PC-centric Starting Campaign Techniques, Caveats, Advice

[Hiding DM]

I’m starting a new campaign in a month and am going to begin differently than I’ve ever done personally — though I know it’s a popular DMing style.

I’m going to build off of what the PCs’ backgrounds and initial goals are instead of just throwing a Macguffin at them.

So a PC that wants to join the Thieves Guild or Wizard Academy or City Guard War College — or a PC that wants to learn who his father was or get vengeance against those who killed his brothers or join PFS,... whatever.... That’s how I’m starting the campaign.

It won’t be too long before a Macguffin drops on their heads and they start an adventure as a group — but at first, I’m making the game completely PC-centric.

I know there are many DMs who DM whole campaigns this way, that it’s a gaming style that gets much play. But I’ve never really done it beyond periphery and side quests and such.

And I’m hoping for advice, techniques, experiences, etc so I can start off my campaign well.

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All the PCs have in common is that they are in the poorest district of the city and hope to one day Get OUT. (After they play through their backgrounds and goals a while they’ll all happen to be in the same place at the time the Macguffin falls into their laps, joining them as a group and giving them the opportunity to get out of the poverty in which they live.)

The campaign begins in Old Korvosa and will play out all over Varisia.

.... So, what are the best ways to DM a PC-centric start to a campaign?

[Mysterious Stranger]

First thing to do is to make sure the characters will at least get along. This does not have to be heavy handed but obvious major conflicts should be avoided. For example a inquisitor of Pharasma and a Undead Lord cleric in the same party would be a bad idea. Just make sure that the players are not going to kill each other on sight.

Second thing to do is to make sure the characters have something in common. This means you will probably have to inject a few things into their backgrounds. This does not, and should not conflict with anything the players have come up with. Since they are all from the same district of the same city you have a starting point. Create a few NPC’s or locations and use that to tie the characters together. Maybe they all go to the same pub, or have a common friend.

Third steal from each of the player’s background and use it in the others. If one of the players has a romantic interest, tie that interest to another player. Make the romantic interest is the cousin of one of the other players. Maybe the person who trained the fighter is the sorcerer’s father.

Since they all came from the same district chances are they may already know each other. Even if they are not friends they have all probably met each other.

[Mark Hoover 330]

One additional piece of advice: make sure the players have goals or reasons for adventure. If you get 4 players who come to the table with "I want to find what the world has to offer and savor the taste of the unknown" then you've got 4 folks who likely need you to hand them a bunch of pre-made plot hooks and lead them through the first few sessions. On the other hand if you have 4 folks who say: my Ranger wants to get vengeance on her hated enemy (kobolds); my Wizard wants to create a business and home as a haven for his gypsy kinfolk; my fighter is looking for his missing sister; my warpriest wants to establish a lodge dedicated to Erastil to protect her village... then you've got great direction for the group.

Now you as the GM still have to incentivize the players somewhat too. If they create characters in a vacuum the players may well expect you to give them the details to HAVE goals from in the first place. A core Ranger is a perfect example.

The Core Ranger has favored enemies, and down the line will have some favored terrains as well. Said PC has to generate their first Favored Enemy before the first adventure. Well if your player decides to flavor their "ranger" like a pirate and sets their first Favored Enemy as lizardfolk and you have no lizardfolk in your campaign setting, this'll be a short-lived PC.

Now I used "incentivize" deliberately. Offer to use Traits in your campaign, then offer a third Trait to PCs based around players putting together actionable goals. If one of the PCs wants to destroy all vampires and hasn't already picked a religious Trait, perhaps give them the one that delivers +1 Sacred damage to undead on a Crit.

Another good incentive are Story Feats. Survive 1000 HP in damage, gain certain bonuses; confirm 30 crits, gain extra damage on future ones. Clearly define extra incentives to keep the PCs driving toward their goals and thus manufacturing the campaign around themselves.

Bottom line, if you're going to craft the campaign from what the players give you, you have to tell them what you need and give them a reason to provide it.

[Hiding DM]

Right now I have a gazetteer with about sixty locations & rumors, most with an interesting NPC or bit of Fluff.

Under the assumption that it would be foolish to expect the Players to read the whole thing before they make their PCs, I'm hoping they'll peruse a handful of rumors/ locations and pick one or two that sound cool to them -- use them as a jumping point -- and mixing them with some things they come up with on their own.

[Dave Justus]

Maintaining balance can be difficult with this sort of setup. You have to make sure you focus on all of the players equally, and frequently enough that their isn't a long period of time where any of them feel unmotivated.

I personally prefer to sprinkle in a bit of connection from backstory from time to time, but make the main plot something ALL of the PCs are invested in (usually by telling them enough of the theme of the campaign ahead of time so they can make characters who are interested in the main plot or building a plot based on a consensus of what the players are interested in.)

Personally, I wouldn't start the game before they are adventuring as a group. Pathfinder is a team game, and it is more fun when everyone is participating. Everything that comes before their adventure as a group is what backstory is for.

[Hiding DM]

My plan is to have them make PCs that first session simultaneously with beginning play. I'll handout copies of the map and gazetteer and let them peruse what they want, start to build their PCs, and ask me questions and get in some roleplaying.

So the Player who's thinking about a Wizard or Arcanist can glance at the gazetteer and start developing the PC -- roleplaying with certain NPCs here and there -- even before he's allocated his Ability Score Points. And when that Player gets an epiphany that he wants to play an Undine Investigator instead he can start on that build, with the gazetteer and our early roleplay in mind, while I roleplay with the Player who's been reading over Thieve's Guild info cuz he's thinking about an underworld PC. And when I need to answer a question from the Player who's all the sudden fascinated with the ancient, crumbling clock-tower and its mysterious, robed caretaker (or whatever), I'll answer his question about how the Summoner he kinda wants to make could fit in the background with that mysterious, robed caretaker.

In addition to the gazetteer and map, I'm also giving a page of 'Rumors' -- any one of which a Player can latch on to for the beginning of his PC life. Or, if the Player is all ready with his own (hunting down the man who killed his dog, or whatever), I can point him to a couple good spots in the gazetteer from which he could choose to consider, and then get to the Player who wants to play a Cavalier and is interested in being the Constable's son.

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I'm confident that my first session will work out very well this way. Based on your advice I'm going to try to find ways to tie NPC relationships together with the PCs -- so if one PC is the Constable's son then another PC also has a tangential relationship with the Constable (or his family) so that when I'm answering for one PC, another PC can be involved as well.

And I think my prep for sessions two, three, etc. (until my big Campaign MacGuffin drops) will be in how to move each PC's gametime forward without excluding other PCs too long, and looking for more possible tie-ins to make that easier.

[Valandil Ancalime]

Hiding DM wrote:

I'm confident that my first session will work out very well this way.

1st rule of Dming, no plan survives contact with the players...