Results 1 to 30 of 57
-
2010-03-25, 07:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
DMed the first gaming session in a while (scheduling conflicts, a party drop-out, and a few other things) and so we had a new player, who had to be introduced, and I had to get the PCs back into the action.
So I set the inn/tavern the old PCs and new PC were staying at on fire. Certainly got the ball rolling. An improptu evacuation of the tavern's patrons into the churchyard labyrinths (long story there)
Anyways, does anyone else have any stories about rather abruptly messing with party introductions and pushing the players right into peril?Originally Posted by Dragon Magazine, Issue 4
-
2010-03-25, 07:10 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2010
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
Not from the DM, no, but I get a lot from my fellow PCs. Including lighting a tavern on fire.
-
2010-03-25, 07:12 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2009
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
Imagine starting off trying to explain to the town guard that you shouldn't be arrested.
I had a group of PC's (the players all knew each other well, but the characters had never met) start a campaign with basically "you've been accused of instigating a bar fight." Town guard there and everything. Oddly enough, they failed, spent a night in jail, and left. They'd all gotten seperate information from me, and some of them collaborated information while in jail, leading to an adventure hook that they figured out on their own.
-
2010-03-25, 07:15 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
I saw something like that in a PbP game. The players were out shopping, and a thief stabbed a guard trying to get away. Most of the party pursued, while one member stayed behind to heal the guard. Result: The one party member got heaps of praise, and the rest almost got thrown in jail, essentially for brawling in town. Unfortunately, they didn't end up behind bars in the end.
Last edited by Math_Mage; 2010-03-25 at 07:16 PM.
-
2010-03-25, 07:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2009
- Location
- The cyberpunk present
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
Yep. Great way to get PCs to meet each other. Something like 'You meet in a Zeppelin... The Zeppelin is on fire. And about to crash into a mountain. And the crew have all been murdered.' Really helps break the ice.
Truth resists simplicity.
-
2010-03-25, 07:26 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2009
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
Once on a semi-home brewed 3.5 game I was in the DM had our giant train got derailed by some giant cannon and turned into a massive melee on the spot. It was pretty effective at getting the ball rolling.
-
2010-03-25, 07:33 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2007
- Location
- Finland
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
We actually had one game that started in a roadside tavern...which got attacked by trolls midway through the first introductionary lines. As a consequence, the PCs ended up torching the whole place.
Campaign Journal: Uncovering the Lost World - A Player's Diary in Low-Magic D&D (Latest Update: 8.3.2014)
Being Bane: A Guide to Barbarians Cracking Small Men - Ever Been Angry?! Then this is for you!
SRD Averages - An aggregation of all the key stats of all the monster entries on SRD arranged by CR.
-
2010-03-25, 07:36 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2008
- Location
- Italy
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
The tavern is on fire, only?
Sorry, not enough gritty.
-
2010-03-25, 07:42 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2008
- Location
- NYC
- Gender
-
2010-03-25, 07:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2008
- Location
- Italy
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
-
2010-03-25, 08:35 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2009
-
2010-03-25, 08:38 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2008
- Location
- Italy
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
Cool. We need bears now, I guess.
-
2010-03-25, 08:41 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2009
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
Better yet, fire-breathing bears. That are on fire.
He fears his fate too much, and his reward is small, who will not put it to the touch, to win or lose it all.
-James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose
Satomi by Elagune
-
2010-03-25, 08:41 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2010
- Location
- At the moment: In a cage
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
I like to introduce new PC`s as NPC`s at first.
One of my players NEEDS to have sex with EVERY female NPC I put in front of him. He saw the new female gnome, then rolled a natural 20 on diplomacy and 19 on bluff.
"You go into the bedroom for 20 minutes. By the way, thats Bob`s character"Steam name: Dragero Add me! (Just click this link)
-
2010-03-25, 08:46 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2008
- Location
- Peterborough, Ontaro
- Gender
-
2010-03-25, 08:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2009
- Location
- Austin TX
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
As soon as the players gathered around the table, before anything, I said "Roll Initiative". I was, however, using initiative to decide what order the players arrive to the place they'll be meeting one another at, and thusly the order of introductions.
Then, in one of the campaigns I did that in, I had a pair of paladins bust in all Spanish Inquisitioney. They should've fell but didn't, and no player noticed this fact. Maybe because it was 4e... But they were Paladins of a LG deity, which the PCs did identify...Avatar by me. It's Incendius Darkscale, a Good Dragonborn Dragon Sorcerer, Demonskin Adept, Prince of Hell, worshiper of the Platinum Dragon (Bahamut), specializing in Fire and Lightning, wielding a staff in each hand.
-
2010-03-25, 08:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2007
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
Going way way back to 2nd edition my first D&D character an Elven Ranger,
Some dwarves offer me a drink, the DM has me make a wisdom check. I make it. He tells me I'm a little suspicious. I pass out and they steal my pants.
This same elf on his first adventure was knocked out by a poison needle and missed the first fight, the second fight occurred at night and by the time he got equipped and out of the tent it was over. For the third fight, he was knocked out from behind dragged off and held captive by amazon women.
All in all he had a very nice time..
-
2010-03-25, 08:58 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2008
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
Like this? Obligatory! I should sign that thing in case other people start linking that.
Last edited by Haven; 2010-03-25 at 08:58 PM.
-
2010-03-25, 08:59 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2008
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
I'm a bit infamous in my group for doing this--I'm trying not to do it in my new mods. I've done "You're in a marketplace, when Zairtails come out of the ground. Roll initiative." and "You're in a courtroom in Waterdeep, suddenly there are wights outside. Roll initiative."
Except there's always a good paragraph of description beforehand. To lull them.
-
2010-03-25, 09:06 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2009
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
Im usually the player who gets the ball rolling. I tend to set things on fire or do something to make things go.
-
2010-03-25, 09:07 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2006
- Location
- Seattle, USA
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
I had a campaign set that started in the Free City of Greyhawk right as someone targeted the area with the Invoked Devastation. The party was just outside the radius.
"Sometimes, we’re heroes. Sometimes, we shoot other people right in the face for money."
-Shadowrun 4e, Runner's Companion
-
2010-03-25, 09:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
My current forum game started with the party's entire home village on fire. It does tend to focus the attention.
In tabletop play, I try to start the first "actual play session" (as opposed to getting characters sorted out) of any campaign by ending the first paragraph of fluff with "roll for initiative". I highly recommend this to get a campaign started! Allow your players to start with a small selection of equipment central to their character concept, then throw them right into battle.
It's amazing how much time can be lost early in a campaign simply to shopping. Mundane gear selection goes a lot faster when you say "you have 10 rounds to loot the general store before it collapses - what do you take".
-
2010-03-25, 09:53 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2009
- Location
- Montreal, Canada
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
Does a flaming boat count? Cause it tends to put things into perspective when the boat you're on is both attacked by pirates and set on fire.
Nothing like the desperate need to survive to make clashing alignment and races join forces.Last edited by Soranar; 2010-03-26 at 06:55 AM.
-
2010-03-25, 09:58 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2010
- Location
- North Carolina
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
Reminds me of one campaign I DMed. My players were all doing their own thing in a tavern, drinking and having a good time.
Then goblins jump through the windows and starting attacking
-
2010-03-25, 10:46 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2009
- Location
- Canada
- Gender
-
2010-03-25, 10:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2008
-
2010-03-25, 10:55 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2009
- Location
- Central California, USA
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
I regret this even before doing it...
The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!My games:
Have you ever wondered How to Succeed in Evil?
Thanks licoot for the awesome Pip avatar!
-
2010-03-25, 10:56 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2008
- Location
- Peterborough, Ontaro
- Gender
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
I started off a campaign by one of the big baddies attacking the inn they were staying at, 4/5 were put into negatives and left for dead while the 5th hid until the Magelord left.
-
2010-03-25, 11:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2008
- Location
- Riotsville, BC
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
Recently we ended a session with us opening the door of a small room filled with monsters. Since we'd been pressed for time I decided to do the one thing that would make short work of the encounter: wall of fire the whole room. We started the next session with the results of that: mainly a room on fire full of exploding draconians.
-
2010-03-25, 11:38 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2008
Re: You Meet In A Tavern.... The Tavern Is On Fire....
For my mercenary campaign.
Non of them had met, but pre game I handed out a peice of paper with battlefield objectives on it.
When I officially started the game I said:
"You look to your left and right and notice 3 other members about you, *Insert character descriptions* , also a Gnomish inventor flys by you and attempts to pull a string coming out of his jacket. By the way, you guys are free falling about 600ft above ground."
Was hilarious what they came up with because they didnt have a cleric or wizard for feather fall. and they all tried to make the D10 use on their parachutes. 10 rounds of "Oh god! I failed the check! Quick someone grab me!"
Ahh, good times.