"Starting Zone" [Archive] - Wizards Community

"Starting Zone" [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
CroBob
03-13-07, 09:52 AM In many an RPG, there are starting zones for the low level characters to, basically, level up to a meaningful level in. It's pretty much the same in D&D. You simply must have something for the PCs to do at first level, or else they never advance to higher levels. Well, what kind of "starting zone" do you give the PCs so that they don't wander off and die first thing?
Kilsek of Sheverash
03-13-07, 10:17 AM The PCs' home base in a starting 1st level campaign typically offers relative safety, basic supplies and adventuring equipment, a few key helpful NPCs, and minor magical resources. A small community, like a thorp, village, or maybe small town works well.

Just one arcanist and one shrine or small temple cover the low-end magical resources the PCs would find most useful at this level - minor magic item identification, minor magical healing supplies, and informational resources on religions, spellcraft, knowledge: arcana, a few monster types, etc.

A few more helpul NPCs and you're pretty much done. One to cover a modest adventurer-friendly tavern/inn, a blacksmith or similar supplier and crafter of mundane weapons, armor, or other goods, and so forth. Someone in charge of the community's guard or militia, and someone in charge of the community.

And you're pretty much done - don't need to go overboard on the initial home base, as the above is plenty to get started. Remember, it's a safe haven, not typically the main adventure site, so give it only a very modest amount of stage time. Spend most of your time on the "good parts" - adventuring.

And one last thing is that I suggest you read the Tailored vs. Status Quo encounters section of the DMG. Since you expressed concern about the PCs wandering off and dying right away, I think you'll find this section very useful.
CroBob
03-13-07, 10:31 AM I actually don't need help on the matter, I'm simply seeing how other people run low level adventures such that the PCs don't charge away from their home town in search for treasure and fame, just to be totally murdered by the dragon that was going to provide both of those things for them. That dragon may be an opponent at higher levels, or even an ally, but the PCs need to get to those levels first. My question is more; What kind of starting zones do other DMs use?

The hamlet you describe is one of my favorite starting zones, but the adventure the adventurers experience is more important. Small groups of kobalds? Goblin bandits? A zombie or two? What kind of places do your first level PCs go, what kind of adventures do they experience, that are both entertaining and believable? How does this place tie into the rest of the world? What are the PCs doing there?
celtredleg
03-13-07, 10:52 AM I also use the small village, where they all grew up. That avoids some of the dumb stuff I have seen at party start up.

My favorite first scenarios are save the village from minor dangers. A few skelitons in a nearby cave, goblins stealing chickens that sort of thing. Then, to kind of cap the village era, a gang of bandits.

Nothing to dramatic, just enough to steady a new group into thier roles, and pick up a level or two.
Wopple
03-13-07, 11:01 AM Yeah. I typically use the you are a merc/green adventurer and you go off to rescue a girl or some such crap. I throw in twists after, because I usually play with experienced players, and have a new evniornment isn't going to be a rich experience, yet a twist on something they think they understand might be something they enjoy.

For example, and this was perhaps the easiest way to get to a meingfull level, they all went to rescue a boy, leveled to 2 or 3 trying to find him, but when they find him he looks rather evil, and they black out, wake up on a beach which is unfamilliar and it is a different season. They are now level 5 or 6, and I have chosen all their class levels, equ, feats, skill points, etc for that gap. Annoys the hell out of alot of players :). As well it should. But at least I keep it interesting.
Sereno
03-13-07, 11:15 AM I generally don't provide a "safe zone" for my players ... they realize that they're starting off in a "real" world (we're currently using Eberron) and they knew when they started that some of the things they encountered would be above their level.

However, I always make sure that there are at least two or three plots available that *are* at their level in addition to throwing encounters at them that are above and below their level.

Each "adventure," if you will, is designed by my to be achievable by PCs of their level ... but, that doesn't mean that every encounter is scaled to be beaten by the PCs.

Even now that they're all 8th level, they still run into 1st level rogues trying to pick their pockets or 2nd level warriors trying to intimidate them. Likewise, they sometimes run into a CR 12+ monster when they go someplace that they know is *supposed* to be dangerous.
CharlieRock
03-13-07, 11:41 AM The same 'safe zone' I used in Shadowrun or Mechwarrior. A shark tank ! :devil:
Onikani
03-13-07, 11:49 AM i started my campaign in the countries capital city.
Turns out one of the high ranking politicians is a vampire and people are coming up missing all over the place. At level 3 they were fighting Vampire Spawn.

But for the first few levels they wandered around teh city, gathered information undertook some small jobs. The bard told jokes in a nightclub, the barbarian got a lifting job on the docks. The had a fight in an arena, the went bear trapping.
I let them roleplay it all out and do what they wanted to do to try to earn money and XP. Then when they gained a few levels and felt ready to fight the spawn then leave the city, they did.
The_Basilisk
03-13-07, 12:12 PM I either start my players in a small little town with decent supplies, or in a big city. In the small town, the PCs are big shots usually, to save the town from dangers such as encroaching monsters, goblins or orcs or whatever. Eventually they grow out of the town's power level and mediocre equipment and leave for bigger and better things.

The city is another interesting place to start. It seems a little more real, as the PCs must gauge thier opponents more carefully. That city guard could be a lvl 1 Warrior, or he could be 8 or 9, no way to tell unless there's a scuffle. The is crime bosses, way too powerful for the PCs, but they could be handling all thier minins, doing jobs for important figures in town, like ridding the sewers of monsters.

Most of my campaigns start out either of these 2 ways.
Shrinks
03-13-07, 01:09 PM My first time I used the little village setting, but for the current game, I had the heros start after a large battle with the nearby Hobgoblin stronghold. One woke up not remembering who he was, the other was watching the battle, and the other was a surviving soldier. They joined forces to survive the night, after some Hobgoblins came to kill the surviving soldiers. They then journeyed to the fort they fought for, and went from there.
The_Levitator
03-13-07, 01:40 PM I tried a little experiment with one of my groups that went over so well we are going to use it to start every campaign.

My players love the squishiness of starting out at first level, but sometimes it can be challenging to give them adventure that doesn't kill one or more of them outright. So I tried something different. I initially came up with this idea not so much as a "starting zone" but rather a way to begin a campaign a little differently that makes the world feel a little less certain and more tangible.

To begin our last campaign, I had my players roll up their characters with me separately. Part of my metaplot involved the players coming from different lands, and I wanted the first session to feel unfamiliar to them and not have them just exchanging character sheets to see what everyone else was. After we rolled up their 1st level character, I created backstories with the players, also secretly. My idea was, once backstories were created, I used the 1st level of the characters to actually play out key moments in their backstory. I designed the key moments for each character based on their backstory and then we played those key moments out as solo campaigns. I imagined it as sort of a "flashback" sequence at the start of a movie. Once the characters made 2nd level, we began the group sessions. This had a lot of benefits for our group.

1. It seemed to create a deeper attachment to the characters and their personal history. Rather than just have a backstory be a few paragraphs on a notepad, they actually got to "grow up" and live out some of the most important moments that shaped them into the characters they would come to be.

2. It added a lot of mystery and great roleplaying to the first few sessions. In our metaplot, the players all just wake up one day in a glade in a forest. They are actually dragonhunters (they don't know that) and have been chosen and marked (matching birthmarks and birthdays) by the gods to combat "The Awakening". In our current campaign, dragons have been unsees for hundreds of years. Mystra punished them for their destructive ways by sending a shockwave through the wave, putting the dragons into a coma-like state. It was a blast unravelling the beginning of the adventure. I had 4 adventurers waking up in glade that didn't even speak the same language (there's no Common in our world). It was a blast to watch them play charades with each other as they tried to make sense of their situation. The players loved it.

3. It prompted the players to react a little more realistically to each other. Their first few encounters as a group were a little more difficult than normal because they couldn't really communicate with each other and they didn't have everyone else's character sheets memorized. It was very interesting to watch the players and see what information they freely shared, and what they chose to keep close to their vest. They only had to suffer the language barrier for the first 2 encounters. After that they all remembered a language they used to speak to each other in their dreams and started using it to communicate with each other.

4. We play a pretty deep but gritty version of D&D, and this method of starting a campaign really seemed to help give it those feelings. My players hate metagaming, so they really enjoyed playing on the fact that the other players only knew about them what they chose to share. They said it gave them a better sense of individualism within the game. They said it was more like meeting strangers should feel like, where information is gained more slowly over time.

5. By running 1st level as solo campaigns and starting the group campaign at 2nd level, the characters were a little less squishy right at the onset, so I had more options as a DM for the types of encounters with which I could challenge them.

There are probably many other smaller benefits that we'll discover as we progress with the campaign. The group has already requested that we begin every campaign this way now. Running 1st level as solo sessions to create the character's backstory is a bit more work for the DM, but the nice side effect is that the players seemed to put more effort into their backstory, and seem to be putting a little more effort than normal in bringing their characters to life in the game. The extra work was totally worth it for me! :D
Sir_Wolfgar
03-13-07, 02:04 PM I use the forgotten realms setting, and I often don't have a starting zone. The PCs are usually "adopted" by some organization (harpers or the government if good, zhents or red wizards if bad) and they get missions and equipmentfrom them. My games are kind of like grand theft auto in the sense were they are freeform, but you need to stick with the importnat NPCs to progress the plot along.
CCS
03-14-07, 02:25 PM I can't really claim to use safe starting zones. It's been a looong time since I simply gathered them in a town/inn. And I don't often allow the players the chance to level-up to "meaningfull" levels before the real adventures begin. As far as I'm concerned you're fair game at 1st lv....

Having said that;
Most of my games are based more upon the characters & their actions, less on any one over-arching plot of my own design. I'll tend to work out the initial session ahead of time so as to have some logical sense as to why this group is working together in the first place. And I'll provide them with an initial array of plot threads that could develop if they interact with them. But after that I simply write & respond to the players action.....If they choose to forgo all the obvious hooks & instead set off in to the random hills (one group literly just pointed to a hill region on the map & said they were going THERE) in search of a dragon? Well, at least I have an idea of what to write about next.... If they're really foolish & set off under-powered/ill-equipped (and some have)? So be it.

So where are some of the places I've started 1st lev. parties over the years?
.Summoned before the king, equipped, & sent forth on quest x - almost the closest to a safe start. Almost.
.Shipwrecked and floating/swimming to the speck of land barely visible. The very 1st things they encountered were sharks!
.In the middle of an epic scale battle - as participants.
.Imprisoned, shackled to the wall of a mad wizards dungeon.
.Already dead.
.At a joust/festival - this IS the safest start.
.As squires,/aprentices left in a small town by their masters - who went into the legendary dungeon but have failed to return. Ever see a group of 1st lv characters attempt (or at least contemplate) the Tomb of Horror??
.As either the attackers, the victems, or sometimes both in a brutal caravan raid. I've run this one 3 times over 15 years/and several groups.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
CroBob 03-13-07, 09:52 AM	In many an RPG, there are starting zones for the low level characters to, basically, level up to a meaningful level in. It's pretty much the same in D&D. You simply must have something for the PCs to do at first level, or else they never advance to higher levels. Well, what kind of "starting zone" do you give the PCs so that they don't wander off and die first thing?
Kilsek of Sheverash 03-13-07, 10:17 AM	The PCs' home base in a starting 1st level campaign typically offers relative safety, basic supplies and adventuring equipment, a few key helpful NPCs, and minor magical resources. A small community, like a thorp, village, or maybe small town works well. Just one arcanist and one shrine or small temple cover the low-end magical resources the PCs would find most useful at this level - minor magic item identification, minor magical healing supplies, and informational resources on religions, spellcraft, knowledge: arcana, a few monster types, etc. A few more helpul NPCs and you're pretty much done. One to cover a modest adventurer-friendly tavern/inn, a blacksmith or similar supplier and crafter of mundane weapons, armor, or other goods, and so forth. Someone in charge of the community's guard or militia, and someone in charge of the community. And you're pretty much done - don't need to go overboard on the initial home base, as the above is plenty to get started. Remember, it's a safe haven, not typically the main adventure site, so give it only a very modest amount of stage time. Spend most of your time on the "good parts" - adventuring. And one last thing is that I suggest you read the Tailored vs. Status Quo encounters section of the DMG. Since you expressed concern about the PCs wandering off and dying right away, I think you'll find this section very useful.
CroBob 03-13-07, 10:31 AM	I actually don't need help on the matter, I'm simply seeing how other people run low level adventures such that the PCs don't charge away from their home town in search for treasure and fame, just to be totally murdered by the dragon that was going to provide both of those things for them. That dragon may be an opponent at higher levels, or even an ally, but the PCs need to get to those levels first. My question is more; What kind of starting zones do other DMs use? The hamlet you describe is one of my favorite starting zones, but the adventure the adventurers experience is more important. Small groups of kobalds? Goblin bandits? A zombie or two? What kind of places do your first level PCs go, what kind of adventures do they experience, that are both entertaining and believable? How does this place tie into the rest of the world? What are the PCs doing there?
celtredleg 03-13-07, 10:52 AM	I also use the small village, where they all grew up. That avoids some of the dumb stuff I have seen at party start up. My favorite first scenarios are save the village from minor dangers. A few skelitons in a nearby cave, goblins stealing chickens that sort of thing. Then, to kind of cap the village era, a gang of bandits. Nothing to dramatic, just enough to steady a new group into thier roles, and pick up a level or two.
Wopple 03-13-07, 11:01 AM	Yeah. I typically use the you are a merc/green adventurer and you go off to rescue a girl or some such crap. I throw in twists after, because I usually play with experienced players, and have a new evniornment isn't going to be a rich experience, yet a twist on something they think they understand might be something they enjoy. For example, and this was perhaps the easiest way to get to a meingfull level, they all went to rescue a boy, leveled to 2 or 3 trying to find him, but when they find him he looks rather evil, and they black out, wake up on a beach which is unfamilliar and it is a different season. They are now level 5 or 6, and I have chosen all their class levels, equ, feats, skill points, etc for that gap. Annoys the hell out of alot of players :). As well it should. But at least I keep it interesting.
Sereno 03-13-07, 11:15 AM	I generally don't provide a "safe zone" for my players ... they realize that they're starting off in a "real" world (we're currently using Eberron) and they knew when they started that some of the things they encountered would be above their level. However, I always make sure that there are at least two or three plots available that are at their level in addition to throwing encounters at them that are above and below their level. Each "adventure," if you will, is designed by my to be achievable by PCs of their level ... but, that doesn't mean that every encounter is scaled to be beaten by the PCs. Even now that they're all 8th level, they still run into 1st level rogues trying to pick their pockets or 2nd level warriors trying to intimidate them. Likewise, they sometimes run into a CR 12+ monster when they go someplace that they know is supposed to be dangerous.
CharlieRock 03-13-07, 11:41 AM	The same 'safe zone' I used in Shadowrun or Mechwarrior. A shark tank ! :devil:
Onikani 03-13-07, 11:49 AM	i started my campaign in the countries capital city. Turns out one of the high ranking politicians is a vampire and people are coming up missing all over the place. At level 3 they were fighting Vampire Spawn. But for the first few levels they wandered around teh city, gathered information undertook some small jobs. The bard told jokes in a nightclub, the barbarian got a lifting job on the docks. The had a fight in an arena, the went bear trapping. I let them roleplay it all out and do what they wanted to do to try to earn money and XP. Then when they gained a few levels and felt ready to fight the spawn then leave the city, they did.
The_Basilisk 03-13-07, 12:12 PM	I either start my players in a small little town with decent supplies, or in a big city. In the small town, the PCs are big shots usually, to save the town from dangers such as encroaching monsters, goblins or orcs or whatever. Eventually they grow out of the town's power level and mediocre equipment and leave for bigger and better things. The city is another interesting place to start. It seems a little more real, as the PCs must gauge thier opponents more carefully. That city guard could be a lvl 1 Warrior, or he could be 8 or 9, no way to tell unless there's a scuffle. The is crime bosses, way too powerful for the PCs, but they could be handling all thier minins, doing jobs for important figures in town, like ridding the sewers of monsters. Most of my campaigns start out either of these 2 ways.
Shrinks 03-13-07, 01:09 PM	My first time I used the little village setting, but for the current game, I had the heros start after a large battle with the nearby Hobgoblin stronghold. One woke up not remembering who he was, the other was watching the battle, and the other was a surviving soldier. They joined forces to survive the night, after some Hobgoblins came to kill the surviving soldiers. They then journeyed to the fort they fought for, and went from there.
The_Levitator 03-13-07, 01:40 PM	I tried a little experiment with one of my groups that went over so well we are going to use it to start every campaign. My players love the squishiness of starting out at first level, but sometimes it can be challenging to give them adventure that doesn't kill one or more of them outright. So I tried something different. I initially came up with this idea not so much as a "starting zone" but rather a way to begin a campaign a little differently that makes the world feel a little less certain and more tangible. To begin our last campaign, I had my players roll up their characters with me separately. Part of my metaplot involved the players coming from different lands, and I wanted the first session to feel unfamiliar to them and not have them just exchanging character sheets to see what everyone else was. After we rolled up their 1st level character, I created backstories with the players, also secretly. My idea was, once backstories were created, I used the 1st level of the characters to actually play out key moments in their backstory. I designed the key moments for each character based on their backstory and then we played those key moments out as solo campaigns. I imagined it as sort of a "flashback" sequence at the start of a movie. Once the characters made 2nd level, we began the group sessions. This had a lot of benefits for our group. 1. It seemed to create a deeper attachment to the characters and their personal history. Rather than just have a backstory be a few paragraphs on a notepad, they actually got to "grow up" and live out some of the most important moments that shaped them into the characters they would come to be. 2. It added a lot of mystery and great roleplaying to the first few sessions. In our metaplot, the players all just wake up one day in a glade in a forest. They are actually dragonhunters (they don't know that) and have been chosen and marked (matching birthmarks and birthdays) by the gods to combat "The Awakening". In our current campaign, dragons have been unsees for hundreds of years. Mystra punished them for their destructive ways by sending a shockwave through the wave, putting the dragons into a coma-like state. It was a blast unravelling the beginning of the adventure. I had 4 adventurers waking up in glade that didn't even speak the same language (there's no Common in our world). It was a blast to watch them play charades with each other as they tried to make sense of their situation. The players loved it. 3. It prompted the players to react a little more realistically to each other. Their first few encounters as a group were a little more difficult than normal because they couldn't really communicate with each other and they didn't have everyone else's character sheets memorized. It was very interesting to watch the players and see what information they freely shared, and what they chose to keep close to their vest. They only had to suffer the language barrier for the first 2 encounters. After that they all remembered a language they used to speak to each other in their dreams and started using it to communicate with each other. 4. We play a pretty deep but gritty version of D&D, and this method of starting a campaign really seemed to help give it those feelings. My players hate metagaming, so they really enjoyed playing on the fact that the other players only knew about them what they chose to share. They said it gave them a better sense of individualism within the game. They said it was more like meeting strangers should feel like, where information is gained more slowly over time. 5. By running 1st level as solo campaigns and starting the group campaign at 2nd level, the characters were a little less squishy right at the onset, so I had more options as a DM for the types of encounters with which I could challenge them. There are probably many other smaller benefits that we'll discover as we progress with the campaign. The group has already requested that we begin every campaign this way now. Running 1st level as solo sessions to create the character's backstory is a bit more work for the DM, but the nice side effect is that the players seemed to put more effort into their backstory, and seem to be putting a little more effort than normal in bringing their characters to life in the game. The extra work was totally worth it for me! :D
Sir_Wolfgar 03-13-07, 02:04 PM	I use the forgotten realms setting, and I often don't have a starting zone. The PCs are usually "adopted" by some organization (harpers or the government if good, zhents or red wizards if bad) and they get missions and equipmentfrom them. My games are kind of like grand theft auto in the sense were they are freeform, but you need to stick with the importnat NPCs to progress the plot along.
CCS 03-14-07, 02:25 PM	I can't really claim to use safe starting zones. It's been a looong time since I simply gathered them in a town/inn. And I don't often allow the players the chance to level-up to "meaningfull" levels before the real adventures begin. As far as I'm concerned you're fair game at 1st lv.... Having said that; Most of my games are based more upon the characters & their actions, less on any one over-arching plot of my own design. I'll tend to work out the initial session ahead of time so as to have some logical sense as to why this group is working together in the first place. And I'll provide them with an initial array of plot threads that could develop if they interact with them. But after that I simply write & respond to the players action.....If they choose to forgo all the obvious hooks & instead set off in to the random hills (one group literly just pointed to a hill region on the map & said they were going THERE) in search of a dragon? Well, at least I have an idea of what to write about next.... If they're really foolish & set off under-powered/ill-equipped (and some have)? So be it. So where are some of the places I've started 1st lev. parties over the years? .Summoned before the king, equipped, & sent forth on quest x - almost the closest to a safe start. Almost. .Shipwrecked and floating/swimming to the speck of land barely visible. The very 1st things they encountered were sharks! .In the middle of an epic scale battle - as participants. .Imprisoned, shackled to the wall of a mad wizards dungeon. .Already dead. .At a joust/festival - this IS the safest start. .As squires,/aprentices left in a small town by their masters - who went into the legendary dungeon but have failed to return. Ever see a group of 1st lv characters attempt (or at least contemplate) the Tomb of Horror?? .As either the attackers, the victems, or sometimes both in a brutal caravan raid. I've run this one 3 times over 15 years/and several groups.