The characters don't meet in a tavern...

[Vwrt]

Far, far too many D&D stories begin with "the characters meet in a tavern." That trope is cliche for a reason. I have never done this, myself, although once part of the start of an adventure had a messenger find one of the characters to let him know that he was named in his uncle's will, and it turned out that his uncle had a fight with his wife just a little before his death, and left half of the inn he shared with his wife to this distant cousin out of spite. It worked well as a way to give the characters a base of operations and some income, a locale to festoon with trophies of their exploits, and a good environment for social interactions, because even though "You all happen to find yourselves around the same table at the inn" is a dull beginning, the characters hitting the pub to celebrate their adventure of course has its place.

I like asking players to invent backstories that justify them knowing one another, or thrust them together by a different set of circumstances ("after the fire the dragon started burns down half of the town, you find yourself next to a fellow warrior on the last bucket line" or "there are half a dozen other passengers on the ship that's bringing you to the city of Dharkundr, and the captain has you all to his table the night before you land"). We've had characters that were siblings before, which is probably the simplest already-knew-each-other there is, but also had one character stumble across another while he was getting his butt kicked and needed help, or one character hired to steal something from someone who turns out to be another PC as the excuse for them to meet (and see how the players resolve that), or otherwise try to fit PC meetings into a story context rather than in a downtime static environment. Sometimes it's easy (the only two half orcs at the rest stop where the road passes the elven village naturally find none of the locals want to sit near either of them) and sometimes it's not (the paladin sees what he thinks of as a little guy getting picked on, while the priestess sees justice being done to a little lawbreaker who flouted the rules, and both stick their noses in this bit of public business), but ideally the story hooks that come out of those initial meetings set the tone for an interesting dynamic and fully realized relationship between those characters as they work together from there.

So I thought I'd ask if anyone felt like sharing their favourite "the characters DON'T meet in a bar" story beginnings, because I'd be curious to stumble across more creative initial meeting hooks. Did any of them work out spectacularly well or particularly catastrophic?

[fishyfishyfishy]

I've done the "shipwrecked on a hazardous island, now you must cooperate to get out alive" scenario, but that's probably just as common. I also usually require my players to include at least 1 other player character in their background when we do our character building game session.

EDIT: Oh and in my 4e Dark Sun game they started out as employees [mercenaries] of a trade caravan.

[Novawurmson]

A few from campaigns I've played in or GMed:

Players start as part of a travelling circus.

Players start as inmates in a prison colony.

Players start as revolutionaries against a corrupt military/arcane dictatorship.

Players start dead, their souls trapped in a sentient artifact.

Players start as heralds of fallen gods trying to restore their deities.

Players start as ambassadors of their various races in a floating, neutral city.

Players start as a group of monsters plotting a raid on a castle to kidnap the crown prince.

[Dragolord]

Players start dead, their souls trapped in a sentient artifact.
Would you mind elaborating a little on this one?

[Jormengand]

I have to say, I've seen far more complaints about this than instances of it actually happening.

My latest campaign started with an elf pointing a bow at a drow in a field.

[Gildedragon]

PCs meet on the train
PCs know each other already from past adventures/travels through the area
PCs are introduced to one another by their employer at the employer's offices/chambers
PCs meet on a carriage ride to their destination, all tasked with the same task or investigating phenomena that turn out to have the same cause (a paladin sent to investigate a stirring of the dead at a parish, a wizard investing an urgent message from their mentor, a rogue and psion (researchers going to examine some local ruins))

[denthor]

On a ship with others dragons attack the city PC 's NPC's step up others run for cover.


All entering a city heald of the city gives a short cry for adventures to identify themselves and go to a meeting along with all interested parties. This assures thieves attend as well in the background gives them time to listen and attach without attention drawn to them

[Jay R]

In a modern super-hero game, I gave each character a different reason to be at the same place.

1. "Scanning the emergency radio band, you hear about a fire at an apartment building."
2. "While downtown, you see black smoke rising, three or four blocks away."
3. "A fire trucks goes past you, siren blaring."
4. "Relaxing at home, it occurs to you that it certainly is warm in here."

[Flickerdart]

The characters arranged to meet in the tavern, but upon arriving, they discover it had burned down.

[Gruftzwerg]

I personally enjoy it, to play the meeting of the characters out. It's fine if a few knew each other, but it shouldn't be the true for the others.

The best way to initiate a group is via DMing.

"The halfling is trying to escape a bunch of Goblins/Orcs/whatsoever and runs/rides into a caravan. The caravan is guarded by a few of the other players (who meet at the start of the caravan). And before the fight ends, the 2 last players (who already knew each other, background), who where riding behind the caravan, join the fight."

Now you have a group who is bound by sweat & blood.

I think, it's better to roleplay the 1st meeting of the group. It helps the players to get an idea how the others behave and give their first impression. That's why I dislike it when everybody is knowing each other by background (without ever playing the characters). It maybe ok in some plots, but it shouldn't be the standard chase that everybody knows each other.

Other ways to initiate groups is by some kind of authority or rich people. It wouldn't be the first time, someone shouting out the need of heroes/adventurers for some payment.
A mercenary like group could be a hook to evolve into a adventurer/hero party.

[daremetoidareyo]

Give all of the PCs the same job and a salary: examples include Magistrate, deputy sheriff, ambassador, or diplomat.

This is organic, explains incompatible archetypes sometimes working against each other, and puts someone in direct charge of the PCs if they get too wonky. It also explains why a cleric and a thief would both wind up working together (good cop/bad cop). Many of these positions in many game worlds exist. They can be the result of nepotism or luck or hard work. This ties the PCs to a single region for the majority of the career rather than having them be sailors.

The other option is that each PC inherited a share of a company from a parental type figure, lucky gambling match, looting the corpse of a person. The company is predicated on performing mercenary work, and at level 1 the shareholder's writ has a magical thingy that puts them together where a holographic spirit of the company updates them with the events of the last 30 days and the PCs are tasked with deciding the next 30 days worth of adventures.

[Malimar]

For my megadungeon game, "You all meet at the Adventurer's Guild... which is a glorified tavern" is the default. But in my other campaigns, "You're all passengers or crew on a ship" has become my mainstay.

[Crake]

My favourite start to a game ever has got to be my first campaign. I spend about an hour with each player running a private intro session while the others ate food and chatted, eventually managing to work each player from various corners of a continent all into the same, small, mountain pass town, even heading in different directions. Funnily enough, they all met up in the town's tavern/inn anyway, but none of them wanted to talk to each other, just get along with their own personal stories. That was, until two town girls went missing and the townspeople blamed them all, forcing them to stay in the tavern under watch while the townspeople tried to find them. Thats when they finally talked to each other, and the innkeeper. As the day came to evening though, that's when the lovecraftian cross silent hill survival horror adventure really began.

[Tiri]

Well, in the campaign I'm currently in, the characters met in the first party leader's weapon shop, where they agreed to help her investigate the disappearance of a merchant friend of hers. When they went to do so, they got attacked by goblins and giant spiders. Then they went back to town to recuperate and then had a goblin (last party member) burst into the shop and inform them of a way into the goblin village.

[Soranar]

-Your city is under attack by something (an army of goblins, undead, orcs, humans,slavers, etc) and commoners are dying like sheep around you, you must escape and live (trying to meet the threaht head on is usually suicide which makes life complicated for a paladin unless you give him a few npc to save by running away)

-You are part of a group dying of thirst/starvation and you must band together and attack a village /city of enemies to get their supplies and live (works well in a desert setting). Works better if you have weak NPCs you have a reason to help (say you're survivors of a fallen city trying to make it to a new colony)

-You're all part of an illegal gladiator ring and you must survive with your fellow teammates before escaping

-A nice variation on the shipwreck survivors is to make it a flying ship crash instead (opens up more territory to choose from)

[Opposition]

-A deity so powerful, he is beyond followers has brought the party together from all corners of the world. The deity realizes they need to fulfill a prophecy to stop an apocalypse so he brings them all together. Each player gets a short intro before being blinded by white light and waking up in dilapidated tomb with the other players. Find out what happened. Fulfill the prophecy.

[Darth Ultron]

A lot of the time I do the slow start of game zero where each player character meets each other and joins the group. Each character gets a spotlight and everything flows together naturally. Though this does take a lot of time, and you need mature players that are fine with sitting around and not playing all the time. And even more mature players that grasp the concept that they only get the spotlight for a short amount of time and then must share it with others and can not hog all the time for themselves.


Another common one I use is the random teleport. This is simply having each character just zapped from wherever they are and dumped somewhere else. It's a great way to get rid of annoying self focused backstories that players obsess over too much. It is also a great way to get rid of annoying characters by destroying or losing critical build items. So poor Joe looses his characters spiked chain plus 10 of obliteration and just has to punch for 1-2 damage.

The destiny quest is a good one I use a lot. Have the PC's get a letter or are teleported to someone who tells them they have a vague destiny to do a set quest.

[Telonius]

In the most recent campaign I ran, we started in the middle of a town festival. The team didn't know each other at first. But they all witnessed a "cut scene" where a hotheaded young Aasimar Paladin ran off to defend the honor of his Sharakim friend after a couple of local troublemakers had seriously insulted her. Meanwhile, this left the Paladin's sister alone and next to an alley (granted, on a usually safe street, in broad daylight, and in the middle of a festival). The other members of the gang had been lying in wait for this, and tried to kidnap the sister. Play started with each PC's reaction.

[Âmesang]

I've often thought about starting out a sandbox adventure by having the party stroll around a city center/marketplace/forum/what-have-you when suddenly a sword falls out of the sky, embedding itself into the ground.

…of course it only really works if at least one person in the party is curious enough to investigate the origin of the sword and doesn't merely sheath and forget it. :smalltongue:

[Telonius]

I've often thought about starting out a sandbox adventure by having the party stroll around a city center/marketplace/forum/what-have-you when suddenly a sword falls out of the sky, embedding itself into the ground.

…of course it only really works if at least one person in the party is curious enough to investigate the origin of the sword and doesn't merely sheath and forget it. :smalltongue:

I'm picturing an entire campaign based on "The Gods Must Be Crazy" now. :smallbiggrin:

[Atypical_Necro]

In one of those most recent campaigns I played in the druids had managed to send the high-tech world back to the medieval level and ruled it with a cruel iron(wood) fist. They outlawed arcane magic and possession of technology on pain of death. I played a beguiler who used his magic as street entertainment. Another player had a piece of technology. We're both spotted by druids and are chased, me out of the city and him toward it. We pass each other at the gate, making our reflex saves to avoid bowling each other over (and wishing each other a good day as we pass) just o see that we're both in the same boat. Now we're surrounded and outnumbered but ready to fight. Cue another druid, his wolf, and a companion heading toward the city. The enforcers hail him, asking for help, only to find out that he and his companion oppose the tyrannical druid council (2 other PC's). One of the more memorable openings to a campaign.

[Efrate]

Destiny called all my PCs to travel north, and they meet in a wayfarers station,a clearing with a fire pit, a stack of wood, a small stream, and woods easily huntable. A carved signpost welcomes all travellers and tells them take what the need but replace what they take. A small woodsman axe and hatchet are nearby. One players gets firewood and a snake bites him, the person with heal can help them with their save, that fixes two of them. They are attacked in the night by some minor opposition who go after them and their game, something like twig blights, and whomever was hunting/replacing firewood gets followed back to camp. They find out they all felt the pull after that, and decide what to do.

Pieces/copies of an ancient treasure map also works, they all meet at the entrance to whatever dungeon. Better for more hack and slashy type parties.

[Windrammer]

It's not even that common, it's just a meme. When people do it it's similar to mamong an antagonist out of a red dragon - we know it's cliche, its just a small note of love to the genre as well as a running joke, like the Wilhelm scream. It's not hard to think of a different starting point and it's not like people who start in a tavern actually lack creativity that much. Not everything HAS to defy convention. Sometimes Dwarves love ale, sometimes Necromancers are evil, sometimes Wizards are bookish. D&D is whatever you make it but at its heart it's ABOUT cliches, and celebrating them.

[Crake]

Another common one I use is the random teleport. This is simply having each character just zapped from wherever they are and dumped somewhere else. It's a great way to get rid of annoying self focused backstories that players obsess over too much. It is also a great way to get rid of annoying characters by destroying or losing critical build items. So poor Joe looses his characters spiked chain plus 10 of obliteration and just has to punch for 1-2 damage.

I really hope you're being sarcastic on this one, cause otherwise that's terrible advice to be giving out. If you have a problem with someone's backstory or build, don't just toss them in game with a giant **** you, talk to them beforehand, unless you're actively looking to be a ****.

[the_david]

Far, far too many D&D stories begin with "the characters meet in a tavern." That trope is cliche for a reason. I have never done this, myself, although once part of the start of an adventure had a messenger find one of the characters to let him know that he was named in his uncle's will, and it turned out that his uncle had a fight with his wife just a little before his death, and left half of the inn he shared with his wife to this distant cousin out of spite. It worked well as a way to give the characters a base of operations and some income, a locale to festoon with trophies of their exploits, and a good environment for social interactions, because even though "You all happen to find yourselves around the same table at the inn" is a dull beginning, the characters hitting the pub to celebrate their adventure of course has its place.

If I would do this my players would get all paranoid about the aunt and get sidetracked with this "murder mystery".

Although that may have more to do with me than with the players.

[Novawurmson]

Would you mind elaborating a little on this one?

Sure. I spend way too much time playing Roguelike/Rogue-lite games like the Binding of Isaac, and I wanted to make a hyper kick-in-the-door campaign.

The (somewhat thin) plot was that the players were adventurers who had attempted to take the Test of the Starstone (http://pathfinder.wikia.com/wiki/Test_of_the_Starstone) and failed (TL;DR: If you get to the Starstone, you become a god). In our campaign, the Starstone is a hyper-sentient multidimensional artifact. For the campaign, at least, the Starstone is taking failed godlings and refining their souls through increasingly difficult challenges into immortal agents on its behalf.

[Jay R]

One straightforward method I've used is, "You hear a woman screaming. It appears to be coming from an alley"

[Seto]

I arranged for the characters to meet at one of the PCs' house... from which they quickly proceeded to the nearest tavern :smallsigh:

[Dragolord]

Sure. I spend way too much time playing Roguelike/Rogue-lite games like the Binding of Isaac, and I wanted to make a hyper kick-in-the-door campaign.

The (somewhat thin) plot was that the players were adventurers who had attempted to take the Test of the Starstone (http://pathfinder.wikia.com/wiki/Test_of_the_Starstone) and failed (TL;DR: If you get to the Starstone, you become a god). In our campaign, the Starstone is a hyper-sentient multidimensional artifact. For the campaign, at least, the Starstone is taking failed godlings and refining their souls through increasingly difficult challenges into immortal agents on its behalf.
Cheers. That is a good opening. As for my thread tax, I've never DMed a game, but my last game started in the guardsmens' guild's barracks. Ten minutes before we raided a tavern...

[Red Fel]

So I thought I'd ask if anyone felt like sharing their favourite "the characters DON'T meet in a bar" story beginnings, because I'd be curious to stumble across more creative initial meeting hooks. Did any of them work out spectacularly well or particularly catastrophic?

I remember one Dragonlance campaign (I've spoken of this one from time to time) where the players got together and worked together on mutual PC backstories. The story started in a small desert village, so everyone knew each other. The party included:
The Swordsman. His sister died in the last big war. Thinks he's the leader. Childhood friends with the Black Robe Wizardess and the Druidess.
The Druidess. Her player wasn't very good at backstory. Childhood friends with the Black Robe Wizardess and the Swordsman.
The Black Robe Wizardess. Shy introvert, basically the only Tower Wizard in town. Closeted pervert. Childhood friends with the Swordsman and Druidess.
The Minotaur. Only Evil character (other than the Wizardess). Saved by the Swordsman's now-dead sister, owes a life debt to the Swordsman as a result. Trains him. Dislikes everybody.
The Gnome. Town eccentric. Built a laser once. Everybody knows him.
The Construct. Created by Reorx, went in search of a master, the Gnome was the first one he found. Keeps kittens in his chest cavity. Murders.
Basically, everyone knew everyone, which made it easier to work party dynamics. At one point, the Minotaur died, and was replaced with the Noble Draconian, who joined the party because he could sense the sacred artifact they were carrying. (Also, he was one of maybe two people who were able to touch it without being electrocuted, because murderhobos.)

[AnimeTheCat]

My favorite opening to a game ever was:
1) Human Rogue that got his giggles off by being arrested and then breaking out of prison
2) Elven Bard that was simply fun-loving and went where the wind took her
3) Human Fighter that was under the employ of the town guard (at least, when the game started)
4) Half-Orc Druid that was the friendly speaker of the forest to the nearby town.

The game started out by the rogue getting arrested by the fighter, the bard seducing the fighter and convincing him that there was fun to be had with her, the rogue breaking out of jail and all of them fleeing the town as fugitives because they were thought to be the accomplices of the rogue who stole the mayor's flower vase. They fled into the forest where they met the druid who thought they were all a little crazy, but he felt the need to help them at least for one night. The towns folk lost their heads and ran the druid out of the forest for sheltering the now fugitive PCs. Not one instant took place in a tavern, inn, bar, or any other sort of place. It all took place organically and the players had a grand time with it.

[Gildedragon]

My favorite opening to a game ever was:
1) Human Rogue that got his giggles off by being arrested and then breaking out of prison Gunning for the Otyurgh Hole bonus feats eh? :P

[AnimeTheCat]

Gunning for the Otyurgh Hole bonus feats eh? :P

I'm, unfortunately, not familiar with Otyugh Hole. I think its from CS, but I could be wrong. We were deployed and only had the PHB at our disposal so we were just trying to find a fun way to kill time and this worked so well. One of my favorite memories of DMing.

[DirePorkChop]

I'm, unfortunately, not familiar with Otyugh Hole. I think its from CS, but I could be wrong. We were deployed and only had the PHB at our disposal so we were just trying to find a fun way to kill time and this worked so well. One of my favorite memories of DMing.

Some of my best times playing were done on deployment.

My favorite start was when we all played Kobolds straight out of the MM. We were serving a green dragon that some NPC muderhobos killed and stole all of her treasure and her hatchlings we were sworn to protect. The whole adventure was to track down the members of the party that killed our queen and exact revenge. That campaign was full of plot holes, and didn't make sense sometimes but it was one of the best I have ever played in. I was the fighter with a strength of 7 using a medium sized greatsword he took off a dead man in a field.

[HolyDraconus]

PCs are fabricated in a town designed eons ago by malevolent fiends intent on circumventing the Pact by letting generations of non interference to foster the perfect blends of murder hobos willing to sell the soul of the very material plane they reside on to bring out the complete destruction of Good in reality, while preparing themselves for the other Powers that would be upset with the eradication of an entire section of the multiverse culminating in creating a chasm that leads directly towards the Elder Evils, bolstering their forces for the final confrontation with the Outer Gods.


Small, I know.

[Scorponok]

I've had the players start off by going to a funeral of an old man who once fought in a great war long ago. Each of the PCs had some connection to the old man in some way, either as a mentor, an uncle, or someone who saved them or their parent's life.

Then later on that night, an alliance of pirates comes into town and kidnaps his granddaughter to be sold into marriage overseas. That's the initial hook to get the players fighting the pirates.

Eventually they discover the pirates are being led by a powerful Mermaid sorceress, and she had been presumably killed by this old man and his friends long ago. They then need to go digging into his past to discover how they killed her the first time around.

[Winter_Wolf]

I went the Elder Scrolls route: "you need to escape from prison." But they didn't. And didn't subsequently get to steal the mecha they were supposed to, so got sentenced to the Arena. They did really well for a complete pull it out of my hat campaign. I had to ad lib everything and they never did get the mechs.

I've never played the met in a tavern start. Makes sense, if extended a little. "You all meet in tavern. Or more precisely, the tavern, same as you have for the past several years, having all grown up in and around this little fly speck of a settlement. You all know each other by reputation at least, and probably used to get into fights in the mud on festival day. Thief has been arrested a few times on suspicion, but nothing ever stuck; Priest has been an acolyte at The Temple for several years and recently took their vows, becoming a full fledged cleric; Fighter serves on militia when not (craft or profession); Elf spends a lot of time bringing people back out of the forest when they get lost."

[PaucaTerrorem]

Of the few games I've range only one I was happy with was that the PCs were in the same town, unknown to each other and in different areas, as a huge attack on the town starts. I ran a small encounter for each PC hoping they ran into each other. Only lost one of the five in the process.

[Thurbane]

I have unabashedly started many a campaign in a tavern.

I've also been guilty of one of the other most common campaign starts as well: PCs travelling in a caravan, caravan attacked, PCs rush to the defense of the caravan as a group.

[weckar]

Ones I've run/been in:


The characters are all on a ship heading upsea (It's a Spiral Sea thing, don't question it). A Gargantuan water elemental plows through their ship after provocation by the party sorcerer (although otherwise he would have done so by accident anyway).
The party has been travelling together for a while as representatives of vastly different ideologies on a mission peace (then they walked into a Ravenloft mist bank. Tough luck, that).
The game starts in medias res, as the party is in the middle of a heist.
The party is all part of the same mook squad of the national army.
You all happen to be in the same three-house town and **** is going down. Go figure.
All future party members happen to be attending the annual Green Star Festival when things start to go bad.
All party members somehow get involved in the same mid-street shootout.
A mutual employer gathers the party with specific intent.
Another Spiral Sea one; the party is on a raft that is about to go over the Big Drop.
You all meet in a tavern. It has been wrecked just minutes ago by the Great Wyrm White Dragon towering over you.



EDIT: Although my campaign endings tend to be far more interesting (and consistent): Eberron games always end with somesort of apocalypse, Spiral Sea games tend to end on cliffhangers (usually by taking The Leap), and Ravenloft games... well, I think the intent is those that breaking even is usually the best that you can do.