101 original ways to bring the characters together [Archive] - Wizards Community

101 original ways to bring the characters together [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Nor'Morgwae
09-23-05, 01:35 AM Ok, this time we are looking for original ways to bring the characters together at the beginning of the game. For all of us who are tired of taverns and royal mandates we want creative and believable methods to bring the PC together toward a common goal.

While I know it is customary to start this list of myself if I could do that I wouldn't need to start this list now would I?
Rumple_Cragstan
09-23-05, 01:54 AM Party members are all mutual friends of an NPC. At an important social event (banquet, wedding, ect) something happens that endangers the NPC or someone close to him. Of course, he comes to his most capable friends asking for help.

The PCs are all close childhood friends. Something horrible happens to one of the PCs, and the others travel from thier current homes to help thier friend in need.

PCs are hired by a merchant to guard his caravan on the way to the next city. The PCs are brought together when the caravan leaves, and they have plenty of time around the campfire to bond.
Starlight Knight
09-23-05, 01:55 AM The game started in a town on a cliff. For some reason or other each of the characters had come to this town by boat. (There was a dock at the bottom of the cliff with steps and ladders leading up to the town.) There was not another boat do in for a month. None of the characters had ever met, but each noticed that some people they had seen were not around anymore. One day, this particular group of people were pulled from their beds and hauled to the middle of town. Once there they were told they had to leave town. Two for being elves, one for being a dwarf, and two for being humans who tried to help some elves the day before. They were each given jugs of water, backpacks, a simple weapon of their choice, and leather armor. Then they were forced to walk out of town. They were told once they were past all the rocks was nothing but desert. Half way through was an oasis. That was how they met.
Kohdok
09-23-05, 11:08 AM There is a sign posted at the entrance to this village. It says:
"WANTED: Mercenaries willing to aid this town in its time of need. Heavy coin handed out. See the Town Hall for more information."

You can also use the Apprenticeship feat in the DMG2 and require all of the PC's to take the feat, making them all be in the same apprenticeship guild, or something... It reeks of Potter, but Potter didn't have GREATAXES! You could make it a bonus feat to all players, if you want to give them perks!
Mephibosheth
09-23-05, 11:17 AM Perhaps the PC's are mere ordinary people who, one fine day, wake up to the sound to an armored fist pounding on the door, demanding their service in the local militia. Once they are assigned to their unit, they meet some pretty cool people with unique talents (which just happen to fit the stereotypical party roles of meat shield, blaster, healer, and sneaky guy). The rest, as they say, is history.

Another option is to put the PC's in a position where they're thrown together by change, have no contact with anyone else, and have some obstacle to overcome (prison escape, anyone). Maybe they've bonded over their hatred for their captors.
Mirage_1
09-23-05, 11:34 AM ok...I cheated....

I told my players the setting, and where the campaign started. it was their responsibility to work on their backgrounds and tell me why they are together
peter_octavian
09-23-05, 12:01 PM the characters were friends as kids. in their teens they all (sept one or two) left town for training, adventure, whatever, but they all keep in touch, not with each other, but with the one that stays. when they grow up the one at the town says, "hey guys, come back. there is some trouble here" and they do.
High Octane
09-23-05, 12:02 PM One word: Shipwreck.
revnk
09-23-05, 12:07 PM A few classics:

PCs are traveling together on a ship when disaster strikes and the ship sinks, forcing them together as a party for survival.

PCs are abducted or caught during a general roundup by law enforcement, the evil duke's men, whatever: having been put in the same cell, they must escape together or perish together.

PCs awaken in a mysterious room, where a mysterious figure or equally mysterious disembodied voice pronounces, "You have been chosen by the Powers-That-Be...."

What another poster on these boards wonderfully called the "Poirot/Marple Special" (I love that phrase!): the PCs are minding their own individual businesses on a ship or in a pub when murder-most-foul occurs--no one can leave until the crime is solved, and the solution requires the PCs to work together.
Mandarbgrim
09-23-05, 12:09 PM Participants in an arena battle. They are all hired for a quest. They are all part of a mercenary company. Prison break. Friends. They all serve the same lord. Stranded together. They are all part of the same organization. Common threat to town, village, area. Ties of common goals or alignment. You can tie them together individually, as well. Three are members of a pirate crew, and the other person is spying on their captain. It can be hard to sometimes come up with a single reason for everyone to be together. Obviously they either..like each other..need each other...related to each other or some other tie that allows them to not like or need each other..or haven't had a convienent chance to ditch each other in a campaign. Most every backstory seems to have to boil down to these basic motivations for being around each other.
Sybill
09-23-05, 01:47 PM Perhaps the PC's are mere ordinary people who, one fine day, wake up to the sound to an armored fist pounding on the door, demanding their service in the local militia. Once they are assigned to their unit, they meet some pretty cool people with unique talents (which just happen to fit the stereotypical party roles of meat shield, blaster, healer, and sneaky guy). The rest, as they say, is history.

I'm actually using this one in my new campaign. The bonus is that since the PCs are in the army under someone (ie, sergeant, etc), you can be like "go here and do this" without it seeming too contrived.
MasterRookie
09-23-05, 02:01 PM On PC captures another. Then they convince the captive PC to join whatever cause they are. If that doesn't work have a mutual foe come in. Or maybe just some attacker man or beast that will spare no one and that both PC's are needed to defeat.
JD
09-23-05, 05:18 PM ok...I cheated....

I told my players the setting, and where the campaign started. it was their responsibility to work on their backgrounds and tell me why they are together

That's hardly cheating; in fact, I like it very much. As far as the elegance of the story goes, it's second only to gathering the backgrounds of all your PCs and through solo-quest appetisers weaving them together.

(I'm aware that I used about three different metaphors there.)

And for a more conventional one:

Each of the PCs, at some point, has performed minor services for an authority figure. With a BBEG lurking on the horizon, the authority figure calls the PCs to him. My DM used this one for his campaign based around Knightmare, and it worked surprisingly well.
UmbraLux
09-23-05, 11:38 PM They were all arrested and thrown in jail for some crime whether real or immagined. Once inside they are beat up by the local inmate bully...with half their food taken as a 'tax'. Defending themselves from the bully should be incentive enough to get them together. Throw in rumors or requests by other inmates for the first adventure hook...
DraconsNighthawk
09-23-05, 11:42 PM Two ways I have brought back PCS together.

They all wake up in the bed of a local healing tent, with no memory of anything. They must work together to figure it out. (and that was the prequest!)

2: They all came in from different entrances from a town under attack. They teamed up. Woot woot.
Loren Pechtel
09-23-05, 11:45 PM One word: Shipwreck.

Yeah, I've been thinking of a variant on that.

The PC's are passengers on a couple of ships going in different directions. A storm comes up, the ships are rushing for safety--and run into each other. The only survivors are the PC's. (Easy enough to rig--the PC's all find things that float well, they need not be able to swim.) You also get to pick the starting equipment that way--they have whatever washes up on shore with them.
Gort32
09-24-05, 01:03 AM I've found that having the players come up with a good reason why they are together works well. At the same time, head off some intraparty issues up front by making this collective backstory include a good reason why they actually care about being together don't steal from each other, backstab each other, or be too greedy with treasure. In other words, require that their reason include why the PCs respect each other.
Karreck
09-24-05, 02:25 AM How I brought my current party together. In my world, the Kingdom (largest human land so everyone calls it just The Kingdom) just ended a 15 year war with the Dargat Empire to the north. A high ranking baron (3rd most powerful man in the Kingdom) recruits a whole mess of adventurers to perform "special tasks" for the Kingdom. Even with peace being declared, the Kingdom is maintaining a heavy presence on the Northern boarders, and still man other Kingdom boarders, along with roads, and city militia maintaining their own, all in all, the Kingdom is streched thin. These adventurers are doing various missions for the Crown during these tough times.

BONUS! If a party member dies and cant be (or doesnt want to be) rezzed, they get assigned a new member from a pool of new recruits (already had to do this once).
Lup1n3
09-24-05, 03:06 AM 1. Take their character sheets away from them.

2. All of the party spent the previous night at some gala or public function.

3. Morning comes and they wake up in the same place. In the wrong bodies.

4. Shuffle the sheets and pass them out, ensuring no one gets their own sheet.

5. Profit!, er...Adventure!

When they wake up, They know where it happened. They know when it happened. They know at least X number of people that it happened to. Everything else is the stuff adventures are made of.

Doing this gives them a very definate reason for traveling together, as they would naturally want to learn what has happened to them, why is has happened, and how in the nine hells to fix it. It also provides ample incentive to not harm each other, and allows for some psychological roleplay of seeing the face normally in the mirror acting independent of one's control.

Also, this allows for some quite intense personality conflicts to arise In Character which do not run much risk of decimating the party dynamic or the enjoability of the session/adventure/campaign.

More Detail: The issue could arise of personality defining character abilities and class. This scenario operates on the premise that the skill lies in the body, even though the knowledge lies in the mind. An interesting possibility would be the gradual "greying" of the boundries between mind and body "memory." Would personality be shifted toward the "body memory", vice versa, or some combination of the two?
BadCatMan
09-24-05, 03:53 AM I've found that having the players come up with a good reason why they are together works well. At the same time, head off some intraparty issues up front by making this collective backstory include a good reason why they actually care about being together don't steal from each other, backstab each other, or be too greedy with treasure. In other words, require that their reason include why the PCs respect each other.

Oh yes! This is great! I wish our DM had done something like this. He just threw us all together (captured by monsters and then have to escape) and expected us to continue adventuring together. I had to throw in some lines to the effect that the others had joined my character's caravan guard company, to make it make some sort of sense (which everyone subsequently ignored).

Now not one character gives a damn about the other, despite the best efforts of my character and I, and everything we do comes down to arguments, betrayals, screwing each other over and treasure theft and hoarding. Every character hates at least one other character, either on principle or as a result of the other's behaviour. There is no reason at for us to continue adventuring together. One character has been maimed by two other characters, and my own was eventually killed by one of the PCs who did the maiming. And they call it 'role-playing' and think its great. And the DM encourages it, and is so paranoid of being accused of railroading that he won't take charge or make anything make sense.

Anyway, enough of my gripes.

While my character and the above maimed character once had a near-death experience together, the other player and I considered becoming two Gold Dwarf Thunder Twins (FR setting). A family connection or a childhood friends scenario, between characters of similar background, could probably ensure some loyalty between them, at least.

Maybe one PC hires another for some reason. Maybe the Fighter is a bodyguard to the Wizard. The Rogue could be a squire to the Paladin. The Bard asks to come along to so he can write up the adventurers' heroic deeds.

In an Evil campaign, such as the popular Drow campaigns, one character could be a slave to another. Or they are allied for mutual gain.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nor'Morgwae 09-23-05, 01:35 AM	Ok, this time we are looking for original ways to bring the characters together at the beginning of the game. For all of us who are tired of taverns and royal mandates we want creative and believable methods to bring the PC together toward a common goal. While I know it is customary to start this list of myself if I could do that I wouldn't need to start this list now would I?
Rumple_Cragstan 09-23-05, 01:54 AM	Party members are all mutual friends of an NPC. At an important social event (banquet, wedding, ect) something happens that endangers the NPC or someone close to him. Of course, he comes to his most capable friends asking for help. The PCs are all close childhood friends. Something horrible happens to one of the PCs, and the others travel from thier current homes to help thier friend in need. PCs are hired by a merchant to guard his caravan on the way to the next city. The PCs are brought together when the caravan leaves, and they have plenty of time around the campfire to bond.
Starlight Knight 09-23-05, 01:55 AM	The game started in a town on a cliff. For some reason or other each of the characters had come to this town by boat. (There was a dock at the bottom of the cliff with steps and ladders leading up to the town.) There was not another boat do in for a month. None of the characters had ever met, but each noticed that some people they had seen were not around anymore. One day, this particular group of people were pulled from their beds and hauled to the middle of town. Once there they were told they had to leave town. Two for being elves, one for being a dwarf, and two for being humans who tried to help some elves the day before. They were each given jugs of water, backpacks, a simple weapon of their choice, and leather armor. Then they were forced to walk out of town. They were told once they were past all the rocks was nothing but desert. Half way through was an oasis. That was how they met.
Kohdok 09-23-05, 11:08 AM	There is a sign posted at the entrance to this village. It says: "WANTED: Mercenaries willing to aid this town in its time of need. Heavy coin handed out. See the Town Hall for more information." You can also use the Apprenticeship feat in the DMG2 and require all of the PC's to take the feat, making them all be in the same apprenticeship guild, or something... It reeks of Potter, but Potter didn't have GREATAXES! You could make it a bonus feat to all players, if you want to give them perks!
Mephibosheth 09-23-05, 11:17 AM	Perhaps the PC's are mere ordinary people who, one fine day, wake up to the sound to an armored fist pounding on the door, demanding their service in the local militia. Once they are assigned to their unit, they meet some pretty cool people with unique talents (which just happen to fit the stereotypical party roles of meat shield, blaster, healer, and sneaky guy). The rest, as they say, is history. Another option is to put the PC's in a position where they're thrown together by change, have no contact with anyone else, and have some obstacle to overcome (prison escape, anyone). Maybe they've bonded over their hatred for their captors.
Mirage_1 09-23-05, 11:34 AM	ok...I cheated.... I told my players the setting, and where the campaign started. it was their responsibility to work on their backgrounds and tell me why they are together
peter_octavian 09-23-05, 12:01 PM	the characters were friends as kids. in their teens they all (sept one or two) left town for training, adventure, whatever, but they all keep in touch, not with each other, but with the one that stays. when they grow up the one at the town says, "hey guys, come back. there is some trouble here" and they do.
High Octane 09-23-05, 12:02 PM	One word: Shipwreck.
revnk 09-23-05, 12:07 PM	A few classics: PCs are traveling together on a ship when disaster strikes and the ship sinks, forcing them together as a party for survival. PCs are abducted or caught during a general roundup by law enforcement, the evil duke's men, whatever: having been put in the same cell, they must escape together or perish together. PCs awaken in a mysterious room, where a mysterious figure or equally mysterious disembodied voice pronounces, "You have been chosen by the Powers-That-Be...." What another poster on these boards wonderfully called the "Poirot/Marple Special" (I love that phrase!): the PCs are minding their own individual businesses on a ship or in a pub when murder-most-foul occurs--no one can leave until the crime is solved, and the solution requires the PCs to work together.
Mandarbgrim 09-23-05, 12:09 PM	Participants in an arena battle. They are all hired for a quest. They are all part of a mercenary company. Prison break. Friends. They all serve the same lord. Stranded together. They are all part of the same organization. Common threat to town, village, area. Ties of common goals or alignment. You can tie them together individually, as well. Three are members of a pirate crew, and the other person is spying on their captain. It can be hard to sometimes come up with a single reason for everyone to be together. Obviously they either..like each other..need each other...related to each other or some other tie that allows them to not like or need each other..or haven't had a convienent chance to ditch each other in a campaign. Most every backstory seems to have to boil down to these basic motivations for being around each other.
Sybill 09-23-05, 01:47 PM	Perhaps the PC's are mere ordinary people who, one fine day, wake up to the sound to an armored fist pounding on the door, demanding their service in the local militia. Once they are assigned to their unit, they meet some pretty cool people with unique talents (which just happen to fit the stereotypical party roles of meat shield, blaster, healer, and sneaky guy). The rest, as they say, is history. I'm actually using this one in my new campaign. The bonus is that since the PCs are in the army under someone (ie, sergeant, etc), you can be like "go here and do this" without it seeming too contrived.
MasterRookie 09-23-05, 02:01 PM	On PC captures another. Then they convince the captive PC to join whatever cause they are. If that doesn't work have a mutual foe come in. Or maybe just some attacker man or beast that will spare no one and that both PC's are needed to defeat.
JD 09-23-05, 05:18 PM	ok...I cheated.... I told my players the setting, and where the campaign started. it was their responsibility to work on their backgrounds and tell me why they are together That's hardly cheating; in fact, I like it very much. As far as the elegance of the story goes, it's second only to gathering the backgrounds of all your PCs and through solo-quest appetisers weaving them together. (I'm aware that I used about three different metaphors there.) And for a more conventional one: Each of the PCs, at some point, has performed minor services for an authority figure. With a BBEG lurking on the horizon, the authority figure calls the PCs to him. My DM used this one for his campaign based around Knightmare, and it worked surprisingly well.
UmbraLux 09-23-05, 11:38 PM	They were all arrested and thrown in jail for some crime whether real or immagined. Once inside they are beat up by the local inmate bully...with half their food taken as a 'tax'. Defending themselves from the bully should be incentive enough to get them together. Throw in rumors or requests by other inmates for the first adventure hook...
DraconsNighthawk 09-23-05, 11:42 PM	Two ways I have brought back PCS together. They all wake up in the bed of a local healing tent, with no memory of anything. They must work together to figure it out. (and that was the prequest!) 2: They all came in from different entrances from a town under attack. They teamed up. Woot woot.
Loren Pechtel 09-23-05, 11:45 PM	One word: Shipwreck. Yeah, I've been thinking of a variant on that. The PC's are passengers on a couple of ships going in different directions. A storm comes up, the ships are rushing for safety--and run into each other. The only survivors are the PC's. (Easy enough to rig--the PC's all find things that float well, they need not be able to swim.) You also get to pick the starting equipment that way--they have whatever washes up on shore with them.
Gort32 09-24-05, 01:03 AM	I've found that having the players come up with a good reason why they are together works well. At the same time, head off some intraparty issues up front by making this collective backstory include a good reason why they actually care about being together don't steal from each other, backstab each other, or be too greedy with treasure. In other words, require that their reason include why the PCs respect each other.
Karreck 09-24-05, 02:25 AM	How I brought my current party together. In my world, the Kingdom (largest human land so everyone calls it just The Kingdom) just ended a 15 year war with the Dargat Empire to the north. A high ranking baron (3rd most powerful man in the Kingdom) recruits a whole mess of adventurers to perform "special tasks" for the Kingdom. Even with peace being declared, the Kingdom is maintaining a heavy presence on the Northern boarders, and still man other Kingdom boarders, along with roads, and city militia maintaining their own, all in all, the Kingdom is streched thin. These adventurers are doing various missions for the Crown during these tough times. BONUS! If a party member dies and cant be (or doesnt want to be) rezzed, they get assigned a new member from a pool of new recruits (already had to do this once).
Lup1n3 09-24-05, 03:06 AM	1. Take their character sheets away from them. 2. All of the party spent the previous night at some gala or public function. 3. Morning comes and they wake up in the same place. In the wrong bodies. 4. Shuffle the sheets and pass them out, ensuring no one gets their own sheet. 5. Profit!, er...Adventure! When they wake up, They know where it happened. They know when it happened. They know at least X number of people that it happened to. Everything else is the stuff adventures are made of. Doing this gives them a very definate reason for traveling together, as they would naturally want to learn what has happened to them, why is has happened, and how in the nine hells to fix it. It also provides ample incentive to not harm each other, and allows for some psychological roleplay of seeing the face normally in the mirror acting independent of one's control. Also, this allows for some quite intense personality conflicts to arise In Character which do not run much risk of decimating the party dynamic or the enjoability of the session/adventure/campaign. More Detail: The issue could arise of personality defining character abilities and class. This scenario operates on the premise that the skill lies in the body, even though the knowledge lies in the mind. An interesting possibility would be the gradual "greying" of the boundries between mind and body "memory." Would personality be shifted toward the "body memory", vice versa, or some combination of the two?
BadCatMan 09-24-05, 03:53 AM	I've found that having the players come up with a good reason why they are together works well. At the same time, head off some intraparty issues up front by making this collective backstory include a good reason why they actually care about being together don't steal from each other, backstab each other, or be too greedy with treasure. In other words, require that their reason include why the PCs respect each other. Oh yes! This is great! I wish our DM had done something like this. He just threw us all together (captured by monsters and then have to escape) and expected us to continue adventuring together. I had to throw in some lines to the effect that the others had joined my character's caravan guard company, to make it make some sort of sense (which everyone subsequently ignored). Now not one character gives a damn about the other, despite the best efforts of my character and I, and everything we do comes down to arguments, betrayals, screwing each other over and treasure theft and hoarding. Every character hates at least one other character, either on principle or as a result of the other's behaviour. There is no reason at for us to continue adventuring together. One character has been maimed by two other characters, and my own was eventually killed by one of the PCs who did the maiming. And they call it 'role-playing' and think its great. And the DM encourages it, and is so paranoid of being accused of railroading that he won't take charge or make anything make sense. Anyway, enough of my gripes. While my character and the above maimed character once had a near-death experience together, the other player and I considered becoming two Gold Dwarf Thunder Twins (FR setting). A family connection or a childhood friends scenario, between characters of similar background, could probably ensure some loyalty between them, at least. Maybe one PC hires another for some reason. Maybe the Fighter is a bodyguard to the Wizard. The Rogue could be a squire to the Paladin. The Bard asks to come along to so he can write up the adventurers' heroic deeds. In an Evil campaign, such as the popular Drow campaigns, one character could be a slave to another. Or they are allied for mutual gain.