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Coidzor
2008-10-22, 11:30 AM
So I'm wanting to start a campaign since there's no one else my friends know who has the experience/inclination/resources of a DM (our last DM managed to cause a schism through IRL tl;dr sexual drama).

Right now I know I'm too inexperienced to really do justice to my ideas so I'm going to start off with a couple of modules, but I have been working off and on on a... setting/world/region based off of 3.5 (probably going to add in more homebrew elements later, but right now I'm just going for a place of my own).

My main question right now is, how/where do you start? I managed to work out the possibility that (working with the character's backstory, which will probably be pretty rough) to write up a few different scenarios of the overland routes to the crossroads where they and a number of the other armed drifters in the area are being hired for the "usual reasons," and have them think over that over the pizza/stat rolling at the beginning of the session (or possibly given to them before the first session) and then basically allow them to start reacting either during the "town-crier-esque" recruitment drive or after being hired.

I've also considered getting the characters from the players and then starting them out by setting a combat scene. I kinda prefer the idea that they're hired by someone who has enough of a hierarchy that the party is obliged to become organized in some fashion and the Party contract is drawn up after their term of service expires, most likely informally/verbally unless they want to take a business angle on it.

So, what do you like to do? Anything particularly monkey-like to consider a threat to my (probably) evil plans, other than sheer hyperactivity coupled with homicidal tendencies and that my baby of an area would probably turn out to be boring and they'd either destroy it or leave it.

Ganurath
2008-10-22, 11:42 AM
The party members have all been arrested for various misdeeds. This usually works better with an evil-aligned party, which is what I have to work with, but can work for good guys to if the kingdom is nongood:

Barbarian: Drunken disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, or violating some law that reinforces a local cultural taboo that would be alien to a savage.

Bard: Vagrancy, disturbing the peace, loitering...

Cleric: The kingdom is a theocracy not of the cleric's faith, and the cleric offering an audible prayer to his/her god caused some trouble.

Druid: Mix and match reasons for arresting barbarians and clerics, really.

Fighter: Any sort of crime that would involve violence or drinking. If the kingdom is especially lawful, (s)he may have failed to register their weaponry.

Monk: Vagrancy, loitering, theocracy loophole...

Paladin: Theocracy loophole is a final resort, but if it's a nongood nation that means there are evil people, and a Paladin unfamiliar with local law may get in trouble for vigilantism, at least.

Ranger: Vagrancy, violent crimes, unregistered weapon...

Rogue: ...Really, you can just let the player list crimes their character would probably commit. It's a rogue!

Sorc/Wiz: Unregistered use of arcane magic, or leash laws for familiars.

BRC
2008-10-22, 11:44 AM
My campaign started with the PC's arriving in the waiting room outside a Mind Flayer's office... It's a long story.

Voshkod
2008-10-22, 11:47 AM
I've also considered getting the characters from the players and then starting them out by setting a combat scene. I kinda prefer the idea that they're hired by someone who has enough of a hierarchy that the party is obliged to become organized in some fashion and the Party contract is drawn up after their term of service expires, most likely informally/verbally unless they want to take a business angle on it.


Starting in medias res can be a lot of fun, and gives you flexibility to tell the story in two directions - temporally forward and backward, i.e., flashback and present day. But, by some necessity, any flashback will be railroaded to the starting moment of the campaign, so you'll need players willing to accept that for the sake of roleplaying and storytelling.

Erk
2008-10-22, 11:50 AM
Prisons are fun for "bad" characters, or one-off games where playrs don't mind you filling in their recent history.

In my latest game, each player had a mission of some kind that lead to them meeting at some place. One player was guided by visions from his spirit-guide telling him he had to protect a redheaded wizard in the south; the redheaded wizard was traveling to find an extinct race that can help her understand her magic powers, and met up with the protector because he'd been guided to where she'd be. The martial fighters met them by luck as they were running from an angry military they'd abandoned, got hired as caravan guards, and were attacked by bandits near where the wizard and ranger were: the other two heard the fight and came by to help, and a bond was formed.

So I wrote them all together. Remember that it's not a "huge coincidence" with all of this: there simply wouldn't be a story if the PCs didn't meet up, so it's essentially narratively destined rather than coincidental.

ghost_warlock
2008-10-22, 11:54 AM
My most recent campaign started with the party of 3rd-level characters being stalked through some woods by an athach.

It was an aberration/horror campaign set in Eberron. After barely surviving the eventual attack of the creature, they hobbled their way to Fairhaven and signed up part of a special unit of the city guard, in exchange for succor (and antivenom). Their unit may as well have been named the Canaries (http://tviv.org/Red_Dwarf/Canaries). :smallbiggrin:

valadil
2008-10-22, 12:00 PM
I usually ask my players to include a backstory that incorporates not only family history but also the events leading up to game start. Some take the easy way out and say they're looking for new adventure but others have come up with some pretty interesting stuff.

If I have time I like to give each player a personal introduction to the game. Gives them a chance to get in character before the other players show up and it gives me a chance to hand off any personalized plots. This is easier if they've give me a series of events prior to game start, but can still be done if all you have is the basics.

The only time I didn't get a chance to run individual preludes was for my thieves guild game. I had a guild recruiter talk to each PC (I think I had them all give me an explanation for how they met/found/were found by the recruiter) and tell them to meet him in a certain abandoned warehouse at midnight. The players showed up and eyed each other warily. Recruiter no-showed after thirty minutes of awkward silence. I call this beginning "The Andy Kaufman Maneuver." It wasn't enjoyable for the players at the time, but all the other GMs I've told about it think it was a wonderfully horrible thing to do to players.

Talya
2008-10-22, 12:02 PM
My current campaign started off on a battlefield, the party was part of a thousands-strong mercenary company in the employ of a Thayan wizard, marching to war against the nation of Aglarond (and about to be routed.)

Yakk
2008-10-22, 12:06 PM
You could dictate that the party starts with a seed.

Ie, start with

"The central NPC in your first adventure will the Duke Earlwood. He's the Duke of a small inland valley, technically part of the Western Empire, but isolated from it -- the passes don't open up every year reliably, and only for a few months. (Describe the valley here).

Create a backstory that relates your character to the Duke or his Family, in such a way that you owe the Duke a debt or favor."

Viola! A relatively open adventure hook. Players get to write fiction that makes them owe the Duke a debt, which you call in for the first adventure. Things can then develop from there.

kbk
2008-10-22, 12:06 PM
There are a few old standbys...

1) The Tavern. I once literally had them start in a tavern called "the beginning".
Basically they are all drinking and an event happens that throws them together. Like a robbery, fire, monster attack or something. Maybe they all see an advertisement for an adventuring contract.

2) Hometown. All the PCs are from the same town. Something happens to that town, or they're contracted to go on an adventure to start the town.

3) The generic adventuring advert. They are all interested in coming to a town to help out because the town is in need of adventurers. They meet in the town hall or whatever to discuss what the town or city needs.

sparky22
2008-10-22, 12:13 PM
I'm using an idea I saw on the Wizards/Gleemax board recently.

The players are summoned to the reading of a will of someone who they've all known individually at some point in their lives. They are left something which will bring them together and give them a goal.

Tsotha-lanti
2008-10-22, 12:22 PM
I start the campaign where the campaign starts.

At the village where the party has just arrived, looking for an inn.

At the prison where they are all incarcerated.

At the employer's office.

At the barracks.

At the battlefield.

At the town meeting.

At the feast.

The options are endless.

Triaxx
2008-10-22, 12:30 PM
Hmmm... Teleported to/from an Abyssal Plane is a good one.

I've started at least one campaign with most of the party being literally kicked off a dragon's back.

Teleported into a wizard's tower is effective, since he's picked the entire party, not strictly at random, but because they had the potential. No mere coincidence.

A tavern is the classic starting place. Nothing really wrong with it.

I'm not a fan of prison cells, partially because my Sorcerors usually have to wait for the Barbarian to make his Strength check to break the bars. (Seriously, who builds a Jail Cell without a knock-proof lock.)

Keld Denar
2008-10-22, 12:31 PM
I started my last campaign In Medias Res as well. Since the primary location prior to starting a massive Underdark excursion is Remoteville, in the kingdom of Somewhere, hundreds of miles from a city that has more than 500 people, I had it prearanged with all of the PCs were carrying a package filled with magical research Macguffins for the local wizard dude in the city. Ambush on the road ensues, and the lives of the PCs were never the same with the utterance of the words "roll initiative!"

Hoplite
2008-10-22, 12:31 PM
My campaigns usually start with all the characters walking on the market place. Some of the characters might already know each other, some not. And it all begins when some NPC comes crying to one of the player characters and begs for help or something like that.

Hal
2008-10-22, 12:38 PM
I recently joined a game in progress, but my DM integrated me quite well. The players were storming a wizard's tower to rescue their kidnapped comrade. For some reason (unknown to the rest of the party), I was also chained up in his dungeon.

The key idea is to give the characters a common goal. If they don't have a reason to stay together, it really strains credulity when they try to justify going off on some adventure.

DUSUCK
2008-10-22, 12:41 PM
In a tavern.......All great and epic stuff starts in a tavern.

TheThan
2008-10-22, 04:06 PM
My campaign started with the PC's arriving in the waiting room outside a Mind Flayer's office... It's a long story.

That's the most gonzo idea for a starting location I've ever heard of, I congratulate you.

Morty
2008-10-22, 04:08 PM
I've only ever ran two adventures, but they both began on the road, in one case players were already travelling together, in the second one they met on a crossroads walking from opposite directions. That requires an assumption PCs know each other from somewhere already, though.

monty
2008-10-22, 04:16 PM
I'm working on a campaign where the PCs all start in the same prison block. They were all captured by the BBEG for various reasons, so it makes easy plot hooks.

BRC
2008-10-22, 04:18 PM
That's the most gonzo idea for a starting location I've ever heard of, I congratulate you.
Well The PC's are part of an Inquisition, Said mind flayer was an Inquisitor giving them their assignment. Also, Mind-thralls make good secretaries.

Prometheus
2008-10-22, 05:38 PM
Assorted travelers in a tavern. What?

Tadanori Oyama
2008-10-22, 05:43 PM
I like to strike a balance that forces my players to work together and encourage their roleplaying. Jail is nice, puts them all in a single place.

I typically use the jail hook without much background and force the players to tell me why they were arrested and if they are really guilty of anything or not.

paladin_carvin
2008-10-22, 07:48 PM
I always enjoy having the characters know each other long before the game begins. The campaign starts when they experience a trauma in their collective lives and must adventure. They could be life long friends, a unit in the military, family members (single race, obviously), members of the same religion or members of the same organization.

I also place my characters in Faerun, since it sets things up wonderfully.

Yahzi
2008-10-22, 08:32 PM
My last campaign started in a peasant village, with the party sneaking away from their lives as peasants. They started at level 0....

Fiery Diamond
2008-10-22, 10:47 PM
For me, it depends on how much backstory I've managed to milk out of the players.

If lots, then - work their stories together for something that's happening in the world.

If not lots, or sometimes even if lots, then - one happens upon another in a certain circumstance, things happen. They then meet the next person as events progress, and so on.

Er... I don't start with all the PCs together. I start with one, and have them all run into each other in the first session. That way, the forming of the group is the main focus of the first session.

-Fiery Diamond

quillbreaker
2008-10-22, 11:13 PM
Last two games:

Most recent game : I had been playing in somebody else's game and we had gotten trapped in a maze through setting off a trap. I liked the feel of it, and I also like wierdness, so I have players currently trying to find the keys to get out of the extradimensional maze they entered by accident. There's a villian too, of course.

Game before that : The term "railroading" was an inspiration, because the campaign involved trying to catch someone before they did something bad, and a train was the fastest way to do it. So they rode a train.

I also spent a lot of that campaign "sending up" adventurers, so to speak. Adventurers had saved the world some time back, so a lot of the unlanded nobility was going into the profession. There were way too many gangs of 3-5 people wandering around seeking adventure, and they were engaged in all of the bad stereotypical self-centered-PC behavior, without the justification of saving the world or actually being PCs. One of the iconic moments of the campaign was the players getting caught in a fight between two adventuring parties - in a train car - trying to get a treasure map. Most of the PCs were trying to get some sleep, and one side opened up with fireball, catching a couple of PCs - innocent bystanders - in the blast.

So I suppose I pick two of the ideas floating around my consciousness and build a game that explores those issues.

Raum
2008-10-22, 11:15 PM
My main question right now is, how/where do you start? Do you want to start 'in media res'? Do you want them to start knowing each other or do you prefer to role play introductions? How much of the back story / campaign world do they know prior to start of play? The answers will help decide how, and possibly where, you start play.


So, what do you like to do? I usually tell the players where they are and how / if they know each other before character creation. Then simply ask them to incorporate it into the back story. I will say it's much quicker to begin a campaign when the characters have something in common. Common history, goals, acquaintances, needs, whatever...something to bring the group together.

For example, my current campaign began in a coffee shop with the PCs having known each other for at least half a year. No introduction necessary, stuff happens and they go on... The last campaign began in an office building with everyone on the run but no one really knowing each other. Essentially they started with a common cause rather than a common history.

RS14
2008-10-22, 11:37 PM
I've started one in a frontier outpost with an annual hunt, one with my players meeting up while immigrating to a war-torn city in search of cheap land (their backstory was that they had worked together to clear out some land-scamers), and would like to start one in a prison. I'll probably make them put serious crimes in their backstory, and not simply be imprisoned due to draconian laws. I'd like to discourage an evil campaign though. I might suggest that most of them be non-good. They can have committed serious crimes for pragmatic reasons.

E_Samurai
2008-10-23, 12:11 AM
My most recent one worked out well for the purposes of the game. Basically, the players woke up in an unfamiliar place, chained to a wall, which they quickly determined was the cargo hold of a prison ship. They planned to escape and swim for shore, until one of the players realized it was actually an airship, transporting them to a prison in the capital city - flying low through some mountains in a storm.

Long story short, the airship caught fire and was attacked by assassins attempting to kill a prince on board. They had to escape, reclaim their gear from the cargo hold which was obviously about to collapse, talk down the prince's bodyguard to earn his trust, get off the ship while a full-scale assault between the assassins and the Royal Guard on deck, and escape the extremely deranged assassin leader who was after them - all while the main villain of the entire game - the prince's younger brother, attempting a coup of the kingdom - circled the ship on his giant mithril-plated raven mount.

I find that putting the players in some sort of immediate danger with a wide variety of challenges to overcome is a great way to take the measure of a new group - find out where each players' strengths lie, and allow them to work out their characters' relationships with both the world and their fellow party members, while at the same time determining how each player responds to a particular danger. Some were more responsive to the colorful descriptions of the storm, of the creepiness of waking up someplace strange and dangerous, of the assassin, or to talking down the guard, but by varying the types of challenge each player quickly determined their role within the group.

I made sure to really ramp up the environmental descriptions throughout - made it seem like the storm outside was really about to shake the ship apart, that the fire was eating away the lower decks, and that they were in tremendous danger by going into the cargo hold. By having the group rescue the prince, it immediately gave them a goal to persue - make their way to the capital city and stop the younger brother from assassinating both another prince and the King.

For homework for the group - something I usually do to have the players fill out their characters' backstory - I had them slowly recovering their memories and remembering why they were imprisoned. This gave me plenty of material to work with for the year-long campaign that followed.

Overall, a great game for all involved.

Nerd-o-rama
2008-10-23, 01:04 AM
I've started three campaigns.

1) In a bar. My first DM job, I was aware of the cliché but felt like homaging it.
2) In media res. Good if your players all know each other and can work out backstory ahead of time.
3) Gathered by the authority group (a national military) I'm using to boss them around for the first chapter of the campaign. Useful for disparate players in a PbP game to make sure they work together.

Bassikpoet
2008-10-23, 01:21 AM
My last campagin started with the four PCs walking into a train cabin and seeing a dead professor on the floor and the murderer climbing on to the roof.

Cheesegear
2008-10-23, 01:32 AM
Bard: Vagrancy, disturbing the peace, loitering...

You forgot 'Seducing a High-Ranking Noblewoman, Except the Husband Came Home Early, so the Bard had to Run Off, And He Took All Her Jewellery With Him.'

Busking Without A License also comes to mind. Although, why you'd get arrested for that...Maybe if you were singing "Evil King Koopa"...That movie is great.

I once started my game, with the opening scene being a town faire, and all the PCs were attending, the faire/town gets attacked, and the PCs all meet each other, realising that they all make a pretty good team.

FoE
2008-10-23, 01:39 AM
I haven't actually used this, but I always thought about starting a campaign where everyone wakes up on a beach at some island, half-naked and coughing up salt water. All they remember is that they were on an ocean voyage ... and their ship was caught in a storm/raided by pirates ... and that's it. They don't remember any of the the other adventurers being on that voyage. All the same, it's a fairly dangerous island, so they elect to work with each other.

It turns out later that they were in fact drowning victims from various points in time, and that an underwater being of immense power had resurrected them to retrieve an artifact on the land that he couldn't reach.

I don't know if it would have worked.

Coidzor
2008-10-23, 01:50 AM
I haven't actually used this, but I always thought about starting a campaign where everyone wakes up on a beach at some island, half-naked and coughing up salt water. All they remember is that they were on an ocean voyage ... and their ship was caught in a storm/raided by pirates ... and that's it. They don't remember any of the the other adventurers being on that voyage. All the same, it's a fairly dangerous island, so they elect to work with each other.


I once started my game, with the opening scene being a town faire, and all the PCs were attending, the faire/town gets attacked, and the PCs all meet each other, realising that they all make a pretty good team.

I like both of these ideas... I kinda wish I could think of some way for goblin and kobold cattle rustlers to raid the town now... Hmm... Yes... two raiding parties stumble upon one another while snapping at the heels of the revelers/looting and get bogged down long enough for resistance to be mounted. *beard stroking*

Thank you all for your responses so far. Its nice to see what others have thought of before.

kbk
2008-10-23, 01:52 AM
I forgot about this one:

This was one I played in, not DMed, but it is worth it. It was an FR game, and we started on the Fugue plane. We were all 12th level evil guys who were atheists in life. In order to avoid the wall we were recruited by Cyric to be his champions.

It started with long detailed stories about how we died. The DM chose these. I always felt bad for the master thief of the party who died (at 12th level!) by slipping and falling in the shower.

FoE
2008-10-23, 01:53 AM
Again, I never used this ...

I also thought, for an Eberron campaign, that each adventurer in the party was approached by a "divine being" and told that they would go on a major quest. This quest would begin at a certain location (maybe an inn) that would immediately get attacked by agents of the Daughters of Sora Kell. The adventurers assume that the hags are trying to thwart their quest (it should be noted that one of the Daughters — Sora Teraza — can see the future).

Later on, they would accomplish this "quest," which was to recover some incredible artifact. The Daughters then show up to claim it. As it turned out, the "divine being" was actually Sora Katra, another Daughter, in disguise. The Daughters were seeking an important artifact, and Sora Teraza's visions had told her that it was only these PCs who could recover it. All of their "attempts to thwart the heroes" were actually ploys to get necessary equipment and magic items to the PCs that they would need to succeed.

The PCs escape the encounter by the skin of their teech, and would hopefully be pissed off at being duped. As such, the second part of this campaign begins: bring down the Daughters of Sora Kell (a suitably epic endeavour).

desmond1323
2008-10-23, 02:09 AM
I'm with Coidzor....we're attempting to run this campaign together.

Currently what we got is.....fairly new town, on a crossroads. Developing fairly well.
Town's main source of income is cattle...as they live near a nice grassland/plains area.
Recently, cattle have been disappearing. No one knows why.

Depending on how detailed our players get on their backstories, I'm a fan of in media res...and that seems the best way.

We're planning on having two separate enemy groups...one of Goblins, one of Kobolds, each striking from different directions.

So we'll divide the PCs up evenly...and the story is, each group was hired by a different ranch owner...one will begin fighting a group of Kobolds, one of Goblins.
After the fight, they come back to town and are hired by the mayor/town council to investigate both groups and hopefully stop them.

I know it may deviate a lil...but, being very brief, how does that sound? I believe it's credible, keeps the party together, gives them a reason to keep going, and has many possible options depending on what the investigation turns up.

pjackson
2008-10-23, 04:12 AM
Starting in medias res can be a lot of fun, and gives you flexibility to tell the story in two directions - temporally forward and backward, i.e., flashback and present day. But, by some necessity, any flashback will be railroaded to the starting moment of the campaign, so you'll need players willing to accept that for the sake of roleplaying and storytelling.

Well I would reject it for the sake of roleplaying.
How could I get into the mind of my character without knowing what my character knew about the situation?

In medieval times when travellers were leaving an inn after an over night stop those heading in the same direction would band together for mutual protection again bandits and other dangers of travel. That can get a party together long enough to dangle a plot hook in front of them.

Though working with the players so that the the character backgrounds have a reason why the character would be willing to start the adventure is the best way In my experience.

DigoDragon
2008-10-23, 10:06 AM
The last campaign I ran was a cross between Warehouse 23 and LOST. I had the players all start off washed ashore on an island in the middle of a plane crash. The players were definitely confused at first on how they arrived here. Even better was that they all coincidently wrote backgrounds with their characters moving through a Door/Window/Portal of some kind. :smallbiggrin:

Ha ha ha, fun.

RukiTanuki
2008-10-23, 01:47 PM
The latest campaign I started when a trading magnate called in several favors to assemble a team capable of tracking down his missing nephew. Mind you, most of his allies gave him green recruits: the Rangers offered an elf, the Guiding Light provided a newly-ordained shifter, the Marshals provided their new 'forged curiosity. A strange half-elf arrived on behalf of the Eladrin, despite their assistance not being requested. :)

Given that it was a one-off introductory game with new players and prefab characters, it helped introduce the world, attach the characters to their organizations, present the quest, and (always a stickler for me) explain why such a disparate group of people were hanging out together.

Zenos
2008-10-23, 02:18 PM
My latest D&D campaign had the players be part of the same fireteam in a predominantly dwarven military recieving their orders for an airdrop to sabotage a research facility/power generator (which also allowed me to introduce the "latest" in military tech, semi-automatic pistol-wands of various orbs that anyone could use, and which they looted from an enemy lab.

Piedmon_Sama
2008-10-23, 02:20 PM
Let's see....

-First D&D campaign: Small border-town nestled within the continent's Arctic Rim. "The kind of place that attracts people running from trouble... or looking for it." The PCs are an odd collection of monsters, misfits and rough tricks who just happened to all be cooling their heels in the same tavern (the only one in town, actually). They volunteered for a "low-risk" surveying job to explore a newly-discovered cave, clear it of any animals and report if they found any ore veins or anything valuable inside; the magistrate who hired them had a novice cleric as his assistant, the last PC in the puzzle who went along as the party leader.

-Second D&D campaign: It's a dark age. A combination of war between feuding nobles, economic collapse due to an overseas war interrupting trade, and a growing class of jobless soldiers turning brigand, have made the whole countryside dangerous. Cities have become like walled fortresses, while the rule of law has broken down on a national level, the magistrates and civil guard within the city walls rule like petty tyrants. The PCs are members of that jobless soldier-class themselves, looking for work, any work, and all just happened to be brooding in the same tavern when some of the local off-duty sheriff's men started throwing their weight, right on top of a helpless serving-girl. (The PCs, mostly Neutral-aligned, actually waited right to the point where they were going to rape her to intervene. Last time I try THAT plot-hook.) Their act of heroism impressed the city's Bishop, who sent for the PCs and gave them a lucrative job offer, to protect a supply caravan going out to a distant and isolated farm-community.

-Third D&D campaign: The PCs are mostly playing nobles in the same city-state, the Free City of Schwartzburg. Each of them has a father or patron on the city's ruling council. Most of the PCs were attending an annual Melee (knight tournament) held outside the estate of the city Burgomeister. Afterwards, they found themselves summoned to the Burgomeister's house, where he told them they had been recommended by their parents to help a merchant guildsman from the powerful allied city-state of Blancitta (Black City, White City, get it AHAHA GENIUS) on an expedition to discover a fabled lost city in the wild forest north of Schwartzburg. For once, I didn't have to "sell" the PCs on the plot hook--they were being ordered to go by their families. The last PC to join was a mercenary signed up as a bodyguard for their expedition.

-Fourth D&D Campaign (actually a continuation of the First): One of a very few survivors from the "low-risk" surveying job, and now a mighty Level Five, the Cleric is fully ordained a Priest, and inducted into a secret society called the Hunters of the Dead. He is now a free agent, allowed to roam about the realm and investigate any rumors of supernatural activity. As it happens, the first part of his mission is to "build a team." And where does he look but to one of his old comrades, a certain Draconic Elf Monk with a bad attitude towards law enforcement, the Cleric showing up just in time to pull her out of death row (to the vast relief of the poor saps guarding her). Always eager for gratuitous violence, she agrees to help the Cleric in his travels for as long as it amuses her. This was my favorite campaign start, because all I did was ask "where do you see your character 1 year after the original campaign?" and the answers were "joining the order" and "in prison" respectively.

Dragonus45
2008-10-23, 04:20 PM
One of my favorite campaigns started with a few members of the party in charge of a moderately famous mercenary band hired by a king to help his son defend a mountain pass, one a bard passing through the town/stronghold at a very bad time the last in the kings army. They were supposed to hold against staggering 35 to one odds until the kings reinforcements got there(about two very tense session). Then they found out the cavalry wasn't coming and it was all an elaborate trap by the princes younger twin brother to take the throne and surrender to the invading army with his power intact. I let the party get to know their subordinates and their lives and found vengeance, and the bards need to get payed for his help, to be a powerful tool to keep the party together.

Silvarelion
2008-10-23, 05:02 PM
Well, I am planning one where they all start off in front of an ancient Silver Dragon, after traveling for months because they all had a "feeling" that they had to get to the now dead City of the Dragons. Should be interesting if I ever run it.

Erom
2008-10-23, 05:29 PM
I actually came across this on these board, and I'm paraphrasing, so I apologize to the original author if he shows up to see his work being poorly cribbed, it's my favorite IMR campaign start:

"The Dancing Bear has been your home away from home for most of the autumn and early winter, and it's become as familiar to you as the old farmyard or a favorite shirt. By this late in the evening, Ol' Ed has the fire burning bright, and the whole building is bright and warm, filled with at least a dozen patrons. The smell of warm beef stew and freshly baked bread fill the space. Kell the Blacksmith's daughter would be running drink to the tables, and more than a few eyes would stay on her as she made her rounds. Maybe you could lose a few copper to the merchant Elsom playing one of his games of chance, or buy an ale for old Arnew, who would entertain you with a tale from his younger days as a swordsman in the King's Guard. There are always a few strangers passing through town - the hooded fellow in the corner with the marvelous looking book surely has an interesting tale to tell.

You wish nothing more than to be there right now, not stuck thirteen miles away from town, ankle deep in snow, with a wheel off the wagon and the howling of wolves on the winter wind. Dark shapes move in the underbrush - the wolves are hungry, no doubt, and your horse could feed the entire pack.

Roll for initiative."

Lert, A.
2008-10-23, 06:13 PM
Abducted by aliens in a flying saucer to fight in an epic gladiatorial deathmatch.

Mr Pants
2008-10-23, 06:24 PM
One campaign that I played in began with me tied up by a goblin warcamp that was about to eat me. The rest of the party untied me and then hilarity ensued. mmmm mass combat.