They all live in or come from the same city, so there is something linking their backgrounds. I'm stuck in the non-original 'you all show up at the tavern on the same night' idea. Anyone feel like sharing how they bring the party together the first time?
Thanks!
For example, one game I knew would start with my players all heading towards a mountain fortress to participate in an annual event, called the Silver Hunt. This event is rather prestigious, and appeals to many adventurers (there were evn "rival" adventuring groups lined up in my notes). Now the first adventure in the campiagn takes place in a village not far from the mountains, which comes under attack (indeed, it has been under attack for some time, but this attack will be more important).
So, I told my players, at character creation, about the Silver Hunt. They made sure each of their characters had a motivation and reason to go, but only two of them tied their backstories together (so they arrived in town together). This was okay, because this village had some significance in the Silver Hunt. This village (called Wayfare, btw), was the "last stop" on the way into the mountains, everything after this village was cross-country roughing it. Wayfare enjoyed some celebrity in the Silver Hunt because many adventuring groups stopped there on their way. And many adventurers formed groups in Wayfare's tavern. The tavern is famous for the gathering of individuals into groups to head to the mountains during the Silver Hunt.
So the players filter in to the tavern, and we play the scene. Eventually, the players notice each other, because the only other adventuring group in town at the moment is "complete" (a group of 6 individuals who are clearly already "together"). As they leave the tavern, they are nearly bowled over by a young boy, who is running to the Town Hall as fast as he can. Gnolls are attacking his house and he is running for help (most of the town is at a Town Meeting that night). And the adventure begins...
Also, during the very first game I ever DM'd, I did something similar, but did not have the foresight to consult my players beforehand. My idea was much more generic. In that game, the small frontier town of Leetah (kudos if you get the name reference) waqs under attack by goblins, and most of the able-bodied men and women were serving in the army, as a major war was going on. The mayor offered a reward for stopping the attacks (100gp purse and a magic sword), in addition to the standing bounty on goblin scalps(that idea got out of hand, btw, and morbid, I don't recommend it). The characters all filtered in and, while negotiating with the mayor (in the tavern), another goblin attack occured.
You'll note that I still used the tavern contrivance. In my first game, that was simply a convenience. In the ten years since, I have developed a sort of fondness for it. It is classic, after all. While I have run games that do not start in taverns, most times I prefer to, simply as a nod to the cliche. Even if my entire party has backstories that involve them all being a close knit party who has already adventured together for several months, the action and story usually start in a tavern.
Just because it's used a lot doen't mean it's bad.
After all. Classics are classics for a reason.
Hope I hepled.
Then the first adventure startet when the characters went looking for a mutual friend that seemed to be in trouble and decided to travel together.
More Players trickled in later to a total of six, where I asked the new players to provide a reason why they share the party's goals and wish to join them, then let the others roleplay the whole conversation.
1. The PC´s are all members or retainers of a certain noble family. The campaign begins with an infant child of the noble house being abducted, and the PC´s all going out to rescue him; either because they´re his family, or because its their job. The characters all know each other (or have at least heard of each other) from the outset, and the nature of the plot ensures that they are all motivated to embark on the adventure.
2. A subversion of the ¨we met in a tavern¨ cliche. The PC´s are in a tavern, not necessarily sitting next to each other, when suddenly a young dragon sticks its head through the wall and fires its breath weapon into the room. Everyone in the tavern either flees, or fights (though those who fight are all killed in the first couple rounds of combat). By the end of the fight, the PC´s are the only ones left around, and are those forced to form a party to survive.
1) They already know each other, the proactive adventurers. They then set out seeking adventure themselves. Pretty easy if there all from the same town, but allowing/helping your PC's to come up with there own reasons why there together works fine.
2) They are all in the same situation, the reluctant adventurer. They have adventure pushed upon them. Generally the situation is traveling, and then the caravan/ship/ect, when it get's attacked. "Roll initiative" is a great way to jump straight into a game.
Of course there are hybrid of those. Perhaps 2-3 PC's new each other, and met the others on there way.
Honestly, I prefer simplicity over trying to avoid cliche.
- They all meet looking to follow the same adventure hook. In an inn? In an audience chamber? At the local wizard's tower? So long as they have their reasons for being there, it works.
- They're old friends reuniting for a reason. (Note: I'm using this one next time I need to run a SHORT campaign
)- "Hero school". I actually did use this one, since there was a great number of combat-heavy PCs in the group, they were being trained by the local guard. And washed out, because the players were into comedy on that campaign. No, it didn't last long.
The whole way I start characters these days is simple: Start with a background, then move on to a goal the character wants to reach in 5-10 years, and finally add in a secret which they wouldn't necessarily admit to perfect strangers when they first meet. This gives your friendly GM a *HUGE* amount of hooks to call on, and there's rarely trouble working to get the characters quickly involved together.
Instead it's far more productive and conducive to the table environment if you let the players invent a reason for why their characters had felt it necessary to join forces (while hand waving the nitty-gritty details of it all.) Were they independent contacts who allied for mutual success on shared a job? Were they the only survivors of a deadly ambush or natural disaster? Or were they just travelers who learned to enjoy each others company on a particularly long and arduous stretch of road?
The point being, it's really easy to get a new group RP'ing by just letting them imagine a scenario themselves, and THEN set the stage. Much like a good play, it's easier to start the story with a pretense of prior events having occurred and establish a good opening scene than it is to show all the pieces moving slowly into place.
You don't show the Rebels stealing the plans to the Death Star. You show them escaping with the plans in the Blockade Runner, the Star Destroyer chasing them, and then R2-D2 and C3P0 running through the ship's corridors talking about immediate events. This establishes plot and other narrative elements through the visuals, while alluding to and then setting the framework to a greater context. Imagine how boring it would be if R2-D2 and C3PO had to first introduce themselves and become friends before they escaped from the Tantive IV.
"You don't show the Rebels stealing the plans to the Death Star. You show them escaping with the plans in the Blockade Runner, the Star Destroyer chasing them, and then R2-D2 and C3P0 running through the ship's corridors talking about immediate events."
You also start off with the crew of the Enterprise (whichever one) already in action out on their mission of exploration. Or Malcolm Reynolds and his band already looking for a job to pay the bills. Or the officers of the New York City SVU already having worked together for some time. Batman is already fighting crime in cape and cowl, maybe Robin is with him or maybe not.
On the other hand, you also start off with the Doctor picking up a new Companion every so often and having to do the quick introduction of who he is and what he does. Or you have a bunch of people get wrapped up and embroiled in some plot which is the only thread connecting them and they have to learn to trust each other.
To use a far older example than those thus far: the Fellowship of the Ring was not formed by old college buddies . . . it was formed hastily and out of necessity. It was also a mix of the two styles; Frodo already knew Sam, Merry, and Pippin. And they knew Gandalf in differing degrees. But they had no idea who the other four members are, and those four had every reason to be distrustful of others from old problems we never are told entirely about. It takes many pages for them to really settle in with each other, when crap hits the fan in Moria.
You can choose whichever narrative method you like, but a game around the tabletop is not a story or a screenplay. It changes rapidly and out of control, and a lot of your playtime will be improvisational theatre more than Shakespeare. Embrace that, and make it fun instead. Cliche is nothing to be scared of when it works for you and is fun to move with. My earlier advice was there to help your players help you out, since as the GM you have more than enough weight to pull creating and playing the world around the PCs without needing to do their work for them. They have to come to you with characters, not sheets with numbers on them. Get their input and you will be surprised how quickly a scenario falls into place.
Final relevant example: It is often cited in my hearing how the meeting of the Heroes of the Lance in "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" is the best example of a PC group getting together. Yet when you read the books it's clear they had adventured before and since, so it's not really their first meeting. (And yes. They all met in a tavern.)