We talked a bit about how characters meet at the beginning of a campaign during this afternoon's recording of the Far & Away podcast, although I don't recall if it was during the episode or afterwards - things tend to meld during these recordings ;)
Anyhow, we discussed how the "meet in a bar" cliche is about as over done as all hell but is still used constantly, as it has a certain sense of familiarity to it. In a way, it's part of the common experience of many roleplayers, and even if they groan when hearing it, they still willingly go along with it.
All of which got me thinking - maybe this would make for a useful random table. Then I thought further, and I realized that there is more than just one cliche (geas, political pressure, imminent emergency and and others that have been used repeatedly) when it comes to kicking off a new campaign and introducing the player characters to each other, or at least making an excuse to put them in the same place.
So maybe a table of "how the PCs meet" cliches that then takes the cliches and gives multiple ways to play each of the cliches off - a table leading to more tables.
May be worthwhile, even if not used as a series of random tables but as a list for inspiration.
Yea? Nay? Useful? Pointless? What say you? How do characters in your campaigns meet?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Tenkar's Tavern is supported by various affiliate programs, including Amazon, RPGNow,
and Humble Bundle as well as Patreon. Your patronage is appreciated and helps keep the
lights on and the taps flowing. Your Humble Bartender, Tenkar
Blogs of Inspiration & Erudition
-
-
Kickstart Your Weekend: Horror and Sci-Fi! - A nice mix today. Let's get to it. *Frightshow Classics* [image: Frightshow Classics] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/frightshowclassics/frightshow...6 hours ago
-
Friday Fantasy: Asterion - It is difficult to describe what *Asterion* is without being as direct as its author is. So not to beat about the bush, *Asterion* is a sex dungeon. *Ast...6 hours ago
-
Dark Sun Campaign Setting (Expanded and Revised Edition) (1995) - From the back of the box: A decade has passed since the Age of Heroes began. The city of Tyr has broken free of tyranny, though turmoil still holds the w...15 hours ago
-
Deeper & Deeper Into The Station From Hell - The Red Room's Orbital Decay & Night Owl Workshop's Colonial Troopers - Session Report - Tonight's DM Paul's Colonial Troopers/Orbital Decay campaign and tonight's game picks right up where we were in last week's session. Our scientist Pu ar ...20 hours ago
-
More thoughts on Only Heroes Get to Resist - I've never implemented this rule, but I keep thinking about running a game that would use it: Only Heroes Get to Resist I have a few more thoughts on it, ...22 hours ago
-
QuarHammer - I stumbled, addled, into my local semi-rural game store in search of off-brand Contrast paint to finish up Ionus Cryptborn, and while wandering around, I ...1 day ago
-
More (Mostly Pointless) Messing About - I thought I would try an experiment: I re-scaled one of Bergman's 1:100 Char B-I (bis) models to 1:200 and printed it on my Mars Pro. It's the yellow ...1 day ago
-
-
grodog's Founders & Legends and GaryCon XVI Convention Reports - 14-25 March 2024 - Part 3 - GaryCon XVI – Thank YOUs and SwagContinued from *Part 1 – Arrival through Founders & Legends and Interregnum Tuesday* and from *Part 2 - GaryCon XVI – 20-2...1 day ago
-
Stonehell: Dipping their toes in the sewer - Session 227 was played on 9/24/23 Morgana, Magic User (Rob) Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse) Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC) Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC) Jameth, Fighter 5...1 day ago
-
AD&D ability tests, streamlined - As I've mentioned in my Hyperborea review (check it pout!), I really liked how the game tries to streamline AD&D ability checks: This is a simpler versi...1 day ago
-
On preparing adventures for the Ghostbusters RPG - With my mind on a lot of things lately related to West End Games' classic RPG *Ghostbusters*, I was thinking of putting together a blog entry offering so...1 day ago
-
d100 Wasteland Weirdos - Possibly some Charginspire leaked onto our new album. Sampler short https://youtube.com/shorts/Yj7jn40iomM?si=dflfJ10EdYYJqMYr My Gunderholfen solo play...2 days ago
-
Standoff at Sandfell Sea Fort - By MalrexThe Merciless MerchantsOSR/1e/2eLevels 4-7 Eerie lights? Strange noises? Ships are sailing blind into the rough shores of the Bay of Saurvorn. Why...2 days ago
-
A World in a Magazine - Four years ago, I wrote about my history with miniature games and getting back into them during the lockdown. Summer 1995 saw me seduced by the world of ...2 days ago
-
Living Rooms, Beyond the Living Room, and The Open Form Broadside - Living rooms set to liven up your RPG adventures, and a broadside journal set to stimulate those little grey cells... Rob Kuntz's latest releases! *Livin...4 days ago
-
Return to the Known Lands – Session #43 – Beware of Strangers with Magic Swords, Pt. 2 - PCs: - Frakus (Dw FM 3) - Osan (Elf F/MU 4/2) - Omes (Half FM) - Arro (MU 3) NPCs: - Marnes (CL 4) - Burdar (Dw FM 1) -...5 days ago
-
New Printable Scenery Campaign: Ramshackle & Ruin - [image: New Printable Scenery Campaign: Ramshackle & Ruin] I don't know how many of my peeps here are into 3d printing, but I'm always collecting the STL ...1 week ago
-
Play as Sculpture, Play as Prism - Watching my eldest child and friends engaging in imaginative play, I'm often struck by the fact that what seems to excite them is deciding who gets to be...1 week ago
-
OSR: Mirrors, Cubes, Rods, Staves, and the Deck of Motley Things - I've written another 10 pages of the Treasure Overhaul (title pending), a condensed magic item compendium for old-school games. Unlike the first two prev...1 week ago
-
Session #12 & Adventure Sites Compilation - Firstly, I wanted to let everybody know that Adventure Sites I by Coldlight Press is now available as a free download on DriveThruRPG. It includes my own...1 week ago
-
The Evolution of Gaming, or Why My Thoughts on Gaming have Changed Drastically Over Time - I have been thinking about this for quite a long time and though I am not an eloquent man, I thought I should put these random and chaotic thoughts down in...2 weeks ago
-
The Release of How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox and the Isle of Pyade - The Release With the successful conclusion and fulfillment of my Kickstarter, I am releasing How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox and The Isle of Pyade to the publ...2 weeks ago
-
Clerics of the Flanaess, Part 2 - Sorry it took so long to get to the next article in this series, but here we are! This continues the details of specialty clerics for the World of Greyhawk...2 weeks ago
-
On the Sector Turn - It's very simple. There are many important things cybertechtronically enhanced secret agents need to do: Buy illegal tanks with railguns. "Convince" the...3 weeks ago
-
Arsenic & Old Lace (a Review)... - The free-kriegsspiel revolution (or FKR; sometimes free-kriegsspiel roleplay) has been getting a lot of attention lately, which seems inevitable given re...3 weeks ago
-
The Light Dawns - THIS!!! Yes, a thousand times, this! Back in the day, I referred to this as “neo-classicalgaming,” which is to say, the sorts of games that came ou...3 weeks ago
-
Improvised Awful Lights Missions - Asking about The Awful Lights, a commenter asks: *I'd love to hear about how this is run - with the Handler determining mission location and objectives ...3 weeks ago
-
Jim Ward's Adventure in Gygax's Wonderland - Last weekend at GaryCon, many of us raised a glass to the memory of Jim Ward, who passed away just days before the convention. Ward was very helpful to m...3 weeks ago
-
It’s Tolkien Reading Day - I recently started rereading *The Silmarillion*. I had last read it over two decades ago. I liked it then but I’m really enjoying it this time! Despite b...4 weeks ago
-
Osr anchorites? - It's been a long time since I listened to any osr podcasts. Anchor was a lot of fun. I'm not sure if the community is still going? I deleted the app ...5 weeks ago
-
Chaos War Dogs - Welcome back to the Vault! My gaming partner and I had a fun day at the Meme Team doubles last weekend, placing mid-table results wise. My eye is now lo...5 weeks ago
-
ShadowDark Magic Items - The next campaign I run will use the ShadowDark RPG. I'm not sure when that'll be (I'm hoping a little later this year), but ShadowDark is my choice. I'v...1 month ago
-
Xandering, Jaquaysing, or Arneson-ing the Dungeon? - Yet another gamer firestorm arose shortly after the passing of Janelle Jaquays when it was noted that Justin Alexander had changed a rather well known p...2 months ago
-
GLOG Class: Bioweapon - I got this idea from mad gods on bear blog. Crab Evo from Kagaku Sentai Dynaman A thousand soldiers were slain. Too many to be tragic--this is just a fact...2 months ago
-
The Economy Engine, v0.2 - I made a thing. For D&D 3rd edition, so it might not be that interesting to a lot of people. But I made it and I think it’s cool. The 3rd edition Dungeon M...2 months ago
-
*'s in SpaaaaaAaaaace - A lot of SF (including a certain 2D6 RPG grandaddy) deal with ancient aliens taking humans from Earth and dropping them, fleas and all, on one or more w...3 months ago
-
[MODULE] The Webs of Past and Present & Cloister of the Frog-God (NOW AVAILABLE!) - Can you have enough frog-themed modules? I am pleased to announce the publication of two adventure modules, *The Webs of Past and Present *and *Cloister of...3 months ago
-
What Else Have I Got in Me? - Brechewold's been done for a little while. Still incredibly pumped to have this labor of love out in the company of LotFP's marvelously creative body of ...3 months ago
-
Housekeeping 2024 - Coactus Illustration © Heather Gwinn. A gift she gave me in 2013 for an edition of Miscreated Creatures which I hope exists someday. Coloring by me. I am a...3 months ago
-
Last move - to self-hosting! - As my vote regarding Substack in the “marketplace of ideas”, I’m moving to self-hosting. I’m now at (and hopefully staying for a long time at) Blog: ht...3 months ago
-
Sex-Crazed Falling Stars, Free Weather Magic, and Adventures: News of the Hill Cantons - *Grandma Gaya, the Rav-Witch of High Kezmarok*, seeks the stout of limb and humble of mind in the *obtaining of fallen stars* from an upcoming prophesied ...3 months ago
-
Time Rolls On - Today is December 31, 2023, in the mid-afternoon. In less than ten hours it will be 2024. 2023 2023 was a good year. But all years are good years. Both goo...3 months ago
-
Play Report: Skull Mountain - At the end of the last Skull Mountain session the PCs had retreated to safety at Owen's redoubt, met with visiting elves, and recovered from injuries ...5 months ago
-
-
Moving On... - So, my D&D 5e experiment has blown up the lab in a puff of green smoke leaving my face blackened like Wile E. Coyote after a failed roadrunner Acme trap...10 months ago
-
How to Keep Megadungeons Fresh - People often consider megadungeons boring. Not because the play style is boring, but because they are in the same locale for a majority of the campaign. If...11 months ago
-
ODIOUS UPLANDS and COMPLETELY UNFATHOMABLE DCC AT LAST - NOW AVAILABLE in PDF and Print on Demand:ODIOUS UPLANDS and COMPLETELY UNFATHOMABLE (DCC)CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW! SO YOU SURVIVED OPERATION UNFATHOMABLE? Od...1 year ago
-
The Blade Itself - I just finished listening to the audiobook of The Blade Itself, volume one in Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law trilogy. This was my first exposure to his wo...1 year ago
-
Master Treasure Seeker: A Dungeon23 MegaDungeon - Introduction - Sean McCoy, author of Mothership, posted an article on his substack titled Dungeon23 and it's taken the indie RPG scene by storm. So, I'm throwing my hat...1 year ago
-
Genteel Magistrate at FenCon XVIII - Victorious author Mike Stewart will be a guest at FenCon XVIII this weekend at the Sheraton DFW Airport hotel, 4440 W. John Carpenter Freeway, Irving, TX, ...1 year ago
-
Osamu Tezuka (1928 - 1989) - [image: Osamu Tezuka - Shonen Magazine Cover, 1970]Shonen Magazine Cover, 1970 [image: Osamu Tezuka - Shonen Magazine Cover Illustration 1970]Shonen Maga...1 year ago
-
Helvéczia: Journal de Campagne, 3 - We resumed play this past week, joining the company still within the farmstead where those that remain of the seven knaves are restrained or incapacitate...1 year ago
-
This is an Important Game Mechanic - *"That's the GM's Regional Map from my AOWG. And it's a damned good regional map. It's not a good map for a Simple Homebrew Campaign. It does some s$&...1 year ago
-
Clean Your Room - Looking back at my little blog here. That last post… wow, I was having fun playing WOW Classic! That was August of 1999 and I was having a blast… it was ...2 years ago
-
-
My RPG Zine Trilogy is on Kickstarter! - I can't believe I didn't post about it here! The Dead are Coming, Screams Amongst the Stars and Running Out of Time are on *Kickstarter right now!* Thes...3 years ago
-
Maximum HP 004, one week to go - Just one week to go for Maximum HP issue #004, the undead. We are pushing through stretch goals and wracking up contributions for the best issue yet. We...3 years ago
-
Steve Jackson Interview - James Maliszewski recently did an interview with Steve Jackson over on his Grognardia blog. Steve chats about the beginnings of The Fantasy Trip and upcomi...3 years ago
-
The Hero’s Journey 2nd Edition, Campbellian roleplaying at its best! - (this review done using the reviewers own purchased copy) I have been a James Michael Spahn fan since he wrote his Swords & Wizardry Companion. His writing...3 years ago
-
Undermountain Map Origins - As documented on the Ruins of Undermountain sales page, "TSR didn't actually use Ed Greenwood's original maps," at least not in their entirety. This post d...3 years ago
-
WB:FMAG Total Print Sales - Hello Folks, The last time I did a quick sales report was in September 2018. I pulled reports from Amazon, Lulu and DrivethruRPG from October to current fo...4 years ago
-
The Minotaur for Old-School Essentials - *Minotaur* *Requirements:* Minimum STR 9, Minimum CON 9 *Prime Requisite:* STR and CON *Hit Dice:* 1d10 *Maximum Level:* 8 *Armor:* Leather, including shield...4 years ago
-
WIZARDS OF POHJOLA - Init +0 Melee Atk • sword or dagger +1 (1d5 or 1d3) Ranged Atk • hot iron sparks +3 (1d4+2 to two targets within 20' but not closer than 5') AC 14 HD 12d...4 years ago
-
The Withered Crag custom print version for sale again - Just re-enabled the direct sales button for the custom print (classic style detached cover) version of F4 The Withered Crag, and also for F3 Many Gates of...4 years ago
-
Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule - *As you know, I run public classic Dungeons & Dragons games at **The Loaded Die**/Metro Detroit Game Night's Board Game Nigh at **Dragonmead**, in Warren...4 years ago
-
-
D&D Sling Damage vs. Large Targets - In many early editions of D&D, weapons were assigned two damage values: one for small/medium targets (i.e. man-sized) and one for large targets (giants and...4 years ago
-
James A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Video - A beloved father, devoted friend, and D&D Dungeon Master extraordinaire. We miss you! To view video, click here Memorial Video Note - The original video...5 years ago
-
Let's Talk About Pacing! - The idea, I think, is that the RPG is ultimately about the long game. Even rolling back to the early days of Basic & Expert, the goal of the player was...5 years ago
-
Profane and Profound Prep Part 2 - This is part 2 of my work to edit my magic items for a DMsGuild release, along with adding cursed items along the way. Here is part 1. Bone of a Saint 8000...5 years ago
-
SHORT BREAK. - I'm going to take a break for a week or so and will start up again in the New Year. Thanks for reading and we'll start with Level 6 when I get back.5 years ago
-
Iain Lovecraft, 3D Sculptor - Nope, it's got nothing to do with Cthulhu. I just did a video conversation with Iain Lovecraft, who designs 3D miniatures and terrain. If you're not doi...5 years ago
-
New website! - Slowly but surely, all the content here will make its way — in updated form! — to my new website: timbannock.com. For fairly obvious reasons, that site wil...5 years ago
-
Please Update Your Link! - If you're seeing this, it means your link to the Greyhawk Grognard blog is out of date. Please update your link to www.greyhawkgrognard.com (RSS feed is h...5 years ago
-
Mord Mar - Session 6 - We weren't able to play Mord Mar last week, due to a family funeral. This week we played on Monday for the first time, due to kids returning to school and ...5 years ago
-
A Small, Quiet Plea - There has been a great deal of discussing political agendas, social grievances, and personal attacks within the little corner of gaming that is my hobby....5 years ago
-
Don’t Sleep It’s Broken - Expanding/editing my comments from What Makes Something Broken G+ thread: “Broken”, for me, is anything that makes normal character choices, tactics, or ro...6 years ago
-
Swords & Wizardry Light-Themed Birthday Party - Last month, my wife and I helped our oldest to celebrate his birthday in style. Ever since 2013, we have hosted a themed birthday party for our now-15-ye...6 years ago
We have used the tried and true tavern-meet-up like everyone else, but the last campaign I ran I took a slightly different route. I had the players come up with backstories for their characters, and submit them a few weeks before the game began. I took the backstories, and wove them into a series of short "prequels" that explained how everyone came to be together. Where it was possible, I also wove the backstories into the campaign story arc. For an easy example, two players said that their characters were each in search of his father. With some tweaking, these characters' "prequel" had them encounter each other while both were on their search, and they discover that they might be related. Since neither character actually knew their father, it was fairly easy to work that NPC into the existing story arc. They didn't find out for certain until much later that they did, in fact, have the same father but different mothers. It took some work, but each prequel was a single night (or sometimes only a couple of hours) of quick gaming. Everyone enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be very useful. Even if you don't roll, and just use it to jog the brain to get away from the universal tavern meet. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It has its charm. But as you said it is seemly the standard cliche used. I want to start my next campaign more or less in media res. No meet and greet. Just roll initiative. The caravan (or whatever) is under attack. You can talk after you drive off the goblins.
ReplyDeleteI usually start a campaign by saying "Okay, you all know each other. Tell me how." This puts the onus on the players to come up with their reasons for adventuring together, and usually plants several adventure seeds at the same time.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, the DCC-style funnel adventure can give a good reason - in my current campaign, the PCs were a bunch of commoners rounded up by Prince Charming to rescue Sleeping Beauty from her castle (RavenCrowKing's excellent module).
I use this as well: learned it from the D6 Star Wars game 1st edition when they talk about character creation and the "how they know each other" section. Works like a charm.
DeleteIn Tenkar's Tavern, of course!
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, I generally leave that for the players to hash out. If they don't think it's too important, they'll sort of hand-wave it, and if they're the sort that loves intricate back-stories, they'll go to town.
Long as I don't have to do it for them, I'm happy.
Me and my group are at the point where we hammer all this out before the game actually begins. The group starts together already having a relationship and a reason to adventure together worked into their backgrounds. That way we can jump right into the gaming.
ReplyDeleteJB's got a hundred reasons:
ReplyDeletehttp://bxblackrazor.blogspot.com/2010/08/give-me-reasonor-hundred.html
In media res, I start them in the middle of a fight and let them work it out from there. A little term and trick I learned from C. S. Forester's Hornblower books. The back story is only important if you tie it into the story you're telling.
ReplyDeleteLast time I stole a page from the beginning of "Musashi" and the PCs were the survivors of a terrible battle for which they had been conscripted. They were left for dead and behind enemy lines. Gave them a reason to work together and impetus for adventure.
ReplyDeleteThe last game I started was, "You are all adventure minded townsfolk. After a landslide, children start showing up in town with gold pieces and bones." There was more to it than that (I described the desert town, etc) but that was the gist of it. They then spent their creation GP on what they thought they needed, and headed up to Miller's Peak to climb into the cave opened by the landslide. Most decided they knew each other, some decided they just headed out at the same time, arriving at the cave together and going in together for advantage in numbers. I didn't particularly care; it was up to them to form the party dynamic.
ReplyDeletePrior to that, I started everybody in a smoking pit, with townsfolk throwing feces at them. I had everybody roll a d6, and split the party in three groups who knew each other and decided their alignment together by hand gestures while the other players had their eyes closed. After that, they were all people who had recently arrived in town, and were woken up and tossed into the pit by the townsguard for unknown reasons. Together the party figured out what was happening, and got to know each other -- without having a clear idea how the other groups were lying or of lawful or chaotic alignment. In that case, I drove the party together, and intentionally added some friction inside the party itself.
The latter one I have since written up as a convention game, and am probably going to port it over to the GENERALA FRPG and toss it up online somewhere.
The meet in a bar trope is interesting now that I think about it. I have never just met someone in a bar in my life. I mean I've arranged dates that started at bars/restaurants/coffee shops, but I've never gone to a bar by myself and left with a new friend, let alone a group of new friends. I don't think any of my players (all 40 and under) have either, most of us don't even go to bars very often for that matter. It makes me wonder, if the trope grows out of '70s culture, our gaming forebears may have been more gregarious when going to the bar. It's interesting to think about.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I've been playing and running a lot of Dungeon World, which has bonds each player chooses for their characters which can usually cover the whole "how did you all meet" question, and then I start the adventure in media res and the rest of that background often comes out in play, one player may say something like "It's just like that time I saved your ass" and then I ask questions to tease out detail, and the other players add to it.
"You meet in a prison cell under the king's palace" then ask how they ended there. Never failed me.
ReplyDeleteIn one campaign here, the GM started us all out on a slave ship, locked up in cages and being transported to the auction block. We were just starting to get an escape plan together when a flotilla of goodie-two-shoes lawful-goods attacked. It was a nail-biter, but we all got out, and landed on a deserted beach down the shore from the slaver's city. Ahhhh... what memories.
DeleteThat's when I excuse myself from the table and say good night.
DeleteSeriously, I can't stand that approach.
I prefer the players to work out how they're connected and how they met, but I like a variety of the suggestions given above that are along the lines of telling them they are already together in some situation and then asking them to fill in the backstory.
ReplyDeleteFor less creative / newer players, however, I like using one of the many tables that let them roll up how they're connected to each other. For example, each player rolls on a table to find out how they're connected to the player on their left. The B/X Adventurer sports one, among many possibilities.
The tavern-meet works in-game because it also works in real life; it's where real people actually tend to meet one another - over food and drinks in a public place.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those things that I think gamers object to just to show how ' original' and 'out of the box' they believe they are.