I might be running an IRL tabletop game soonish, and was pondering how to start off the campaign. I have a few ideas already for possible "openings" but I thought it was interesting enough topic to make a post about it. So, what are some inventive campaign opening ideas? Have you played in/GMed for any campaigns with unusual openings?
My IRC games here have started in a rather cliched manner, in the "Elder Scrolls" mode - in CE the players were criminals condemned to the fighting pits, whereas in Fimbulvinter they were thralls/captives of a band of raging cannibal marauders. Better than "so you're in a tavern" but not by that great a margin. With Sixguns I began in media res but because that had pre-made characters, the specifics of how everyone got together weren't important.
The other games I've played here have all had excellent openings. Elemental Elf's Mass Effect game had a memorable opening in a secret meeting location which encouraged a lot of roleplaying (Light Dragon and I had a lot of fun with that). LD's own Gloria game likewise had an amusing opening which really cemented the feel of the setting. Both of these fell under the "meet the employer/quest-giver" variety of opening.
I think my favorite openings so far have been the Carbon Skies solo one-off TMG ran with me, where he opened in the middle of an epic battle in a gigantic fortress and I immediately discovered the commander-in-chief's dead body, and Seraphine's Cad Goleor opening, which had the players as children in a Celtic festival complete with sports and games. An excellent segue into the first quest, too.
Post your non-cliched openings, either hypothetical or actual, here. Alternatively, are there any ways to re-invent the classics ("You're in the common room of the local inn...")? Do you prefer games where the characters already know each other, or where they begin as strangers?
EDIT: My old Goblin campaign had a good opening, actually, where the player started out having just fled the ruins of his underground village, after the baddies (adventurers) destroyed it.
So, you're in this place, right, and you see each other. Describe what you look like and yeah... you can say shit to each other now if you want. In character, I mean. Suddenly, monsters. Fight.
I think a good tactic is one that the guy who ran the excellent World of Darkness campaign I played in years ago used, and told me he liked to use for all his campaigns. Basically, in the first session the PCs all unleash, or are somehow unwitting involved in the unleashing of, something Bad. The rest of the campaign then revolves about discovering what exactly the Bad thing is, why it's so Bad, and how to stop it. Instant action, instant reason to adventure, instant reason to adventure TOGETHER, and the exposition can come later.
Good idea! I think it could even be "minimized" into a smaller introductory adventure if desired.
Quote from: Kindling
So, you're in this place, right, and you see each other. Describe what you look like and yeah... you can say shit to each other now if you want. In character, I mean. Suddenly, monsters. Fight.
I think a good tactic is one that the guy who ran the excellent World of Darkness campaign I played in years ago used, and told me he liked to use for all his campaigns. Basically, in the first session the PCs all unleash, or are somehow unwitting involved in the unleashing of, something Bad. The rest of the campaign then revolves about discovering what exactly the Bad thing is, why it's so Bad, and how to stop it. Instant action, instant reason to adventure, instant reason to adventure TOGETHER, and the exposition can come later.
It's a tactics that's worked wonderfully for countless anime for sure. And goods ones, at that.
An openning a friend DMed for an assassin I was once playing went like this: You are in the local tavern waiting for a shady fellow who needs someone whacked. The shady dude approaches you and is stereotypically old and cryptic when the tavern door slams open and a MOB OF ZOMBIES POURS IN! That crap caught me by surprise and resulted in one of the most enjoyable Zombocalypse Now games I've been in.
Personally, I prefer to start off with the PCs knowing and getting along with each other because I've had issues in the past with PCs refusing to party up. En media res opennings seem to often grab players hard and right away, I find. On another note and completely to the contrary of what I just said, another rather interesting openning had was for an amnesia game where none of the PCs knew anything about themselves (they lost their memories during a Black Mesa-type malfunction in a secret test facility), but that was almsot a sort of en media res for that sort of game. I guess it straddles the line.
I can honestly say that one of the nice side effects of the Guildschool system is that in character creation, there is a lot of background created, as well as what could be called 'faction affiliation'.
This makes it very easy to lterally map out who knows who and how the group might be put together. I prefer to do a lot ofd this with the players, cooperatively...but then add in fun twists. The factions are really intertwined in GS, so this is much easier than it sounds. The only issue is when I end up with a few guilds that do not getalong or a character from one of the tiny, cultish guilds, like the Collegium Tortoris.
Kindling's example seems to be the one I'd be going for.
To be honest, I think anything will be cliche anyways. There's only so much ways in which people can meet, and can be brought together to work on a same goal. If it was a solo campaign, then sure the spectrum of possible introductions to the main goal would be vast indeed, but it's not, so just forget about that and do what's easiest and get right to the fun part so as to forget the boredom of introducing everyone to each other, and the main task at hand.
In Horse's Haveneast game, we all met in a tavern because we had been summoned there, we were expected. I don't think his "introduction" is a good example of a quick one, but done differently it could have been. Personally I don't mind that much because now we're done with all the introductory stuff and the longevity of it helped cement our group's unity. I doubt people will go their own way as it is now, and that ensures a long and prosperous campaign for Horse, which can only be a good thing.
So there are two different examples of how to go about it, each with their advantages and their disadvantages. In the end I think both examples seems to have done fine with the players, and no argument or drama happened, which is a gamebreaker, to be sure. Then again that also varies with the age of the players, and their actual real character. Selfish, impatient and heavily distracted (or uninvolved) people will almost always ruin the fun for others.
How do PCs meet each other?
The classic answers are:
- They meet in a Tavern.
- They are all summoned by a rich/powerful/influential person who wants them to go on a quest.
- The village is attacked and the heroes team up to stop the attack.
- The Heroes all know each other already.
- They meet at a festival in a town.
- Some or all are prisoners.
- Something bad happens and the PCs are the only ones near by to stop the evil.
In my current IRL game, the PCs met at a Carnival the Steward of the Kingdom was throwing in his personal residence. Two of the PCs worked for the government (one was a Knight and the other a Court Wizard), while the third was the Bear Wrestler of a circus. The Steward was given terrible news that a dreaded Necromancer had been found in a Dwarven Tomb some distance from the capital. He immediately ordered the Knight to go there, then asked for any others brave enough to join him. The Wizard and the Bear Wrestler immediately volunteered and the adventure started.
I ran a Dark Sun campaign where the PCs were hired as guards for a caravan. However even before the Campaign started, the Caravan was attacked by murderous Elves and everyone was slaughtered save for a handful of people, who were all going to be sold off as slaves. The PCs began the campaign in a cage-cart and had to work together to escape.
I am running an Eberron game that focuses on a new continent-wide war. The PCs were summoned by Esravash d'Lyrandar, leader of House Lyrandar, for various reasons. The Airship that was sent to fetch them was also ferrying ambassadors from several warring nations. The adventure began with the PCs rubbing shoulders with some of the most influential people in the world. The ship was attacked and the Ambassadors were kidnapped. The Bad Guys then began killing the Airship's crew, the PCs immediately jumped into action and defeated the bad guys. When the PCs finally met Esravash d'Lyrandar, they were honored with medals and given a quest to help end the war.
Actual campaign opening, written by the DM who employs me for the holiday program we run. (This is a stripped down version that leaves out the many allusions to revelations about larger events and secrets in the milieu that were gained over the previous 5 year long campaign).
Players are members of a tribal culture currently refugees from the invasion of their homeland by a horse-borne horde of nomads. Guerilla action by others to establish a safehouse on the edges of their homeland from which to retake it has been ongoing and mostly successful, though the hidden base is now abandoned due to the influence of the dark elfish queen who has made an 'alliance' with these freedom-fighters. When the city they have taken refuge in falls under attack by a massive horde of undead super-soldiers, a delegation who have been pushing for permission to leave and return to join this effort for the freedom of their homeland are given approval.
Drawn largely from this group of refugees and including some of the cities natives, a small force (the Players) is snuck out before the siege fully settles in so that they can return to their homeland and wake the former freedom-fighting forces from the malaise in which they are locked within the sidhe barrow of this powerful elfish queen.
I am not sure how much it matters. It seems like unless the means of bringing the characters together is in complete and utter violation of the character's nature (in which case the GM and the player should have communicated better) or the player is just being difficult (in which case, there is no hope) players will be pretty flexible in making sure the group comes together.
Generally speaking, a lot of the decisions involved in "should I group up with these guys or not" end up with possibilities more or less equally desirable to the character, but the player will opt for the one that is best for the game.
>>The village is attacked and the heroes team up to stop the attack.
Sparkletwist's Asura game did that.
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Thanks Steerpike.
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It's better for the characters to already know each other.
Recent games:
1. Cthulhu- everyone is related. We are all cousins or brothers/sisters; children of some people involved in witchcraft- stuck on an island. Creepy things happen. (I was not the GM)
2. (a) Shadowrun, (b) Cthulhu- Members of an elite strike force team in a war. (I was not the GM)
3. Cthulhu- Archaeologists on a dig in Yucatan in 1954... a reporter and photographer, etc. (GM)
4. Cthulhu- Speakeasy in Chicago, each person has a reason to be in the bar and a goal associated with it- they end up working together and combining forces in the face of evil forces (GM)
5.Cthulhu- Treasure hunting in 1912 in China for Shi Huangdi's tomb. Everyone arrives at the base camp of a British Spy/Ambassador who is having marital problems(GM)
6. Cthuluhu- French revolution. Nobles fleeing the Rebellion. Work together (GM)
Stopping in briefly to comment, and at least indicate that I am still quite alive despite a few... interesting months.
Game beginnings: While they are too numerous to simply list out, I recall that all of the best had something in common. They started with the PCs already having a history together in some fashion. In one particularly memorable opening, a recent earthquake caused a mine subsidence that destroyed the local fort and revealed a previously undiscovered gold deposit under the ruins. The PCs were all well-established in the local village with various roles, and opened with a scene tailored to expressly relate the immediate events to each PCs livelihood, drawing them together, even if their normal walks of life are completely removed. With 'monsters' maiming people around the mines, and a new, very cavalier Knight Sergeant leading in a score of reinforcements and surveyors that were busy commandeering the local tavern, which was owned by 3 of the 5 PCs.
I've also started a game with half of Absalom destroyed, a mercenary hiring for a (not-so) simple long-range patrol, and the murder of a king with no suspect and being on the brink of civil war. In the second instance, we were being out-sourced to by high-level adventurers, who didn't want to waste time checking every lose end from their previous adventure.
I've started a game as an Ananasi who was required to not just be nice to the local Kindred, but to actually pretend to be one for a short time (to remarkably amusing results for a horror-themed game). I've played a Corax who found a group of Mage's, and decided that tailing them was the best idea ever. Another Corax thought he was a super-hero, and worked with the party for the good of all. I played a cop-turned werewolf in a modern setting where magic transformed the world, and a pair of black dragons made their home in Central Park. I've played an illegally-designed infiltration android that was seeking information on a woman found in cryostasis-- whose discovery was reputed to lead to enlightenment; we got Eldritch Horror instead.
Forcing the party to work together can achieve the opposite result if players are good at RP and have strong-minded characters-- I think it is most effective to find ways to make the characters WANT to help each other for more than immediate survival. I have seen this both as a player and as a DM.
There was also a Toon game. It was a Toon version of Running Man, except we were all failed 80's era cartoons. 'Nuff said.
I played a Dragon-Blood at a fru-fru ball, wherein I had a 'curse' that involved being able to enthrall people at will-- other PCs included the wealthy dilettante I was trying to run off with (not related to the curse), an Eclipse Solar who was in town to cause some hell, two Dragon-born who were trying to hunt me down and kill me for the power I had. And the last was a sister of one of the aforementioned would-be-murderers who was following me like a Juliet (which DID involve the curse).
There was a Cthulhu game where we, as medical practitioners, reunited at our old study-break bar at the bequest of our common friend-- who went missing after sending us very worrisome letters. Somehow, we all survived, much to the shock and amazement of the DM: the module was designed for a TPK.
I played a Star Wars game as a Rebellion-sympathetic former senator wanted by the Empire. The other PCs included my bodyguard, and one of my most trusted Rebellion contacts.
I played a drunken, Ivan Drago-esque hitman, who bonded with half the party after a bar-fight attracted the attention of some overly violent gangers. I bonded with the barbarian when were breaking people's bones with our faces.
There's also the story of the Captains Three, but that's just... Dark Suns on crack. So, three young nobles (including two Hawkwoods) steal a freight cargo hauler called the La Crepe Vagabond, which is filled to bursting with pastries. They gallivant around among the seedier bars, pretending to be space pirates, only to learn of a gathering of pirates being called by a legendary captain. Entirely unannounced, and with NO invitation whatsoever, they show up. Our tribute was our monthly allowance and fine baked goods. I still can't believe we didn't die horribly.
... Really, the best ones are a matter of style. Even the most over-used cliche can work well if you sell the point, and it fits well with the tone of the game. However, almost universally, I think openings are best when the PCs have some connection to each other. They don't need to be friends, and they don't need to know everyone, but having at least one associate of known quality really helps people get into what is going on. I would encourage joint backgrounds among your players.
Great replies everyone. Nice to see you're alive Coyote :P! I'm now going to encourage more joint backgrounds when people are building characters.
EDIT: This post upgraded me to Hel status. Pretty sure that's the highest attainable rank. I sure do post here a lot...
One of the coolest sounding openings I read somewhere and never used, but I might use it in some form someday. It has never been far from my mind. An evil cabal hopes to resurrect the long-dead team of warriors who will serve as their fighting arm, but the crypt the warriors were laid to rest in was destroyed, moved, and otherwise left in a confusing state. The remains they find and use for the resurrection ritual turn out to be those of the PCs...
Sparkletwist speaks wisdom. If your PCs don't choose to work together, then the players are being dicks. It is not difficult to come up with a reason for your character to hang out with the rest of the party, even if they don't have a lot in common. It's slightly difficult to come up with such a reason if they're from "enemy" factions, but still far from impossible. In the very worst case scenario, you apologise and make a new character who will be able to work with the party.
And DeeL, I may have to steal that idea, it's super cool :)
Having dealt with games that work around introducing the PCs right off the bat and having them already familiar with each other, I can easily say the latter is much easier. However, there can be a lot of fun had in the characters all coming together in the start of the game. I believe that requires a level of trust within the PCs that they're all willing to, you know, pick up on the hooks the GM gives them. It's a lot more work for the GM to set up a proper introduction and a scene where you can get a number of players all working together at once... or at least, giving them a reason why they must do so. That treads a little too close to railroading, I think, so you need to be careful here.
However, some of the most memorable introductions have come from alterations on the classic "everyone meets in a tavern" spiel. In one case, we had all started in a tavern when another character, a rogue, bursts in from the ceiling and lands in the table with the rest of the PCs. Immediately thereafter, a group of guards storms into the front doors and demands the location of a certain rogue. The rogue then goes on to say "So, I know this looks bad, but..." and the campaign went off from there. Lots of good fun there.
FATE has also made me aware of the enjoyment of having a bunch of characters that begin the game already knowing each other, or, even more fun, each having a connection to the other in some way, shape, or form. As in, everyone knows at least one other person but generally not everyone - that gives the best opportunities to still make memorable introductions without needing to hamstring the story by providing them with a fast and dirty plot line that unceremoniously binds the PCs together.
Of course in either case you'd still need a reason as to why they'd all be working together, but at that point it's a lot easier to introduce a storyline that they can link themselves to.
I totally agree with Kindling/sparkle that players can be flexible and come together easily; in that sense, the opening doesn't "matter." I'm just thinking more aesthetically, like how to grab players and get them into what's going on, like a good "first page" of a novel.
My group hasn't decided for sure what setting we're playing in, but I'm going to be pushing for Planescape since I've wanted to run a game in the Planes (using the 2E background material) for a long time.
I'm thinking of starting them off in Pandemonium, the CN/CE realm of madness, where people often get banished. The PCs will all have been teleported there for one reason or another: a vengeful wizard, a spell gone wrong, a magical trap, etc. They might or might not know each other. After a short series of encounters they'll find a portal to Sigil, probably used by the Bleak Cabal, the setting's wonderfully gloomy existentialist/nihilist faction.
Thoughts? I do have some alternate ideas, perhaps involving one of the Lady's Mazes, but I'm not sure I want to *start* in Sigil, since some players will be new to the setting and it will be fun to have them discover the city "in character."
No interest in playing in one of your own settings?
I have some alternative settings we might play in, but Planescape is actually way up there on my list of settings I'd like to GM (back when I proposed running an IRC campaign for the first time, it was one of my possible choices, along with CE and I think Eldritch Earth).
I thought of doing another CE game, but I'm not sure the players would go for its unrelenting grotesquery. This isn't a regular group of mine - it's actually a bunch of students in my fiance's program who want to play D&D and need a DM. My fiance obviously knows I'm a pretty experienced DM (though, funnily enough, she's never played a session of a tabletop rpg in her life) and so asked if I'd be interested. The others are D&D veterans, I think.
Quote from: Steerpike
I have some alternative settings we might play in, but Planescape is actually way up there on my list of settings I'd like to GM (back when I proposed running an IRC campaign for the first time, it was one of my possible choices, along with CE and I think Eldritch Earth).
I thought of doing another CE game, but I'm not sure the players would go for its unrelenting grotesquery. This isn't a regular group of mine - it's actually a bunch of students in my fiance's program who want to play D&D and need a DM. My fiance obviously knows I'm a pretty experienced DM (though, funnily enough, she's never played a session of a tabletop rpg in her life) and so asked if I'd be interested. The others are D&D veterans, I think.
See, this is when I think you HAVE to run CE. But that's how I think...
Quote from: SteerpikeI think my favorite openings so far have been the Carbon Skies solo one-off TMG ran with me, where he opened in the middle of an epic battle in a gigantic fortress and I immediately discovered the commander-in-chief's dead body, and Seraphine's Cad Goleor opening, which had the players as children in a Celtic festival complete with sports and games. An excellent segue into the first quest, too.
Well now, I am flattered that mine made it into your favorites. It's too bad that fell apart. Speaking of Cad Goleor, though, I am working on a fic set in you guys' home town. Starts there, anyway.
"You start in a Tavern" openings have a nostalgic appeal to me, since the first few games I played in started that way. It takes work to avoid the feeling of cliche, though.
I've done the "start in a tavern" thing, the "summoned by your employer" thing (though in this case 3 of 4 PCs were members of the same Church organization, one a Cleric, one a Pally, One a Monk. The rogue was someone the Pally dragged along to teach the value of honest work.)
II have also started games in the middle of a War. The heroes were rather like a "special forces" unit. They all knew each other, and had fought together in the past.