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We do character creation together.
We sit around and I give a really loose guideline (ie. for RotRL I just let them read the player's guide) to what they might expect from the setting.
Then I go around the group asking about characters and they take shape through chatter. As they develop people start saying things like: "Hey, we should know each other then, 'cause I'm a docker in that area too..." or I give a few nudges; "So you guys could have met at the local dances then, two confirmed bachelors in a rural place like that."
With flaming goblins in the sky.
Seriously.
My current campaign started with three characters (the city-folk) as passengers on an experimental airship flight between two major cities. As they were passing over a heavily forested area in the mountains, they were shot down by goblins. In fact, they were shot down by goblins with torches being hurled at the airship by catapaults. While many of the little freaks missed, one did manage to tear his way into the airsacks and set the ship alight. The three PCs (and one NPC expert) managed to break out the windows on the observation deck and feather fall to the ground, where the glorious Hindenburg-esque explosion brought the other two PCs running. These two were a warrior and a shaman from a local tribe which had been fighting the goblins for some time. While the tribe had moved on, these two had remained behind to launch guerilla raids against the goblin fortress and cover the tribe's retreat. Miles from civilization and nursing a grudge, the "city folk" PCs decided that they would join forces with these "natives" to destroy the goblins of Thistletop.
Taverns, common hometowns and employer recruitment all work well of course, but sometimes the best way to find 3-6 heroes is to blow something up and see who comes running.
C. Robert Brown
I've found that methods like the ones given in Crimson Throne work best. Throw the characters together with a short term common goal. Survive the mess they've gotten themselves into, and give them something intriguing and/or vital to deal with next...keep adding little "nexts" to deal with, and by the time you're into the meat of the adventure, the characters have become a team :)
Interestingly enough, my first foray into Curse of the Crimson Throne as a player actually suffered from the "why do I want to stay...!?" syndrome. That's because a large percentage of the party came from the "seedier" side of life...or at least a very non-lawful, carefree, self-minded, anti-hero approach to things. Meanwhile, my own cleric was a) lawful, b) concerned about the Korvosa people, c) willing to make personal sacrifices, and d) completely heroic-minded in wanting to make a difference.
It was like oil and water, and I just couldn't get into character without feeling like a fifth wheel. So I bowed out. Now, I'm playing the same PC in a different party. There's still a chance for some intra-party conflict with the other cleric, but by-and-large everyone is heroic-minded enough that we all get along. And it serves the story of CotCT much better, in my opinion.
So, a lot of it is up to the players to ensure their characters get along. Personally, I believe no PC should be an island. And, as a GM, I certainly try to make sure I have no more than one "loner" PC concept tagging along with the party...and even then, I want to make sure he or she has reasons to integrate their goals and motivations with that of the others. Otherwise, the sense of heroes cooperating together to accomplish something greater than themselves falls by the wayside. And that's anathema to good, cooperative storytelling.
Oh...and just to get back to the original topic...my preferred approach to bringing the PCs together uses a multi-layered approach. I mix-and-match as many of these as necessary so it comes across more like how a cast of characters find one another in a movie or a novel. They don't all start out knowing one another...or even have the same initial goals or opinions on things. But, by the time the story gets into high gear, they certainly do.
1) The Adventure's Background - I look for ways to work the PCs into the adventure or campaign's pre-existing plot and backstory. Can I make them the nephew of an important NPC? Can I give them a family or close friends who are impacted by the events that will take place (or already have)? Can I mentor one of them to another NPC? Or can I have one of them previously affected by one of the villains' minions in their background? Stuff like that...
2) Shared Backstories - If two character concepts for the PCs seem to mesh well, I look for ways to tighten that up...either by suggesting it to the players or outright indicating that "it is so" by DM decree when tweaking their backstories to fit the adventure. I don't usually have every PC connected to the same background. Though, I may have two of them know one another...and then a different set of PCs know each other...while working on ways to then bring both "groups" together with a unifying event (see below).
3) The Trigger Scene - I love opening events in an adventure or campaign where the heroes might not know one another yet (or all of them might not). But, by the time that opening scene is finished, they'll have found themselves fighting on the same side. More importantly, I'll then make sure I have an important NPC notice them and recognize how well the PCs seemed to work together. Then, the rest of the adventure is setup by that NPC offering them a chance to do something else by cooperating together...and I purposefully have them sweeten the deal by offering appropriate rewards according to each PC's personal motivation(s). For instance, bringing in a paladin's superior to bless the NPC's mission...and thereby implying the paladin can score points by accepting the mission. Or, letting a rogue know that the villain who the NPC is asking them investigate may have had something to do with their own shady past. Or, giving a wizard some piece of arcane lore to chase in the midst of whatever mission gets assigned to them. And so on...
4) Unifying Event - Other times, I like to create a very specific circumstance that brings in all of the PCs. Good examples of this are the Swallowtail Festival from Rise of the Runelords or the gambling contest from Second Darkness...or even the sickness in something as short as Hollow's Last Hope. All of these events can serve to unify the heroes from the outset as all of them will already share a common goal. But that goal stems from the same event that's hitting everyone, including the NPCs. The heroes just happen to be the ones with the power to do something about it.
Anyway, just my two-cents...
--Neil
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My current campaign I am playing in we ended up meeting each other on the road and in a certain town. I saved one character from a bounty hunter and she came with me. Others I met when i made my way with her to a certain outpost/town. We met them in a tavern and also was introduced by the General of the Lily Knights.
We don't seem to spend forever on how we meet up. Just kinda try and make it interesting and go from there.
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This is how My campaigns have been starting recently..
Oh... half you guys can't make it today because your deploying/TDY?..ok we will try again in a month..
Month later...
Oh the other half of you guys are deploying/TDY? ok...
And that has been going on for 2 years now......
DOH!!!!
I soooooo feel your pain!