Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SmiloDan 05-21-05, 04:37 PM	I'm going to be starting a new swashbuckling, kind of steampunky, city and sea based campaign soon. My current campaign has a bunch of characters that don't really trust each other, and I want my new one to be different. How can I get them to be a real team? I know one will be playing a kenku rogue runt, which is really different from his power-hungry half-orc barbarian/wizard/earth elemental savant. I think the campaign will start around 3rd level. It will be based in the city of New Thingminster, which is ruled by the Ministry of Praxis, a rather fascist theocracy. It lies on the Salamander River between a huge lake and a huge bay, each with a bunch of smaller trading settlements on it. New Thingminster is also connected to a bunch of other cities by a series of canals. The ships on the canals are powered by water elementals or pulled by seadrakes (my version of railroads). New Thingminster is about a century old, and is built on the ruins of a native city dedicated to the Beast. Humans, dwarves, gnomes, half-orcs, and halflings are not native to the continent, but make up a significant proportion of the population of New Thingminster. Native races include the eusocial auric, the huge hunter selenates, the cultish uraeus, the scholarly dromodarians, the beatific manavians, the playful lutra, the skulking kenku, and the stoic drussidhe. 1. Childhood friends band together to help their homeland. 2. Meet at the tavern over ale and decide to explore that haunted castle. 3. Caravan guards.
Mirikon 05-21-05, 07:00 PM	4. <insert name of NPC here> is looking for adventurers to help clear out a mine of <insert name of weak monster type>. 5. They meet on the road, find out their all going the same way, and decide to go along together. 6. The characters are slaves, on their way to a market. They escape somehow, and... 7. The characters all have ties to <insert name of NPC here>. He was killed, and his will states that, if these specific people should go and track down his killers, they will get to split his estate.
Kohdok 05-21-05, 07:38 PM	8: "We must recover Ronald Mc. Donald's armor from Vile!" 9: Good ol' fashin LURRRRRRVE!! 10: Same boat going to <Insert town here> ? Nice to meet y'all... 11: They're old high-school buddies!!! (Wait...that's PLAYERS...or PC's...where applicable, I guess) 12: PC1: "He killed my father" PC2: "He killed my mother" PC3: "He killed my Badger" PC4: "He killed my father's brother's cousin's, nephew's, former room-mate! (A cookie to who can follow that line with the next two.) All: Let's go kill him!
His Majesty 05-22-05, 10:10 AM	I never liked the idea of creating seperate characters and then asking the DM to attract them into the adventure. So I changed the way I create an adventuring party. The first group meeting is a party-creation meeting. The players decide what kind of campaign they want to play, and decide what their characters have in common. They create their character concepts and detail their ideas during the meeting. Later, I create the crunch with every character seperately. Try it. It works wonders for party cohesiveness.
SmiloDan 05-22-05, 10:18 AM	That sounds like a great idea, but my Saturday group during the summers can be a little erratic, what with it being summer and Saturday and all. So it is often a slightly different group each time we play. Fortunately, I'm a big fan of episodic adventures that can begin and end in a single session. Another thing I'm concerned about is that some of the players also do that SCA stuff, where they REALLY use rapiers and stuff, and not just roll dice about it. Some of them might be a little picky when the D&D rules differ from their real-life experience. I usually just tell them it's a game, not a model, but that doesn't always work.
His Majesty 05-22-05, 05:29 PM	If they really get picky, you can take their sheets away from them. ask them what they want to do, roll the dice, and give them the results. To stop them from losing concentration while they're waiting (you group must be really erratic), you might want to suggest that they play with eyes closed -- at least as an experiment. If they keep on whining, bash them a little. If they're still nagging, switch to D20 Modern. If they suddenly become gun freaks, screw it all to the sticking place and switch to Nobilis. :D I find that one-shots are wonderful for experimentation. Bring in weird campaigns, new and eccentric styles, abnormal character concepts (don't feel bad about dictating characters in one-shots), and so on. If you still want ideas: 13. The PCS are the only people available -- because all of the rest were killed. 14. PCs are stuck together in the wilderness. 15. Common need -- the PCs all decide to do something, and find out out that they have the same goal.
windquake 05-24-05, 02:24 PM	12: PC1: "He killed my father" PC2: "He killed my mother" PC3: "He killed my Badger" PC4: "He killed my father's brother's cousin's, nephew's, former room-mate! (A cookie to who can follow that line with the next two.) All: Let's go kill him! I can't believe no one has posted the next lines! "What does that make us?" "Absolutely nothing, which is what you are about to become!" -Windquake
Kohdok 05-24-05, 10:39 PM	I can't believe no one has posted the next lines! "What does that make us?" "Absolutely nothing, which is what you are about to become!" -Windquake :cookie: I like the "Party-forming" session. I'll add that questionaire I found a while ago, or create some of my own, or something...
person29 05-24-05, 10:49 PM	the best campaign ive ever DMed the party met through various ways due to players coming in at different times the first two met through a mutual NPC friend the others all came aboard due to other plot (ship stopped at an island...picked up the monk, pirating a merchant ship picked up their fighter bodyguard, druid floating in driftwood) etc i hate having the party create their characters together because ive seen it lead to party min/maxing too much...oh well he is a fighter, he is a cleric, we need a wizard and a rogue...you be the rogue cause i wanna be a wizard...well i dont wanna,...but the group needs one...okay anyway tiny rany over
Galahdeon 05-26-05, 12:05 PM	one thing that my Dm did was have several groups of players come in we only knew what we where as a group but the way are backgrounds went i hated all the humans in the party and would constantly get in arguments with them. (it was fun infurieating the other ranger.) most of the people we had where new to D&D so they where not sure what to do exactly. the one big thing that our DM had was that the meat tank kept killing his big monsters that he wanted to chalenge us with so most of us didn't get a chance to kill much. I am going to start up a campane soon when i get back to school i also have a few new races that i have been working on for this campan as PCs they also come with paragon classes so i am very hopeful. 8. Teamwork is essential; it gives the enemy someone else to shoot at.
Gingerbread Guy 05-26-05, 09:13 PM	16. One of the PCs is enterprising enough to form an official adventuring party. Applicants are tested and a select few (the PCs) are chosen for their various skills. Those that make the cut are given contracts to sign, ensuring them an equal share of all treasure, payment or other gains, an equal vote in all major decisions, and some rudimentary guidelines for behaviour that might void the contract (stealing from each other, killing each other, etc). Each member is given a matching signet ring, and the group choses a name for their party (essentially a company). 17. The PCs are all family members (though perhaps only distantly in some cases) who have rallied together for some family-related purpose. Perhaps their family has been cursed, or a beloved family member has been struck gravely ill or perhaps even petrified. The PCs adventure to raise money for a cure, and probably get tangled up in the game's metaplot along the way. ~Ginger
guarnasco 05-27-05, 05:38 AM	18 the characters are all aspiring memnbers of the same secret society*, they know that they will have to sustain a sort of examination with al the other newbye to attain admission. 19 same as above, but they don't know if the examinator is one of them posing as a newbye. 20 same as above, but they know that only a fraction of the party will get admitted, they are in competition and still have to demostrate teamwork spirit to get admitted! * NOTE: this is a good tool to introduce new characters in the party on the run, since casualties will get replaced (with a polite note about the wasting of resaurces) and eventually people who attain full membership may became examinatros of new recluits. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PARANOIA --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hachiman 05-27-05, 01:33 PM	21 all were conscripted together by the local king.
Amalric 05-30-05, 08:23 PM	22. If they're all decently high level, and they're all locals of the city, they might know each other by reputation. It really depends on the individual characters in question, but here are a few other possibilities: 23. Two or more of the characters are close relatives, friends, or lovers. 24. The characters all belong to the same army or guild. 25. The players all start out in some other city, and the first adventure is actually them on the boat/airship/caravan/etc. to the city where the campaign is set. They can still be natives of that city who were just visiting someplace else. Anyway, some chaos breaks out en route, which separates the men (i.e. PCs) from the boys (i.e. crappy first-level NPC guards).
Norhg 06-01-05, 08:46 AM	26. Two party members grew up in the same family, one being an adopted half-elf(uncommon to the last) the other a human. The half-elf is older, but not in appearance or behavior. Another came from the same village as the siblings but left it very young to study the art of the mage. Futher another party member is a dwarven cleric who serves as a mercenary together with the siblings and the mage. The last party member is a 'tainted-one' living among humans with a lack of memories, the others haven't seen in quite some years and then he served as a captain in the army the others where employed by. The mage finds an artifact of old, a spellbook containing the last scribings of an ancient archmage and his final legacy... A possession-like effect to whoever reads his book. Possession in a benign soul, "I will guide thee" way. The siblings last living family member, a brother, turns out to be famed "king of bandits" who has elduded all authorities for a great deal of time. The Dwarf is on a hunt for facts, his hometown was burned by the army party member nr. last served. On his journey the dwarf meet up with the siblings, who are travelling to meet their old friend the mage, and decide to acompany them. Meanwhile the Mage is studying under his master while hiding the secrets of his tome. The others reach the mage, but so does the Last party member, now knighted and trusted servant of his king, who has been tasked with excecuting the mage's master. There however, the knight soon finds it apparent that he will be double-crossed and assassinated. A fire later, an heroic sacrifice and a omnious omen the party is gathered in the most well protected chamber of the tower the inferno that was a battle still raging outside it. "Aye, ah' want proof of yer mentions human!" - the dwarf barks at the knight, who is still wounded and suffering from poison. Proof is given, they deem him friendly. Together the party plans a jorney to the homelands of the knight where answers can be found, the Wizard's possessor urges him to go and the siblings can do something with a slightly more sinister purpose... A few sessions later the players will find a tapetsry depicting a grand battle of the last war, 150 years ago, in which the knight clearly can be seen. Many levels later the Half-Elf will see himself as a statue outside the magically sealed off gate to the elven nations he is trying to reach. This will lead to a timetravel story in which the players go back to the last war. -where many things can happen: The legacy of the Archmage turns out to have been created by the mage himself. The locking and unlocking of the elven nations can come to be, the players learning a way to reopen it in their time. The players can become responsible for the foundation of some of the cities seen in their own time. ... I left a lot of details from the story I had been thinking on =/. Sorry! 27. Wherever you are, you all see a light. This light kidnapps you and probes you using various alien devices. You all wake up naked in a bathtub the morning after with no memories of yesterday. What do you do?
Norhg 06-01-05, 08:55 AM	the best campaign ive ever DMed the party met through various ways due to players coming in at different times i hate having the party create their characters together because ive seen it lead to party min/maxing too much...oh well he is a fighter, he is a cleric, we need a wizard and a rogue...you be the rogue cause i wanna be a wizard...well i dont wanna,...but the group needs one...okay Dully agreed! -I'm lucky... I have one player who takes at least twenty hours to create a character. (supervised hours, wants me to be in the room when they are created...), one who can throw one together in ten minutes and at lot of people in between!. "okay, so your character is done?" "Good! I'll start gaming with you!" A couple of game hours later he will meet up with more party members... Also, I try to rely on "group plot" and "individual plot". I give players things their characters would want to do on their own and together as a group. Helps those times the full group can't get together too. "Wouldn't this be a good time for you to go looking for your lost cities now, dwarf? While Paladin is trying to patch this kingdom together anyway" So the dwarf gets some company while looking in the mountains... The party paladin gets to spend time roleplaying through a coalation of nobles and the politics involved in a kingdom on the brink of collapse. Makes the game feel more alive, in a sense.