Forums of the Megaverse®

Ok so this isn't really a question topic but more of a how does everybody do this. I think it would be interesting to see how everybody starts their adventures and all the different ways we do things so here goes.

This is how i think i am going to start my group with a small back-story... They were captured by Splurgoth slavers and put on a ship headed for Atlantis when a Storm hit that was huge and ended up transporting the entire ship to the other side of the continent (off the coast of Washington) the ship was damaged and couldn't maneuver out of the way of the rock and crashed. No big deal the ship wasn't sinking or anything until Giant Tentacles roared up out of the water and started attacking the ship. the characters cell wall was ripped off and they made their escape. barely making it to shore where they all passed out. (no roll to save) They all woke up a little while later to find no trace of the ship except for some washed up gear (their starting gear) and no food or water.

Lostsoul,

What's going to be the fun thing about your game? The sort of fun your going to have through each sesssion?

I'm not sure the start up matters, but working out what will be fun. Cause I can imagine your players finding several different things fun about that start. But then getting annoyed when that fun stops latter because it's actually some other type of fun which the games supposed to give.

I started my adventure in the Eastern Territories with all the characters in city about to come under siege. That's seemed to work really well, we've been running that campaign for about 12 years now and it was good from the start. I ran a mini-campaign that started right after a jousting tournament once, and had a little back story about how they all met durring the tourney... That also worked well.

Most of the other ones that I've played in and not GMed tend to start in a bar fight. In fact, with one of my older GMs we couldn't be in any kind of tavern for long without a fight breaking out... Lesson learned, you can't have too many badasses in one bar at the same time peacefuly.

Noon wrote:Lostsoul,

What's going to be the fun thing about your game? The sort of fun your going to have through each sesssion?

I'm not sure the start up matters, but working out what will be fun. Cause I can imagine your players finding several different things fun about that start. But then getting annoyed when that fun stops latter because it's actually some other type of fun which the games supposed to give.

Well the fun thing about my game will be the group coming together as a team from scratch and trying to make their way through to civilization. My goal is to make them bond as a team. I'm not going to be throwing anything big except dinosaurs at first to make them realize that they need each other to survive and after a session of survival i am planning on them finding a small village of humans that live a kind of high-tech barbarian style life. they hunt dinosaurs and use their skin for armour. after spending a couple of days at the village (if they are welcomed) they could find out about a pre-rifts complex that this village used to get their armour and some supplies a long time ago. If the group explores the complex they will realize that the complex is a diamond in the ruff if you will. Depending on how the group is playing and how i feel the game is going i plan on giving them super powers from Heroes unlimited. at that point in time they wont realize what they have but will find out as the game progresses. If the CS finds out about the complex and the super powers it can grant this will add a great delima for the group depending on how they feel about the CS. if they hate them they might just destroy the complex or if they like the CS they might sell it to them or end up giving it to them. If the CS finds out about the complex and what it can do they will stop at nothing to get it. This game will take months to get to that point with all the side adventures i have planned but all in all i think it will be a very fun and possilbly game altering story.

the only game i am running right now is a phase world game and i came up with a way to get the characters together which was to give one of them a ship and he was the captain and needed to hire a crew we role played out each interview between him and the other characters and they agreed on their own contracts and pay etc. it worked out fairly well actually. i have also done this in the past with merc companies

Hi Lostsoul,

It looks like that whole 'What would you do with it when you find the CS (who have quite a reputation) want it?' IS the fun bit.

Why are you going to take ages to get to that? You could just describe the past history of the character, the hard times with the tribe, then this surprise find. Start from there?

We use to plan alltogether how the party will be, thus the players are who tell which character relations and past history are, according to the camapaign I'm planning.
In this last game, all the characters in the party were a kind of squires of a disappeared Kinght of the White Rose. They arrive to Chi-town to find a common friend and then...

I have always believed that learning things about the setting by playing in it is always the best way. Sure you need to know that the coalition hates all non humans and magic users, or that the eastern territory is at war with the wolfens of the north, but the minor details can be much more enjoyable if they are learned in game. Plus who says that your character would know that much about the world around them. Trix may have been just a brand name to them; they wouldn't know that the company is from a kingdom across the demon filled sea and is surrounded by gargoyles. A persons world view is very tinny.