1001 Places to Start (Besides Tavern or Inn) [Archive] - Wizards Community

1001 Places to Start (Besides Tavern or Inn) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Aloki
03-06-07, 07:25 PM 1. Forest, the party is old friends and meets in the forest to do... something
2. They were captured, thrown in a dungeon, and there is a trunk outside the room with rudimentary equipment.
3. In a shop, they meet in the "Swords and Armor" aisle
unfortunate_crow
03-06-07, 07:30 PM 4. At the Academy. Though they pursued different disiplines, they've been friends for years.
LordBOB777
03-06-07, 08:09 PM 5. In a grassy meadow, looking for a lost animal.
roll8dn
03-06-07, 08:19 PM 6. At the local spring faire; each is there to compete in...something.

7. Adrift at sea on an empty ship, with no memory of how they got there.
Amon_WinterfallIV
03-06-07, 08:20 PM 8. In their nation's conscription office, to be sent out to fight a war.
9. Huddled in a bomb shelter in the aftermath of a devastating catastrophe.
10. At the bedside of a dying mentor, who entrusts a grave secret in his last minutes.
mcnoo
03-06-07, 08:24 PM 9) Halfway through savagely beating a pregnant woman to death with no memory of the past past half week as the mind control over them suddenly goes down as her unborn baby is killed, thereby rendering their half of the infernal contract complete.

Now THAT one had them guessing for quite a while.
ElIsRa
03-06-07, 08:56 PM A Bed and Breakfast, A Bar, A Pub, A Motel, A Saloon, A Watering Hole, A Beer Joint, A Barrel House, A Grog Shop, An Alehouse, A Road House, A Taproom, A Taphouse, A Public House, A Drinkery, A Suds Shop, A Beer Parlour, A Drinking House, A Hospice, A Flophouse, An Aubrage, A Stopping House, or a Hostel.

(sorry, but someone *was* going to do it sooner or later. Atleast you know its not with malace.)
Xandria
03-06-07, 09:14 PM 11) One or two are shopping for traveling equipment and another owns the store. While shopping they find the mangled, bloody body of a young girl in a trunk, and during the investigation they meet up to solve it-go from there.
mcnoo
03-06-07, 09:25 PM 12) The party are all in the same cell cells of the city prison for different reasons, maybe innocent, maybe guilty. A violent murderer breaks out of his cell, butchers a couple of guards with his bare hands, takes the keys and lets out all all the inmates hoping to start a riot and break free.
Ramses III
03-06-07, 09:32 PM 13) A pirate ship, either as prisoners of the pirates, or members of the crew waiting for the captain and officers to return from a dinosaur-infested island.

14) A tower, where the PCs find that the princess each of them came separately to save is already gone.

15) The frat house where all of the PCs lived together as college students.

16) A monastery under attack by forces of darkness. Each PC could have their own reason for being here when the siege begins.

17) An Adventurers' Guildhall, with job postings for adventurers tacked up all over one wall.
LittleCarp04
03-06-07, 09:46 PM 18) The small town they both live in/traveling through is suddenly attacked by the BBEG and they must band together (along with other less than amazing townsfolk who will without fail be killed before they escape the attack) and kill all the goblins and such on the way out, which helps them work together in combat and can make any group instantly begin to bond
Rillek_Denar
03-06-07, 09:53 PM 19) Naked, atop a huge pile of rotting corpses, with no memory of how they got there.

That reallllllly sets up a plotline.
Chrono Nexus
03-06-07, 09:57 PM 20) Bound in chains, to the inside of a slave ship.
21) They've all known eachother from the beginning (orphans raised together in a small town).
22) In the middle of a battle.
23) In the afterlife... the entire party is dead, and trying to find a way back.
24) In bed... none of them have any recollection of what occurred the night before.
ravenshrike
03-06-07, 10:36 PM 25)Have them wake up tied back to back with rotting intestine, surrounded by miscellaneous body parts.
CroBob
03-07-07, 01:25 AM 26) The line for the bathroom.
The Jake
03-07-07, 01:26 AM Damn. 22) was going to be mine.
Orchomenos
03-07-07, 09:28 AM 14) A tower, where the PCs find that the princess each of them came separately to save is already gone.

:OMG! :thumbsup: I really like this one, especially for an high-level campaign! :bow: :clap:

17) An Adventurers' Guildhall, with job postings for adventurers tacked up all over one wall.

17.a) The same job posting was put in various Guilds, Temples, Orders, Lodges, Inns and Castles. The PCs, all from different background, are meeting at some point to answer that job posting.

27) On a road between two majors cities. PCs, either alone or in groups of two, are travelling between these cities for their own purposes. Now they are either taken in a storm and searching shelter (see Online Adventure: A Dark and Stormy Knight), or they meet a merchant attacked by brigands, or they meet an old farmer who claim there are demons in his barn...
babysalesman
03-07-07, 09:58 AM Well we all know that PCs are considered to be supior examples of their race, better than everyone else. So it's not out of the question to include extraordinary events to bring them together.

28.) their common diety (or close enough) calls them to fulfill their destiny.

29.) and extremely old/wise bronze dragon beckons or lures them together while shapechanged to complete a quest or something like that.

30.) they run into eachother (literally or not) while chasing the same moster/criminal/demigod.

31.) they were all siamese twins and were seperated at birth.

32.) no explaination, don't tell them why they're together, just get into the story and ignore them if anyone asks any questions about it.
LCD2YOU
03-07-07, 10:04 AM 33) Infront of a dungeon door that say, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here." Oh yah, there is nothing behind them. Literally nothing. The DM only has the dungeon mapped out.

34) Posing for Ted the flayer, nekkid, as he paints their portrait, err, somewhat accurately. Oh yeah they have no memory how they got there.
BlueFlames
03-07-07, 10:26 AM In Avernus, pulling themselves out of the Styx, with nothing more than the rags covering themselves and an urgent desire to leave.
Holy_Avenger_441
03-07-07, 11:59 AM #36. The last thing you remember is having a drink of really strong ale, you wake up in the middle of an oragie full of ulgy fat people.
Sajek
03-07-07, 01:01 PM 37. They all find themselves locked in a tower in the middle of a huge swamp, with no recollection of how they got there or of each other. Trying to leave the tower results in body wracking pain. In the basement are several months worth of supplies and a heavily locked, barred, and chained trapdoor.

38. They are all in a line in a market place one day, none of them know each other. Suddenly two wizards attack each other, and one misfired spell teleports all of them to a distant and unfamiliar land.

39. All traveling in a cravan when they are attacked and kidnapped by hobgoblins.
UAMDB
03-07-07, 01:18 PM Well other people went silly, so I will finish it.

40) In the womb. Of course their might be a few solo adventures until they meet each other.
WitheringSolid
03-07-07, 01:40 PM 41) In a cemetery, haveing all pc's just finished acting as pall barers for a mutual friend. They all ingage in small talk as they help shovel dirt into the grave. However, night is fast aproaching and as the sun dips below the horizon...Well I'm sure you guys can come up with something..:D
Nocci
03-07-07, 02:38 PM 42) On a bridge, that is about to fall apart.
43) On a caravan travelling to/from <insert city/town/thing here>.
44) In the Dragon's belly.
45) Waking up, finding themselves tied up and gagged with several little Derro poking at their toenails with pins while mumbling incoherently in Undercommon.
46) Large party at the town's Lord's mansion.
47) Getting remedies at <insert temple here> for themselves, or family, against the latest local plague.
48) A brothel, all searching for the same gal... who might turn up missing!
49) Chillin' in town, just as ol' Mr. Condoor comes running out of his house, shouting about walking skeletons in his cellar.
50) All happen to witness some strange activity in the forest at separate times, meet while investigating.
WilwarinAndamar
03-07-07, 02:40 PM 42) Archery contest
43) Gladiator-style fighting arena
44) Their respective kings, lords, and other authoritive figures call them to meet in a council to destroy the evil overlord threatening to take their land and ways of life
Argo
03-07-07, 02:59 PM 45) On a ship full of Bugbears and Kobolds.

Here's how I did it: the Human Monk and the Half-Orc Ranger both woke up in really poorly-constructed cells (DC 12 Strength check to break a bar, DC 15 to just rip the door off its hinges) being guarded by two Kobolds who are playing dice. If they searched the cell, their ramshackle cots had wood planks they could use as makeshift clubs to fight the Kobolds. The Gnome Rogue was a stowaway in the hold, hiding in a food crate. Once they break out of their cells, there's only so much time until a dragon comes by and sets the ship aflame. Oh, and in the hold? Crates and barrels of a rare new technology the goblinoids stole from the gnomes... gunpowder.
darkhellion21
03-07-07, 03:14 PM 46. The PCs are riding in the back of a cart, listening to the end of an old man's tale (the beginning of which they "had already heard").

47. They all awaken in various positions :D within a temple, no idea how they got there, and various markings upon their bodies (opens a wide assortment of plotlines).
Orbb_was_railed_by_God
03-07-07, 03:44 PM 46. At the final scene of the previous adventure, with all four bound and hung over an active volcano, about to be sacrificed to appease it.

47. They are all hired independantly by a shady character from among many, because of their different backgrounds and abilities. They are tasked to do something relatively minor in exchange for a large reward, which does get paid in full if the PC's complete the quest. Later on in the campaign, if they let this nefarious character have the item/information/whatever, then he returns as the BBEG-all-powerful-sorcerer-fighter-uberbuild-with-vorpal-+10-sword-of-asskickery. Or they can bring him this thingy, and jump him, and save the campaign world for later on, and another BBEG.
Orchomenos
03-08-07, 12:03 PM Well, if we count all the amnesia stories as only one, we would have 10 less suggestion... :rolleyes:
Vrael
03-08-07, 12:10 PM near a white gazebo on a grassy gnoll.
ppirilla
03-08-07, 12:36 PM 49) Following the clues left to them in their dreams leads them each seperately to what was obviously the site of a demonic ritual
Forgewing
03-08-07, 12:48 PM 50.) Jail

Im actually wondering that wasnt thought of before... unless I missed it.... Its just that its so common.
mcnoo
03-08-07, 12:56 PM 50.) Jail

I'm way ahead of you.

51) The players keep running into each other at random while doing different things, after a few times it becomes obvious somethings drawing them together, eventually they find some form of demigod of chance is twisting their fates together so they can fulfill a prophecy that says a group of their description will slay his arch nemesis.
Mnky
03-08-07, 01:16 PM 52) Dead, in hell
Chrono Nexus
03-08-07, 01:36 PM 52) Dead, in hell
I did this in a high level game. Our characters were trying to steal an evil artifact from hell (the artifact would allow the devils to overcome and control the abyss, and then with newfound unity the fiends would attack the prime). To get into hell, our characters had to perform acts of evil before committing suicide...
We all ended up in hell (different layers, actually), and we had a good time trying to find the artifact and stuff. We never finished the campaign, due to various reasons.
Word to the wise: never go to hell with less than a legion of solars.
Mnky
03-08-07, 02:36 PM Word to the wise: never go to hell with less than a legion of solars.

Or some really good face paints
Tavi the Spell-Weaver
03-08-07, 10:14 PM 53) Inside a cursed mirror.

It's been sitting in the attic of an abandoned house for decades. Over this time period, it has sucked in a number of random people who came to explore the building. People who have been missing for long periods of time are probably presumed dead by friends and family, an interesting situation to RP. The trapped adventurers are finally released when the ancient floor comes crashing down under the weight off all the accumulated stuff and the mirror shatters. Upon reappearing in the world (without gear or clothing, which dropped where they stood when they were sucked in) they are disoriented. The last thing they remember is being sucked into the mirror. It is possible that they have to band together to survive as the world may have changed dramatically since they were absorbed.
Gottwick
03-09-07, 05:48 PM 54) At a guild meeting.

55) Kneeling before the feet of the king, receiving their awards for being the only survivors of a battle.

56) Praying at a common temple.

57) Blinking and looking at each other. A wizard use a Horn of Valhalla in a wild magic zone and the 'barbarians' it summoned are the PCs. The monster the wizard needed to use the horn for is breathing on the player's necks.

58) In chains. They're all slaves. Their owner is freeing them.

59) Awakening from being frozen. An evil villain attacked their town and wiped it off the map a century ago. Adventurers discover some townsfolk had hidden and been frozen solid, so they gently warmed them back to life.
Gottwick
03-09-07, 05:50 PM 60) At a wedding.

This is an overlooked one, I think. Where do we meet people besides bars and churches? Social events.

61) Around a table at a gambling place.
M1kh43l_P4r4d1s0
03-09-07, 05:52 PM I don't know if it's been said, but...

61) A bar.
Gottwick
03-09-07, 06:04 PM 62) Leaving the temple where they were some of the few who survived the plague.

63) Fleeing from a natural catastrophe. (This should be a common one, now that I think about it.)

64) On the road ... out of the town from which they were exiled.

65) In the armory, being handed their weapons and armor. In the original Greek democracies, ordinary citizens were alloted to office, not elected. In this case, your town decided they needed new defenders and your name was drawn.

66) In the gutter. Make the PCs come up with a reason why they're in a gutter. Drinking, gambling, poverty, etc.

67) In a safe house. They all did something wrong and are on the run. Maybe they're on the run from being conscripted into the army.

68) Standing before a merchant. They were each about to go to debtor's prison, but the merchant paid off their bills, or their families' debts. I wonder what he wants ...
Gottwick
03-09-07, 06:06 PM 69) At a manor house. Second or third sons weren't going to inherit much so they were expected to go make something of themselves. So a wealthy young man gathers other youths from the village and tells them they're going adventuring. "Get your gear together lads! We go to fight dragons!"
Type2Demon
03-09-07, 06:11 PM (70) Walking different directions on a city street when there is a sudden cry for help from a nearby alleyway...

(71) Chasing pickpockets through a crowded market place, when the literally run into each other.

(72) Waking up in the middle of an Inn..that is on fire.

(73) Esacaping from a heavy rainfall / hailstorm/ sandstorm under a convienent shelter of opportunity.

(74) On the docks while departing the vessel that brought them there.

(75) At the funeral of a mutual aquaintance.
Gottwick
03-09-07, 08:01 PM (75) At the funeral of a mutual aquaintance.
@#$%! I meant to do that one. Goes along with weddings.

76) At the theatre!
Dr_Necronamos
03-09-07, 08:14 PM 19) Naked, atop a huge pile of rotting corpses, with no memory of how they got there.

That reallllllly sets up a plotline.

Turns out it was a Party that got out of hand so the frat boys tossed you onto the Plague pile. :D
Keiichi_m
03-09-07, 10:02 PM 77) Same squad in the military

78) AA meeting
_SIN_
03-10-07, 07:08 AM They wake up alone in the middle of a forest with nothing but a trail of breadcrumb....
Terrainosaur
03-10-07, 10:56 AM Well, if we count all the amnesia stories as only one, we would have 10 less suggestion... :rolleyes:
No kidding. And people keep piling on "with no memory of how you got there". That's just lazy.
oEmperorBob
03-10-07, 12:05 PM Sometimes I feel that if the group is experienced enough I'll let them write about how their group got together in the first place.
rosshawk11
03-10-07, 12:45 PM 80) They wake up in a room with sore asses if they are mainly male ( you can do the rest) or if female in skimppy cloths with money down there bras and stuff
Saytr
03-10-07, 04:39 PM Damn. 22) was going to be mine.

Damn. 25) was going to be mine.

81) In a prison mining camp. On the same work crew. You break through a wall and discover a room. The room contains long-dead men wearing full armor. Swords and staves are strewn about the room. There is no guard watching you right now. What do you do?
Dr_Necronamos
03-10-07, 06:59 PM 82) A powerful wizard calls them all with a teleport spell and shows them an ancient prophecy that their spirits are destined to fulfil.
Nor'Morgwae
03-10-07, 07:26 PM 83) They have all been trapped in the same labyrinth (Binding spell) by an evil so-and-so. During the first session the Binding spell is broken and the players have to figure out how long they've been in there and what got them out. (For an interesting twist maybe they weren't trapped by an evil wizard, but rather to save them from some cataclysm or because a prophecy told him to do it).

84) The game begins with them all trapped in anti-magic jars. They are arranged on a wall in the home of a massive fiend who lovingly refers to them as his 'bug collection'.

85) The PCs are swimming in a lake when one of them gets caught on a rusty plot hook!

86) The PCs small town is shaken up when a wanderer is killed in the city square. One of the PCs finds a magic item (scroll, rod, commemorative plate, etc) with a magic mouth on it beseaching someone they've never heard of for help. The message just keeps repeating. The town sends them off to discover who this strange wanderer was and who he was looking for, before the creatures that killed the man return in search of the object.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Aloki 03-06-07, 07:25 PM	1. Forest, the party is old friends and meets in the forest to do... something 2. They were captured, thrown in a dungeon, and there is a trunk outside the room with rudimentary equipment. 3. In a shop, they meet in the "Swords and Armor" aisle
unfortunate_crow 03-06-07, 07:30 PM	4. At the Academy. Though they pursued different disiplines, they've been friends for years.
LordBOB777 03-06-07, 08:09 PM	5. In a grassy meadow, looking for a lost animal.
roll8dn 03-06-07, 08:19 PM	6. At the local spring faire; each is there to compete in...something. 7. Adrift at sea on an empty ship, with no memory of how they got there.
Amon_WinterfallIV 03-06-07, 08:20 PM	8. In their nation's conscription office, to be sent out to fight a war. 9. Huddled in a bomb shelter in the aftermath of a devastating catastrophe. 10. At the bedside of a dying mentor, who entrusts a grave secret in his last minutes.
mcnoo 03-06-07, 08:24 PM	9) Halfway through savagely beating a pregnant woman to death with no memory of the past past half week as the mind control over them suddenly goes down as her unborn baby is killed, thereby rendering their half of the infernal contract complete. Now THAT one had them guessing for quite a while.
ElIsRa 03-06-07, 08:56 PM	A Bed and Breakfast, A Bar, A Pub, A Motel, A Saloon, A Watering Hole, A Beer Joint, A Barrel House, A Grog Shop, An Alehouse, A Road House, A Taproom, A Taphouse, A Public House, A Drinkery, A Suds Shop, A Beer Parlour, A Drinking House, A Hospice, A Flophouse, An Aubrage, A Stopping House, or a Hostel. (sorry, but someone was going to do it sooner or later. Atleast you know its not with malace.)
Xandria 03-06-07, 09:14 PM	11) One or two are shopping for traveling equipment and another owns the store. While shopping they find the mangled, bloody body of a young girl in a trunk, and during the investigation they meet up to solve it-go from there.
mcnoo 03-06-07, 09:25 PM	12) The party are all in the same cell cells of the city prison for different reasons, maybe innocent, maybe guilty. A violent murderer breaks out of his cell, butchers a couple of guards with his bare hands, takes the keys and lets out all all the inmates hoping to start a riot and break free.
Ramses III 03-06-07, 09:32 PM	13) A pirate ship, either as prisoners of the pirates, or members of the crew waiting for the captain and officers to return from a dinosaur-infested island. 14) A tower, where the PCs find that the princess each of them came separately to save is already gone. 15) The frat house where all of the PCs lived together as college students. 16) A monastery under attack by forces of darkness. Each PC could have their own reason for being here when the siege begins. 17) An Adventurers' Guildhall, with job postings for adventurers tacked up all over one wall.
LittleCarp04 03-06-07, 09:46 PM	18) The small town they both live in/traveling through is suddenly attacked by the BBEG and they must band together (along with other less than amazing townsfolk who will without fail be killed before they escape the attack) and kill all the goblins and such on the way out, which helps them work together in combat and can make any group instantly begin to bond
Rillek_Denar 03-06-07, 09:53 PM	19) Naked, atop a huge pile of rotting corpses, with no memory of how they got there. That reallllllly sets up a plotline.
Chrono Nexus 03-06-07, 09:57 PM	20) Bound in chains, to the inside of a slave ship. 21) They've all known eachother from the beginning (orphans raised together in a small town). 22) In the middle of a battle. 23) In the afterlife... the entire party is dead, and trying to find a way back. 24) In bed... none of them have any recollection of what occurred the night before.
ravenshrike 03-06-07, 10:36 PM	25)Have them wake up tied back to back with rotting intestine, surrounded by miscellaneous body parts.
CroBob 03-07-07, 01:25 AM	26) The line for the bathroom.
The Jake 03-07-07, 01:26 AM	Damn. 22) was going to be mine.
Orchomenos 03-07-07, 09:28 AM	14) A tower, where the PCs find that the princess each of them came separately to save is already gone. :OMG! :thumbsup: I really like this one, especially for an high-level campaign! :bow: :clap: 17) An Adventurers' Guildhall, with job postings for adventurers tacked up all over one wall. 17.a) The same job posting was put in various Guilds, Temples, Orders, Lodges, Inns and Castles. The PCs, all from different background, are meeting at some point to answer that job posting. 27) On a road between two majors cities. PCs, either alone or in groups of two, are travelling between these cities for their own purposes. Now they are either taken in a storm and searching shelter (see Online Adventure: A Dark and Stormy Knight), or they meet a merchant attacked by brigands, or they meet an old farmer who claim there are demons in his barn...
babysalesman 03-07-07, 09:58 AM	Well we all know that PCs are considered to be supior examples of their race, better than everyone else. So it's not out of the question to include extraordinary events to bring them together. 28.) their common diety (or close enough) calls them to fulfill their destiny. 29.) and extremely old/wise bronze dragon beckons or lures them together while shapechanged to complete a quest or something like that. 30.) they run into eachother (literally or not) while chasing the same moster/criminal/demigod. 31.) they were all siamese twins and were seperated at birth. 32.) no explaination, don't tell them why they're together, just get into the story and ignore them if anyone asks any questions about it.
LCD2YOU 03-07-07, 10:04 AM	33) Infront of a dungeon door that say, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here." Oh yah, there is nothing behind them. Literally nothing. The DM only has the dungeon mapped out. 34) Posing for Ted the flayer, nekkid, as he paints their portrait, err, somewhat accurately. Oh yeah they have no memory how they got there.
BlueFlames 03-07-07, 10:26 AM	In Avernus, pulling themselves out of the Styx, with nothing more than the rags covering themselves and an urgent desire to leave.
Holy_Avenger_441 03-07-07, 11:59 AM	#36. The last thing you remember is having a drink of really strong ale, you wake up in the middle of an oragie full of ulgy fat people.
Sajek 03-07-07, 01:01 PM	37. They all find themselves locked in a tower in the middle of a huge swamp, with no recollection of how they got there or of each other. Trying to leave the tower results in body wracking pain. In the basement are several months worth of supplies and a heavily locked, barred, and chained trapdoor. 38. They are all in a line in a market place one day, none of them know each other. Suddenly two wizards attack each other, and one misfired spell teleports all of them to a distant and unfamiliar land. 39. All traveling in a cravan when they are attacked and kidnapped by hobgoblins.
UAMDB 03-07-07, 01:18 PM	Well other people went silly, so I will finish it. 40) In the womb. Of course their might be a few solo adventures until they meet each other.
WitheringSolid 03-07-07, 01:40 PM	41) In a cemetery, haveing all pc's just finished acting as pall barers for a mutual friend. They all ingage in small talk as they help shovel dirt into the grave. However, night is fast aproaching and as the sun dips below the horizon...Well I'm sure you guys can come up with something..:D
Nocci 03-07-07, 02:38 PM	42) On a bridge, that is about to fall apart. 43) On a caravan travelling to/from <insert city/town/thing here>. 44) In the Dragon's belly. 45) Waking up, finding themselves tied up and gagged with several little Derro poking at their toenails with pins while mumbling incoherently in Undercommon. 46) Large party at the town's Lord's mansion. 47) Getting remedies at <insert temple here> for themselves, or family, against the latest local plague. 48) A brothel, all searching for the same gal... who might turn up missing! 49) Chillin' in town, just as ol' Mr. Condoor comes running out of his house, shouting about walking skeletons in his cellar. 50) All happen to witness some strange activity in the forest at separate times, meet while investigating.
WilwarinAndamar 03-07-07, 02:40 PM	42) Archery contest 43) Gladiator-style fighting arena 44) Their respective kings, lords, and other authoritive figures call them to meet in a council to destroy the evil overlord threatening to take their land and ways of life
Argo 03-07-07, 02:59 PM	45) On a ship full of Bugbears and Kobolds. Here's how I did it: the Human Monk and the Half-Orc Ranger both woke up in really poorly-constructed cells (DC 12 Strength check to break a bar, DC 15 to just rip the door off its hinges) being guarded by two Kobolds who are playing dice. If they searched the cell, their ramshackle cots had wood planks they could use as makeshift clubs to fight the Kobolds. The Gnome Rogue was a stowaway in the hold, hiding in a food crate. Once they break out of their cells, there's only so much time until a dragon comes by and sets the ship aflame. Oh, and in the hold? Crates and barrels of a rare new technology the goblinoids stole from the gnomes... gunpowder.
darkhellion21 03-07-07, 03:14 PM	46. The PCs are riding in the back of a cart, listening to the end of an old man's tale (the beginning of which they "had already heard"). 47. They all awaken in various positions :D within a temple, no idea how they got there, and various markings upon their bodies (opens a wide assortment of plotlines).
Orbb_was_railed_by_God 03-07-07, 03:44 PM	46. At the final scene of the previous adventure, with all four bound and hung over an active volcano, about to be sacrificed to appease it. 47. They are all hired independantly by a shady character from among many, because of their different backgrounds and abilities. They are tasked to do something relatively minor in exchange for a large reward, which does get paid in full if the PC's complete the quest. Later on in the campaign, if they let this nefarious character have the item/information/whatever, then he returns as the BBEG-all-powerful-sorcerer-fighter-uberbuild-with-vorpal-+10-sword-of-asskickery. Or they can bring him this thingy, and jump him, and save the campaign world for later on, and another BBEG.
Orchomenos 03-08-07, 12:03 PM	Well, if we count all the amnesia stories as only one, we would have 10 less suggestion... :rolleyes:
Vrael 03-08-07, 12:10 PM	near a white gazebo on a grassy gnoll.
ppirilla 03-08-07, 12:36 PM	49) Following the clues left to them in their dreams leads them each seperately to what was obviously the site of a demonic ritual
Forgewing 03-08-07, 12:48 PM	50.) Jail Im actually wondering that wasnt thought of before... unless I missed it.... Its just that its so common.
mcnoo 03-08-07, 12:56 PM	50.) Jail I'm way ahead of you. 51) The players keep running into each other at random while doing different things, after a few times it becomes obvious somethings drawing them together, eventually they find some form of demigod of chance is twisting their fates together so they can fulfill a prophecy that says a group of their description will slay his arch nemesis.
Mnky 03-08-07, 01:16 PM	52) Dead, in hell
Chrono Nexus 03-08-07, 01:36 PM	52) Dead, in hell I did this in a high level game. Our characters were trying to steal an evil artifact from hell (the artifact would allow the devils to overcome and control the abyss, and then with newfound unity the fiends would attack the prime). To get into hell, our characters had to perform acts of evil before committing suicide... We all ended up in hell (different layers, actually), and we had a good time trying to find the artifact and stuff. We never finished the campaign, due to various reasons. Word to the wise: never go to hell with less than a legion of solars.
Mnky 03-08-07, 02:36 PM	Word to the wise: never go to hell with less than a legion of solars. Or some really good face paints
Tavi the Spell-Weaver 03-08-07, 10:14 PM	53) Inside a cursed mirror. It's been sitting in the attic of an abandoned house for decades. Over this time period, it has sucked in a number of random people who came to explore the building. People who have been missing for long periods of time are probably presumed dead by friends and family, an interesting situation to RP. The trapped adventurers are finally released when the ancient floor comes crashing down under the weight off all the accumulated stuff and the mirror shatters. Upon reappearing in the world (without gear or clothing, which dropped where they stood when they were sucked in) they are disoriented. The last thing they remember is being sucked into the mirror. It is possible that they have to band together to survive as the world may have changed dramatically since they were absorbed.
Gottwick 03-09-07, 05:48 PM	54) At a guild meeting. 55) Kneeling before the feet of the king, receiving their awards for being the only survivors of a battle. 56) Praying at a common temple. 57) Blinking and looking at each other. A wizard use a Horn of Valhalla in a wild magic zone and the 'barbarians' it summoned are the PCs. The monster the wizard needed to use the horn for is breathing on the player's necks. 58) In chains. They're all slaves. Their owner is freeing them. 59) Awakening from being frozen. An evil villain attacked their town and wiped it off the map a century ago. Adventurers discover some townsfolk had hidden and been frozen solid, so they gently warmed them back to life.
Gottwick 03-09-07, 05:50 PM	60) At a wedding. This is an overlooked one, I think. Where do we meet people besides bars and churches? Social events. 61) Around a table at a gambling place.
M1kh43l_P4r4d1s0 03-09-07, 05:52 PM	I don't know if it's been said, but... 61) A bar.
Gottwick 03-09-07, 06:04 PM	62) Leaving the temple where they were some of the few who survived the plague. 63) Fleeing from a natural catastrophe. (This should be a common one, now that I think about it.) 64) On the road ... out of the town from which they were exiled. 65) In the armory, being handed their weapons and armor. In the original Greek democracies, ordinary citizens were alloted to office, not elected. In this case, your town decided they needed new defenders and your name was drawn. 66) In the gutter. Make the PCs come up with a reason why they're in a gutter. Drinking, gambling, poverty, etc. 67) In a safe house. They all did something wrong and are on the run. Maybe they're on the run from being conscripted into the army. 68) Standing before a merchant. They were each about to go to debtor's prison, but the merchant paid off their bills, or their families' debts. I wonder what he wants ...
Gottwick 03-09-07, 06:06 PM	69) At a manor house. Second or third sons weren't going to inherit much so they were expected to go make something of themselves. So a wealthy young man gathers other youths from the village and tells them they're going adventuring. "Get your gear together lads! We go to fight dragons!"
Type2Demon 03-09-07, 06:11 PM	(70) Walking different directions on a city street when there is a sudden cry for help from a nearby alleyway... (71) Chasing pickpockets through a crowded market place, when the literally run into each other. (72) Waking up in the middle of an Inn..that is on fire. (73) Esacaping from a heavy rainfall / hailstorm/ sandstorm under a convienent shelter of opportunity. (74) On the docks while departing the vessel that brought them there. (75) At the funeral of a mutual aquaintance.
Gottwick 03-09-07, 08:01 PM	(75) At the funeral of a mutual aquaintance. @#$%! I meant to do that one. Goes along with weddings. 76) At the theatre!
Dr_Necronamos 03-09-07, 08:14 PM	19) Naked, atop a huge pile of rotting corpses, with no memory of how they got there. That reallllllly sets up a plotline. Turns out it was a Party that got out of hand so the frat boys tossed you onto the Plague pile. :D
Keiichi_m 03-09-07, 10:02 PM	77) Same squad in the military 78) AA meeting
_SIN_ 03-10-07, 07:08 AM	They wake up alone in the middle of a forest with nothing but a trail of breadcrumb....
Terrainosaur 03-10-07, 10:56 AM	Well, if we count all the amnesia stories as only one, we would have 10 less suggestion... :rolleyes: No kidding. And people keep piling on "with no memory of how you got there". That's just lazy.
oEmperorBob 03-10-07, 12:05 PM	Sometimes I feel that if the group is experienced enough I'll let them write about how their group got together in the first place.
rosshawk11 03-10-07, 12:45 PM	80) They wake up in a room with sore asses if they are mainly male ( you can do the rest) or if female in skimppy cloths with money down there bras and stuff
Saytr 03-10-07, 04:39 PM	Damn. 22) was going to be mine. Damn. 25) was going to be mine. 81) In a prison mining camp. On the same work crew. You break through a wall and discover a room. The room contains long-dead men wearing full armor. Swords and staves are strewn about the room. There is no guard watching you right now. What do you do?
Dr_Necronamos 03-10-07, 06:59 PM	82) A powerful wizard calls them all with a teleport spell and shows them an ancient prophecy that their spirits are destined to fulfil.
Nor'Morgwae 03-10-07, 07:26 PM	83) They have all been trapped in the same labyrinth (Binding spell) by an evil so-and-so. During the first session the Binding spell is broken and the players have to figure out how long they've been in there and what got them out. (For an interesting twist maybe they weren't trapped by an evil wizard, but rather to save them from some cataclysm or because a prophecy told him to do it). 84) The game begins with them all trapped in anti-magic jars. They are arranged on a wall in the home of a massive fiend who lovingly refers to them as his 'bug collection'. 85) The PCs are swimming in a lake when one of them gets caught on a rusty plot hook! 86) The PCs small town is shaken up when a wanderer is killed in the city square. One of the PCs finds a magic item (scroll, rod, commemorative plate, etc) with a magic mouth on it beseaching someone they've never heard of for help. The message just keeps repeating. The town sends them off to discover who this strange wanderer was and who he was looking for, before the creatures that killed the man return in search of the object.