How do you start the Campaign?

[JackMage666]

In a few short months, I'll be starting a campaign, one which will hopefully satisfy my players. I've come across the problem, though, of how to start it. That is, how do I get the players together.

My game will include quite a bit of prophecy type things, so I was thinking that maybe these 4 were prophecied to play a major part in saving the world, along with others they will meet in the future (can't exlude the idea of the characters dying). Then, basically have then captured by agents of the Oracles (who, in turn, work for the kings), and have them thrown into the first dungeon and locked inside, forced to work together to kill the creature inside (thus, starting the quest).

Does that work? I'm sure the whole prophecy route has been taken quite a bit before, but does it actually work? I figure it'll be better than the vanilla "you meet in a tavern" thing, but I'm hoping that the first dungeons (which should level the players from level 1 to level 5 or so, I add), should bring the characters together and build a sense of urgency and teamwork, but I think taking away their free will in the beginning might make for some hostility.

Of course, they get to keep the stuff they bought (all starting gold of it, woo-hoo). Think it'll work?

[Tellah]

That's a pretty standard starting point, actually. Prophecies are fairly common, as is the "wake up in a dungeon together" thing. The only problem with making a prophecy is that in most campaigns, somebody eventually re-rolls. Was the prophecy wrong? Is the new character just a tag-along?

Really, though, your players will take any flimsy excuse to be adventuring together if they're reasonable people. I've used "you wake up in a dungeon together," which I consider the strongest railroad to force people to work together immediately. I've also said, "you're all, for one reason or another, in the village of Odasurston," and let them meet up on their own. I prefer to heavily railroad the introduction, though, just because roleplaying the meetup is so tedious.

[h2doh]

that works, it does bring more of a sence of urgency and paranoia to the plot. alternatively(sp), instead of the mundane kidnapping, you could have the god of the cleric teleport/DD the individual characters into a dungeon with a magic mouh to explain the situation to them. just make sure that you describe the experience in painful detail. (it would be neet to describe it like they are being pulled backwards through a fence or something, hey, gods can get creative you know.)

[Quincunx]

PCs as sticks rippled along the chain-link fence of Fate. . .I like it!

[the_tick_rules]

or random events bring them to the dungeon at the exact same time. Each recieving a map or directions or something else makes them go there. and this post should upgrade me to bugbear, hooray!!!

[Ikkitosen]

I like the in media res style of starts - you all know each other, and you're already in the thick of the action. I've played lots of Star Wars games that start like this - "You've just stolen X supplies from Y world and have blasted out of the space port. As you climb for space your sensors show a Star Destroyer in a low orbit about to come over the horizon - what do you do?"

[Lord Tataraus]

I always railroad begins, well mostly. I've used "So, yeah you guys are like friends and you decide to go an adventure...right so to begin..." and "you meet in the <insert location here>" you can use whatever you want, most PCs don't care.

[Meat Shield]

The method I used for my latest campaign was that each of the PCs grew up together in the same town. Not necessarily best friends, but they at least recognized each other and got into trouble together. I also encouraged them to create stories between themselves about what they did together growing up.

Later (because I started each of them at second level), they went their separate ways for a while, then came back home to tell each other what they have been doing over some ale at their favorite watering hole when the mayor asks for someone to go check out the old abandoned temple....

[Golthur]

I often start adventures with a specific situation, but permit the players themselves to determine how and why this situation has occurred, e.g. "you all work for the Wizard Foobar", or "you are all in the village of Willburn"; followed by "tell me why this is so". I find this approach works better than a complete railroad, in that the players get to establish their character's personalities and motivations from the start.

Another way I often start is some sort of "sudden action" - e.g. they're all on a ship, and the ship is suddenly attacked/boarded by pirates. This forces the PCs to work together from the get go, without necessarily implying trust or friendship.

[Ikkitosen]

Another way I often start is some sort of "sudden action" - e.g. they're all on a ship, and the ship is suddenly attacked/boarded by pirates. This forces the PCs to work together from the get go, without necessarily implying trust or friendship.

This is the in media res technique I mentioned, and it works really well to get your sessions going quickly.

[clarkvalentine]

"Roll for initiative."



I love en medias res beginnings. :D

[Whisper]

The adventure always starts in a tavern.

[enderrocksonall]

One DM I had sent us on a quest to capture a half-orc who had been seen around the area. It turned out that the half-orc was the last member of our party who couldn't play that week. A pretty good way to introduce a character.

[Golthur]

This is the in media res technique I mentioned, and it works really well to get your sessions going quickly.

Agreed wholeheartedly. I find it starts the first session off with a bang.

I'll add, on my other main way of starting - having something like "you're all working for X", or "you're all members of secret society Y" works wonderfully for integrating new PCs into the campaign should the, um, unfortunate happen.

[thorgrim29]

Usually, I have them start as mercs, and they're put together y their boss.

[Meat Shield]

One DM I had sent us on a quest to capture a half-orc who had been seen around the area. It turned out that the half-orc was the last member of our party who couldn't play that week. A pretty good way to introduce a character.That actually is a great campaign starter. Kudos to your DM for having an original solution to a player not being available that night!

[Telonius]

Usually it works like this: All PCs are in the same city for various reasons. Slightly higher-level NPC has heard of them, and recruits them all to perform some task.

[akira72703]

I generally start my campaigns off with each person playing individually for the first 3 levels. Events in their individual sessions drive them to meet or not meet each other along the way as either potential allies or antagonists to each other. By level 3 they are tied together in some fashion and working together to accomplish at least one common goal.
This allows them to have a background without writing a background per se as well as giving them a unique set of resources to draw on later in the game (as well as allowing me to insert hooks into the story line with much greater ease). Finally it does set up rivalries and conflicts within the party because as they move towards meeting each other ( i never let on when this is going to happen beyond somewhere around level 3) they hear stories about each other exploits and at times work to counter each other or undo each others accomplishments albiet in secret and its not revealed until later that they were working against another party member. Incidentally the campaign i started doing this in was an evil one so all the doublecrossing and secrecy added quite nicely to the story.

[Matthew]

I like the in media res style of starts - you all know each other, and you're already in the thick of the action. I've played lots of Star Wars games that start like this - "You've just stolen X supplies from Y world and have blasted out of the space port. As you climb for space your sensors show a Star Destroyer in a low orbit about to come over the horizon - what do you do?"
Heh, isn't that advice stolen wholesale out of the Star Wars D6 Rule Book? Good advice, nonetheless.

[kamikasei]

Well, I just started my first campaign with The Burning Plague, the hook for the novice players simply being that they were all employed to help a scholar investigate some ruins; when they arrived at the town, they discovered the adventure's own hook and found that they would have to play through that in order to do the job and get the pay that brought them there.

I'm considering how to continue after the adventure ends, though, as this first is mostly a test run to see how play goes. If they want to stick with the characters, I'm thinking of keeping them in the same town for a while so that I can use the excellent campaign intro that I believe I first heard described somewhere on this forum:

"The Drunken Mage Inn in Duvik's Pass has been a familiar and comfortable haunt for all of you for some time now, and you know most of the patrons by name. This night, as every night, the warm and aromatic air is filled with song and laughter as the townspeople shed the cares of their day over a pint of ale. In the shadowed corner near the roaring fire, a hooded, brooding figure stares into his drink morosely. The jocund barkeep, Garnem, polishes a glass as he watches and serves the customers in his charge. All there seem content.

You each wish fervently that you were among them, rather than standing around a broken-down cart on a muddy road some distance out of town, weapons drawn as a pack of prowling beasts with blood-red eyes and savage voices circles you. Roll for initiative."

[Tharivol123]

I haven't DMed yet, but there was one intro that got us all into the game fast.
He started with my character (a ranger) and his cousin (a PC playing a druid) leaving our home in the forest and going to the city. Shortly after getting there, a rogue (the third PC) robbed my character's cousin. As the rogue took off, a paladin (the fourth PC) came flying around the corner, already chasing the rogue.
So the whole intro was essentially myself, the druid, and the paladin chasing, and eventually catching, the fourth PC.
It had the slight feeling of being railroaded, but it was still interesting enough to keep us satisfied. Plus it added a small plot hook that he used much later in the game.

[PnP Fan]

A certain amount of railroading is expected/necessary at the intro to a campaign, if you are to keep your sanity. Personally I try to keep it to a minimum. If I've decided on a location for the campaign to take place, then I usually give my players the guideline "you have to have some reason to be in City X, and make a character that can work in a group." From there, I try to weave their personal reasons for being in "city x" into a story that puts them all in the same location at some point. It may not happen the first session, but that's okay, none of us are dying any time real soon, so we have the time to be patient.
Having said that, there's absolutely nothing wrong with "you wake up in a jail cell" or " a fight breaks out in your favorite tavern" or "you all know each other, tell me how you know each other". Nothing wrong with that at all, and any reasonable player will roll with it. It all depends on your style, and how much you enjoy the "meeting" phase of PC development. This "meeting up" phase is only as tedious as you make it.

As far as your prophecy is concerned. . . don't write it down yet, unless you are really good at DM'ing and have a predictable set of players. Wait to write it down until you are sure you have the final set of characters that the campaign will finish with. Whenever you decide to write it down, make it vague, use lots of symbols, and don't refer to a "winner" of the final battle, just make a reference to "the final battle" that way the players don't know that they are going to win in the end. Also, use lots of double entendre type words, as well as words with misleading meanings. For example, most people associate the word Apocolypse with "end of the world", when it actually means something more like "revelation (of truth)", and doesn't necessarily imply the end of all things.
A couple of alternate solutions to your prophecy: 1. don't write the prophecy about the players, write it about an npc that the players have to protect (a baby, the mother of the saviour, whatever) or 2. don't let your conscious mind write the prophecy. take a bunch of cards, write down on each card a symbol, or a verb relevant to the campaign, or any other words that might be important to the overall story. Jumble the cards up, and start picking randomly. don't interpret it, let the players figure out the meanings of the cards. You might be surprised! Okay, I have to admit, I've never tried this last suggestion, but if you decide to try it, let me know how it goes. I've had a friend use tarot cards to write his adventures, and it worked out pretty well, this is sort of an adaptation of that idea.

good luck!

[Chineselegolas]

Sounds much more fun that meeting in a tavern.
Although in the latest campaign I have joined we were all walking on almost empty plains and it started raining. There was only one building to provide cover, forcing us all to go toward it.
Two of us didn't. Rain turned to 1d4 lethal hail... Not fun

But as people have said, don't finalize the prophecy, or have a solid version. Double meaning words are great. And even have slightly different versions of the prophecy in different villages, as though it has been changed as it has passed through the chain of mouth.
That way you can make the actual prophecy pretty much anything, while telling them something completely different. And keep them guessing what the BBEG will be.

[Irenicus]

the Law of Narrative Causality dictates that all adventures must begin in taverns. Anything else is sacrelige and will have the appropriate consequences.

[Dervag]

I once began a campaign with four separate one-on-one session with each of the characters (to get them to the point where they'd meet). Each began with:

"On the night of September 17, you are all sitting in a tavern. However, no two of you are in the same tavern, so you won't be meeting here."

Does that count? If the causal chain of events starts in a tavern, but the players don't meet there?

[Grr]

I railroad the players when I start the campaign.... at character creation by limiting where they can be from, what classes they can play, and what races are available. I'm there to tell a story and the players are there to be part of it, with some ability to put their own spin on how the story goes from point A to point B.

I can't tell a consistent and engaging story if the players are six different half-breed this / quarter that races that have no business being in a party together or even in that part of the world.

[Dhavaer]

A few examples:

Los Angeles: The Door is Closed

It feels hotter than it is. It's probably only in the high twenties but the air is still as a grave; it feels as though a hot, dry, dusty blanket as settled over the city. Its not without its good points; Tala has been moved to start dressing in cardigans and has been looking very cute, but the newly awakened draconic iceflame in Tony has been crying out for glaciers.
The cafe is good, although right now the breeze from the aircon is more welcome than any amount or quality of coffee. It's not crowded, and has a pleasantly relaxed, unhurried atmosphere. The traffic outside stands in stark contrast; the plate glass window between Tony and the street doesn't do much to deaden the beeping of horns and roaring of poorly muffled engines.
Something in the newspaper, a few pages in, sparks Tony's memory. 'Airport Bombers Identified', the headline reads, and the attaached article fingers a cell of the terrorist group 'The Blood of Carthage' as the perpetrators behind the attempted bombing of New Luskan airport last New Year. The article goes on to name several of the cell's ringleaders and praise the anonymous informant who tipped off the authorities.
The bell rings, and Tony sees Brad ducking under the doorframe. The move to LA has been good to him; in the warmer climate his mane has grown thicker and glossier, and his eyes have a burn in them that wasn't present before.
"Hey, Tony." He says, as he lowers himself into a chair after getting his coffee. "Rocío called me, she won't be showing up. From what I gathered, she met a girl last night and isn't intending to move from where she is for a while. If only we could all be so lucky." He grins.

New York: Dreams, Death and Denial

Marcus and Nicole step out into the warm April air of the New Greyhawk night. The negotiations, the arrangements and the play are now finished, and there's nothing left to do but enjoy his last few hours in the City of Dreams. Nicole's arm is linked to his as she silently walks, apparently still thinking of the play they've just left. It was good, no doubt about it. The Cirque des Moitie were outstanding actors, with some truly marvellous special effects. The lighting as Puck delivered his speech to the audience was particularly inspired; the lights fading and cloaking him in darkness as the audience 'awoke'.

"That was an incredible show." Nicole murmurs. Like Marcus, she's not a New Greyhawk native. She came up from Portsmouth with her father, who Marcus hasn't met and what he's heard doesn't make the meeting sound desireable. Nicole isn't interested in her father's business, but from what Marcus has gathered he owns an oil refinery, which would explain the trip to New Greyhawk. Being a pharmaceuticals company, Vitan keeps an eye on biotech and the newest word in the field is SinCorp's new bioplastics, refined from GM plants. Between this and the experimental electric cars unveiled a few months ago, Mr Case must be starting to think SinCorp is gunning for him.

Before Marcus can reply, a brief scream rises above the noise of traffic before being cut off by a disturbing, wet snap. Looking around, Marcus and Nicole are alone in a small street; the other theatre patrons have already left or went the other way. The sound appears to have come from a dark alley some way up the street. Marcus' car is about halfway between them and the alley.
"What was that?" Whispers Nicole, moving even closer to Marcus.

[Closet_Skeleton]

I usually have have the PCs in a tavern then the tavern gets attacked by wights.

I've used that at least twice.

A link to a relevant article http://www.dangermouse.net/gurps/reject/tavern.html.

[Ashlan]

In a game I joined part way through, my DM had me arrested for tax evasion and sent before the lord of the land I was in, who happened to be the leader of the party. I had the choice of spending 20 years in jail or joining the group and working off my debt.

I've also played in games where we met in the typical tavern, started out already together as a mercenary organization, had the other party member squatting on my property, found the other party members wandering in a dungeon that I was searching for traces of my ancestors and where we found a member sealed for centuries in an extra-dimensional space.

Ash

[Matthew]

"The Drunken Mage Inn in Duvik's Pass has been a familiar and comfortable haunt for all of you for some time now, and you know most of the patrons by name. This night, as every night, the warm and aromatic air is filled with song and laughter as the townspeople shed the cares of their day over a pint of ale. In the shadowed corner near the roaring fire, a hooded, brooding figure stares into his drink morosely. The jocund barkeep, Garnem, polishes a glass as he watches and serves the customers in his charge. All there seem content.

You each wish fervently that you were among them, rather than standing around a broken-down cart on a muddy road some distance out of town, weapons drawn as a pack of prowling beasts with blood-red eyes and savage voices circles you. Roll for initiative."
Hilarious. Couldn't use that tactic more than once, or could you? Some kind of Neo Modern Irony at work, perhaps?

I can only think of one D&D Campaign I ran that explicitly began in an Inn and that was because we were using the starting Adventure from First Quest...

[silentknight]

My first 3.0 campaign started with the players having amnesia. They were the guests of a wizard who explained that the memory loss was due to a magic spell cast by a nearby evil mage's guild. Well, a few days later, they discover that it was the wizard who had enspelled them, not the guild.

My 2nd campaign, which will end soon, started with the characters going to a tavern after graduating from "Adventurer's School."

The next one, which will be Epic, will start with all the characters newly resurrected and then sent on a "very important mission."

[johhny-turbo]

For my campaign all the players were captured while minding their own business wandering around and got sent into some run down dingy arena run by goblins in a big city and fought some small fries like kobolds. Then a rival goblin clan attacked the arena and in the confusion they managed to escape fighting the occasional orc guard, looted a locker to get their standard starting gold and other items that wouldnt make sense for a slave to have in an arena and fought an ogre boss.

[Counterpower]

Well, the way I started one of my campaigns, where it was basically going to be one war after another, I went with the "you're all in the same commando unit in the army."

Although my current campaign started differently. One character was a half-elf member of House Lyrandar (these Houses are kind of similar to corporations in real life, except they actually do have blood relations) in the Eberron setting. He enjoyed RPing, as did one other character who created a half-dragon bard and 2 freaking pages of computer typed backstory. Not that that's bad, just........ wow. Anyway, so I had the Lyrandar character go into the city of Sharn, and on his way to the House Lyrandar headquarters in that city, he ran into and invited (or forced) the other PCs to come along.

First, there was a scene in a tavern with 3 prejudiced elves, the half-dragon, and the half-elf. Tip of the Day #1: Do not throw around the word "half-breed" as an insult near a CN half-dragon with a short fuse and a LG half-elf with a superiority complex. Half-dragons do have breath weapons, after all. And STR scores well above most normal races. And, sometimes, massive greatswords that almost never miss, even as a bard, that do massive damage when they hit stuff. And the half-elves of House Lyrandar......... from the Eberron book Dragonmarked:
Members of the house see themselves as the heart of the Khoravar (or half-elf) race, divinely chose to guide their people into the future. Combine that with wizard levels and a lesser dragonmark of Storm (which grants spell-like abilities) and you have two people who you really shouldn't annoy. I don't think it came to combat, but had I drawn up stats and actually had the elves insist on making them mad.............

Next, there was the scene with the druid. That......... was unusual. Especially for the half-elf Lyrandar when he found that this person who literally didn't know his last name had a least mark of Storm, which he could only get by being related by blood to the house. So, the half-elf insisted that the druid come along until they figure out what was going on.

The final scene to round out the party wasn't really interesting, since this was the player who provided no name, no backstory, and no goals beyond "kill things, get more arcane power." It was short, to say the least.

In summary? I like the "slowly assemble the party through separate encounters" process. Next time, I'll give the players of the half-elf and half-dragon a RPing encounter which they enjoy so much, and placate the final player with a chance to save them from a large group of enemies.

[Gygaxphobia]

I agree that a certain amount of scripting/railroading is necessary to start an adventure.
However you can try to disguise this a little, and also tailor it to be more personal to the characters.
Give everyone an individual introduction and some unique, relevant information so that not every character is in exactly the same situation. The idea of each characters arrested for a different crime for a different reason could work. Or even the same crime, e.g. The Usual Suspects :)