Since my old group vanished due to age,marriages,RL commitments etc. i almost gave up looking for a new group to introduce to tabletop RPing,and then the miracle:5 people (1 is from my old RL group, but 4 are brand new to RPGs) want to play a tabletop game during Sunday,apparently each week (even better, i usually doubt of such strokes of luck).
I invited them at my place and obviously told them i was going to let them start with Pathfinder and they agreed and rolled the chars in two days.
Next Sunday we are meant to start playing in a homebrew world of mine (i created it for the 3,5, and since it is already done....) but i run into a bigger obstacle than i expected: can't decide on a campaign hook or a good introduction.
They are all in a country just emerged from a civil war that put the current ruler on the throne.The country itself is something like late medioeval Europe (before the one hundred years war) but of course with the usual fantasy elements.It counts three large cities, one is a Riddleport like great port, and about ten smaller settlements (farms,villages and so on).
It is currently at risk of going to war with the nearest continent (arabian like) but it is also surrounded by more fantastic settings (dwarvens kingdoms at north, huge mountains ranges at east that also divide the two countries and force the armies to travel by sea.There are large magical forests also closing the borders on north-east).
The country's population is generally superstitious and is afraid of strange creatures and magic,so expansion along the borders is discouraged (an adventure hook that explains why the PCs are the ones exploring such lands).
But now i find myself a bit lost, because so far i only GMed Pathfinder in PbP and only APs. Since the players are noobies i didn't liked to resort to an AP (don't want them to feel like they are forced into doing something) but every introduction i think of is anyway forced on them (captured,assaulted and in need of retreating,forcibly hired by a thieves guild) ; another big obstacle are the chars themselves (CN male half orc barbarian,CN male human cleric of Calistria, CN female elf wizard, CG female elf rogue and the fifth is still thinking,he is a fan of paladins but isn't so sure of playing one in this group).
I need a good start,and i hope i gave enough info.
Thanks for your advices in advance.
I agree with you that every party founding is a forced affair. but it is a necessary part of the "Game"
Getting the band together is always a pain , because Why would such a eclectic group even be together ( shared goals , long lost family...) besides we all know they have to hook up or there will be no story.
Just relax and let go ... have all the players tossed together in a prison or village raid aftermath . They can all be in the paddy wagon or dungeon cell. Right after the players get caught up in the "raid" they have time to get to know each other. Some can have previous history ( why the wizard and the cleric may know each other from some past event ) and the others will typically latch on( hey that guy is trying to pick the lock . is he a rouge ?). Then when it gets all quite have the holding cell / or whatever get counter raided the chaos ensues ( a paladin ordered to guard prisoners and " do not allow harm to come to them! " ) can be thrown in the mix. The party escapes with plenty of opportunity for combat, thievery or a larger plot hook And the adventure begins.
post civil war can create all sorts of story hooks because of unrest , marauders or left over military units stalking the land.
The players have to come together because there is no story without them. It does not matter how ridiculous the circumstances. I always think of movies and tv where their are countless examples of "how did you guys get together anyway " beginnings.
btw I am part of a noob campaign with my kids, being run by my brother in law, so far it is one of the most rewarding games i have ever been a part of. All the old stuff is new again. you may be very surprised at some of the stuff you can pull off that he players just are not suspecting.
Room full of statues and hidden golems , NO way ! what a ambush out here in the woods , Whoa !! the town cleric is the were-bear !! I didn't see that coming !!
The starting hook/adventure is indeed always the hardest to come up with. I agree with Stabatha on this, no matter what you do, at some point you're going to have to "force" something on the PC's. Are you starting in a village or city? If so, why not have someone either kidnapped or something valuable stolen from someone in a dark alley. Say for example, a noble or wealthy merchant is attacked, perhaps he had some important plans or information about an attack from the enemy country? The PC's could just be in town, each not even with each other. But then our victim (or friend/spouse) of victim cries out for help. Heroes of course will come running. Perhaps this wealthy person offers gold or other compensation to whoever can get the item/person back. You don't need an established group, all five PC's could just join in the chase. They may be even trying to get there before the others. Eventually they'll have to work together so that each can get at least part of the reward. This wealthy patron can then be so thankful and impressed how well the group worked together that he has need for them for something bigger. You get the idea. A bit cliched, perhaps, but at least it's open-ended, and not too forced. I mean the PC's could choose not to help, but then where's the fun in that? Hope this helps or at least gives you some more ideas.
I agree that the start of a campaign almost requires a bit of forcing and making the party come together as they must or you lack a group and get a pack of indaviduals that dont have any "good" reason to trust each other.
I sometimes use a tactic called "in meda res" or in the middle of the action. It tends to force people to act/ react to events. For examples of this in movies the start of Star Wars, many of the James Bond movies, also the start of the Lord of the Rings-The Two Towers is a very good example of this.
From what you said about the "chars" many could be worshippers of Calistria anyway by alignment at least, might be a bit tame for the barbarian, but if I recall right off the top of my head she is also a god of vengance. Add in that the half-orc barb could have been "hired" as labor when he was young at a temple of Calistria, and the paladin could have been involved with a defense of that same temple during his "trainning"
The most i could come up with was: they are in the outskirts of the major port city,probably just arrived and controls at gates won't yet let them in.They search a low life tavern and during the evening there is an attack by (thieves,slavers,kobolds,arabian [only for cultural referement,hope am not offending anyone] soldiers in disguise, whatever).
One important NPC or a young girl is kidnapped (and probably one of the PC too, or is very close to hook them) and there is a chase to be done quickly.
During the chase, attackers and PC alike end in a forgotten cave nearby which leads into a dungeon and there the PC discovers a mythical item and awake another cliched "old evil";this way i could have two campaign hooks to choose from (war and going against whatever was awakened).
I agree that the start of a campaign almost requires a bit of forcing and making the party come together as they must or you lack a group and get a pack of indaviduals that dont have any "good" reason to trust each other.
I sometimes use a tactic called "in meda res" or in the middle of the action. It tends to force people to act/ react to events. For examples of this in movies the start of Star Wars, many of the James Bond movies, also the start of the Lord of the Rings-The Two Towers is a very good example of this.
From what you said about the "chars" many could be worshippers of Calistria anyway by alignment at least, might be a bit tame for the barbarian, but if I recall right off the top of my head she is also a god of vengance. Add in that the half-orc barb could have been "hired" as labor when he was young at a temple of Calistria, and the paladin could have been involved with a defense of that same temple during his "trainning"
Last time i checked with the guy, he was even less conviced of a paladin.He'll probably go with cavalier or inquisitor,but both classes are good for the initial sequence and both would have reason to start the whole campaign,be it the war or the ancient evil.
Last time i checked with the guy, he was even less conviced of a paladin.He'll probably go with cavalier or inquisitor,but both classes are good for the initial sequence and both would have reason to start the whole campaign,be it the war or the ancient evil.I agree that the start of a campaign almost requires a bit of forcing and making the party come together as they must or you lack a group and get a pack of indaviduals that dont have any "good" reason to trust each other.
I sometimes use a tactic called "in meda res" or in the middle of the action. It tends to force people to act/ react to events. For examples of this in movies the start of Star Wars, many of the James Bond movies, also the start of the Lord of the Rings-The Two Towers is a very good example of this.
From what you said about the "chars" many could be worshippers of Calistria anyway by alignment at least, might be a bit tame for the barbarian, but if I recall right off the top of my head she is also a god of vengance. Add in that the half-orc barb could have been "hired" as labor when he was young at a temple of Calistria, and the paladin could have been involved with a defense of that same temple during his "trainning"
The "training" background still works for a cavalier, maybe he will choose an order that has them joined as its requierment, or his order coudl insist that he "join" as a way to watch them for some reason that he does not know?
Inquisitor could be from the same church as the cleric depending on player choices. Otherwise could be sent after the same goal as the rest of teh party by his supperiors.
dragons!
Against level 1 chars ?
dragons!Against level 1 chars ?
Absolutely. Drill into their heads the idea that running for dear life is an acceptable option. : D Besides, survival scenarios can be a lot more interesting than mere combat, especially if it motivates the characters to return the favor to those dragons later when they're stronger.
Start by giving each character a connection to at least one other character. Since you have two elves that will be the easiest one. The elves grew up knowing each other. They may be relatives but at least grew up in the same village or town. If your last player goes for the inquisitor make sure he is also a worshiper of Calistria which will tie him into the cleric. Since Calistria is one of the favored deity of the elves that ties the two groups together. The odd man out is the Half Orc Barbarian. He could have been hired as muscle as some have suggested, but that does not give him any reason for loyalty to the group. Maybe he owes one of the characters a debt of honor for helping him in the past.
Absolutely. Drill into their heads the idea that running for dear life is an acceptable option. : D Besides, survival scenarios can be a lot more interesting than mere combat, especially if it motivates the characters to return the favor to those dragons later when they're stronger.dragons!Against level 1 chars ?
I like how you think!
I really like the way Paizo does it in their AP's with the campaign specific traits that tie the PC's together.
For example: in Carrion Crown all the PC's somehow know Professor Lorimar who died just before the start of the AP.
I really like the way Paizo does it in their AP's with the campaign specific traits that tie the PC's together.
For example: in Carrion Crown all the PC's somehow know Professor Lorimar who died just before the start of the AP.
Yes, i like Carrion Crown too,am GMing it in a PbP just here,and generally understand the need of railroading a bit the players into starting together despite racial,alignment differences. Not all the people i know think that way however,and anyway i don't want to give noobies a bad feeling from the start.
@Nezthalak: forgot to specify, i LOVE dragons and use them a lot more than many players would think necessary :)
And of course they will have a very large part in the campaign i'm thinking.
My group is pretty similar, our DM is the only one with tabletop RPG experience, now we have a core group of 4 players who are all new, and then an occassional player who comes in and out (just had kids, oi).
Our group was equally eclectic (CN Halfling Rogue, CN Halfelf Alchemist, CN Half-orc Barb, CN Gnome Summoner), but our DM didn't force any sort of "introduction" The gist was basically
Ginger George the Bar Keep: "Some yellow oozes oozed into the tavern and stole my keg, so I can't sell you any booze, if you want to drink, you can try to catch up to them."
Party all for various reasons wanted to help,
Ta-Da, we went on an adventure as a group, next session, Ginger George had spread good word about us, and the captain of the guard came to ask him if he knew anyone who could solve a problem, we were recommended and since we worked as a group before, our characters teamed up again. It flowed from there. New members teamed up courtesy of Ginger George's recommendation.
Ultimately though, everyone knows when they come to the table they're partying up so you don't need to force a reason for everyone to work together, something as simple as everyone being in the bar works. Then the PCs can flesh out their interactions or even make up why they are in the bar in the first place. If it's organic and the PCs are invested, it's more fun and believable (and less work for you!)
In my experience, the problems come up when someone makes a "doesn't play well with others" build.
A lot of the heroes, heroines, or just main characters in movies and novels fit into that category. They are loners, irreverent, rebellious, grumpy, insulting, etc...
Along comes a player who just watched the movie or read the novel. I want to make a character just like 'V' from the movie. And then he tries to play it like that. Problem is, that character was not an integral cooperative part of a team.
I've seen many players who do not get that difference and/or refuse to accept it. For them you have to make a contrived reason for them to cooperate with the group or they won't.
Two or three got the "rich parents" background trait,so to ensure they follow the intro scenario i'll probably have them robbed of the money they have left after buying initial gear.
I know as a player i'ld hate this...funny how things change perspective from the other side of the GM screen :)
No problem if you remember sometimes later that these have rich parents and send a little something their way when it is convenient.
I've seen many players who do not get that difference and/or refuse to accept it. For them you have to make a contrived reason for them to cooperate with the group or they won't.
If the player out of game doesn't get it, an ingame story isn't likely to make them suddenly a cooperative member. Now they're just V who's been locked up with strangers, or V in a group of gnomes, or V in a family of dwarves. V is still V regardless of the framed story.
I don't like the idea of taking their money arbitrarily from the getgo just to construct a minor plot device, what if they limited spending on initial gear because they were planning on buying a mount/wagon or something at the next session? If I knew my money was going to disappear two minutes from now, I may have splurged on another weapon, or something. Just my opinion from across the screen.
... If the player out of game doesn't get it, an ingame story isn't likely to make them suddenly a cooperative member. Now they're just V who's been locked up with strangers, or V in a group of gnomes, or V in a family of dwarves. V is still V regardless of the framed story...
Oddly enough, I've known several that if I make it clear ahead of time with 'whatever contrived team builder' in-game reason that they have to cooperate, won't really build a 'V' character. They only do that when given no info or reasoning to be part of a team. I've never really understood it. It always seemed clear to me that it is a team oriented game. So builds and personalities should reflect that. But many people seem to need a reminder or reason each time they make a new character.
I don't like the idea of taking their money arbitrarily from the getgo just to construct a minor plot device, what if they limited spending on initial gear because they were planning on buying a mount/wagon or something at the next session? If I knew my money was going to disappear two minutes from now, I may have splurged on another weapon, or something. Just my opinion from across the screen.
I wouldn't like it too,but i'm not taking their stuff and abandoning them.
They have still a lot of gear to buy, and they will soon find enough loot.If i go for the "captured and forced in a slaves carrying wagon" intro scenery it wouldn't make sense they are permitted to keep gear,equip and money anyway.
Update (if someone still cares to read what i did so far to start this game).
The fifth player in the end created a NG male human ranger with the weapon and board style.
I simply put the players in the same caravan bringing supplies from a city to another;they were all scouts (the ranger and the rogue) muscles (the barbarian and the cleric) or experts (the wizard) and the knew each other during the trip.
At some point there was a bandit raid in a nearby farm and a kidnapped little girl;the cleric of calistria of course voluteered to rescue her, and the others went with him.They found the bandit were working for a kobold tribe hiding underground in a wood not far from there,rescued the girl from the kobolds but fled from the remaining bandits;before that however they activated an altar the kobolds were sacrifing children to and talked with a sealed unknow spirit which refused to give details on himself,but tasked them with finding the remaining altars and activate them in order to release him (a long term campaign hook).
They joined the caravan again and on the road faced other bandits and fled from a grizzly bear (random encounters).
This last Sunday the finally made it to the city they were going and attained level 2.
A couple of them went into negatives one time each and generally they have still to get the rules,but they are enjoying the game experience and are willing to keep rping.
I'm very glad of all this. :)