Not Starting at the Tavern: Idea 1

In every campaign I run, I look for new/unique ways to bring my players together at the start. Now, when I say new and unique, I don’t mean to imply that the means by which I bring them together have never been used before – rather that I have not used them with these players before. I love reading about these from other players as well, so I thought I would share a few of mine.

This first idea is one which I thought I had described here before, but after some searching it seems that is not the case.

We’re All Connected, But How?

In the previous campaign I ran I went around the table explaining the circumstances of how each player received a very strange letter. I spent a few minutes talking to each player, finding out what they have been doing and where (all of them within the same small town). Once they had done this, I described the letter to them and read aloud its very brief contents.

Essentially the letter asked the individual (named specifically in the letter) to meet with the writer at a well known common area in one week at midnight. This was a large Oak tree just outside of town. The letter simply stated that it was urgent the writer “meet with you”. The letters did not mention that a number of people were involved, and were instead each addressed to each individual as if they were the only one the writer wished to meet. The writer also claimed that the importance of this meeting was a matter of life and death.

Once I had gone around the table, each player then described to me how they approached the meeting place and when. Some came early, some snuck they’re way in to see the writer before entering the clearing. There at the Oak tree was a man, speaking with two men who appeared to be twins. The conversation overheard was of the twins asking the man why they were here, and the man simply replaying that he wanted to wait to address the reason until the time “everyone” had arrived.

Eventually all of the players arrived, or came out of hiding as it were. The man, who claimed to be the writer of the letter, also claimed to have been down at the docks one night a month prior and was attacked by two men. In the end he was able to kill one of the men, but the other slipped away. However, on the deceased he found “this…”

The writer then held out what appeared to be a list of names, of which all of the players were on. Also on the list were the names of the twins (NPC’s) already there, a woman who the writer claimed he could not find, and finally himself. When everyone had a chance to look at the list of names, the writer finally asked…

“Why are we on this list?”

At that moment, the writer was struck with an arrow and an ambush was sprung. The twins were killed, but the writer lived long enough to help fend off the ambush, though he did die later. When the dust settled, the players were left to wonder why they were on the list. What was the purpose of the list? Was it simply a hit list, and if so… why were they on it? And where was the woman who was also on the list?

This intro to my previous campaign setup a theme that carried throughout, and one that worked out very well for the style of campaign I was going for.

In the near future I intend on sharing another one of these campaign intro methods. As I said in the beginning, I love reading about what others do, so I thought I would take the opportunity to share one of mine.

I hope you enjoyed it!

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9 comments

  1. Excellent setup! I really enjoy it.

    In my campaign, I introduced the players to the world and informed them that they were members of a religious-military order. However, I let them expand on their backstory however they liked.

    When we sat down for the first encounter, the party members were informed they wake up from being unconscious and are behind bars without their equipment. The jail shudders from some unknown force and the jail door pulls away from its hinges ever so slightly.

    The party learns from the guards that they have been arrested for murder and must fight thier way out of the prison. They encounter another man who they can choose to set free (they did, and he latter became a major NPC through Heroic Tier), and must learn why they are wanted for murder.

    Who set them up? And to what purpose? Can they clear there name?

    It worked out well and set a foundation for NPCs and storylines that continue into Paragon. The party is *still* after the doppelganger leader that framed them for murder.

  2. My campaign starts by the village placing a call for mercenaries to save them, to work as “guns for hire” against an unknown threat.

    Hundreds of mercenaries respond, so the village begins a sort of interview process with the potential recruits, bringing them in small groups before the rulers of the village.

    During the first interview, in which the five players and three others are brought before the lord, they get… well… rudely interrupted.

    1. Cool! This has an element that I use in one of my intros (which I will be sharing later).

      I dig it!

  3. I like two. The first is, all of the players are gladiators in an area and I ask them to tell me how they got there. I can then either take them out of the arena or keep them in there for a while depending on the backstories..

    The second is having them all wake up in a torch lit cave, chained to the wall, without their stuff (although I let each choose to have one small item hidden on them (such as lockpicks, wand, holy symbol, bag of 10 gp, dagger). Cultists take out another NPC prisoner. The PCs then have to get out, scavenging gear from the cultists they kill.

  4. I really like the way FATE’s five phases establish history and relationships between the characters in that game’s character creation by having the players make up their characters’ prior exploits together. You might be able to adapt this to D&D by letting the players take turns describing their pre-adventuring relationship, such as growing up together, serving in the same military unit/magic school/temple, and dealing with a common threat like a war, plague, or political upheaval. The DM would then have to incorporate the players’ contributions into the campaign or (even better, I think) base the whole campaign on them.

  5. Hehe. I don’t know, I’m kind of a nostalgia freak and love setting my games at taverns 😛 But, all this sounds awesome. I’d probably do all of the same thing, plop the meeting in a tavern, instead of at an oak tree, then I can have my cake and eat it too 😀

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