I need ideas for how to a get the party together. when you sit down with your friends and you start gaming what is the best way for your characters to travel together?
I am having some difficulty with this first step in writing my own adventure path so i could use any ideas anyone might have.
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I would suggest getting the players involved, it shouldn't all be up to the GM. If the players can at least come up with a bit of background to link their character to one other in the group then there should at least be a circle of comrades.
If you cannot do that it might be useful to have all the PCs work for a single organisation, be it a church, spy ring, mercantile house or something else. When I ran my D&D 4e Eberron campaign I had the players all be troubleshooters for House Orien, a dragonmarked house.
In my experience it works best if the characters already have some kind of history together at the start of the campaign.
They could be childhood friends from the same town.
They could be related by blood.
They could have served in the same army.
It is also possible to *create* that history in the first session:
They could be the sole survivors of an orc raid (in a tavern, of a caravan etc.).
They could witness sth. dramatic together that calls for immediate action.
They could be initiates of the same organization or secret society.
etc.
EDIT:
Also a common interests always works good:
"We are all monster hunters."
"We are all freedom fighters in cheliax."
"We are all greedy !%$"§, that want to get rich (or die trying)."
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They all gathered for the reading of Mr. Plothook's will.
They are all drinking in a tavern.
"For three days you have all been fleeing the horde of invading orcs."
Tax collectors show up at their village.
"You all wake up chained in the hold of the slave ship."
We first have the DM give us an introduction to the campaign, to see what classes/races would be appropriate to the style.
The we randomly express preferences, based on what we'd like to play as a role or as a class. Once everyone has said what he'd like to do we decide what to play trying not to overlap too much with role and style. We then chit chat a bit about possible common backgrounds and give separately an outline to the DM: if he approve of them we then start creating the sheets.
The reason for adventuring together is usually up to the GM, we complement it by deciding why each one of us is adventuring in the first place.
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Common threat/common enemy/common goal (survival or escape work best I feel, as greed can lead to infighting/betrayal).
Also can be brought together by a seer who foretells that they will do great things together, or that it is the will of the gods, or they have the same prophetic dream that takes them to the same place.
All indebted to/needing help or favors from the same NPC/organization.
I used the "waking up in chains" with great effect in a Vampire the Dark Ages chronicle. Doubly so as I combined it with the common enemy : a bullying guard whose death by their combined efforts really cemented the group.
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Just something in common; it can be deep (escaped slaves, freedom fighter group) or simple (you all just graduated your respective schools, are looking for work. The dwarf looks the recruits over, sets you five aside, and dismisses the rest. "You'll do", he grunts).
If you want to follow the movie rule, best way is to have an exciting event they end up trapped in (fall of a god, destruction of a city they all work in, etc); where they end up bonded by fate and an obscure common enemy.
In summary, the most important thing is they have a common goal they can agree on. If anyone ever says, "But why would my PC be here/do this?" you and that player need to work together to tie them into the party goal.
And I also agree with the advice to talk about it to the players. Sometimes they have great ideas for how everyone knows each other.
northbrb, what's the general gist of your story that you're planning? Can probably offer better/more specific advice tailored to the situation if we know what it is.
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the classic awful rain storm brings them all togeather at a tavern.
Freed slaves.
Same church.
take passage on the same ship to the same location and became freinds on the way. Ship travel leaves plenty of time to get to know your neighbor.
Caravan travel.
Hired gaurds.
A festival. Music, religious or other wise.
They are all there to kill Dr. Lucky.
In my experience, nothing gets PCs together easier than a wedding or a funeral.
Garnath took some good ones already but here are a few more:
1- The town where they are right now is under attack. If it is a large city make it a localized riot. Present an obvious victim that will otherwise die, let those who will help help.
2- They have all been hired on as caravan guards or are travelling with the caravan.
3- They all have come down with a localized disease or alment in the region. The expert on their condition is the local priest, they all are in the antechamber- waiting room together.
4- Durring character creation give them no limit on funds, say yes to all the backgrounds like I want to be a noble, let them have a few magic items don't go crazy they will suspect something, don't worry it won't matter they very likely will never be home again. The first line of your introduction will be, "The last thing you remember is you were out for a walk in a secluded area near your home, your a bit fuzzy on the details because of the headache, you now find yourself in a dim and very dark smelly room you and the sad collection of people you see around you are all in rags and covered in red pait with strange swirly symbols. In the corner is a distraught near hysterical middleaged man who keeps saying, 'there gonna sacrifice to their infernal god.'" If they escape, live and make it back to safety, chances are they are gonna be pretty close.
5- Rummors of war and coming doom are all true. The PC's are sent to a specific town for a census, where they are then conscripted into the service of a very menial low level regional magistrate. They are all in the same room when the magistrate interviews them and tries to size them up make it clear they need to impress him otherwise they will all likely be sent to the frontlines. If they do impress him he essentially sends them on their first mission. If they do not send them to the front lines some sort of adventure can break out anywhere along the way.
In my experience, most of the time player should (and most often can) answer the question "why am I here and why should I stay with them (the party)?" for themselves. If they can not doe that, they should invest a little effort and come up with something. After all, if a player has no reason for staying, it would be bad roleplaying to do so...
As an experienced DM, I try to promote active player-participaion and involvement in order to unburden the DM a little. Of course, the story and plotlines can help, but even without, players should come up with something.
You could say childhood friends that have done everything together even shed blood guts and tears. Or A battle platoon retired to the normal life and turned adventures to feel the heat of importance again.
Lastly strangers brought together by a powerful patron that wants the eyes of......