A start [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

A start [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
itsme4eva1
02-13-08, 08:40 PM What's your favorite place to start. (other than a tavern) And would a prison be a good place to start a campaign?
Num0ch
02-13-08, 09:00 PM I have actually started a campaign in a prison, and it was fantastic.

One of the two PC's woke up in a cell, and someone across from the hall (in another cell) was "Psst"ing at him. The guy said he heard that someone who had killed 13 people was being placed in his(the PC's) cell. About a minute later, his door swung open and a 3 foot tall, scrawny halfling was tossed in... And so it began.

It was fun...

But yeah a prison can be great.
itsme4eva1
02-13-08, 09:04 PM My prison is different its sitting in the middle of the ocean so there are no cells but they have the choice of being free by going into an arena to fight out another group of prisoners (5) but there are 4 so another joins the group
Captain_Madrick
02-14-08, 02:52 AM I have done the prison start before. I have also done what appears to be a prison cell, but turns out to be a holding cell in a deep dungeon. I've started a campaign on a large road, amidst a gathered army of heroes, as well as a wizard's tower, where he had created a spell to summon adventurers.
Fuinrauku
02-14-08, 04:48 AM I've done a bit of a prison start.. Never really left the ground (but I think it was sheer boredom whilst they were righting a new campaign ^_^)... Just a thought... what happens to the losers... seeing people cower as they fight for their own life is such a thrill for me.. *cough* but yes back to the point it IS a good place to start a campaign ... my favorite place (if anyone cares by the end of this ;) ) is a ship... it means a backdrop isn't set for my characters... I hate being told I grew up in a place I want to come to the land to... get... cash...

Fuinrauku
Shadowshimmer
02-14-08, 07:27 AM I usually start on a Merchant vessel where the PCs have gathered to answer the call for help to some remote village or some distant city. They realize they are answering the same call to arms and usually form the group there on the ship.
DemiG0d
02-14-08, 09:42 AM I only recently started a campaign in prison, my players liked it. To bad a TPK came in the second session due to poor judgement of my players :(
I'm starting the new one in the same custom setting in the middle of a battlefield, 2 years after the original party died
McPoyo
02-14-08, 11:44 AM I frequent the "imprisoned" scenario a lot. Not necessarily "you're in prison", sometimes it's a "group X you were traveling with was ambushed in the middle of the night, you were captured after being knocked unconcious and awaken in Y looking cell". Really makes it easy, since people could be taken on the road at night, during the day in an ambush, after getting so drunk in a tavern that someone had little problem "selling" them to slavers, being drugged, etc. Plus, that way the players have a chance to build a little camaraderie and fellowship with the other characters as they have to work together to successfully escape. For the groups I usually run for, this actually works better than the "you all were hired for Z job" scenario, since it takes 6-7 sessions and/or a couple levels for them to actually start acting like a party through trust, rather than looking out for themselves and using the other members to ensure their survival.

Most of the time, the whole "you guys already knew each other from Q" doesn't fly to well with my groups, since they tend to play pretty disparate characters in background and approach.

Plus, I like watching the frantic looks on the players' faces when they try to break passed the guards weaponless. Everyone gets more into the "OH MY GOD A 20! HOORAH! I TAKE HIS WEAPON NOW THAT HE'S UNCONSCIOUS!" type thing during that first combat. My players tend to be a little more tactically minded and naturally slip into good combat patterns that make it easier to design jail-break encounters that are still incredibly challenging (to them) but have little to no chance of TPK (Although they never realize it at the time). I've lost a character once due to bad dice rolls in a start off like that, and had to pull an interesting DM Fiat move to keep them alive when they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt they'd be dead otherwise. They appreciated the leniency that once.

There's something rewarding about the looks of joy on the players' faces when they finally get out with their gear/stolen gear and only a couple HP left between the whole group.

Unfortunately, for a lot of my campaigns, they then promptly go on a killing spree. I've had a couple near genocides before stemming from that.
Satile
02-14-08, 12:15 PM I once had my PCs start without knowing each other, tide up in a serial killer's basement. They obviously had to work together to get out of there and their characters bonded. Good for role playing.

That worked really well.
Kihoninu
02-14-08, 01:21 PM I began a campaign with the usual tavern beginning, though a more recent one involved being shipwrecked and waking up together on the shore with no money and hardly any clothes (bear with me, I know this is starting to sound like a porn story) They had to decide where to head to get shelter and decide how they were going to get some cash to survive, which turned out to be a great way of starting as they had to introduce themselves.
toucanbuzz
02-14-08, 03:54 PM I love the tavern beginnings, but I've varied from 'em based on campaign plots:

-- The Dark Sun twist as slaves in the massive caravan towers

-- Amensia, in the hold of a ship bound for a foreign land (not prisoners), with a strange tattoo on each arm not there beforehand (your call on why it's there and where headed)

-- At a fair where the host Baron offers a competition to teams (your choice on competition), reward to explore his recently unearthed ruin, possibly replete with ancient secrets from the days of the Netherese. I used the fair idea long before NWN2 came along!
Ace_of_time
02-14-08, 06:00 PM You wake up in a grave yard. You don't know who you are, how you got here, or who any of these other creature/persons are. You look down and notice that you and the others as well are with out cloths. You also notice a weapon laying on the ground beside you. What do you do?

This is my fav starting point. You can go any where from this point. I have atleast 100 stories for this start that are not even undead.:)
Draco Strang
02-14-08, 06:09 PM I've started in a tavern a number of times, and on one memorable occasion in the middle of a tavern brawl that was sheer pandemonium, with everyone trying to get out before the guard got there.

I've been tossed in jail (that was fun) had to break INTO a jail (even more fun) and once we started with blood all over our clothes, bodies at our feet, and the city guard coming round the corner.

I've been enspelled by wizards, dominated by vampires, hatched out of an egg, you freaking name it.

However, the totally best campaign start I ever participated in began like this:

"Total chaos and disorder surround you in the swirl of battle. You feel a wash of heat. Roll reflex saves."

Oh yea....:D
necrom99
02-14-08, 07:50 PM Normally I introduce the capaign setting and then have all characters write a back story either A; comming from a certain area or
B: explaining why they are in said area,

I let them decide whom they know of each other already, if any and then just go with there respective stories. I've had some opening gaming sessions have the PCs be split up for the entire sessions, split in twos or what have you, it creates good dynamic social bonds too...

'cept PC's invariably hit the inn at one point so they often meet up there.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
itsme4eva1 02-13-08, 08:40 PM	What's your favorite place to start. (other than a tavern) And would a prison be a good place to start a campaign?
Num0ch 02-13-08, 09:00 PM	I have actually started a campaign in a prison, and it was fantastic. One of the two PC's woke up in a cell, and someone across from the hall (in another cell) was "Psst"ing at him. The guy said he heard that someone who had killed 13 people was being placed in his(the PC's) cell. About a minute later, his door swung open and a 3 foot tall, scrawny halfling was tossed in... And so it began. It was fun... But yeah a prison can be great.
itsme4eva1 02-13-08, 09:04 PM	My prison is different its sitting in the middle of the ocean so there are no cells but they have the choice of being free by going into an arena to fight out another group of prisoners (5) but there are 4 so another joins the group
Captain_Madrick 02-14-08, 02:52 AM	I have done the prison start before. I have also done what appears to be a prison cell, but turns out to be a holding cell in a deep dungeon. I've started a campaign on a large road, amidst a gathered army of heroes, as well as a wizard's tower, where he had created a spell to summon adventurers.
Fuinrauku 02-14-08, 04:48 AM	I've done a bit of a prison start.. Never really left the ground (but I think it was sheer boredom whilst they were righting a new campaign ^_^)... Just a thought... what happens to the losers... seeing people cower as they fight for their own life is such a thrill for me.. cough but yes back to the point it IS a good place to start a campaign ... my favorite place (if anyone cares by the end of this ;) ) is a ship... it means a backdrop isn't set for my characters... I hate being told I grew up in a place I want to come to the land to... get... cash... Fuinrauku
Shadowshimmer 02-14-08, 07:27 AM	I usually start on a Merchant vessel where the PCs have gathered to answer the call for help to some remote village or some distant city. They realize they are answering the same call to arms and usually form the group there on the ship.
DemiG0d 02-14-08, 09:42 AM	I only recently started a campaign in prison, my players liked it. To bad a TPK came in the second session due to poor judgement of my players :( I'm starting the new one in the same custom setting in the middle of a battlefield, 2 years after the original party died
McPoyo 02-14-08, 11:44 AM	I frequent the "imprisoned" scenario a lot. Not necessarily "you're in prison", sometimes it's a "group X you were traveling with was ambushed in the middle of the night, you were captured after being knocked unconcious and awaken in Y looking cell". Really makes it easy, since people could be taken on the road at night, during the day in an ambush, after getting so drunk in a tavern that someone had little problem "selling" them to slavers, being drugged, etc. Plus, that way the players have a chance to build a little camaraderie and fellowship with the other characters as they have to work together to successfully escape. For the groups I usually run for, this actually works better than the "you all were hired for Z job" scenario, since it takes 6-7 sessions and/or a couple levels for them to actually start acting like a party through trust, rather than looking out for themselves and using the other members to ensure their survival. Most of the time, the whole "you guys already knew each other from Q" doesn't fly to well with my groups, since they tend to play pretty disparate characters in background and approach. Plus, I like watching the frantic looks on the players' faces when they try to break passed the guards weaponless. Everyone gets more into the "OH MY GOD A 20! HOORAH! I TAKE HIS WEAPON NOW THAT HE'S UNCONSCIOUS!" type thing during that first combat. My players tend to be a little more tactically minded and naturally slip into good combat patterns that make it easier to design jail-break encounters that are still incredibly challenging (to them) but have little to no chance of TPK (Although they never realize it at the time). I've lost a character once due to bad dice rolls in a start off like that, and had to pull an interesting DM Fiat move to keep them alive when they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt they'd be dead otherwise. They appreciated the leniency that once. There's something rewarding about the looks of joy on the players' faces when they finally get out with their gear/stolen gear and only a couple HP left between the whole group. Unfortunately, for a lot of my campaigns, they then promptly go on a killing spree. I've had a couple near genocides before stemming from that.
Satile 02-14-08, 12:15 PM	I once had my PCs start without knowing each other, tide up in a serial killer's basement. They obviously had to work together to get out of there and their characters bonded. Good for role playing. That worked really well.
Kihoninu 02-14-08, 01:21 PM	I began a campaign with the usual tavern beginning, though a more recent one involved being shipwrecked and waking up together on the shore with no money and hardly any clothes (bear with me, I know this is starting to sound like a porn story) They had to decide where to head to get shelter and decide how they were going to get some cash to survive, which turned out to be a great way of starting as they had to introduce themselves.
toucanbuzz 02-14-08, 03:54 PM	I love the tavern beginnings, but I've varied from 'em based on campaign plots: -- The Dark Sun twist as slaves in the massive caravan towers -- Amensia, in the hold of a ship bound for a foreign land (not prisoners), with a strange tattoo on each arm not there beforehand (your call on why it's there and where headed) -- At a fair where the host Baron offers a competition to teams (your choice on competition), reward to explore his recently unearthed ruin, possibly replete with ancient secrets from the days of the Netherese. I used the fair idea long before NWN2 came along!
Ace_of_time 02-14-08, 06:00 PM	You wake up in a grave yard. You don't know who you are, how you got here, or who any of these other creature/persons are. You look down and notice that you and the others as well are with out cloths. You also notice a weapon laying on the ground beside you. What do you do? This is my fav starting point. You can go any where from this point. I have atleast 100 stories for this start that are not even undead.:)
Draco Strang 02-14-08, 06:09 PM	I've started in a tavern a number of times, and on one memorable occasion in the middle of a tavern brawl that was sheer pandemonium, with everyone trying to get out before the guard got there. I've been tossed in jail (that was fun) had to break INTO a jail (even more fun) and once we started with blood all over our clothes, bodies at our feet, and the city guard coming round the corner. I've been enspelled by wizards, dominated by vampires, hatched out of an egg, you freaking name it. However, the totally best campaign start I ever participated in began like this: "Total chaos and disorder surround you in the swirl of battle. You feel a wash of heat. Roll reflex saves." Oh yea....:D
necrom99 02-14-08, 07:50 PM	Normally I introduce the capaign setting and then have all characters write a back story either A; comming from a certain area or B: explaining why they are in said area, I let them decide whom they know of each other already, if any and then just go with there respective stories. I've had some opening gaming sessions have the PCs be split up for the entire sessions, split in twos or what have you, it creates good dynamic social bonds too... 'cept PC's invariably hit the inn at one point so they often meet up there.