Bringing the players together [Archive] - Wizards Community

Bringing the players together [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Raster
06-17-04, 08:38 AM To clarify the topic, when you begin a campaign how do you bring the PCs together? Do you start with all the characters seperate and have the story bring them together? Do you make your players come up with an elaborate backstory that tells how they all met? Do you just tell them that all their characters are friends who want to go on adventures together? I'm curious about how other people do it, and what the most common way is.
MingT
06-17-04, 08:49 AM I have a little house rule (though really more of a house meta concept)

Sure characters MAY have a story or stories that bring them together. Provided by players or myself.

But there is this "rule".

Characters do not NEED to co-operate or work together, but if the players WANT them to they can without ANY excuse or explanation, regardless of past, background, class, alignment, race or personality.

It makes life easier and interferes with suspension of disbelief no more than ridiculously convoluted and contrived background stories trying to explain precisely WHY "a CG elf cleric a NE dwarf necromancer and a LG orc paladin walk into a bar".
MinusInnocence
06-17-04, 12:29 PM My last two campaigns:

1) Everyone's sitting in a tavern, and the roof (along with most of the second story) is abruptly torn from the building and hurled into the street by a stream of falling meteors. Everyone rushes outside (because now a lot of the building is on fire) to find much the same going on in the rest of the city. The PCs, not really noticing anything exceptional about one another (and not having met each other beforehand) aside from the fact they seemed less frightened and more intrigued, band together to help where they could.

2) Each of the characters is a diplomat or at least an emissary of sorts from their own people. They arrive in the same town as the one described above (albeit this campaign was set 20 years before that ever took place) to receive an audience from the Empress of Norak, visiting the continent as a gesture of good faith and alliance. The group banded together out of their mutual hatred of the republican, capitalist and expansionist pigs of the Empire.

Each of these is relatively typical - one is a banquet hosted by an important NPC, meant to deliver the first plothook as well as explain away why people of radically different histories and philosophical beliefs would be in the same room together; the other begins with the old cliché of, "You're all sitting in a tavern when..." - but each is subtlely different from its humble inspirations.

It's easy to put your own spin on things when you've dealt with something like starting a new campaign over and over again in the past.
Xante Flatnose
06-17-04, 03:01 PM I remember that my players were evil.And I started the game when they have been caught by local paladins.So they met while they were prisoners.
MinusInnocence
06-17-04, 03:21 PM Xante, that sounds interesting. I mean I've heard of people doing the whole "Level 1 PCs in Jail" thing, but I've never sat down and tried it out. I think a common theme in the methods we've described is that adversity brings people together.

I remember a thread like this where PenderGrass mentioned that he uses smoke in the distance to attract PCs. They're all traveling along the road and they see smoke over the treeline. What could it be? Is it someone in trouble? Is the forest burning? Is there phat lewt? Who knows? Let's go! Then, they all show up around the same time, meet each other, and start from there.

Essentially, you want to maintain the delicate balancing act between forcing the characters to get along, and strongly encouraging them to do so.
Janfar
06-17-04, 04:12 PM Usually I go with the long time old friends approach, unless my players want to have their own idea of how they met.

IN my very first campaign, i did the awful "Mercenaries all hired for the same job" approach. That campaign turned out alright, though.

My most interesting one was when my players were
1. A CN rogue
2. A lawful neutral fighter
3. A paladin
4. True neutral ranger (ex-con)

My players came up with this one.

The LN fighter caught the rogue stealing from him, and through him in jail with the ex-con. The ex-con was just about to get out after having done his time. He was gonna be under the paladin's watch for a few days to make sure he didn't try anything. The ranger helped the rogue escape, and the paladin and LN fighter joined forces looking for the rogue. The rogue ghosted the ranger for a while when the three decided to go out to solve a problem with a slave revolt in some border town. When they were in the slave revolt, the rogue showed his presence. After a brief altercation, the four agreed that it would be more productive to adventure together, because the Paladin wants to convert everyone, the ranger wants the protection, the fighter wants to get pay back, and the rogue wants the protection.

It was an interesting story, a little weird, i mean, i dont see the fighter or paladin really accepting the rogue...but...my players really wanted it, so i figured it wouldnt be that big a deal.
Stuntman
06-17-04, 04:17 PM I find that you do not need air tight reasons for the PC's to come together. Each PC may have a different background, but as long as they are in the same general area and are all interested in a common event, they will come together. After the first adventure together, then the PC's can further develop the reasons for staying together.

For less experienced PC's, I just say that they are all in the militia for whatever reason (money, glory, etc.) and they are assigned this task.
Tharamil
06-17-04, 09:14 PM Depending on the game style the players prefer, this will determine what entry works best. but adversity will always bring a group together. its called stockholm syndrome.

a good method i use is the Pcs start of in a village that has a local militia and every has to serve 3 months. this back story allows the pcs to reasonable know each other.
The town NPCs and the local peasants well, which makes the Pcs feel connected to the village. this is good for story hooks etc.
Also at low levels they really dont want to take on dangerous monsters so they start in the village and slowly work outwards.

The game starts with their last days of militia served, a small get together drink and then they discuss travel. game on.

The best thing about this is new pcs that replace dead ones can know the party from time spent in militia allowing fair connections to current group members.
Autosponge
06-17-04, 10:12 PM It's different every time. There's no set way of doing this, just remember that if you waste time with this, you're not developing the campaign. So my suggestion is take care of as much of this as possible before the campaign starts, in emails and backgrounds to make sure when you start the first session you can delve right into the action.
Twisted Puppy
06-18-04, 09:48 AM There are plenty of ways for the PCs to meet besides the old reliable meeting in a tavern. Maybe they have all been hired as caravan guards - deciding to earn some money while they get somewhere, and during the course of a few encounters with the caravan get to know each other.
One friend of mine's favorite starting points (he runs mostly CP 2020 and Star Wars) is to have all the PCs in jail, naked - or in prison issue neon orange jumpsuits. Fortunately, the rogue/techie just happens to have a lock pick hidden where nobody thought to look (his left nostril).
Thanks, Dave, I learned a lot from you! :D
Roxlimn
06-18-04, 04:11 PM Many ways.

They're family.

They all owe debts to a local ganglord.

They happen to be witnesses to a murder.

They're travelling along a dangerous road and the caravan is attacked and scattered.

They're students of related masters.

They're forced to rescue their masters after an unfortuante incident finished them all the masters off.

They all need a particular quest item and there's only one of it.

One of the PCs hires everyone else as hirelings.

They all have big money invested in a bad debt they need to collect.

They're disparate parts of various previous parties who have all been decimated en route to their goal.

They're all awakened from statue form in a Medusa cave by an Exalted wizard just because he's good.

They're magically geased (cursed) by a mysterious encounter to act together.

They meet each other in the belly of a Leviathan.

A strange new League offers bizarre quests and substantial rewards to people with the same trait - gray eyes.

They're assigned to work together as a special forces unit in wartime.

They're part of the same prestigious organization.

The party is a set of quintuplets bound by fate and destiny (with feats to match!).

They're all travellers in a strange land.
Bandolar Goldcrest
06-19-04, 02:06 AM They're all members of the same sewing/knitting/quilting circle. Shortly before completeing the latest sweater/booties/quilt they discover they are out of thread/yarn. In fact, the whole village is out of thread/yarn and they must journey and adventure to discover the source of the thread/yarn shortage so they may complete their masterwork sweater of keeping cozy on winter nights. :confused:

On second thought the bar idea sounds better than this.
Raster
06-19-04, 02:15 AM Wow, thanks for all the replys, guys (and/or gals)
Actually though, I really was wondering more along the lines of how much of work you let/make the players do, and how you go about getting them to do it.
Tharamil
06-19-04, 11:16 PM it really depends on the style of game they want to play and how much background you put into the campaign.

FR characters come from many regions so they may not know each other. the best way is probably;
1 Get the players to write a 2 paragraph background for Pcs
2 Have them write down 3 short term goals they want to achieve
3 If players want to know each other previously, they have to come up with the details etc

Then you get this detail and blend the party into the campaign by:
1 Adding the histories to the world
2 Find out what the groups are doing that the charaters left etc
3 Any unresolved issues need to be planned.

To start the campaign
1 Look for the common thread between all the Pcs. this way the first adventure ties in the largest part of the group. eg if the Pcs are mostly wilderness classes/races, start with adversity in the wilderness.

2 Look for Pc hot buttons. what will motivate the Pcs to work together. alignments are the worst one to work on. survival of Pcs is the best. is the group being chased by evil organisation, is the town infected, is there a forest fire. Take a trip to your nearest video store and look at the action movies for how they involve the heores.

Hope this helps

IN general the players should come up with their backgrounds, but the DM creates the intro so they can control the area.
Daffydd ap Hywell
06-20-04, 12:55 AM IMC, I have a diety, Worfess, who has the wonderful duty of delivering "the mark of the gods."

He sneaks up on unsuspecting people and hits them with his enchanted minting press, which does no damage, but leaves a mark upon the person's forehead.

Only others with the mark and high-powered magical people/creatures can see it. Even wearing a helm, the mark shines through for those who can see it.

Legends have sprung up about what it means, the most common is "Person Cursed." The actual mark left by the press "PC".

It's well known that people so marked need to stick together for mutual protection, and that they lead "interesting" lives that tend to end messily. However, all the greatest heros and villains of legend were so marked, so they may be destined for great things.
Ferran Reidock
06-20-04, 04:28 AM Here are a few examples, how well they work, and how much work they entail:

Assume they are already together
This is the easiest method. Basically you wash your hands of the matter and leave the how and why of the party to the PCs, if you even care. This is the method that all modules seem to use (i've never read a module that didn't merely assume the PCs were already a party.) For some this is the prefered method; D&D is about playing a character in a group, and thus the group is assumed by default. I don't like it because some players may have conflicting backstorys which the DM is unwilling to resolve, and it often reveals a railroading DM who doesn't care about the players and only wants to tell his own story with no interference.

Tell them to form a group
With this method you have some sort of elder, mentor, master, or other authority figure or figures to whom each PC is beholden order the players to form a group. An example would be if the king decrees that the PCs should embark upon a quest together, or their respective teachers get together and decide to send them all upon an errand. This method is easy as long as you know at least the class-archtype (fighter, rogue, mage, cleric) of each character. Works great for lawful characters, but not so good for chaotics. The problem is it assumes the PCs will obey their masters regardless of their alignment or personality, and there isn't much room for them to say no. If they refuse; well then they don't get in the group. Trying to tell a player, "Your character would obey the king, dammit!" is a sign that you have failed.

Give them no other choice
Not to be confused with the previous method, with this you place the characters into some sort of situation in which they have little choice other than to work together. You could have them be the only survivors of some devastating attack or great calamity, or simply dump them all into a dungeon somehow (a classic). The main issue here is that once the circumstances which forced them together change, the group may well fall apart, if the only thing still keeping them together is the game itself.

Lucky coincidence
A common method, in which the players either all just 'happen' to take the same job and end up working together, or one charcter finds a job, decides he needs help, and then just 'happens' to bump into the other characters. No real work is needed by the players, just some satisfactory reason why they are in the same general vicinity. The problem here is it can feel like railroading and breaks the immersive quality of the game. If the pcs each individually go looking for a job, and the only job they find is the one you want them to do (that gets them together), its not like they really had a choice, did they? Still for many groups it works, satisfying the most basic requirements for why the group is together without having to put a whole lot of effort into it. Good for casual players.

Creative coincidence
My favorite method. Much like the previous method, only you actually take the time to fully incorporate each character and their background into the opening scenario. You have to take each character aside and discuss with them at length their character concept, origins, motivations, and goals. Note I said 'discuss,' not 'dictate.' What makes this method so challenging is working within the framework your players decide, taking their ideas for their characters and incorporating them into the world, rather than ignoring their concept, overriding it, or re-writing it (which all previous methods require to some degree). In the end you carefully weave each plot thread until they all come together in one brilliant display of storytelling. It generally requires a good amount of knowledge not only of the characters but also of the players; how they act and play they game; so you can predict their actions and adapt to them. So this method doesn't work real well with guest players or groups, only for a group you are very familiar with.

While these types of scenarios can easily involve as much blind chance as the 'lucky coincidence' method, in this case you can say its 'fate' or 'destiny.' :D If done poorly it seems like the harshest railroading, and if you don't include every single player in the pre-game setup, those left out will feel, well, left out.

Also, you need to avoid making major changes to the character's backgrounds without their knowledge. If a character goes into the game thinking, "My rogue is part of the Raven guild," and you start the game by telling him, "You got kicked out of the Raven guild and now they are hunting you," he is probably going to be ******, or at the very least want an explanation. In that case you are basically just taking over the character and writing his background for him; which can be fine in certain circumstances but not this one. This doesn't mean you can't mess with the backgrounds a little bit. Give the players what they want, but maybe not quite how they expect. So the rogue is in the Raven guild, but maybe the Ravens aren't quite what the rogue expects at all...

Another problem with this method is it can get very convoluted, and if you are doing it multiple times for many campaigns... well even the best person gets burnt out, and it gets hard after the umpteenth game to figure out a unique and compelling reason why the aasimer paladin and the tiefling rogue are going to hook up. Take my advice: save this one for that 'special' campaign.

And here is a bit of advice for getting the party together, no matter what method you use: The party should always have a reason to be together. If your scenario for the party forming is just a one-shot, meaningless adventure with no bearing on the greater story as a whole, it becomes difficult for the players to stick with your greater story. While most D&D players will continue to stay with the group, of only for the sake of the game, it makes for a much, much better story if they continuously have a reason to be together. Basically, this means that you shouldn't just assume the intitial reason for the party meeting is enough to keep them together indefinitely; you should instead strive to create an ongoing reason that keeps them together, or find some way to periodically renew the party bond, and make it meaningful again.
TieraStarr
06-20-04, 06:11 AM Initially I provide the players with introduction material to the first adventure, and a list of suggested avenues from which they could approach that adventure. Each player then chooses which avenue they would like their character to use, or makes one his own if he desires. Generally if multiple players choose the same avenue then they will already be acquainted with eachother.

Given these links to the adventure, it is generally fairly easy to either connect them to eachother, or cause them to meet in the early parts of the first adventure.
Art_Tillary
06-20-04, 06:34 AM I've had the characters all do their apprenticeships in the same small city. It was big enough to have a variety of classes, but small enough that apprentices from various classes can meet up. Those that think they want to be adventures would seek out other like minded individuals. Maybe they share the same bar to drink in, or some other broader social system. This also allows for new characters to join quickly. The replacement character was part of their wider social circle but hadn't finished their apprenticeship.

AT

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Raster 06-17-04, 08:38 AM	To clarify the topic, when you begin a campaign how do you bring the PCs together? Do you start with all the characters seperate and have the story bring them together? Do you make your players come up with an elaborate backstory that tells how they all met? Do you just tell them that all their characters are friends who want to go on adventures together? I'm curious about how other people do it, and what the most common way is.
MingT 06-17-04, 08:49 AM	I have a little house rule (though really more of a house meta concept) Sure characters MAY have a story or stories that bring them together. Provided by players or myself. But there is this "rule". Characters do not NEED to co-operate or work together, but if the players WANT them to they can without ANY excuse or explanation, regardless of past, background, class, alignment, race or personality. It makes life easier and interferes with suspension of disbelief no more than ridiculously convoluted and contrived background stories trying to explain precisely WHY "a CG elf cleric a NE dwarf necromancer and a LG orc paladin walk into a bar".
MinusInnocence 06-17-04, 12:29 PM	My last two campaigns: 1) Everyone's sitting in a tavern, and the roof (along with most of the second story) is abruptly torn from the building and hurled into the street by a stream of falling meteors. Everyone rushes outside (because now a lot of the building is on fire) to find much the same going on in the rest of the city. The PCs, not really noticing anything exceptional about one another (and not having met each other beforehand) aside from the fact they seemed less frightened and more intrigued, band together to help where they could. 2) Each of the characters is a diplomat or at least an emissary of sorts from their own people. They arrive in the same town as the one described above (albeit this campaign was set 20 years before that ever took place) to receive an audience from the Empress of Norak, visiting the continent as a gesture of good faith and alliance. The group banded together out of their mutual hatred of the republican, capitalist and expansionist pigs of the Empire. Each of these is relatively typical - one is a banquet hosted by an important NPC, meant to deliver the first plothook as well as explain away why people of radically different histories and philosophical beliefs would be in the same room together; the other begins with the old cliché of, "You're all sitting in a tavern when..." - but each is subtlely different from its humble inspirations. It's easy to put your own spin on things when you've dealt with something like starting a new campaign over and over again in the past.
Xante Flatnose 06-17-04, 03:01 PM	I remember that my players were evil.And I started the game when they have been caught by local paladins.So they met while they were prisoners.
MinusInnocence 06-17-04, 03:21 PM	Xante, that sounds interesting. I mean I've heard of people doing the whole "Level 1 PCs in Jail" thing, but I've never sat down and tried it out. I think a common theme in the methods we've described is that adversity brings people together. I remember a thread like this where PenderGrass mentioned that he uses smoke in the distance to attract PCs. They're all traveling along the road and they see smoke over the treeline. What could it be? Is it someone in trouble? Is the forest burning? Is there phat lewt? Who knows? Let's go! Then, they all show up around the same time, meet each other, and start from there. Essentially, you want to maintain the delicate balancing act between forcing the characters to get along, and strongly encouraging them to do so.
Janfar 06-17-04, 04:12 PM	Usually I go with the long time old friends approach, unless my players want to have their own idea of how they met. IN my very first campaign, i did the awful "Mercenaries all hired for the same job" approach. That campaign turned out alright, though. My most interesting one was when my players were 1. A CN rogue 2. A lawful neutral fighter 3. A paladin 4. True neutral ranger (ex-con) My players came up with this one. The LN fighter caught the rogue stealing from him, and through him in jail with the ex-con. The ex-con was just about to get out after having done his time. He was gonna be under the paladin's watch for a few days to make sure he didn't try anything. The ranger helped the rogue escape, and the paladin and LN fighter joined forces looking for the rogue. The rogue ghosted the ranger for a while when the three decided to go out to solve a problem with a slave revolt in some border town. When they were in the slave revolt, the rogue showed his presence. After a brief altercation, the four agreed that it would be more productive to adventure together, because the Paladin wants to convert everyone, the ranger wants the protection, the fighter wants to get pay back, and the rogue wants the protection. It was an interesting story, a little weird, i mean, i dont see the fighter or paladin really accepting the rogue...but...my players really wanted it, so i figured it wouldnt be that big a deal.
Stuntman 06-17-04, 04:17 PM	I find that you do not need air tight reasons for the PC's to come together. Each PC may have a different background, but as long as they are in the same general area and are all interested in a common event, they will come together. After the first adventure together, then the PC's can further develop the reasons for staying together. For less experienced PC's, I just say that they are all in the militia for whatever reason (money, glory, etc.) and they are assigned this task.
Tharamil 06-17-04, 09:14 PM	Depending on the game style the players prefer, this will determine what entry works best. but adversity will always bring a group together. its called stockholm syndrome. a good method i use is the Pcs start of in a village that has a local militia and every has to serve 3 months. this back story allows the pcs to reasonable know each other. The town NPCs and the local peasants well, which makes the Pcs feel connected to the village. this is good for story hooks etc. Also at low levels they really dont want to take on dangerous monsters so they start in the village and slowly work outwards. The game starts with their last days of militia served, a small get together drink and then they discuss travel. game on. The best thing about this is new pcs that replace dead ones can know the party from time spent in militia allowing fair connections to current group members.
Autosponge 06-17-04, 10:12 PM	It's different every time. There's no set way of doing this, just remember that if you waste time with this, you're not developing the campaign. So my suggestion is take care of as much of this as possible before the campaign starts, in emails and backgrounds to make sure when you start the first session you can delve right into the action.
Twisted Puppy 06-18-04, 09:48 AM	There are plenty of ways for the PCs to meet besides the old reliable meeting in a tavern. Maybe they have all been hired as caravan guards - deciding to earn some money while they get somewhere, and during the course of a few encounters with the caravan get to know each other. One friend of mine's favorite starting points (he runs mostly CP 2020 and Star Wars) is to have all the PCs in jail, naked - or in prison issue neon orange jumpsuits. Fortunately, the rogue/techie just happens to have a lock pick hidden where nobody thought to look (his left nostril). Thanks, Dave, I learned a lot from you! :D
Roxlimn 06-18-04, 04:11 PM	Many ways. They're family. They all owe debts to a local ganglord. They happen to be witnesses to a murder. They're travelling along a dangerous road and the caravan is attacked and scattered. They're students of related masters. They're forced to rescue their masters after an unfortuante incident finished them all the masters off. They all need a particular quest item and there's only one of it. One of the PCs hires everyone else as hirelings. They all have big money invested in a bad debt they need to collect. They're disparate parts of various previous parties who have all been decimated en route to their goal. They're all awakened from statue form in a Medusa cave by an Exalted wizard just because he's good. They're magically geased (cursed) by a mysterious encounter to act together. They meet each other in the belly of a Leviathan. A strange new League offers bizarre quests and substantial rewards to people with the same trait - gray eyes. They're assigned to work together as a special forces unit in wartime. They're part of the same prestigious organization. The party is a set of quintuplets bound by fate and destiny (with feats to match!). They're all travellers in a strange land.
Bandolar Goldcrest 06-19-04, 02:06 AM	They're all members of the same sewing/knitting/quilting circle. Shortly before completeing the latest sweater/booties/quilt they discover they are out of thread/yarn. In fact, the whole village is out of thread/yarn and they must journey and adventure to discover the source of the thread/yarn shortage so they may complete their masterwork sweater of keeping cozy on winter nights. :confused: On second thought the bar idea sounds better than this.
Raster 06-19-04, 02:15 AM	Wow, thanks for all the replys, guys (and/or gals) Actually though, I really was wondering more along the lines of how much of work you let/make the players do, and how you go about getting them to do it.
Tharamil 06-19-04, 11:16 PM	it really depends on the style of game they want to play and how much background you put into the campaign. FR characters come from many regions so they may not know each other. the best way is probably; 1 Get the players to write a 2 paragraph background for Pcs 2 Have them write down 3 short term goals they want to achieve 3 If players want to know each other previously, they have to come up with the details etc Then you get this detail and blend the party into the campaign by: 1 Adding the histories to the world 2 Find out what the groups are doing that the charaters left etc 3 Any unresolved issues need to be planned. To start the campaign 1 Look for the common thread between all the Pcs. this way the first adventure ties in the largest part of the group. eg if the Pcs are mostly wilderness classes/races, start with adversity in the wilderness. 2 Look for Pc hot buttons. what will motivate the Pcs to work together. alignments are the worst one to work on. survival of Pcs is the best. is the group being chased by evil organisation, is the town infected, is there a forest fire. Take a trip to your nearest video store and look at the action movies for how they involve the heores. Hope this helps IN general the players should come up with their backgrounds, but the DM creates the intro so they can control the area.
Daffydd ap Hywell 06-20-04, 12:55 AM	IMC, I have a diety, Worfess, who has the wonderful duty of delivering "the mark of the gods." He sneaks up on unsuspecting people and hits them with his enchanted minting press, which does no damage, but leaves a mark upon the person's forehead. Only others with the mark and high-powered magical people/creatures can see it. Even wearing a helm, the mark shines through for those who can see it. Legends have sprung up about what it means, the most common is "Person Cursed." The actual mark left by the press "PC". It's well known that people so marked need to stick together for mutual protection, and that they lead "interesting" lives that tend to end messily. However, all the greatest heros and villains of legend were so marked, so they may be destined for great things.
Ferran Reidock 06-20-04, 04:28 AM	Here are a few examples, how well they work, and how much work they entail: Assume they are already together This is the easiest method. Basically you wash your hands of the matter and leave the how and why of the party to the PCs, if you even care. This is the method that all modules seem to use (i've never read a module that didn't merely assume the PCs were already a party.) For some this is the prefered method; D&D is about playing a character in a group, and thus the group is assumed by default. I don't like it because some players may have conflicting backstorys which the DM is unwilling to resolve, and it often reveals a railroading DM who doesn't care about the players and only wants to tell his own story with no interference. Tell them to form a group With this method you have some sort of elder, mentor, master, or other authority figure or figures to whom each PC is beholden order the players to form a group. An example would be if the king decrees that the PCs should embark upon a quest together, or their respective teachers get together and decide to send them all upon an errand. This method is easy as long as you know at least the class-archtype (fighter, rogue, mage, cleric) of each character. Works great for lawful characters, but not so good for chaotics. The problem is it assumes the PCs will obey their masters regardless of their alignment or personality, and there isn't much room for them to say no. If they refuse; well then they don't get in the group. Trying to tell a player, "Your character would obey the king, dammit!" is a sign that you have failed. Give them no other choice Not to be confused with the previous method, with this you place the characters into some sort of situation in which they have little choice other than to work together. You could have them be the only survivors of some devastating attack or great calamity, or simply dump them all into a dungeon somehow (a classic). The main issue here is that once the circumstances which forced them together change, the group may well fall apart, if the only thing still keeping them together is the game itself. Lucky coincidence A common method, in which the players either all just 'happen' to take the same job and end up working together, or one charcter finds a job, decides he needs help, and then just 'happens' to bump into the other characters. No real work is needed by the players, just some satisfactory reason why they are in the same general vicinity. The problem here is it can feel like railroading and breaks the immersive quality of the game. If the pcs each individually go looking for a job, and the only job they find is the one you want them to do (that gets them together), its not like they really had a choice, did they? Still for many groups it works, satisfying the most basic requirements for why the group is together without having to put a whole lot of effort into it. Good for casual players. Creative coincidence My favorite method. Much like the previous method, only you actually take the time to fully incorporate each character and their background into the opening scenario. You have to take each character aside and discuss with them at length their character concept, origins, motivations, and goals. Note I said 'discuss,' not 'dictate.' What makes this method so challenging is working within the framework your players decide, taking their ideas for their characters and incorporating them into the world, rather than ignoring their concept, overriding it, or re-writing it (which all previous methods require to some degree). In the end you carefully weave each plot thread until they all come together in one brilliant display of storytelling. It generally requires a good amount of knowledge not only of the characters but also of the players; how they act and play they game; so you can predict their actions and adapt to them. So this method doesn't work real well with guest players or groups, only for a group you are very familiar with. While these types of scenarios can easily involve as much blind chance as the 'lucky coincidence' method, in this case you can say its 'fate' or 'destiny.' :D If done poorly it seems like the harshest railroading, and if you don't include every single player in the pre-game setup, those left out will feel, well, left out. Also, you need to avoid making major changes to the character's backgrounds without their knowledge. If a character goes into the game thinking, "My rogue is part of the Raven guild," and you start the game by telling him, "You got kicked out of the Raven guild and now they are hunting you," he is probably going to be ******, or at the very least want an explanation. In that case you are basically just taking over the character and writing his background for him; which can be fine in certain circumstances but not this one. This doesn't mean you can't mess with the backgrounds a little bit. Give the players what they want, but maybe not quite how they expect. So the rogue is in the Raven guild, but maybe the Ravens aren't quite what the rogue expects at all... Another problem with this method is it can get very convoluted, and if you are doing it multiple times for many campaigns... well even the best person gets burnt out, and it gets hard after the umpteenth game to figure out a unique and compelling reason why the aasimer paladin and the tiefling rogue are going to hook up. Take my advice: save this one for that 'special' campaign. And here is a bit of advice for getting the party together, no matter what method you use: The party should always have a reason to be together. If your scenario for the party forming is just a one-shot, meaningless adventure with no bearing on the greater story as a whole, it becomes difficult for the players to stick with your greater story. While most D&D players will continue to stay with the group, of only for the sake of the game, it makes for a much, much better story if they continuously have a reason to be together. Basically, this means that you shouldn't just assume the intitial reason for the party meeting is enough to keep them together indefinitely; you should instead strive to create an ongoing reason that keeps them together, or find some way to periodically renew the party bond, and make it meaningful again.
TieraStarr 06-20-04, 06:11 AM	Initially I provide the players with introduction material to the first adventure, and a list of suggested avenues from which they could approach that adventure. Each player then chooses which avenue they would like their character to use, or makes one his own if he desires. Generally if multiple players choose the same avenue then they will already be acquainted with eachother. Given these links to the adventure, it is generally fairly easy to either connect them to eachother, or cause them to meet in the early parts of the first adventure.
Art_Tillary 06-20-04, 06:34 AM	I've had the characters all do their apprenticeships in the same small city. It was big enough to have a variety of classes, but small enough that apprentices from various classes can meet up. Those that think they want to be adventures would seek out other like minded individuals. Maybe they share the same bar to drink in, or some other broader social system. This also allows for new characters to join quickly. The replacement character was part of their wider social circle but hadn't finished their apprenticeship. AT