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Some background: I am a relatively new GM (though fairly experienced player) and something I'm really having trouble with is integrating the back stories of my players into a central story line without doing something cheesy like "you all meet in a bar in place X, spend the night drinking together, and become great friends". I would appreciate anything- general tactics or specific examples, whatever you can think of. Everything is appreciated!
Some information that may help (character basic summaries and basic party info):
The campaign has not yet started, and as such the party consists of 4 players, all level one with no experience.
player #1) A highly charismatic rogue, born and abandoned by his parents, he was an abused orphan. Eventually he learned to use his good looks to get most of what he wanted, and stole everything else. CN
player #2) A samurai driven purely by revenge. His wife-to-be was slain by the Red Mantis Assassins and now he seeks only to eliminate any and all Red Mantis Assassins. (He's Ronin, of course)CN
player #3) A ninja descended from a long line of fighters who shun him for choosing to follow what they view as a disgrace to their family line, sneaking around in the art of stealth and what they perceive as "evil". He wants only to prove himself worthy of his families admiration. True N
player #4) A sacred shield paladin. Very standard paladin back story, she received a vision from her god (Erastil) to go out and hunt evil wherever she might find it.
Thank you in advance for the help everyone!
I like to ask my players to discuss which each other and let me know how their characters know one another before the game begins.
You could set up a work release scenario in which the first three players are in trouble with the law (which seems likely by their description), and the Paladin is sent with them to oversee the outing as a pseudo parole officer.
One thing a GM recently used in a FATE game I'm playing was this. He had us sit in a circle and come up with a way to insert your character into a facet of the player to your right and left's backstory. For the system, you get a special aspect related to that relationship between you and the other character. Was pretty helpful in having some cohesion and you really don't need the extra aspect part of it for it to be helpful.
Offer a prize. It can be some XP, a bonus two skill points, etc.
You don't have to do it all yourself, your players will come up with stuff on their own, all you have to do is provide the incentive.
This may or may not be helpful, but I'll tell you what my GM did for us at the beginning of our campaign. Keep in mind this is Eberron, though.
We were all traveling on the same train to different destinations. There was a murder mystery in which we were all suspects. When we found the real culprit, the train was soon after attacked by an airship. The train was derailed by the attack, and while we were salvaging the wreckage and helping the other survivors, we were ambushed by a goblin army.
It might just be a more extravagant version of "you all meet in a bar", but it seemed to get the job done. The fact that we were all survivors of a crash, which led to more shenanigans, gave our characters a chance to bond immediately, and spawned reasons for us to want to stick together, rather than go back to our own separate lives.
In general advice: look at how the Paizo APs handle it. The few I've seen do it through traits. Every character chooses a campaign trait that somehow links them to this one person, and then they come together to oppose/help/mourn for the person and end up bonding.
The player guides for the APs are free, so you can download a few and come up with ideas. If you know the traits that your players are choosing already, you can "just happen" to give them campaign traits that have an identical bonus to one they were already going to pick.
Specific advice: okay, your player characters are either shady dealers, vengeance seekers, or justice seekers. So give them a mission that vengeance and justice seekers can really get behind, while being attractive enough that shady dealers would be willing to get paid for it. Create a figure that has newly arrived to town, and is instantly SO HATED that just about everyone wants him dead. People are hiring assassins. People are hiring thieves to plant false evidence for framing. People are begging the church and government for justice. People are tracking this guy down from miles away just to kill him because of whatever thing he did before he hit town. Everyone and their Brother want this guy dead.
Which is why 4 people get hired, begged, or inspired to raid this guy's house on the same night. For added fun, make it 6 to 8 and have the NPC's try to mess with the party (or help out until the party doesn't need help anymore). Of course, the guy they're all hunting is a total mastermind, so he's safely away with traps going off everywhere. The pressure is just enough to keep the party busy until a dead body is found and the cops arrive. BOOM! Is the party framed and on the run with only themselves to trust? Is the party hired as a team of investigators in a world of political intrigue? Is the party drawn into a massive underground civil war? Whatever it is, the members of the party have only themselves to trust...
Character 1: "Hi! I lie, cheat, and steal! I think it's a lot of fun!"
Character 2: "VENGEANCE! ONLY THE DARK BLOODS OF REVENGE CAN SOOTH MY TORTURED SOUL!!!!!"
Character 3: "Hey there! I'm just your friendly neighborhood assassin. Don't mind me!"
Character 4: "I am pure and holy and would NEVER be in a party with someone who would lie, seek vengeance, or assassinate someone! It is completely okay to knowingly set up a massive party conflict and somehow hope it will all work out with a happy ending."
*Sings* One of these things is not like the other... One of these things just doesn't belong...
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In general advice: look at how the Paizo APs handle it. The few I've seen do it through traits. Every character chooses a campaign trait that somehow links them to this one person, and then they come together to oppose/help/mourn for the person and end up bonding.
The player guides for the APs are free, so you can download a few and come up with ideas. If you know the traits that your players are choosing already, you can "just happen" to give them campaign traits that have an identical bonus to one they were already going to pick.
Specific advice: okay, your player characters are either shady dealers, vengeance seekers, or justice seekers. So give them a mission that vengeance and justice seekers can really get behind, while being attractive enough that shady dealers would be willing to get paid for it. Create a figure that has newly arrived to town, and is instantly SO HATED that just about everyone wants him dead. People are hiring assassins. People are hiring thieves to plant false evidence for framing. People are begging the church and government for justice. People are tracking this guy down from miles away just to kill him because of whatever thing he did before he hit town. Everyone and their Brother want this guy dead.
Which is why 4 people get hired, begged, or inspired to raid this guy's house on the same night. For added fun, make it 6 to 8 and have the NPC's try to mess with the party (or help out until the party doesn't need help anymore). Of course, the guy they're all hunting is a total mastermind, so he's safely away with traps going off everywhere. The pressure is just enough to keep the party busy until a dead body is found and the cops arrive. BOOM! Is the party framed and on the run with only themselves to trust? Is the party hired as a team of investigators in a world of political intrigue? Is the party drawn into a massive underground civil war? Whatever it is, the members of the party have only themselves to trust...
** spoiler omitted **...
YOU, sir, ARE MY HERO! This is amazing, truly and honestly. I'm most likely going to use the situation you gave me, and you made me laugh pretty hard, too. I'm very new to the Paizo forums and it's great to know there's people like you out there!
Ma'am, but thank you. ^_^