Getting and keeping a party together

[Tanuki Tales]

Like it says on the tin folks.

[Honest Tiefling]

Talk to your players. Tell them you don't want another adventure where everyone runs off in five different directions because it is hard to plan, do, and balance. If they don't oblige with this simple request, pull out a laser pointer to determine if your players aren't actually cats.

Some suggestions on quick ways to get started:
1) Throw them into a situation where they can't just say 'naaaaah'. Zombie infestations are one of my favs for this, as there are multiple ways to deal with the threat, but its not really something you can just walk away from.
2) Every player character must have a connection to two other player characters. This works only with a session 0, but I'd seriously consider this given your issue.
3) Every player character needs a connection to the plot presented to them. If it is a game about say, defeating some devil summoners, why are they doing this? This works great if you can hand out some carrots to reward them, such as the paladin from a devil-hating religion getting a few contacts within their own order that can help out.
4) Related to above, they are all a part of an organization, which boosts their starting gold and gives them a contact. Some players will immediately bail on their new sugar daddy, but that type of player probably needs to receive a talking to.

If all else fails, replace the soda with Sierra Mist and order anchovy and pineapple pizza.

[BowStreetRunner]

I'm assuming this is from the perspective of the DM.

It's all about incentives. You need to know what drives every player/character in the group. Ask the players what they are looking to get out of the game. Make sure they also tell you what motivates their characters. Then use those things to give them incentives to come together and work together.

Over the years I've come across lots of types of gamers - there have even been psychological studies of the phenomenon. Each has their own triggers and pressure points. Figure out what motivates them and then make sure to employ the carrot or stick to nudge them in the direction the party is going. The more they act together as a party, the more you reward their play-style with more opportunities to do what they like most. The more the party starts to act separately, the more you put them in situations that are contrary to their nature. Eventually they will naturally prefer to work together because it provides the greatest personal rewards.

On a character level, give each a personal reason to do the party thing. They can certainly have a common cause, but you can also have a group of individuals in the party who are there for quite different reasons too. So while most are working to defend their homeland against the BBEG, for instance, one might be along because of some more personal grudge against the BBEG and while that character doesn't really care about the homeland, any chance to get even with the BBEG is a good thing.

[Melcar]

Like it says on the tin folks.

I have found it easiest to keep people together with either of the following:

1) Make them all basically be the same type. Have them all be religious kooks; paladins, clerics or monks...

2) Make them have some sort of greater enemy. They are all elves and one particular Lich tryies to suck your whole Mythal for himself kind of thing. You goal is to stop this mad Netherillian! And calling onthe Grand Mage of the Grand Mages wont help.

[Gildedragon]

It's like herding cats
No matter what one does they will split the party
One will flub diplomacy with the city watch so bad they'll be taken in for questioning, and the others will ditch them and not even consider a rescue attempt...
Or the cleric will go to the Cathedral while the druid wants to go to the botanical gardens and the bard heads off to the town square to perform...
Just roll with them splitting up
Throw full CR encounters at them
If they die/nearly die say "it's because you split the party!"

[dascarletm]

I am spoiled with great players, but keeping the party together is an assumption we all make, both player and DM. The players understand it is their job to have characters that work with one-another. Moving the story along is part of their job as roleplayer. Tell them this is a story about a group of adventurers that work together to achieve X, so make characters that will work together. I also usually start the game with most characters already knowing each other. I leave it up to them as to how.

[AnimeTheCat]

I like to solve problems like this before they even exist. I've found that the best way is to talk to each player at character creation in confidence and find out what they want to do with their character. Most of the time it goes something like this:

"Ok, what does Bumblebee Pookypants want to do?"
"Well... I wanna be a rogue."
"No, what does Bumblebee Pookypants, the rogue, want to do? Kill people? Loot everything? Get married?"
"Oh... I wanna be a master thief."
"Got it, I'll build opportunites for you."

Then, I integrate these small simple goals of the PCs in to whatever story they've got going on, like the Dark Brotherhood in Skyrim:
There is a point in the dark brotherhood quest line where you get a certain special jeweled amulet that is worth lots of money, but you have to take it to a special fence in the thieves guild. It incorporates two different play styles and kind of forces you to acknowledge another part of the game to be able to proceed.

If, by some miraculous feat of the gods, everyone wants to play a goodie goodie two shoes that just makes it easy. Unite them against a single enemy, cause, catastrophe, etc.

If you're already mid game, its still not too late to talk to each play on an individual basis. If their goals are so spread out that it doesn't seem feasible to wrap everyone together in a single quest, have more smaller off-shoot quests. Example: Brunhilda, the paladin, wants to become a paragon of Half-Orc Paladins and will stop at nothing to prove her worth to her god. Conversely, Snivle, the rogue/sorcerer, wants to rule the underground black market. These two things aren't mutually exclusive (if the party will communicate and work together on it), but they don't immediately mesh well. What I've found is to build a story that will guide a player, but still let them have their own freedom. Pick whether you want to mold and shape how exactly Brunhilda will prove herself as the best among paladins, or how Snivle will take over the underground black market. Will Snivel bend to the will of the current masters, or will he discover just how rotten the place is and seek to change it, using Brunhilda and her power of the light? Will Brunhilda quest away from the underground, cause turmoil in their trade lines, thereby letting Snivle capitalize and provide "Information" about the next attack, for a modest fee, and then gradually build up his clout enough to dethrone the current overlord of the black market? Have the party go on quests that further the other members goals, but seem like they're really forging ahead with their own goals. The goals for Brunhilda are to smite evil and take names, this works well for Snivle because it weakens the overlord's hold on the black market trade routes and gives him an insider threat that he can use and exploit. Snivle doesn't even have to be evil to run the black market, he can stay neutral and not ping red when Brunhilda looks at him (Because why wouldn't you always be detecting evil if it's at will...).

Hope this helps!

[Tanuki Tales]

Some context:

There aren't any players yet.
This will be a PbP, off site.
I haven't a whit at what to really throw together as a campaign. I can't really be a player anymore, so I'm trying to transition to DMing full time, but I never can figure out how to glue the group together in a non-cliche fashion and then string them along with a coherent plot.

[ComaVision]

Here's what I like to do, which may be controversial here: Railroad them

Be up front about it and tell your players that the game will start with them being conscripted into the military, or press-ganged on a pirate ship, or working together to collect a bounty on a bandit leader. They can have whatever background they like as long as the end result has them where they need to be at the beginning of the game, with a singular focus. This allows the group to develop a dynamic before you open up the world to them and give them more free reign.

[Tanuki Tales]

Good advice so far. :smallsmile: