Post/Author/DateTime	Post
angry_devil 03-07-04, 04:59 PM	i was wondering how other people have started their campaigns. in my last campaign we started the PCs from the same town and had them returning from helping a farmer clear a group of goblins from his farm to find that the town under attack by a horde of zombies. how have other DMs out there started their games?
Arn 03-07-04, 07:45 PM	I've started several adventures the following ways: ~ The PCs are all in the same bar and overhear an argument at a nearby table, maybe about the local children having been kidnapped? ~The PCs all work for a grand magical counsel that "fixes problems", ie recovers forbidden magical items, aprehends fugitives, etc. ~The PCs al walk into a town and find someonbe slain in an ally, and are subsquently accused of his murder...
Autosponge 03-08-04, 12:23 AM	My last campaign started list this: “Greetings from your former self. I have sacrificed much to give us a second chance at life. Take it. Do not uncover what is best hid. You are more than you seem, and this may become known to you. Even then, do not look for your past. That way leads only to sorrow. Trust only the friends seated around you. There’s no better place I know to start anew than Silverymoon—I think you’ll like it here. If you need to learn more about the area, I recommend the Vault of the Sages’ open book galleries. Your room in this boarding house is paid for through winter and I left us some spending cash, but you’ll need to ply a trade if you want to live well. You have many talents; you may even discover some I did not. In a way, I envy you—so little pain, so much hope. Farwell and good fortune.” Some of the PCs wanted to figure out the mystery, others just wanted to let sleeping dog lay and go about their business. It seemed to work rather well. If you want to know the rest of the story, you'll have to ask nicely :)
Raynard the Black 03-08-04, 12:56 AM	I have started my campaigns differently each time. I have had the PCs all meet up at a bar. They helped to defend an NPC from a bullying noble and get thrown into jail for their actions. They pleaded their case to the local lord that knew of the bullying nobles trasgressions and allowed them to prove themselves worthy of a second chance by completing a small service for the community. I have had the PCs all wake up on a slave wagon being transported to a slave market by hobgoblins. Their equipment, weapons, and armor are missing (on the back of a separate wagon.) They are then allowed to discuss their situation with eachother. The rogue PC always keeps his lockpicks hidden on him and unnoticed by the hobgoblins frees his compatriots from their bonds. They then open the cage door on the wagon and use makeshift weapons to attack the hobgoblin guards. The rogue frees the remaining prisoners as his compatriots hold off the hobgoblin guards and the the group overwhelms the few hobgoblin guards en masse. The group gets their equipment back and they are off on their adventure. I had them all answer the call of their country and become conscripts in a war between kingdoms. The war was just ending and their army was victorious. They got to loot the dead of their enemies and take that as their starting income. They were then released from service and allowed to travel the world.
angry_devil 03-08-04, 01:57 AM	these all sound like some really interesting starts. thanks for the replies.
Amethyst_Rage 03-08-04, 11:16 AM	Originally posted by Autosponge My last campaign started list this: “Greetings from your former self. I have sacrificed much to give us a second chance at life. Take it. Do not uncover what is best hid. You are more than you seem, and this may become known to you. Even then, do not look for your past. That way leads only to sorrow. Trust only the friends seated around you. There’s no better place I know to start anew than Silverymoon—I think you’ll like it here. If you need to learn more about the area, I recommend the Vault of the Sages’ open book galleries. Your room in this boarding house is paid for through winter and I left us some spending cash, but you’ll need to ply a trade if you want to live well. You have many talents; you may even discover some I did not. In a way, I envy you—so little pain, so much hope. Farwell and good fortune.” Some of the PCs wanted to figure out the mystery, others just wanted to let sleeping dog lay and go about their business. It seemed to work rather well. If you want to know the rest of the story, you'll have to ask nicely :) Very different but very ....well done. It's not something I could use...yet, but the whole idea is the basis of a good campaign. Again, well done!
Mercurius 03-08-04, 11:24 AM	There's always the classic "You all show up for an interview with the (insert rich NPC here) who's looking for adventurers to do a little task for him". I did that once. My last campaign, I started it at fifth level, and just said everyone had been travelling together for at least a couple of levels, and were travelling together when they wandered into a town under attack by a toxic green mist coming from some nearby woods. So, yeah, my campaigns have typically started on a lame foot. But they get better.