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DixieDevil
2017-03-02, 04:18 PM
The classic way to start a campaign. Some folks hate the cliche, but I personally love it. It's traditional.

How do y'all feel about it? Do you use it? If so, how do you make it unique?

sktarq
2017-03-02, 04:38 PM
Almost never use it. Why? I find it lacks anything to help the game. Why do the PC's stick together and why are they together in the first place are important to me. I use it to keep the players engaged, to have the PC's built so that they feel useful and thus keep players engaged. To act as source of plot hooks etc. While it is possible to set something up that makes "meeting in a tavern" work it is damn rare.

Prince Zahn
2017-03-02, 04:50 PM
I find it's acceptable if you really can't think of anything better.
Yes, It is a cliché, but it's a fair enough cliché because justifying how the players meet is rarely the most important detail at the scene. But think of it this way, in another time period, this might be a coffeehouse, or a club.
One twist that I made once, was arrange a meeting a tavern when the barkeep was out to lunch. It was rainy, and the players had to get to know each other without the leisure of a warm meal and a roof first.

It didn't work for us very well, mind you, but I think it was because we never did have a great group dynamic to begin with. Most of them were antisocial.

ComaVision
2017-03-02, 04:59 PM
I'm using it in a game now but that's just because it's a old-school styled, drop-in hexcrawl game.

I've never used it for a long-term campaign with regular players.

ImNotTrevor
2017-03-02, 05:10 PM
It is always ok to start in a tavern.
as long as the tavern is ON FIRE.

Cluedrew
2017-03-02, 05:20 PM
Hey one of my favourite campaign openings happened in a tavern: A mercenary, a naïve mystic and a reality TV host, with camera crew, walk into a bar. I love saying that. Still it actually happened entirely by accident because my character, the mercenary, was off work, put passively looking for employment in a place where that largely consists of waiting for someone with money to hire you to come through town. Where else would they be?

Fire might have helped.

Spartakus
2017-03-02, 05:41 PM
The classic way to start a campaign. Some folks hate the cliche, but I personally love it. It's traditional.

How do y'all feel about it? Do you use it? If so, how do you make it unique?

Yes it is a cliche and there is nothing wrong with it. It's a quick and easy way to get the group together. If I have a nice different idea, I'll use that, otherwise I just stick with the tavern. It's classic for a reason and there is something endearing about starting in the most cliche way imaginable.

I remember a session where I was a player in this situation, but we had some really good rollplayers and a DM who went along with a lot of crazy ideas. We never left the (completely unremarkable) tavern for the whole session.

lylsyly
2017-03-02, 07:13 PM
I've used the classic tavern, the adventurers guild hall, the jail, the belly of a slave ship ... blah, blah, blah. All that matters is that you do have a place for groups to first meet ... blah, blah, blah, and discover their goal, objective, mission ... blah, blah, blah.

In fact, I can recall a couple of old 1e/2e products basically designed with this in mind (actually, the belly of a slave ship was the old module "N4, Treasure Hunt").

Malimar
2017-03-02, 08:07 PM
For my megadungeon, I use "you all meet in the Adventurer's Guildhall", which is basically a glorified tavern. It works to get the team together because if you're in the Adventurer's Guildhall, you're probably there looking for a team and an adventure.

For my last few non-megadungeon campaigns, I've used "you all meet on a ship".

Winter_Wolf
2017-03-02, 08:12 PM
The only reason I haven't used the tavern start yet is lack of opportunity. I have used the "Elder Scrolls start" where the players are prisoners and have to bust out. They...didn't bust out.

Seclora
2017-03-02, 11:05 PM
I started my campaign in a tavern. The death of the tavernkeeper[an ex-paladin] was the inciting incident for the zombie apocalypse.
I then spent the next two months[2 in game days] trying to get them to leave before finally burning the tavern down.

So, you know, it has ups and downs.

Knaight
2017-03-02, 11:44 PM
I'm sure I've used this at some point, and vaguely remember doing so with a tea house at some point as well. It's far from a default though - I rarely start campaigns where the characters are complete strangers at the beginning, and thus the whole first meeting scene doesn't show up at all, anywhere most of the time.

ArgentumRegio
2017-03-03, 01:32 AM
I've used it, but as a DM since 1978, I've used most everything at least once. A well-positioned tavern or roadside inn/tavern is a great place for paths to cross. In my present (online) campaign setting, a classic example of this is the Tivook Inn, located at Tivook Crossing, the first crossroad outside the main city, thus it gets foot-traffic on a busy crossroads, but also, it boasts a Portal inside, which along with the wagon service of "Voyanut's Voyages" being located here (a regular stop on the wagon route out of the city) there is no lack of 'traffic density' in the tavern itself. :D

Rumors made fresh daily!

Pugwampy
2017-03-03, 03:36 AM
In my first campaign , I gave players a choice of factions and told them the benefits.
They joined an army faction called the 7th legion and they started from there .

I did the tavern thing last time . Nothing wrong with the tavern scene . BnB options , job options . Get to meet some of the wierdo NPC folk . Perfect for those "doe in the headlights" new players .

I would like to try the naked in a jail cell start off scene one day.

Stealth Marmot
2017-03-03, 08:21 AM
I think "meet in a tavern" isn't actually the classic cliche so much as "You all know each other already AND meet up in a tavern."

The problem isn't the starting in a tavern part, it's the "you already know each other" part. I find that robbing players of first impressions robs them of some great roleplaying opportunities. Sure, having characters that know each other beforehand can make for good roleplaying as well, but only if you establish a history. I find the default of NOT knowing each other makes for a better beginning.

I find that there needs to be 2 major things to a game's start.

1. Time for players to talk to each other with no other goals then talking. The DM needs to just kick back, watch a clock, and let the players talk for a while, introducing themselves and setting their character's tone.

2. A common purpose or threat. Players need to have a reason to adventure together. Having ALL of them know each other beforehand and already be part of a group is sort of a cop out, and it can make it feel unnatural. If instead the characters are forced to work together initially, they can organically decide that they make a good team. The longer the group has been together, the less you have to push them towards being a group, but I feel its okay initially to put some pretty thick rails down.

So yes, starting the players off by having them being in the same tavern by chance and then having the tavern get set on fire, that can actually be a pretty good start.

The players are in a tavern, they all end up sitting around the fire, the DM sets the tone with a bartender, perhaps a performer with an instrument or even a guitar in the corner a player decides to try playing, or a waiter/waitress who gets a little flirty with one of the party. Let the group talk to one another, have the bartender talk about recent events and maybe off hand mention the town's crime boss. Then while they are talking, suddenly the tavern doors are barred shut and the windows blocked as the bar is set ablaze from the outside. Turns out the tavernkeeper is one of the few that decided to stand up to the crime boss so they are burning the bar down, patrons and all, to send a message. Maybe the boss even heard about the tavernkeeper trying to hire adventurers and decided an easy method of dispatch was locking them in as well. So the tavern is set ablaze, but the tavernkeeper has a secret underground passage out. Unfortunately, it takes them through a dangerous cavern/sewer and the adventurers have to escort themselves and any employees or patrons through the danger and to safety.

...I think I'm going to use this one day. As Cluedrew said, fire helped!

Fire ALWAYS helps!


It is always ok to start in a tavern.
as long as the tavern is ON FIRE.

Mind if I sig this?

BWR
2017-03-03, 09:01 AM
I've used it exactly once, precisely because it is cliché. After a couple of games where I had bitten off more than I could chew as a GM (usually through having ideas but no actual work into making them into a proper game) I decided I wanted to get back to D&D basics. No grand vision, no plot, no story, no special snowflakes, no world-shaking events, just a group of people who randomly meet in a tavern and decide to go on adventures and possibly get rich. I wanted a bland, easygoing campaign with a bland, easygoing cast with no preconceived notions of background or history or purpose (three of four players delivered). Just simple dungeoneering and exploring and combat.

I did nothing to make the meeting unique or special or memorable, I just played it straight as possible. The tavern was from the "Thunder Rift" supplement, so the name and the keeper were briefly described, and my players loved him, but the meeting itself was as basic as you can get.

Five years later and the game is still going strong, with tons of story and politics and plot and continent-shaking events and attempts to become Immortal.

Actana
2017-03-03, 09:10 AM
It may be a cliche, but it's also a time honored tradition since the 14th century. I've become a lot more fond of the start ever since I read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, where one of the major protagonist-groups (Liu Bei and pals) all met in a tavern by coincidence and all three decided to pledge themselves as sworn brothers. Why? Because they liked each other so much, even though they just met.

If classic Chinese epics can do it and get away with it, then so can RPGs.

SilverLeaf167
2017-03-03, 09:49 AM
In my current campaign I gave my party an inn/tavern to use as their base, just so basically every adventure could start there. :smalltongue: (Okay, it wasn't the only reason, but definitely a nice bonus.)

I've done a "straight" version of the cliché a couple of times, though. Never seemed like a big problem. It's easy for players to rationalize why their characters would end up there, there's always some space for shenanigans, various NPC's hanging around, and plenty of ways to throw plot hooks at the party, at least if they're not being too picky. I find that most people (or at least my players) seem willing to give the very first session a bit of leeway in terms of plot and railroading.

hifidelity2
2017-03-03, 10:51 AM
Of course – its traditional (or a cantina in my last star wars game)

But I have also used

The Guild Hall
All work for the same Noble – so ordered to investigate X
All part of the same Circus troupe
All from the same village (Told them they had to “roll up” 25 point characters (GURPS) and they were all 14-15 yrs old)
All on a cruise liner and they banded together to get off / escape from the terrorists and then………..

Jay R
2017-03-03, 12:18 PM
It's an option, and I've used it. I generally prefer to get the party together faster, though.

I put together a Flashing Blades party with the simple statement, "You hear a woman's screams coming from a nearby alley."

I once had a party meet by telling them each something different. (This was a modern-day superhero campaign.)

1. "You hear sirens three blocks over."
2. "You can see a column of smoke rising from a building to the north."
3. "On the police scanner, you hear a report about a burning apartment building."
4. "Sitting down at home to read, you notice that it certainly seems warm in here."

Amphetryon
2017-03-03, 12:53 PM
I've used it twice, that I can recall offhand. Once I used it with relatively new Players, with the OOC explanation "A. I want us to get started using the Characters' abilities today (we were under a time constraint and I knew they'd chitchat, given the chance), and 2. this way you can all say you've seen the cliche firsthand." The other time, they all got together in the tavern because it was a safe haven while the city itself was under siege. They all scrambled to get to safety there, then formed a party on the 'safety in numbers' theory.

SirBellias
2017-03-03, 01:35 PM
Every session starts in a tavern unless there's a good excuse for them to be somewhere else. Then again, that is where most of the plot hooks/year board is, and it is to help with the fact that there can be any amount/kinds of characters each week without much planning beforehand. So we start in the tavern, or wherever we left off next time.

ImNotTrevor
2017-03-03, 01:43 PM
Mind if I sig this?

Go for it, I'd be honored.

2D8HP
2017-03-03, 02:56 PM
May I suggest an alternative?

Meet in a Dungeon which the PC's are trying to escape with the silver & gold they have looted, then have them try to avoid some bandits who are lurking about ready to fleece adventurers who have survived the Dungeon, and then reward the PC's with XP if and only if they spend their loot on ale and good times in the Tavern!

https://cdn1.nyt.com/images/2008/04/09/travel/13jour190.2.jpg


https://cdn1.nyt.com/images/2008/04/13/travel/13jour600.1.jpg

Yora
2017-03-03, 03:11 PM
In my campaigns PCs don't meet at all. They already know each other, which is why they trust each other to go to dangerous places in the wilderness.

Koo Rehtorb
2017-03-03, 03:17 PM
All games should start in media res, because that boost of action helps the thing get off to a better start.

So games should only start in a tavern if the tavern is being attacked by bandits, or on fire, or something else of that nature.

Quertus
2017-03-03, 03:22 PM
The classic way to start a campaign. Some folks hate the cliche, but I personally love it. It's traditional.

How do y'all feel about it? Do you use it? If so, how do you make it unique?

Been there, done that... and I'd do it again!

The good - and bad - part of my play style is, as one of my players once put it, everything is a red herring. If you want a standard adventure hook, I'll give you one. Or if you want to investigate why the innkeep has a porcelain waitress, and tables made from non-local wood, you can do that, too. Or if you want to engage the other group in the far corner, chatting conspiratorialy over a map, you can do that, too. Or if you want to investigate why one of the regular patrons is missing today, you can do that, too.

Most GMs use conservation of detail, and only describe what is important. I try to touch on everything, and let the players decide what is important, to them.

Jay R
2017-03-03, 09:50 PM
All games should start in media res, ...

That does it. My next game will have a tavern called the Media Res.

Deophaun
2017-03-03, 10:04 PM
That does it. My next game will have a tavern called the Media Res.
Aww, I hate the Media Res. The best drunken brawls are already half over when I get there.

2D8HP
2017-03-03, 10:16 PM
All games should start in media res...



That does it. My next game will have a tavern called the Media Res.



Aww, I hate the Media Res. The best drunken brawls are already half over when I get there.


:biggrin:
And that is why I love this Forum!

Mendicant
2017-03-04, 12:46 AM
It is always ok to start in a tavern.
as long as the tavern is ON FIRE.

This is actually the only time I've ever used a tavern as a start. It still didn't work.

Now I make them tell me how they know each other.

Efrate
2017-03-04, 12:59 AM
I've done tavern, its ok, but I like characters have a reason to be together.

I've also done not quite tavern and it works well.

They start in or coming to a waypoint. The Kingdom maintains essentially next to free beds on major roads in a small little waystation. You get a bed, there's a fire if you want to cook, a bored guard if its important and a bit of animal feed. Its a day away from the town with an actual tavern, and its just them to start. They should be safe but goblins/kobalds/panda/angry muskrats do pop up now and again. They go to town solo, they are fine, they go in a group something hits them and they are grateful. In the town they now have a familiar face or a comrade, so they have at least the start of the connection, and hey they all happen to be looking for *insert hook*

In my long running game we did not quite tavern on fire meeting. You are travelling through almost tame wilderness on an old but well maintained road. The local druids/rangers have a little clearing they keep up right off the road. It has a stream, a big already dug firepit, and some firewood. A few fruit trees are on the outskirts. There is a sign saying please replace firewood and bury your ashes. There just happened to be a snake in the woodpile who bites someone, some spliterwaifs right in the woods as you go to get firewood, and some small zombie. They all respond to the threats, learn to work together, then go on to town where they travel for safety and talk. Also they saw a brass dragon fly overhead in the direction of town. Scary, but at least it was metallic.

Also on a ship from land A to land B, less than a day from port of call and something goes wrong.

Jay R
2017-03-04, 05:54 PM
I had a great deal of fun trying to let the PCs meet in a tavern. They had a certain level of frustration, though.

In a game of Flashing Blades (role-playing in the world of the musketeers), I was introducing a new PC. So I had them meeting a contact (previously unknown to them) in an outlaw band one of them was in, and the new Rogue was the contact.

But the rogue started by trying to pick the pocket of one of the other PCs. They stopped him, grabbed him, and threw him out of the tavern. Then they tried to find their contact, by accosting other people in the tavern.

Undaunted, the rogue/contact tried to come back in to find the people he was supposed to meet, and they threw him out as soon as they saw him - twice. I couldn't find a way to get them together with their new contact if they would always throw him out the window on sight.

Eventually, they decided that the man drinking alone in the corner must be their contact, and kept trying to talk to him while he kept ignoring them. Finally, absolutely certain that this man was their contact, one PC knocked his mug off the table and demanded that he talk to them.

The man challenged him to a duel. They asked me several times, "Are we sure he's really drunk?"

Yes, he was really drunk. But he was also Athos, who can fence extremely well drunk.

Herobizkit
2017-03-05, 05:31 AM
In one instance, I had one player and an NPC attempt (and comically fail) to rob two other PC's who had met in the woods. Once that was put behind them (by the mentor of one of the other PCs), they were directed to a tavern...

... wherein an undead boar rampaged in and started making a mess of the place. The PC's dispatched it and were very happy about until one of the patrons told them that it would be back next week, around the same time.

Squiddish
2017-03-05, 10:30 AM
Well, in the first campaign I ever played in, we met up in a tavern, having known each other for a while... with the exception of one person, who joined our party after waking up in the tavern, stabbed in the torso with no memory of his past.

The tavern was then attacked by bandits, and we ended up employing ale that instead of making you drunk basically caused wild magic surges.

Alcore
2017-03-05, 11:57 AM
I once started a game someplace else; we ended up in a tavern starting a fight for the hell of it. So I now start in a tavern. It simply has to be there. I try to make it something to remember if I feel the players will want to see it twice.

2D8HP
2017-03-05, 12:11 PM
In my first PbP D&D game at this Forum, the DM started by narrating our arrival inside the City gate where we noticed each other.

My PC then suggested "hey let"s all go to a tavern so we can drink while we talk", and off we went.

eru001
2017-03-06, 06:12 AM
I do like the all meet in a tavern, especialy if, as is often the case, I haven't let the players discuss their character builds with eachother prior to game start. The obligatory tavern brawl immediatly post meeting is a great opportunity for the players to demonstrate their abilities and learn those of the rest of the party. (or hide some of their abilitys and fake having others as the case may be)

I have occasionally done some verys self aware parodies of meeting in a tavern. such as

The players all meet up at the gates of the great elven city of T'Vern.
The players are introduced to each other delevering a shipment of meat to a tavern.
The players all meet at the door to a tavern but are locked out as it is closed and have to go somewhere else

Arkhios
2017-03-06, 06:33 AM
The players all meet at the door to a tavern but are locked out as it is closed and have to go somewhere else

Haha, this one was good! "A-ha! Gotcha! ...Thought you'd start in a tavern, didn't ya!"

I have no special preference for where to start a campaign really. Although, meeting in a tavern is very probable if the PC's don't know each other beforehand.

Ask yourself, where would you go to spend your time if you had nothing else to do in an unfamiliar town or city? I'd most definitely find a local tavern, buy myself lodging for the night, and get something to drink and eat, while maybe simultaneosly observing the hall. And if adventurers are in abundance (as is often the case in fantasy worlds), it's likely that my character isn't alone with these wants and needs. People have to eat, and sleep (unless you're some weirdo, of course!), and taverns are great places to do that, if nothing else.

In media res is also a good start, and I've done that for a couple of times. Last time I did it, it was particularly hilarious. One character was carrying some volatile substance through the city, and absentmindedly bumped into a stranger browsing a merchant's wares, unfortunately dropping the package he was carrying, which burst into flames immediately after the vial broke, setting up the merchant's stall in flames. In the midst of chaos, another character was running away from a angry boyfriend of a last night's conquest, and stumbled upon the other two characters, shoving them all towards the stall, breaking almost everything it still had intact. And the setup was ready: angry merchant, wildfire, and a pursuer on their heels, they kinda had to work together to make the best of the situation.

2D8HP
2017-03-06, 07:41 AM
Let's stay at the media res Inn, located in the elven city of T'Vern?

Certainly!

Stealth Marmot
2017-03-06, 08:08 AM
Let's stay at the media res Inn, located in the elven city of T'Vern?

Certainly!
Do we have to?

Whenever we meet there they always start without me.

Gilda
2017-03-06, 01:15 PM
Never used it. It's no good for explaining why the PCs then go adventuring together, unless, like, the owner is a quest-giver.
I think it makes more sense to start with something like "your PCs are related by blood or marriage", "you're guards hired by [cleric/mage PC]" or "you all meet in captivity."

Weimann
2017-03-06, 01:42 PM
The classic way to start a campaign. Some folks hate the cliche, but I personally love it. It's traditional.

How do y'all feel about it? Do you use it? If so, how do you make it unique?Nah, it's not really helpful. Actually, it's kind of a crutch to patch over people not communicating when making the characters. Help (or make) your team mates already know each other on some level from the start instead.

If you have to start in tavern, at least make sure it's on fire, or under attack by bears or something. That'll get their blood pumping.

Gilda
2017-03-06, 02:00 PM
If you have to start in tavern, at least make sure it's on fire, or under attack by bears or something. That'll get their blood pumping.

Roll bear lore to see if you know what to do.

Telonius
2017-03-06, 02:05 PM
The current campaign I'm in started in a temple.

(I'm playing a Cleric of Olidammara, so the temple was a tavern).

Quertus
2017-03-06, 05:34 PM
All games should start in media res, because that boost of action helps the thing get off to a better start.

So games should only start in a tavern if the tavern is being attacked by bandits, or on fire, or something else of that nature.


Nah, it's not really helpful. Actually, it's kind of a crutch to patch over people not communicating when making the characters. Help (or make) your team mates already know each other on some level from the start instead.

If you have to start in tavern, at least make sure it's on fire, or under attack by bears or something. That'll get their blood pumping.

Here, we have some interesting style choices. I like in media res, because it communicates what kind of characters are appropriate. I like "you start in a tavern", because it allows most options as valid, and allows the characters' relationships to grow naturally. Of course, I once played in a game where attendance was very low one session (3/~11 players, due to a blizzard). So we role played our characters on watch, chatting. For the entire season. Great fun! Yes, I love my tactical board games, but I love role-playing for its own sake. So I may be more biased towards interaction-extensive options than most.

Already knowing each other... can produce some really strange results. Like the party of the paladin, the assassin, the undead hunter, and his dear old friend, the undead master.

Building a party, as a party... I'm not really familiar with that. I'm more used to a drop-in game mindset, where the party is "whoever happened to be there at the time". Which means it usually feels contrived to me to build characters together, make sure all roles are covered, etc. Heck, the game is, IMO, more exciting when you don't have all roles properly covered, and have to improvise due to playing on Hard Mode. That really gets the blood pumping, gears turning, etc, for me.

RedMage125
2017-03-06, 05:59 PM
So much hatred for the tavern start...

It shouldn't be just dismissed as "cliché", because it's also a classic.

The last time I started in a tavern, it went a little like this:

The players have all heard about this event held at Krenshar Pass in the nearby Misty Mountains...The Silver Hunt. This is an event held once every few years, in which the Lords of Krenshar Pass hold a hunt for lycanthropes. Adventuring groups from all over come to win contests, and a chance to win the Hunt itself. The winners get a cash purse, and great renown, becoming minor celebrities. Winning the Silver Hunt is a worthy feather in any adventurer's cap.

All of my players have to come up with their own backstory, to include WHY they are adventuring. The Silver Hunt is a well-known event, and they are all, for their own reasons, headed to participate.

The town of Wayfare is a small rural village. It is also where the main roads from civilized towns and cities end. From Wayfare to Krenshar Pass is all rough overland travel. As such, Wayfare is a common stopping point for adventurers heading to the Silver Hunt. Some groups that have won the Silver Hunt in the past were strangers until they met in the tavern in Wayfare, and the tavern proudly boasts that many a group of heroes first met and gathered under its roof.

Some party members may decide to know each other in their backstories, some may not. As they know the Silver Hunt is a group event, those who are alone or in small groups of 2 need a larger group to have any chance of winning, and Wayfare's tavern seems the perfect place...

Doorhandle
2017-03-06, 06:21 PM
May I suggest an alternative?

Meet in a Dungeon which the PC's are trying to escape with the silver & gold they have looted, then have them try to avoid some bandits who are lurking about ready to fleece adventurers who have survived the Dungeon, and then reward the PC's with XP if and only if they spend their loot on ale and good times in the Tavern!

https://cdn1.nyt.com/images/2008/04/09/travel/13jour190.2.jpg


https://cdn1.nyt.com/images/2008/04/13/travel/13jour600.1.jpg

I like that idea, aside from the "No experience if they don't spend their money on hoes and wine" part. I'd give them bonus EXP if they do that, granted...




In my first PbP D&D game at this Forum, the DM started by narrating our arrival inside the City gate where we noticed each other.

My PC then suggested "hey let"s all go to a tavern so we can drink while we talk", and off we went.

Dammit, even the players want to start in a tavern!

eru001
2017-03-07, 07:46 AM
I'm currently running a drop in campaign (10 players, but max of five to a given sesssion, whoever is avaiable when we run) where not just the campaign but every session starts in a Tavern.

Admittedly the tavern is kind of like Sister Margarett's from Deadpool. It is a place where mercenaries of all sorts gather and clients post jobs with the bartender. It let's us have a wide assortment of party comps through a single campaign, and if someone wants to try out a new character there is a valid reason why that one is suddenly on the mission of the day instead of their normal character etc, as anyone not on the session's mission is either back at the bar or off doing something else.

Hiro Quester
2017-03-07, 11:31 AM
Our DM starts by gathering character ideas and backstories etc. HE explains the city we are starting in and we come up with reasons for being there.

Then he finds ways to sew a few of our backstories together with minor history adjustments (some involving plot hooks). E.g. my character grew up as cabin boy on a privateer ship, and two of the other players once sailed on the ship a brief time. (they were told "when you travelled from the frozen north of your backstory to this tropical location, you sailed on a particular ship...") Two others studied at the local academy, but were not really friends, one a year a head of the other.

So when the players meet up, there is a reason to talk to one another (hey, don't I know you from someplace?) but don't really have a history together.

However, we met by each being invited by a local noble to a dinner party, at which we would learn something to our advantage. (She was putting a team together for a mission. So that dinner party was like the breakfast at the beginning of Reservoir Dogs.)

I really like the in Media Res beginning idea though. If you are going to meet in the tavern, have the tavern be on fire, or a fight between two rival gangs break out in the tavern, as your gameplay starts. Begin with action, and let the storytelling and introductions happen afterwards.

Guyver87
2017-03-10, 12:21 PM
Heh, in the current campaign with my friends we kinda modified this idea.

Our characters didn't meet in a tavern. They own a tavern together. And that tavern is also a brothel. And it belongs to Church of Kossuth, as our group's leader is a cleric of The Lord of Flame.

And we kinda use this tavern as a way of gathering political capital, either by luring young, impressionable heirs of the city's elites, or blackmailing said elites with their various drunken excesses.

As for now, we have a whole alternate timeline of Cormyr, from the death of Azoun Obarskyr IV, spiraling into an all-out civil war, with various pretenders trying to claim the throne, with the help of foreign powers...

And it all started with the discussion about avoiding the tavern cliche in our next campaign... And kinda escalated.

Velaryon
2017-03-10, 08:44 PM
I kinda sorta used the "meet in a tavern" thing in my first D&D campaign. I had the mayor of the local village summon the paladin and fighter (who didn't know each other) to his office and offer them both a job to investigate some local troubles happening in the forest nearby. They went to the tavern to hire a woods guide (the ranger), got drawn into a bar fight, and recruited a stranger who acquitted himself well in the brawl (the sorcerer).

During a random encounter against a group of stirges in the woods, they were happened upon by a slightly crazy hermit (the druid) who joined up with them for no particular reason.

It wasn't a particularly good or memorable start, but it did the job.

My current campaign started at a job fair where adventurers would sign up as one of the four iconic roles (warrior, arcane caster, divine caster, sneaky type) and then network to form a party, pass a guild test to earn their licenses, then take on mercenary jobs.

Some day I want to run a game that begins at the reading of a will from a character that all the PC's are connected to (inspired by The Westing Game, one of my favorite children's books).

prufock
2017-03-10, 10:12 PM
You all meet in a tavern...

...that you own, each with an equal stake.

...in an extradimensional space, operated by an ovoid plasma blob named Pete.

...and take the stage. This gig could be your band's big break!

...with this week's deliveries.

...to kill the bartender!

...to collect this month's protection money.

...which comes to life!

Arkhios
2017-03-10, 11:59 PM
Some day I want to run a game that begins at the reading of a will from a character that all the PC's are connected to (inspired by The Westing Game, one of my favorite children's books).

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Carrion Crown would be one such campaign that starts exactly like this. And having played it through, I must say I rather enjoyed it.

Fearan
2017-03-11, 02:41 PM
...which comes to life!
Oh, that's a hard case of a mimic.
Used the tavern as a starting point once. It was on fire. And by "fire" I meant "Waste-eating oozes from the city's sewers are on a rampage". I think, tavern trope is nice for when you want to give your game an "good old days" flaire.