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Valdyr
2007-06-01, 05:34 PM
Hey-

I'm going to be starting a campaign in a few weeks and would like some input. I've got the story fleshed out pretty well and my (self-created) world pretty defined.

My problem is the first session. My players are playing the usual disparate classes and races from different areas, each with their own (occasionally pretentious) backstory. They don't know each other.

What are some of your ideas for a non-cliche start to a campaign. IE, no inns, no ships that sink with the PCs as the only survivors, no "you have no memories and wake up in a room with these other people." Any particularly memorable first sessions you've played in or DMed?

Vuzzmop
2007-06-01, 05:40 PM
the pcs meet in a jail cell, each casught fo seperate crimes against the town/city/multiverse, they are charged with two options, execution, or to work on a quest for the city/town/multiverse. Hilarity ensues.

Rahdjan
2007-06-01, 05:40 PM
I was totaly going to say have them all be on the same ship, then sink it and have them be the only survivers.

How about recruit them all into the local army then set them up on the same patrol?

Valdyr
2007-06-01, 05:44 PM
Vuzzmop -
It's sad. If I let my players play in their own little solo sessions they probably would all end up in jail without any prompting from me. It's a good idea.

Ceres
2007-06-01, 05:56 PM
I think that a good intro should draw the players into the game, introduce each player character properly, freshen up the rules (or introduce them with new parties) and possibly hint to the first quest.

I had a great campaign-intro once with the town the players were residing in being attacked. It started with just one of the players (the paladin) hearing the commotion and rushing out. Then, as the fight continued, I gave each of the player characters a dramatic entry into the fight that reflected their persona. The wizard was introduced with stunning one of the raiders who was about to attack the paladin, the barbarian when killing a huge amount of foes before getting helped by the others etc.

I believe in the James Bond-style intros. Get the players exited, get the "feel" of the campaign, and introduce the main characters. Hasn't failed me once.

Shoyliguad
2007-06-01, 06:00 PM
Hmm I started my campaign with a battle, it was quick and add in a time limit of three days before a tarrasque is summoned, it really grips them as they traverse a huge area covered in traps and such. Really fun way.

Suvarov454
2007-06-01, 06:01 PM
Meet with each player and play a mini-session getting each player into a common location using mechanisms specific to each character's nature. For example, a Paladin, Monk, or Cleric could be a temple or monastary and directed to go to <wherever> to defeat an evil that their divinations have uncovered; give them a cryptic hint that will identify thier benefactor or fellow player characters when they get there.

Fat Daddy
2007-06-01, 06:01 PM
Valdyr-

I'm a big fan of making the Players do some of the work for me. I recommend telling them all that they are in town X and they need to incorporate a reason for it into their background story. Then they are all there individually, still without knowing each other and THE EVENT occurs. Being PCs they naturally respond. I really like this because the last time I used it, some of the player's actually ended up fighting each other a bit thinking each other to be involved in/ part of THE EVENT. Once everything was sorted out hilarity ensued. Also, this gives the players some really good dynamics for intra party role playing.

My 2 cents.

....
2007-06-01, 06:07 PM
The whole 'getting everyone together' thing I never saw as much of a problem for a DM, just set up a campaign hook and use at least one PC on it, then let the PCs roleplay out how they want to meet each other.

Tengu
2007-06-01, 06:46 PM
Hmm, a non-cliche way...
All the players happen to be huge fans of a certain bard who just happens to be around, and do concerts. A ticket for such a concety is too expensive for any of them, but luckily a friendly, yet mysterious individual has some of those, willing to give them away for a simple task...

Diggorian
2007-06-01, 06:59 PM
Just started a new campaign of my own last week. PC's are level 2, instead of giving the default wealth-by-level I asked what they did for a living and gave a portion of the amount based on their answer.

The monk was a typical wanderer exploring the greater world, small gold. The dwarven fighter was a pit fighter that was inspired by the monk along the way and took to traveling with him, a little more gold. The priest was a battlefield medic becoming traumatized by the gore he'd seen. The rogue was a thief that keep a library as a cover.

Monk and fighter were just passing through town. The priest was transfered by his order to the same town for some peace to soul search. The authorities were onto the rogue and the crime family she operated under wanted her to get lost; they arranged a job for her working for the lord mayor of the town.

Monk was touring the place when he happened upon a dead body. Taken to the local temple the priest identified the wounds using combat experience. The Lord mayor offered the monk rewards to find the killer, charged the priest with going as assistance for his expertise. The dwarf is going to back up his only friend, the monk. The rogue is under the direct employ of the Mayor's plotting sister, whom will recommend the thief go too (to spy/help out).

I've got two more players yet to make characters, but I'll make up some circumstance to link them. For more detail, click the "Shields of Altear" link in my sig and go to "Our Tale".

Camapign before this one was D20 Future based loosely on the series Farscape. The PC's were abductees that awoke naked aboard an alien ship under attack. The crew was killed and every sample unit was opened. The players, though distrusting of each other, had to work together to survive the attack while dodging the hazards of an intergalactic zoo set loose.

Murongo
2007-06-01, 07:05 PM
If it's a high-level campaign it's pretty easy to justify getting a group together. In the biggest campaign I'm doing right now the idea is "you're all important people in this world, and the issue at hand is important, so you're all bound to be involved in it somehow".

I hate it when people say "it's stupid that it just happens the PCs are the only ones to survive the shipwreck". You're right, I'm sorry, you can play the people who drowned. Doy, you're PCs because you survived, not the other way around.

goat
2007-06-01, 07:12 PM
One of them has his foot glued to anothers face.

Nobody is entirely sure why.

Toliudar
2007-06-01, 07:14 PM
It's not that hard for each of the PC's to work a similar plot hook or minor element into their existing backstories. A mysterious stranger who helped them out when they really needed it. a creepy child who came up to them on the street last week and told them something about themselves that no one else could know. A longstanding love/hate for art/knishes/halflings/the colour mauve. Any of these can then become the beginning of a plot hook that ties them all together, without forcing them to be the same in any substantive way.

de-trick
2007-06-01, 07:20 PM
my campaign i got the cleric to have a vision about fighting a dragon and he saw the rest of the party helping fighting it

crimson77
2007-06-01, 07:20 PM
A few ideas:

You could hook one pc into the campaign and then have him recruit other players and henchmen into his group.

You could have an NPC hiring adventures and by the luck of the draw they are together. This can easily be accomplished as the players develop their background. You could say, "As part of your background please indicate how you started to work for Lord Cromwell."

You could have the PCs all in a certain area and then a fight breaks out around them. They then start to fight back and then defeat the attackers. A good plot hook at the right moment As the dust settles the bar owner looks to you and smiles, "You saved my life, my bar, and my customers, I have little to reward you with but i do know a man who is looking for help with.... Maybe you could help him out, you all seem to work well together."

Fishy
2007-06-01, 07:39 PM
Mountain town: an avalanche has struck the night before, and some poor bastard NPC has to round up as many warm bodies as possible to go search for survivors/bodies. Said avalanche may or may not have opened up a previously sealed mineshaft/lost temple/otherwise dungeon.

Variation on the sunken ship cliche: Have the big monster battle- and kill 'em all. PCs drop next to each other on the same level of Gehenna.

Damionte
2007-06-01, 07:50 PM
I was totaly going to say have them all be on the same ship, then sink it and have them be the only survivers.

How about recruit them all into the local army then set them up on the same patrol?

Hahahah I'm sure that's just what your players want. To be trapped in an espisode of "LOST"

Actually that coudl be an ok game for a little while. Going to have to think about that.

Proven_Paradox
2007-06-01, 07:52 PM
One of my favorite ways to get the PCs together. They're all travelling to <large city> for the <annual festival>, and there's all sorts of things to do there, including <insert list of reasons the different characters might go there>. However, as you're going through this town on a <insert bottlenecking landmark, such as a mountain pass>, a disease breaks out and the town is put under heavy quarantine. The elders don't think this is a natural disease, gathers the PCs up, and offers to pay them if they go to <insert first dungeon> to investigate.

It helps motivate the players to know that if they stick around and get the disease, they may explode in a few days.

Driderman
2007-06-01, 08:04 PM
I usually tend to leave the reasons for their partying up to my players, unless my campaign calls for me 'hooking' them. Take a few sessions where you all discuss possibilities of the hows and whys of their partying.
The "James Bond" intros are good as well, if you can pull it off properly.
Something I try to avoid is giving too many unique and interesting reasons for being there. If every PC has a seperate employer/motive, realistically speaking the group might not stick together after their initial adventure due to conflicting attitudes.
In the end, it all depends pretty much on which way your campaign is going. One campaign I ran, which was cut short unfortunately, I told my players to create whatever classes they liked, but they all had to be humans.
Afterwards I told them that their characters was selected by the Khaliff as a diplomatic envoy to the rival island kingdom and they had to incorporate this in their background story.
We ended up with a two fighters, being the protection, a bard, being the main envoy, a cleric and a monk, who were the religious advisors and a rogue, a convicted felon who had been pardoned in exchange for his services. I then told the bard, the monk and the rogue that the Khaliff was actually sending them on a covert assignment where they had to retrive the signet ring of another spy who had been caught, before the rival kingdoms agents found it....

And then i threw the campaign in a completely opposite direction: I wrecked their ship and stranded them on a jungle island where they had to survive in the wilds, fighting lizardmen and scavenging to survive, while slowly exploring this huge island and the ruins there.

At first, my players were rather shocked that put them in a situation almost opposite of what they had built their characters for, but the all the work they had put into character creation really improved inter-character relations and roleplay. Also, their travails on the island built a camaraderie despite their differences.

goat
2007-06-01, 08:09 PM
Player 1 is attacked in a bar by a group of men, players 2-X can help or not, it doesn't really matter because in round 3 the city watch turn up and beat the %&^* out of anything not cowering in fear for "picking on their mates" (original attacking party). Everyone wakes up in a cell with a brand on their arm. They've been conscripted by the local duke (who's a right old git) and been cursed with a geas. This is mission number one.

Mission number 2-X can include such joys as "get your own back on the guys who beat us up in the pub", and "dethrone the duke (who has a caster buddy capable of casting multiple geas spells)".

RamrodTheWizard
2007-06-01, 08:17 PM
Well, in my campiagn it did involve an inn, but there was a nice twist. Im running an ebberon campaign in which the PC's are agents for the royal eyes of aundair, and only one PC began in the organization. The first session consisted of them roaming around Thonehold, which i made into something like Casablanca during WW2, a hotbed for international intrigue. Well the changling was ordered to find the other 2 PC's and bring them to the spymaster. I enjoyed the concept as a DM and how it worked out. Most intresting beginnings like that will require a good group of roleplayers.

Ravyn
2007-06-01, 08:39 PM
One of my friends just gave me a fun one:

The stage: A nice, relatively high-class bar--behind which are crouched the PCs, trying to figure out how they're going to get themselves out of this one. No explanation on what exactly was going on. Just a group of PCs behind a bar.

(A note for the players--never, EVER decide it was a bar brawl that's somehow your fault. More trouble than it's worth.)

NullAshton
2007-06-01, 08:49 PM
The way I started my first campaign was the players meet each other in a forest, with all of them traveling to investigate a strange light in the sky.

Krimm_Blackleaf
2007-06-01, 08:49 PM
My first campaign I set them up on the road after having most of their mundane stuff (like food and bedrolls) burned in a recent forest fire. The next one I plan on starting them right in the middle of combat.

A Gray Phantom
2007-06-01, 08:54 PM
Zombies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b8G8delDlk&mode=related&search=). I once started a campaign with zombies...

Couple of my PC's were chillaxin' in some other plane of existence, a'right. My totally dope NPC dwarven cleric of travel is all like, "Yo, beeyotches, yoos wanna go up in this totally sweet island on the material plane with radical sands and surf? Best vacation spot evarz!!!one1eleven!?"

And the PC's respond quite readily, "Why, I do indeed, Reginald. I'd certainly enjoy a holiday after having been through many ordeals of adventuring!"

So we teleport into the middle of a town chock full (chock I say!) of zombies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjMiDZIY1bM).

OMG! They run into the nearest church, where the town's survivors are hiding (it is shielded from zombies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ynXBMgLEbM) by divine consecration). There they meet the rest of the players' characters, and a few villagers that beg the adventurers to go looking for family members that got left behind in town.

If you don't want all your players to meet in the same church, you could have them run into each other in the streets. The rogue might feel like looting a few stores that are now unoccupied. If he has no ranks in knowledge religion, then you can justify why he doesn't realize why his sneak attacks aren't working...

Maxymiuk
2007-06-01, 09:01 PM
For my urban campaign, I had the group start as new members of a gang. Being the fresh meat, they got the unglamorous job of proving themselves by collecting dues from businesses hesitant to pay protection.

In fact, "you all work for the same person who sends you on a quest of dubious importance" is the most sensible reason for which a group of diverse individuals would come together and go off on a quest/mission/assignment/barn dance/picnic when in all probability neither of them has ever laid eyes on one another before.

goat
2007-06-01, 09:07 PM
It all began with a stag party. None of you were directly involved, but it was hard to ignore the festive mood of the groom and his friends. As the night wore on, the whole [village/town/neighbourhood] was caught up in the revelry and there was joy, dancing and even the local guard were relaxing a little.

Then the [common, low-level enemy in the area] attacked. It was swift, brutal and more like slaughter than combat. A drunk is no challenge to a [enemy], a guard with his guard down is just another slit throat or crushed skull. Not everyone was killed, but the community is decimated, the majority of the dead being men and women in their prime, leaving only the young and the old relatively untouched.

They came for something, but what? They trashed houses, they searched bodies, but they withdrew quickly at a word, and without encountering heavy resistance.

You have a mystery to solve, a Bride-to-be with a dead groom, and a community ransacked. Will you find out what's been stolen, avenge the dead, or try to rebuild the community while defending it from the looters that plague disaster zones?

Korias
2007-06-01, 09:16 PM
I think that a good intro should draw the players into the game, introduce each player character properly, freshen up the rules (or introduce them with new parties) and possibly hint to the first quest.

I had a great campaign-intro once with the town the players were residing in being attacked. It started with just one of the players (the paladin) hearing the commotion and rushing out. Then, as the fight continued, I gave each of the player characters a dramatic entry into the fight that reflected their persona. The wizard was introduced with stunning one of the raiders who was about to attack the paladin, the barbarian when killing a huge amount of foes before getting helped by the others etc.

I believe in the James Bond-style intros. Get the players exited, get the "feel" of the campaign, and introduce the main characters. Hasn't failed me once.

Quoted for Truth.

Personaly, Heres some that I GMed.

Situation 1: The Party consisted of a Monk, a Paladin, a Psion, and a Druid. Knowing this, I had teh group inadvertently enter a Bar fight that spilled out onto the street, which was then Fireballed by a nearby wizard. They were playing in Sigil.

Situation 2:

The Party Consisted of A Barbarian, a Psion (Same Guy), A Duskblade, and a Monk (Same Guy). The Barbarian was maiming local livestock, and when brought in by the police, he kills them and drags the other 3 PCs into the mix, which formed the main quest of the campaign.

Situation 3: This was a funny one. The Party was a Duskblade, a Psion, a Cleric, and a Warlock. The Cleric was female, and was riding along the road when she went into labor. The party of the Duskblade, Psion, and Warlock is nearby, and helps the hampered cleric reach a local clinic for the birth. The Warlock's been trying to sacrifice the kid ever since, while the monk is trying to train it into another monk. Both were given mace-shaped indents in their skulls.

Wooter
2007-06-01, 09:25 PM
Zombies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b8G8delDlk&mode=related&search=). I once started a campaign with zombies...

Couple of my PC's were chillaxin' in some other plane of existence, a'right. My totally dope NPC dwarven cleric of travel is all like, "Yo, beeyotches, yoos wanna go up in this totally sweet island on the material plane with radical sands and surf? Best vacation spot evarz!!!one1eleven!?"

And the PC's respond quite readily, "Why, I do indeed, Reginald. I'd certainly enjoy a holiday after having been through many ordeals of adventuring!"

So we teleport into the middle of a town chock full (chock I say!) of zombies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjMiDZIY1bM).

OMG! They run into the nearest church, where the town's survivors are hiding (it is shielded from zombies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ynXBMgLEbM) by divine consecration). There they meet the rest of the players' characters, and a few villagers that beg the adventurers to go looking for family members that got left behind in town.

If you don't want all your players to meet in the same church, you could have them run into each other in the streets. The rogue might feel like looting a few stores that are now unoccupied. If he has no ranks in knowledge religion, then you can justify why he doesn't realize why his sneak attacks aren't working...

You. I like you.

Okay another way to start. "Okay, so you're all bleeding to death. Roll to see if you stop. *roll* Okay, the Wizard rolled so badly that he's bleeding twice as fast now. Okay now he's dead. The rest of you stabilize, but can't move. Now you're being raped by Orcs. You heard me."

Okay, I can't think of anything non-evil. So sue me.

ExHunterEmerald
2007-06-01, 09:48 PM
"The Blue Bauble inn has been your favorite hangout for years.

Fortunately, you were nowhere near it when it burnt down."

TheThan
2007-06-01, 10:07 PM
One of my favorite tactics is to drop someone from the sky. Usually done when a character dies and a new one is rolled up.

Either that or they were all captured in gigantic poké -balls. Used by giants to summon smaller creatures to fight for them. and now they must work together in order to escape to freedom.

Dhavaer
2007-06-01, 10:11 PM
The PC is on a date. Unfortunately, this is becoming a cliche for me. Particularly if Italian food is involved.

Alternately: 'Suddenly, ninja attack!' followed by initiative rolling.

Citizen Joe
2007-06-01, 10:19 PM
You're stirred awake by a loud noise. As you bolt upright, you hear a crash and then a deafening blast. Your eyes briefly lose focus before consciousness leaves you. Smoke fills your nostrils as the first rays of dawn peek through the burning rubble of the small village you were in. What appear to be humanoids in dark spikey armour have seized control of the village. At least to large feral beasts are being lead about in chains, barely held in check. The pile of headless corpses in the watch tabards tells you that there is little chance for the militia to help. In fact, one of the beasts seems to be gnawing on what looks like the sheriff's head. The villagers have all been lined up with you in their ranks. A select group of these dark warriors walks down the ranks. One of them points out some women and children and they are taken from their families. When the husband resists, darkness flashes around him as a shadowy blade silences him. Behind these fiends, another in deep robes almost seems to float along. Dark metallic hands grasp an ebon skull, with the crown removed and filled with blood. As the group passes by you, the robed figure pauses. The blood stirs and what apears to be an eyeball on a tentacle rises out of the skull to look at you. One of the humanoids seizes your arm, raising it upwards and exposing your forearm. A strange mark bursts into cold blue flames, dancing on your skin. You are taken aside and surrounded by a ring of blood with three small creatures jibbering in your direction. By the time these monsters have reached the end of the line, three others have been pulled aside and given your same treatment. The leader makes an announcement in a booming voice and an unknown language and then taps his staff on the ground three times. A firey portal opens up but you can only see the edge. The captives are lead through, followed by the hierarchs and the rest of the dark warriors. The last through are the small gibbering creatures that were surrounding you and the three others. In a blinding flash, the firey portal closes. Your forearm itches a little but the mark is no longer visible. Meanwhile the villagers break down into various stages of chaos, from running about, to weeping uncontrollably and a few even start trying to extinguish the flames of their ruined town.

Kelyss
2007-06-01, 10:53 PM
humm, lets see. how about you just start the campain mid adventure. it is alot quicker, the players dont have to introduce them selves..much less find the other party members that are off doing something that they think will ad some personality to their character. but usually all it brings is spending a whole gaming session in the inn. sorry, i tend to rambel like that. but if you just want to hurry things along, i suggest that you just start the campain in a dungeon. just say they all aready know eachother and you they were sent on a mission. if any of the players object, just use some DM magic on them.(Ex. Player:I did not take the quest
DM:Fine, them the rest of the party goes down into the dungeon and you are walking in town and you get mauled be millions of starving rats.)

I think that will also get the point across that you cant mess with the DM.

LordLocke
2007-06-02, 03:50 AM
Last campaign I started my PCs on a march to the gallows for various crimes (each based off of their character and roll-played beforehand, surprising each of them on an arrest), were rescued by the BBEG's army (looking to get the BBEG's second-in-command back) and drafted into service.

It was good fun running four good (well, three good, one neutral) characters as part of the baddies army, trying to merit keeping their lives until they could find a way to clear their name and switch sides.

Dan_Hemmens
2007-06-02, 04:26 AM
To suggest something which nobody seems to have mentioned so far:

Do group character creation. Instead of having everybody go away on their own and design a character, have everybody get together and design a group. Make people decide who they are and why they are working together before they get on to designing their actual characters.

Noble family? Mercenary company? Religious sect? Theatre troupe?

Once that's worked out, *then* get them to create characters, all of whom have pre-defined reasons for hanging out together.

GoldDragon
2007-06-02, 06:44 AM
Explosions. Everything is better with explosions.

Driderman
2007-06-02, 07:08 AM
To suggest something which nobody seems to have mentioned so far:

Do group character creation. Instead of having everybody go away on their own and design a character, have everybody get together and design a group. Make people decide who they are and why they are working together before they get on to designing their actual characters.

Noble family? Mercenary company? Religious sect? Theatre troupe?

Once that's worked out, *then* get them to create characters, all of whom have pre-defined reasons for hanging out together.

This is actually the usual method me and my roleplaying buddies use. Gives much better consistency to the party

Lost Outrider
2007-06-02, 07:41 AM
My gaming group doesn't get together as often as we'd like - we're all in our 30's , most of us with kids. As the DM, what I did to kick off the latest campaign was offer the chance to spend the first level PBeM-style. I run a solo-quest for their NPC over email. Gives me and the player to get a feel for the character before we ever sit down at the table. It just so happened that the email pre-play influenced how the actual table-top game will begin. Two of the PCs tied to a slave string by a group of orc raiders, another one laying in ambush with a small group of NPCs just outside the camp. By the end of this, should they survive, then they'll have a much better reason to be together than 'you meet in a tavern.'

We'll begin the adventure by rolling initiative. Those that didn't opt to do the email will start at 2nd level - so there's no numeric advantage to the pre-game. It does add a richer layer of background, though, for the rest of the folk involved.

Accersitus
2007-06-02, 08:03 AM
How about the shipwreck with a twist.

Have the campaign in a low magic setting (were powerful magic exists, but is extremely hard to find) and have the PC being the only to die in the shipwreck:smallbiggrin:
Then the main plot can be the PC trying to find out what they have become, and eventually find a way to become alive again.

crimson77
2007-06-03, 01:49 PM
One of the hardest things about starting a group with diverse pc's is establishing group cohesion. I remember when I first started playing, a long long time ago, it was very hard to get the group to hook in together. This might have partly been the maturity level of the group. However, if you have a group where there will be major character clashes (i.e., a paladin and an evil rouge) then you have a problem. I recommended the idea that was presented by Dan_Hemmens, to have the players form a group and why they have decided to adventure together. This will hopefully cut down on any character clashes and allow them to start the adventure.

However, sometimes forming the group as in character can be fun. If you are planning on devoting some serious time to getting the PC's together, then this can be a great opening quest. You could hook each player in with a short mini-quest where they meet up with the other players and they as a group have to do something for which they all have a "key" (or items) that can allow them to all finish the quest.

TranquilRage
2007-06-03, 03:33 PM
I liked to have my PCs all work for $organisation. Generaly an information gathering one like the harpers. This lets ...
1) Replacements get picked up
2) Resources made available if you want to scale things
3) Random quests get assigned without having to tie them together to begin with
4) Gives the party a common goal, purpose and theme

goat
2007-06-03, 03:37 PM
Make everyone related, even the ones from different species.

R4ph
2007-06-03, 04:03 PM
Make everyone related, even the ones from different species.

Just limit everyone to at least half-human

"Yeah, our mom slept around.... a lot."

One of the very fun ones I heard was to have everyone on the stage in an inn. They don't know how they got there, where they are, or who they are. All the people in the inn are clapping, and there's a very well dressed man bowing and ushering them towards an empty table. hen they get there they see n (where n is the number of PCs) chairs, with different sets of equipment at each seat. Looking back to were they were they see a raised platform and a banner which reads:

"The Great Magnifico. Hypnotist and Magician Extrordanaire!"

Hilarity ensues.

Stagger Lee
2007-06-03, 04:14 PM
I one started a campaign by having the players on a slave ship, chained to the same oar. Then they stole a bunch of alchemial gold from the LE rules of a colony. Yes, it was Neal Stephenson inspired.

goat
2007-06-03, 04:17 PM
Just limit everyone to at least half-human

"Yeah, our mom slept around.... a lot."

Well, getting in Humans, half-orcs, orcs, half elves and elves is fairly easy. You just need a few half brother chains.

Then you can get halflings through a grandparent who had a thing for short people, and so someone's got a half-halfling uncle/aunt, and the halfling's actually only a three-quarter blood. Could do the same thing with gnomes and dwarves linking them through another relative...

Maybe they're on a quest to improve public feelings towards inter-species relationships.

Kiroho
2007-06-03, 04:24 PM
This one just came to me. Each of PC's is a jury member for a high-profile murder/treason/embezzlement/jaywalking case. This can be run from any number of angles.

1. For the hard core roll-players: Start right at the beginning of the trial. For a little twist, have each of the players take on one of the witnesses as the DM runs the prosecution and defense.

2. For the moderate roll-players: Start at the beginning of the deliberations and give each PC a note with what they "remember" from the trial and whether they think the defendant(s) are guilty. Separate notes indicating that one or more jurors has been threatened with reprisals if a guilty verdict is reached. Bribes for a not-guilty verdict is also an option. This can be useful for NPC jurors.

3. For more combat/research roll-players: The courts have tasked the PC's to investigate AND prosecute the case.

4. For the strictly hack and slash players: the convicted killer . . . jaywalker has escaped and the Jury that just convicted him/her/it is tasked with bringing the convict back into custody, preferably alive.

SoulCatcher78
2007-06-03, 04:26 PM
Last campaign I started my PCs on a march to the gallows for various crimes (each based off of their character and roll-played beforehand, surprising each of them on an arrest), were rescued by the BBEG's army (looking to get the BBEG's second-in-command back) and drafted into service.

It was good fun running four good (well, three good, one neutral) characters as part of the baddies army, trying to merit keeping their lives until they could find a way to clear their name and switch sides.

An alternate take on this one would be PCs captured and forced into service as salve troops (cannon fodder to soak up arrows, etc) during a siege. Can they turn the tide of the battle? It'd be one heck of a bonding experience for the PCs if nothing else.

This might work better in some capaigns than others ...Underdark warfare tends to rely heavily on slave fodder (Goblinoids, etc) to find all the traps/glyphs/squishy ways to die/etc. Depending on the setting though, it could be worked in almost anywhere (give convicted beings a weapon and a control collar so you can use them to clear out carrion crawlers in a sewer system).

Viscount Einstrauss
2007-06-03, 04:30 PM
I just started one where the players played through a prologue consisting of every four years as they were growing up, encountering a bizarre murder mystery that was targetting people their age. The players were restricted to all being the same age and live in the same town, and they randomly chose one of several social roles at the beginning. After the prologue was over, they found themselves on another world where they were congratulated by a lich who handed each of them a legacy item and gave them a short speech on how they would get a chance at changing the universe, but it wasn't up to him whether the change would be good, bad, weird, or whatever. Just gave them great tools of destruction and left, telling them to meet him near Waterdeep in Faerun if they ever get around to that end of the cosmos.

Knight_Of_Twilight
2007-06-03, 05:11 PM
I had them Wake up at the bottom of a dried up well, with no memory of thier past lives. They climbed out and found a village in poor shape- They had no water.

First Adventure? Well, they opted to try and figure out what was wrong with the well.

They found out most of their history as the campaign insued. A powerful wizard had hidden something important among them, erased their memories and teleported them to this town to protect them from a powerful Psionicist who was seeking them out.

Karsh
2007-06-03, 05:20 PM
I'm a big fan of the in medias res style of starting a campaign. I started with each player alone and described a catastrophic event that their character was witness to, and then interrupted my own monologue with a knock on the table as their character was startled from their dream by a knock at the door. One note from a powerful entity requesting their aid later with a one-shot teleport rune on it, and bam, my party was assembled and more than a little unsettled.

Keep 'em guessing, that's what I say. Start with something unsettling, then move them into safer environments almost immediately. It throws them off completely and starts them out off-balance, forcing them to be on their toes and anxious to learn what comes next.

Steward
2007-06-03, 05:25 PM
The PCs wake up dangling naked from the rooftop of a enormous fortress, covered from head to toe with melted butter. Carved into the ground below in giant letters is the plot of the next campaign. After they finish reading it, they hear a weird sound: scrape, SCRAPE, scrape... When they look up, they see an ugly old midget cutting off the ropes that are suspending them in the air. They scream and beg for him not to but he doesn't listen. They fall 100 stories and land in the middle of a barfight in a nearby tavern, where a mysterious half-orc offers them a treasure map.

DreadArchon
2007-06-03, 06:58 PM
This one just came to me. Each of PC's is a jury member for a high-profile murder/treason/embezzlement/jaywalking case. This can be run from any number of angles.
Consider this stolen. I think my next campaign will start out this way, though a bit more forcefully--the defendant will have decided that the jurors are turning against him and need to be offed. Violence and possibly hilarity will ensue, as often they are wont to do...

Edit: My current campaign started with "You're near-graduates at the local adventurer's college, paying your tuition by working part-time for the city guard (which is how most adventurers in these parts come to exist, and is a good deal for the city guard). You are instructed to investigate an escaped gang boss."

Enzario
2007-06-03, 07:27 PM
One of the best starts to a campaign: The adventure starts with all of us running down a dark alleyway, weapons drawn, on the alert, with no clue from our DM as to our reason for running or why we have weapons drawn. We run into some opposition in the form of town guards, kill it, then proceed to hijack a ship and escape from the port city. As we found out later, we had been in a bar fight and, us being PCs, we "accidentally" killed a few people. Hence the running and police presence. That would have been a fun campaign, had it not ended after one session...

Yahzi
2007-06-03, 07:28 PM
I started a modern campaign with what I thought was a fool-proof idea.

I let the players make up whatever characters they wanted. At the beginning of the game they're all standing on a sub-way platform in NYC. The doors to the subway car open; a man in a white coat smiles sadly and sprays them all with gas. They pass out.

When they wake up, they immediately discover that they - and only they - can see that some people are in fact squids in business suits (yes, I stole the plot from "They Live!"). I figured this unique and dangerous ability would bind them together, for their own survival.

Within two game sessions they were throwing dynamite at each other.

:smalleek:

Toric
2007-06-03, 08:04 PM
The best campaign-starter I've ever witnessed was the result of one character being a Diviner. He didn't learn how to divinate, his abilities began with random visions and dreams and he studied magic as a means to control his prophetic powers. As his visions are sometimes quite important, he has taken to sketching them on various pieces of paper. The actual campaign had the PC's meeting outside and inside an inn but this could be adapted for pretty much anywhere. Anyway, the basic formula:

It just so happens that, over the course of a normal day, this diviner meets the other PC's at a crossroads, only a few at first, and recognizes their faces. He gives them their own sketches and, as more people walk past, gradually catches the other PC's and hands them their pictures. After handing out all the sketches, he only has one sketch left in the container the portraits were in: it shows a significant personal symbol for each PC and another, larger symbol that signifies a cave on a map somebody has/a temple or other organization/ any other plothook you want. The diviner has been having particularly powerful and emotional dreams about that symbol as of late, and once another PC identifies the symbol, wants to investigate, believing that all the PCs' fates are tied to this plot hook.

Bosh
2007-06-03, 08:11 PM
We way I've started my campaigns is have the PCs be retainers for a minor nobleman. As in: "you are now employed by Lord X, include a reason why you are employed by him in your backstory." This provides a reason for the PCs to be together and know each other and doing jobs for/screwing over their employer provides for hooks for the first few adventures.

I find that often adventures in which the PCs meet each other over the course of the first adventure can often result in overly-contrived plotting.

Tormsskull
2007-06-04, 07:09 AM
Somewhat Cliche:

Call to arms: The PCs have been summoned by Lord/Baron/Duke/King SoandSo to counter the threats of SuchandSuch.

Variation: Have the PCs be 1 group of multiple groups sent to accomplish whatever task.

Not-so Cliche

Magic Dispelled: Each PC's town/home was visited by a mysterious figure, a pronounced prophet of the gods. Through his/her/its spellbinding speech, each PC was compelled to follow the figure's entourage. The entourage keeps building and building, until they arrive at X. Once there the figure's magic is exposed by a cleric/mage/whoever that dispels the effect, releasing all of the captivated followers. With the figure taken into custody, the PCs are left trying to figure out if they were chosen for any particular reason...

Brave New World: The Kingdom/Country/Land of SuchandSuch has sent a group of 250 or so persons to found a new colony on a briefly scouted island. The persons are to settle the area, search for any threats/dangers of the island, and make it a profitable town for the colonizer. The PCs are picked by the local rulers as a group to explore the area, map specfic things, and bring back as much information as possible.

Quest for the Holy Grail: The legendary item SuchandSuch is rumored to have turned up somewhere between the SoandSo River and the SuchandSuch Mountain, causing hundreds of people to take up the quest of discovering it and its powers. The item is said to bestow incredible powers on the one who holds it. The PCs, each with a bit of background information as to a section of area that they have explored, meet at a caravan train stopping ground, trading information with others on the hunt for the item. The PCs, deciding it will be easier to find the item with help, group up. If they find the item, it can be absolutely non-magical, or a minor magic item, or something powerful (but if it is truly something powerful expect other people looking for it won't stop just because a group has already found it).

Variation: The item is actually a person, perhaps a kidnapped Queen/Princess/Lady.

Deed to the Estate: Each PC received a letter by courier (or whatever means of communication works for your area) informing them that they are the owner of a mansion on the outskirts of SuchandSuch town. When they arrive they discover that the other PCs have received the same message. The mansion is full of secret passages (undetectable through magic), full dungeons underneath, and more. The townsfolk are terrified of the mansion, and may try to burn it down if the PCs don't defeat/contain some of the mansions denizens.

If I think of more I'll add them later.

Funkyodor
2007-06-04, 07:14 AM
Lets see. The opera / live performance. Give the players different minor objectives like, you're there to fleece this guy, you're there as a hired bodyguard, you're there becuase you think the singer is HOT. Bring them together by seating arrangement and good dramatic entrance for the BBEG.

The Passenger ship raided by pirates. They were there for different reasons, but now they pirate or walk the plank, Arrgh. Or slaves on a prison galleon that break out and then Pirate.

The Caravan. Each player is on the caravan secretly running from the law (discuss this separately with each player), when the law arrives each will think it's for them, but they really are there for other reasons (or just passing through). Nervously they will most likely leave only to meet 'by chance' and might bond through their common lawlessness (Doesn't work so well if the players do Paladin/Monk types, but it can work. Paladin can be retreating from what he believes is unlawful pursuers, etc...).

The 'Friendly' cleric in town has been kinda shifty of late. Someone goes missing (little boy/girl, etc...) and the sherrif 'Deputizes' the PC's into a posse to investigate. Friendly doesn't mean good as they find out the 'Evil' cleric has been doing some grotesque stuff.

Just some stuff off the top of my head thats worked well in the past.

karmuno
2007-06-05, 01:49 PM
A couple of campaigns I'm in started thusly:

1. In a World of Darkness campaign set in the Victorian age, three of us got a letter from the Earl of Worcestershire (which everyone pronounces "WAR-chester-shire," much to the dismay of the GM) telling us to meet at a train station and then proceed to talk to him. Two of the PCs were already in town, one of them needed a silver dagger, and the other sold guns. The campaign officially began with the character in need robbing a building to raise the money he needed to purchase the dagger. The two then met in a graveyard to make the transaction. Meanwhile, my character was on a train to meet with the others along with another PC, who was going to visit a friend who was studying at the same university at which we would find the earl. We got to talking, heard mysterious noises, etc. So basically, by the time we all got to the train station (I think I knew the gun dealer previously), we at least had some connection and proceeded to go to the earl's place.

2. In a Rolemaster campaign, one other character and I were employed as bodyguards by some noble during his journey from one city to another. On the way, at the same time as we passed a caravan containing the other two members, we were attacked by some form of monster. We fought them off, and made our way to the town, together.

Now that I think about it, both are a bit cliche.

Human Paragon 3
2007-06-05, 02:23 PM
I started my last campaign with a flashback to "that day 5 years ago" (long story) followed up by all the PCs dangling upside down over a wolf pit with no idea how they got there. Yes, this was the first session. Turns out we'd forgotten a year of our lives and then things just got whacky from there.

Call Me Siggy
2007-06-05, 02:33 PM
Current campaign (D&D 3.5, historical/mythological base):The party is in a town in Egypt, selling imported silks. They interact and haggle with the customers to earn their starting gold. After most of it is sold, a portal to Hades opens up and a demon with two fiendish crocodiles emerge and give the first encounter.

I like the way that started.

Wolf_Shade
2007-06-05, 02:48 PM
Your character is... wherever it is that your character is. You feel a peel of thunder that you do not hear, and see a flash of fire that you cannot feel. When this odd occurence fades, you are still where you were, but you are not alone. Around you are a number of other individuals, yet when you focus on one, it disappears, and reappears when you focus elsewhere.
One of the figures screams, which you are suprised you hear clearly, turns, and flees from you. You jump at the sudden outburst, as do some of the others you can see out of the corner of your eye. You realise that you focused on the screamer clearly and watched him run, but now he's gone.

TheLogman
2007-06-05, 09:12 PM
Okay, the characters are all defenders of their own hometowns/wanderers. Each fights a small group of monsters indigenous to their area. Let them win a little, and don't let them die. Fudge the dice if needed. Just as the fight is about 3/4ths over, have a shadowy figure emerge a la shadowdancer. This guy moves forward, untouched by attacks/spells. He guy touches the player, they blackout, and then awake with marks on their (Insert Body Parts) They awake in a lab/lair of some kind, and are forced to band together, fighting their greatest enemies, and some really weird stuff to find the way out, and get home.

Alternatively, they all awake at their homes with said marks, or better yet, in each other's homes. They have some kind of poison/disease that is threatening/bad, but not bad enough to prevent adventuring or kill them. They now have to find the lair/lab and find a cure. They meet in a large town nearby their homes/areas while searching for a cure. I.E.

Player 1: Hello, have you seen/heard of a/an (Insert Whatever you said the shadowy shadowdancer looked like)

Townsperson: No, but quite a few people were asking for the same thing earlier do you know them?

Player 1: *Thinking* Maybe they could help me *Thinking* No, but where can I find them?

Valdyr
2007-06-05, 09:24 PM
Thank you guys. I'm going to have to go through this thread and choose between some really great ideas.

In the mean time though, I'm hesistant about some of the campaign hooks that immediately send the message "You Are Special" to the PCs. Being PCs, they have an inflated enough ego as it is.

So I'm not sure what I think about the, "you and your new friends are the only ones who see that the sky has turned purple/ share a dream/ wake up together with no memories" type hooks.

I guess these work better with higher level parties, because 10th level characters, for example, are special. I like to toy with the PCs first though. It's no fun when they start with one of the major campaign items.

Korias
2007-06-05, 09:28 PM
This is a good one:

The five of you happen to be walking along the common streetside, when a massive sinkhole opens up beneath your feet! Roll reflex saves. Failure means 3d4 Bludgeoning Damage.

For those of you who survived, you see a laughing wizard and an astonished young child, whose arm is raised in your direction. They walk away, laughing as they go along. The 4 of you (One died), decided to band together to hunt the wizard andhis powerful apprentice.