Where do you begin your campaigns?

[Coidzor]

So I'm wanting to start a campaign since there's no one else my friends know who has the experience/inclination/resources of a DM (our last DM managed to cause a schism through IRL tl;dr sexual drama).

Right now I know I'm too inexperienced to really do justice to my ideas so I'm going to start off with a couple of modules, but I have been working off and on on a... setting/world/region based off of 3.5 (probably going to add in more homebrew elements later, but right now I'm just going for a place of my own).

My main question right now is, how/where do you start? I managed to work out the possibility that (working with the character's backstory, which will probably be pretty rough) to write up a few different scenarios of the overland routes to the crossroads where they and a number of the other armed drifters in the area are being hired for the "usual reasons," and have them think over that over the pizza/stat rolling at the beginning of the session (or possibly given to them before the first session) and then basically allow them to start reacting either during the "town-crier-esque" recruitment drive or after being hired.

I've also considered getting the characters from the players and then starting them out by setting a combat scene. I kinda prefer the idea that they're hired by someone who has enough of a hierarchy that the party is obliged to become organized in some fashion and the Party contract is drawn up after their term of service expires, most likely informally/verbally unless they want to take a business angle on it.

So, what do you like to do? Anything particularly monkey-like to consider a threat to my (probably) evil plans, other than sheer hyperactivity coupled with homicidal tendencies and that my baby of an area would probably turn out to be boring and they'd either destroy it or leave it.

[Ganurath]

The party members have all been arrested for various misdeeds. This usually works better with an evil-aligned party, which is what I have to work with, but can work for good guys to if the kingdom is nongood:

Barbarian: Drunken disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, or violating some law that reinforces a local cultural taboo that would be alien to a savage.

Bard: Vagrancy, disturbing the peace, loitering...

Cleric: The kingdom is a theocracy not of the cleric's faith, and the cleric offering an audible prayer to his/her god caused some trouble.

Druid: Mix and match reasons for arresting barbarians and clerics, really.

Fighter: Any sort of crime that would involve violence or drinking. If the kingdom is especially lawful, (s)he may have failed to register their weaponry.

Monk: Vagrancy, loitering, theocracy loophole...

Paladin: Theocracy loophole is a final resort, but if it's a nongood nation that means there are evil people, and a Paladin unfamiliar with local law may get in trouble for vigilantism, at least.

Ranger: Vagrancy, violent crimes, unregistered weapon...

Rogue: ...Really, you can just let the player list crimes their character would probably commit. It's a rogue!

Sorc/Wiz: Unregistered use of arcane magic, or leash laws for familiars.

[BRC]

My campaign started with the PC's arriving in the waiting room outside a Mind Flayer's office... It's a long story.

[Voshkod]

I've also considered getting the characters from the players and then starting them out by setting a combat scene. I kinda prefer the idea that they're hired by someone who has enough of a hierarchy that the party is obliged to become organized in some fashion and the Party contract is drawn up after their term of service expires, most likely informally/verbally unless they want to take a business angle on it.

Starting in medias res can be a lot of fun, and gives you flexibility to tell the story in two directions - temporally forward and backward, i.e., flashback and present day. But, by some necessity, any flashback will be railroaded to the starting moment of the campaign, so you'll need players willing to accept that for the sake of roleplaying and storytelling.

[Erk]

Prisons are fun for "bad" characters, or one-off games where playrs don't mind you filling in their recent history.

In my latest game, each player had a mission of some kind that lead to them meeting at some place. One player was guided by visions from his spirit-guide telling him he had to protect a redheaded wizard in the south; the redheaded wizard was traveling to find an extinct race that can help her understand her magic powers, and met up with the protector because he'd been guided to where she'd be. The martial fighters met them by luck as they were running from an angry military they'd abandoned, got hired as caravan guards, and were attacked by bandits near where the wizard and ranger were: the other two heard the fight and came by to help, and a bond was formed.

So I wrote them all together. Remember that it's not a "huge coincidence" with all of this: there simply wouldn't be a story if the PCs didn't meet up, so it's essentially narratively destined rather than coincidental.

[ghost_warlock]

My most recent campaign started with the party of 3rd-level characters being stalked through some woods by an athach.

It was an aberration/horror campaign set in Eberron. After barely surviving the eventual attack of the creature, they hobbled their way to Fairhaven and signed up part of a special unit of the city guard, in exchange for succor (and antivenom). Their unit may as well have been named the Canaries.

[valadil]

I usually ask my players to include a backstory that incorporates not only family history but also the events leading up to game start. Some take the easy way out and say they're looking for new adventure but others have come up with some pretty interesting stuff.

If I have time I like to give each player a personal introduction to the game. Gives them a chance to get in character before the other players show up and it gives me a chance to hand off any personalized plots. This is easier if they've give me a series of events prior to game start, but can still be done if all you have is the basics.

The only time I didn't get a chance to run individual preludes was for my thieves guild game. I had a guild recruiter talk to each PC (I think I had them all give me an explanation for how they met/found/were found by the recruiter) and tell them to meet him in a certain abandoned warehouse at midnight. The players showed up and eyed each other warily. Recruiter no-showed after thirty minutes of awkward silence. I call this beginning "The Andy Kaufman Maneuver." It wasn't enjoyable for the players at the time, but all the other GMs I've told about it think it was a wonderfully horrible thing to do to players.

[Talya]

My current campaign started off on a battlefield, the party was part of a thousands-strong mercenary company in the employ of a Thayan wizard, marching to war against the nation of Aglarond (and about to be routed.)

[Yakk]

You could dictate that the party starts with a seed.

Ie, start with

"The central NPC in your first adventure will the Duke Earlwood. He's the Duke of a small inland valley, technically part of the Western Empire, but isolated from it -- the passes don't open up every year reliably, and only for a few months. (Describe the valley here).

Create a backstory that relates your character to the Duke or his Family, in such a way that you owe the Duke a debt or favor."

Viola! A relatively open adventure hook. Players get to write fiction that makes them owe the Duke a debt, which you call in for the first adventure. Things can then develop from there.

[kbk]

There are a few old standbys...

1) The Tavern. I once literally had them start in a tavern called "the beginning".
Basically they are all drinking and an event happens that throws them together. Like a robbery, fire, monster attack or something. Maybe they all see an advertisement for an adventuring contract.

2) Hometown. All the PCs are from the same town. Something happens to that town, or they're contracted to go on an adventure to start the town.

3) The generic adventuring advert. They are all interested in coming to a town to help out because the town is in need of adventurers. They meet in the town hall or whatever to discuss what the town or city needs.

[sparky22]

I'm using an idea I saw on the Wizards/Gleemax board recently.

The players are summoned to the reading of a will of someone who they've all known individually at some point in their lives. They are left something which will bring them together and give them a goal.

[Tsotha-lanti]

I start the campaign where the campaign starts.

At the village where the party has just arrived, looking for an inn.

At the prison where they are all incarcerated.

At the employer's office.

At the barracks.

At the battlefield.

At the town meeting.

At the feast.

The options are endless.

[Triaxx]

Hmmm... Teleported to/from an Abyssal Plane is a good one.

I've started at least one campaign with most of the party being literally kicked off a dragon's back.

Teleported into a wizard's tower is effective, since he's picked the entire party, not strictly at random, but because they had the potential. No mere coincidence.

A tavern is the classic starting place. Nothing really wrong with it.

I'm not a fan of prison cells, partially because my Sorcerors usually have to wait for the Barbarian to make his Strength check to break the bars. (Seriously, who builds a Jail Cell without a knock-proof lock.)

[Keld Denar]

I started my last campaign In Medias Res as well. Since the primary location prior to starting a massive Underdark excursion is Remoteville, in the kingdom of Somewhere, hundreds of miles from a city that has more than 500 people, I had it prearanged with all of the PCs were carrying a package filled with magical research Macguffins for the local wizard dude in the city. Ambush on the road ensues, and the lives of the PCs were never the same with the utterance of the words "roll initiative!"

[Hoplite]

My campaigns usually start with all the characters walking on the market place. Some of the characters might already know each other, some not. And it all begins when some NPC comes crying to one of the player characters and begs for help or something like that.

[Hal]

I recently joined a game in progress, but my DM integrated me quite well. The players were storming a wizard's tower to rescue their kidnapped comrade. For some reason (unknown to the rest of the party), I was also chained up in his dungeon.

The key idea is to give the characters a common goal. If they don't have a reason to stay together, it really strains credulity when they try to justify going off on some adventure.

[DUSUCK]

In a tavern.......All great and epic stuff starts in a tavern.

[TheThan]

My campaign started with the PC's arriving in the waiting room outside a Mind Flayer's office... It's a long story.

That's the most gonzo idea for a starting location I've ever heard of, I congratulate you.

[Morty]

I've only ever ran two adventures, but they both began on the road, in one case players were already travelling together, in the second one they met on a crossroads walking from opposite directions. That requires an assumption PCs know each other from somewhere already, though.

[monty]

I'm working on a campaign where the PCs all start in the same prison block. They were all captured by the BBEG for various reasons, so it makes easy plot hooks.

[BRC]

That's the most gonzo idea for a starting location I've ever heard of, I congratulate you.

Well The PC's are part of an Inquisition, Said mind flayer was an Inquisitor giving them their assignment. Also, Mind-thralls make good secretaries.

[Prometheus]

Assorted travelers in a tavern. What?

[Tadanori Oyama]

I like to strike a balance that forces my players to work together and encourage their roleplaying. Jail is nice, puts them all in a single place.

I typically use the jail hook without much background and force the players to tell me why they were arrested and if they are really guilty of anything or not.

[paladin_carvin]

I always enjoy having the characters know each other long before the game begins. The campaign starts when they experience a trauma in their collective lives and must adventure. They could be life long friends, a unit in the military, family members (single race, obviously), members of the same religion or members of the same organization.

I also place my characters in Faerun, since it sets things up wonderfully.

[Yahzi]

My last campaign started in a peasant village, with the party sneaking away from their lives as peasants. They started at level 0....

[Fiery Diamond]

For me, it depends on how much backstory I've managed to milk out of the players.

If lots, then - work their stories together for something that's happening in the world.

If not lots, or sometimes even if lots, then - one happens upon another in a certain circumstance, things happen. They then meet the next person as events progress, and so on.

Er... I don't start with all the PCs together. I start with one, and have them all run into each other in the first session. That way, the forming of the group is the main focus of the first session.

-Fiery Diamond

[quillbreaker]

Last two games:

Most recent game : I had been playing in somebody else's game and we had gotten trapped in a maze through setting off a trap. I liked the feel of it, and I also like wierdness, so I have players currently trying to find the keys to get out of the extradimensional maze they entered by accident. There's a villian too, of course.

Game before that : The term "railroading" was an inspiration, because the campaign involved trying to catch someone before they did something bad, and a train was the fastest way to do it. So they rode a train.

I also spent a lot of that campaign "sending up" adventurers, so to speak. Adventurers had saved the world some time back, so a lot of the unlanded nobility was going into the profession. There were way too many gangs of 3-5 people wandering around seeking adventure, and they were engaged in all of the bad stereotypical self-centered-PC behavior, without the justification of saving the world or actually being PCs. One of the iconic moments of the campaign was the players getting caught in a fight between two adventuring parties - in a train car - trying to get a treasure map. Most of the PCs were trying to get some sleep, and one side opened up with fireball, catching a couple of PCs - innocent bystanders - in the blast.

So I suppose I pick two of the ideas floating around my consciousness and build a game that explores those issues.

[Raum]

My main question right now is, how/where do you start?

Do you want to start 'in media res'? Do you want them to start knowing each other or do you prefer to role play introductions? How much of the back story / campaign world do they know prior to start of play? The answers will help decide how, and possibly where, you start play.

So, what do you like to do?

I usually tell the players where they are and how / if they know each other before character creation. Then simply ask them to incorporate it into the back story. I will say it's much quicker to begin a campaign when the characters have something in common. Common history, goals, acquaintances, needs, whatever...something to bring the group together.

For example, my current campaign began in a coffee shop with the PCs having known each other for at least half a year. No introduction necessary, stuff happens and they go on... The last campaign began in an office building with everyone on the run but no one really knowing each other. Essentially they started with a common cause rather than a common history.

[RS14]

I've started one in a frontier outpost with an annual hunt, one with my players meeting up while immigrating to a war-torn city in search of cheap land (their backstory was that they had worked together to clear out some land-scamers), and would like to start one in a prison. I'll probably make them put serious crimes in their backstory, and not simply be imprisoned due to draconian laws. I'd like to discourage an evil campaign though. I might suggest that most of them be non-good. They can have committed serious crimes for pragmatic reasons.

[E_Samurai]

My most recent one worked out well for the purposes of the game. Basically, the players woke up in an unfamiliar place, chained to a wall, which they quickly determined was the cargo hold of a prison ship. They planned to escape and swim for shore, until one of the players realized it was actually an airship, transporting them to a prison in the capital city - flying low through some mountains in a storm.

Long story short, the airship caught fire and was attacked by assassins attempting to kill a prince on board. They had to escape, reclaim their gear from the cargo hold which was obviously about to collapse, talk down the prince's bodyguard to earn his trust, get off the ship while a full-scale assault between the assassins and the Royal Guard on deck, and escape the extremely deranged assassin leader who was after them - all while the main villain of the entire game - the prince's younger brother, attempting a coup of the kingdom - circled the ship on his giant mithril-plated raven mount.

I find that putting the players in some sort of immediate danger with a wide variety of challenges to overcome is a great way to take the measure of a new group - find out where each players' strengths lie, and allow them to work out their characters' relationships with both the world and their fellow party members, while at the same time determining how each player responds to a particular danger. Some were more responsive to the colorful descriptions of the storm, of the creepiness of waking up someplace strange and dangerous, of the assassin, or to talking down the guard, but by varying the types of challenge each player quickly determined their role within the group.

I made sure to really ramp up the environmental descriptions throughout - made it seem like the storm outside was really about to shake the ship apart, that the fire was eating away the lower decks, and that they were in tremendous danger by going into the cargo hold. By having the group rescue the prince, it immediately gave them a goal to persue - make their way to the capital city and stop the younger brother from assassinating both another prince and the King.

For homework for the group - something I usually do to have the players fill out their characters' backstory - I had them slowly recovering their memories and remembering why they were imprisoned. This gave me plenty of material to work with for the year-long campaign that followed.

Overall, a great game for all involved.