The players where cops of course:smalltongue:

mishka_shaw
2012-11-20, 09:42 AM
Urgh sadly mine wasn't anything special as just had the the players all converge upon an old ruin to escape a hurricane (and thus become friends trying to escape said ruins).

I guess at least they didn't start in a tavern like all the other campaigns I have been in. Than again I did hear of a friends campaign that began with them all being explorers testing a new mole-drill thingy to travel to the centre of the earth.
Long story short, it went a bit sketchy and they ended up on the other side of the planet....sadly none of the players were dwarves which would of made it just that more awesome.

Anderlith
2012-11-20, 09:44 AM
As the DM, I started a campaign with the players aboard a magical airship (the world is a bunch of islands flying around an endless skysphere instead of a planet) enslaved by an empire of demon worshiping elves. They were to be sold to this big fat corpulent elf lord... untill he was smashed to bits by a plummeting corpse blasting through the roof.


The way I see it, always add an element of imminent danger when the party is first meeting each other. It helps normally uncooperative players group up faster than a bunch of strangers doing a job. Also it's good to have a vague way of introduction, like them all being prisoners or such. Taking a few leads from Bethesda can do a lot for starting a game where you don't always know exactly what kind of characters your group will want to play.

Cikomyr
2012-11-20, 09:53 AM
Did not DMed a lot of games..

I think the weirdest starting point was two players were set to meet up in a bar, but then they got 2 games session worth of trying to rescue the other two players from the mob.

It was a Dark Heresy game.

DrBurr
2012-11-20, 08:32 PM
My friend started his last campaign by having all of us being sucked into time portals and though really the game didn't start until we then spawned in a Saw like Dungeon.

Kitten Champion
2012-11-20, 09:54 PM
In a dream, sort of.

We lifted the whole temporal cognitive transmigration story mechanic from Final Fantasy VIII, with the characters hearing a buzzing in their ear and falling into a coma only to wake up in different bodies in the middle of an ancient war that was the back story for the whole meta-plot which followed. The characters in the present day were all strangers in different parts of the world at the beginning. Once we players were aware that we were indeed Quantum Leaping, we sought to understand our situation better by describing ourselves and our individual settings.

Eventually we all meet in the flesh, but it took a year and a half in the world.

AuraTwilight
2012-11-20, 09:57 PM
I once had a campaign start off in a metafictional context where the characters built themselves, lowered down to the regular Multiverse, and forgot their metagame awareness.

Sith_Happens
2012-11-21, 03:16 AM
I'm currently in a campaign that started with us going through a virtual reality dungeon (think Johnny Quest: The Real Adventures) to earn our adventuring licenses.

Togath
2012-11-21, 03:44 AM
Most unusual for me is probably a recent pbp, where my character(who seeks to become a legendary chef) introduced himself in the town plaza, by shouting various things such as "come one, come all!" and other circus sounding stuff, while attracting attention to his kabob stand by cooking them with fire breath, creating a 30 foot tall pillar of flame each time he used it.

Kesnit
2012-11-21, 07:19 AM
In a Requiem game, the party woke up, laying in wine casks in the basement of the manor house owned by the local Prince. We had no idea where we were or how we got there.

Craft (Cheese)
2012-11-21, 08:11 AM
Doing things In Medias Res means the players start out wrapped up in a complicated situation where they have no context to determine their place in the big picture... which tends to cause problems as the players move forward on false assumptions. There's three methods to solve this problem:

1. Correct these assumptions as they go along. This just tends to lead to a bunch of me throwing exposition at them without the players really getting to do much.

2. Have the context simply not matter and only be there as a way to start things off on an exciting note, but then you're just being flashy for flashiness's sake.

3. Let the players come up with whatever false assumptions they want, and just treat their assumptions as if they were true. This solves the player agency problem in solution 1, but hamstrings your ability to make an intricate, interconnected setting... unless you're really good at improvising.

Personally, I think the best solution is to just start slow. Hence, my campaigns tend to have pretty boring-sounding beginnings when you write them down.

JohnnyCancer
2012-11-21, 08:13 AM
I ran a short-lived game that began with the players having just recovered an item that gave their memories a nasty zap. They were in a crystal forest, and could hear crystal shattering all around them as dinosaur mounted ogre knights pursued them. They were able to reach a clearing with three portals, and could remember that safety lay behind one and that the other two led to enemies.

They were able to see through the portals so as to get a better idea of where they led, but in fact there was no wrong answer. Whichever one they picked would lead to safety, and the other two would indeed have been home to their enemies. I was just interested in seeing what they thought their characters would consider safe, and it informed the tone of things to come.

scurv
2012-11-21, 08:53 AM
I livened up a TPK to have the party reawaken (two people rebuilt level correct chars for what i had planed) In cursed suits of armour and about to stand trial for crimes they had committed while bespelled.

Although there was alot of moans, groans and complaints. They did enjoy the challenge that was put before them.

Proud Tortoise
2012-11-21, 09:08 AM
I started an Eberron campaign (my first campaign ever) with the players chained in the hold of an airship taking them to become slaves in Darguun.
The airship crashed and, to get to civilization, they had to go through the swamps of Q'Barra and through a goblin den, armed with only the weapons from the airship. :smallbiggrin:

LoneStarNorth
2012-11-21, 12:42 PM
"You are all standing together at the side of the road. A man lies dead at your feet."

Doesn't gotta be complicated to be cool.

TheCountAlucard
2012-11-21, 02:01 PM
Funnily enough, OUR PCs were ALSO "reincarnated heroes," but that's kind of a system expectation for Exalted. :smalltongue:

One game of ours started with our group marching out to the point where the tapestry of reality had been eroded, such that the living were overcome by armies of the dead, to the rotting-but-still living body of a miles-tall giant, to the inauspicious citadel erected on his back; we had to walk through passages that had been cut into the festering meat of his body.

Because that's where our boss was. :smallamused:

NikitaDarkstar
2012-11-21, 02:21 PM
Most memorable for me was starting out with my character running for his life through a graveyard. He was about level 4 at the time and was being pursued my a CR 15 or so necromancer, who also happened to be his former "mentor". My wizard tried a few spells (obviously didn't work) kept running and ran straight into some form of teleportation trap or something similar and ended up in the Frozen north. He had been in a fairly tropical climate seconds before that. Good thing he met the party barbarian who saved his scrawny butt from freezing to death. :p

Acanous
2012-11-23, 09:04 PM
The Royal Arena of the Fey City of Underbarrow, which is actually it's own demiplane (Made by a sorceror) linked VIA Gate to a barrow mound in a forest.

What? It's cool :3

EtherianBlade
2012-11-23, 10:22 PM
I started a game once that was loosely based on John Byrne's Next Men. I had the players make characters in an idyllic world, and after four game sessions they suddenly found themselves out in the real world, with limited and somewhat altered versions of the abilities they possessed in the inside world.

The players were confused at first, but then really got into it.

Hiro Protagonest
2012-11-23, 10:34 PM
In a tavern called "The Plot Hook", where a shadowy corner held a table that was occupied by a man in a dark cloak and cowl.

If the PCs walked up to him and asked if he needed anything, he picked up a knife on the table, put a notch on the rim (one of many), and told them to bug off.

Okay, that never actually happened, but it's an amalgam of two things I've seen on this board. I think someone used the shadowy man in their game once.


Funnily enough, OUR PCs were ALSO "reincarnated heroes," but that's kind of a system expectation for Exalted. :smalltongue:

One game of ours started with our group marching out to the point where the tapestry of reality had been eroded, such that the living were overcome by armies of the dead, to the rotting-but-still living body of a miles-tall giant, to the inauspicious citadel erected on his back; we had to walk through passages that had been cut into the festering meat of his body.

Because that's where our boss was. :smallamused:

Tapestry of reality being eroded? The Underworld is MORE cemented in reality than creation. It was put this way once (but longer): The Wyld is like pudding, Creation is like gelatin, and The Underworld is like toffee.

And you took orders from The Mask of Winters? Rubes. :smallamused:

TheCountAlucard
2012-11-25, 03:42 AM
Tapestry of reality being eroded?Was specifically referring to that of Creation. The Underworld may be more stable, but it still counts when a bunch of murders wear a hole into the world to access it.


And you took orders from The Mask of Winters? Rubes.More like, doing him a favor... at least for my character. After that, either walk away, or usurp him. :smallamused:

Xefas
2012-11-25, 05:14 AM
The (play-by-post) game I got my 'Xefas' name from, all those years ago (almost a decade?), started something like this:

Ao (the GM): There is nothing.
Xefas: Nothing at all?
Ao: Nope.
Xefas: Am I there?
Ao: Are you?
Xefas: I am.
Ao: And from the infinite nothingness of the Void came, against all impossibility, something that Is. From it, space and time and thought and existence itself, such as they are. And that which was not the Void now knew its Gods.
Xefas: Gods, plural?

(Commence other players showing up to ruin my fun. :smalltongue:)
I mean, if you're going to tell a story, I don't see why you shouldn't start at the beginning.

TheThan
2012-11-25, 02:16 PM
Well lets see:

In a dingy after their ship sunk in a storm.

On the road fleeing a war torn country

In a lavish estate during the unveiling of a new piece of artwork/archeological artifact

In a bar in the south pacific

In a bar on Tatooine

At the local city hall, picking up a job

Area 51

Jay R
2012-11-25, 03:13 PM
"You have spent the last few years as a slave, near an impassable desert. You finally decided that death was less horrifying than slavery. So you escaped, and fled into the desert. You have now, against all odds, reached the end of the desert. As you walk, staggering, our of the desert, you are more dead than alive. You see a small village, plains to both sides, and mountains in the distance. You are carrying a long-empty waterskin, and are wearing ragged clothes and a disreputable hat. What do you do?"

Lucid
2012-11-25, 04:09 PM
Our dm once started us with my cannibalistic hunter shooting the summoner druid, who then tried to summon a fire elemental to defend him but ended up with the pyrokineticist falling from the sky.
Then we were overrun by a drow invasion force and had to work together to escape.

SmilingOverlord
2012-11-25, 05:56 PM
My first campaign began with my Warforged chained to a wall next to a pile of feces and straw. Then I was thrown into a gladiator ring. The DM is a weird guy.

Grimsage Matt
2012-11-26, 12:00 PM
My players for a vampire game will wake up in a cypt, where a wererat with a clipboard is waiting to ask them questions.

For the zombie game, a School with a horde of zombies on there heels.

DrewID
2012-11-26, 08:16 PM
The two player characters, who at this point have not met, are driving on a back road in separate cars, and are brought to a stop by a car flipped over and half across the road. I forget if we were headed in opposite or the same directions. The driver has crawled or been dragged away, and small (say cat-sized) insectoid robots are carrying off pieces of physical evidence.

I was one of the players in this one. We called the adventure "Cockroach". The next adventure was "Winged Monkees". <Sigh> I miss that campaign.

DrewID

TheCountAlucard
2012-11-26, 11:10 PM
The next adventure was "Winged Monkees".So, did they sing their pop music? I was rather fond of Daydream Believer. :smallwink:

DrewID
2012-11-27, 01:24 AM
So, did they sing their pop music? I was rather fond of Daydream Believer. :smallwink:

Sadly, it was the winged monkeys from the Judy Garland's Wizard of Oz. But I have to admit: if that mobile home had been attacked by Peter Tork and Mickey Dolenz with wings, those Winged Monkees would have been pretty terrifying too.

DrewID hangs head in shame; turns in spelling award from 3rd grade

LordofDragons24
2012-11-27, 06:15 PM
The (play-by-post) game I got my 'Xefas' name from, all those years ago (almost a decade?), started something like this:

Ao (the GM): There is nothing.
Xefas: Nothing at all?
Ao: Nope.
Xefas: Am I there?
Ao: Are you?
Xefas: I am.
Ao: And from the infinite nothingness of the Void came, against all impossibility, something that Is. From it, space and time and thought and existence itself, such as they are. And that which was not the Void now knew its Gods.
Xefas: Gods, plural?

(Commence other players showing up to ruin my fun. :smalltongue:)
I mean, if you're going to tell a story, I don't see why you shouldn't start at the beginning.

There is something very cool about this :D . Why can't I get DMs like this?
'Beginning'. (chuckles)

Greyfeld85
2012-11-27, 06:45 PM
Doing things In Medias Res means the players start out wrapped up in a complicated situation where they have no context to determine their place in the big picture... which tends to cause problems as the players move forward on false assumptions. There's three methods to solve this problem:

1. Correct these assumptions as they go along. This just tends to lead to a bunch of me throwing exposition at them without the players really getting to do much.

2. Have the context simply not matter and only be there as a way to start things off on an exciting note, but then you're just being flashy for flashiness's sake.

3. Let the players come up with whatever false assumptions they want, and just treat their assumptions as if they were true. This solves the player agency problem in solution 1, but hamstrings your ability to make an intricate, interconnected setting... unless you're really good at improvising.

Personally, I think the best solution is to just start slow. Hence, my campaigns tend to have pretty boring-sounding beginnings when you write them down.

I think a lot of games start with the characters being in jail, or waking up in a strange place that they don't recognize, exactly to combat these issues. With this sort of beginning, the players have full agency of their characters' actions before the start of the game, and they all have a common starting point that ties them all together.

Alternately, specifically for PBP games, I've seen DMs run separate pre-game sessions for each player until they all end up in the same place at the same time. The players, in this situation, accept beforehand that the roleplaying is left up to them as long as they allow the DM to guide them to a specific place at a specific time, for the sake of the story.

That said, allowing the players to create the backstory of the In Medias Res beginning has its own merits. For those who need more story fodder and want the players to have a hand in the creation of that, it's a great way to get the players to do the heavy lifting for you, then all you really have to do is weave it into your game.

falloutimperial
2012-11-27, 06:56 PM
Having all received red envelopes inviting them to a house in the middle of nowhere, the party meet outside of a stone building. The sign next to the front door reads "Let not what dwells within escape, lest the world suffer!" The door has been bashed into pieces.

Grimsage Matt
2012-11-27, 07:59 PM
The players of a PTA game of mine start with this as a creepy into before heading into town;


In the Frozen North, one will be forced to walk past Hells Gate.

In the Steaming South, one will gaze on that which dwells behind the stars.

In the War Torn West, one will find that the past cannot be outrun.

In the Dreaming East, one will rouse both Death and Life.

In the Unknown Center, one will roll the Dice on which Erathis may survive.

The Last will brave the pit, and shall continue the cycle.

Ironicly, only two of these are litteral. But Try and figure out which is which:smallamused:

EtherianBlade
2012-11-28, 04:00 PM
Once I finish my homebrew sourcebook, I plan on starting the characters off as young teenagers (say, 12-14 years old) who unwittingly break something/awaken something/do something typically teenage bonehead-ish. That will be the first session. Then we'll move forward ten years or so and start the campaign "for real," playing off what they did or encountered as kids.

I was in a campaign that started this way once, about twenty years ago. Unfortunately, it never really got off the ground, but I liked the idea. For one thing, it already gives the player-characters a shared past and therefore, a built-in reason to stick together and help each other out.