101 ways for a adventuring party to form

[afro-slav]

I am starting this thread in hopes of generating a list way that the characters in your group can come together.

1) The standard you meet in a bar
2) Former members of a Free Company
3) All were the last survivors of a Caravan raid
4) All work for a Scholar
5) All work for a Merchant
6) All work for a Noble
7) All are ex-slaves who escaped together
8) All work for a priest....

 

[Spectator]

They all come from the same tribe/clan/ village.
They all are shipwrecked on a hostile coast, together.
They all are members of the religious sect fullfilling a quest for the temple together, to atone for past sins.
They all hatched a plan to bust out of jail and make a run for the Kezankians.
They are all retainers of the noble PC.
They all share a dark secret that would be a hanging crime in Aquilonia.


OK anyone else?

 

[warzen]

They have all been sentenced to death for various reason but now have a common goal: escape !

W.

 

[Majestic7]

The characters are drawn to an ancient ruin by dreams that have been haunting their nights for several months

The characters wake up in a prison cell / ancient ruin / mysterious island with no idea how they have ended up there

A sorcerer has forced the characters to work for him through geas-like spell or by addicting them to some alchemical substance

After a lost battle, the character happen to be survivors who just run towards the same direction

The characters are distant relatives, who come together after an old relative has died and his last will is about to be revealed

The characters have been test subjects of a fiendish sorcerer. Now he has mysteriously vanished or perished and they have a chance to enter in to the wide world for the first time. (Aberrations or Spawns, anyone?)

 

[maladaar]

22) Small village is being harassed by brigands and send a small group to a large town/small city in search of a small band of adventurers to help them....each character is approached separately with a plea for help

23) The characters are slaves sent to the Gladiatorial Pits to fight against real gladiators and their only hope of survival is to fight together in an attempt to beat the gladiators

 

[maladaar]

24) The characters all happen to be on the same ship which is attacked by pirates. The characters find themselves chained to the oars again the only chance of escaping is by joining forces

25) There are non-lethal gladiatorial games and all are welcome to enter the games. Characters may even be pitted against each other

 

[maladaar]

26) Each of the characters have been taken prisoner separately for individual crimes (theft possibly). A noble is in need of a group of adventurers to retrieve something of value that has been stolen from them

27) A temptress has seduced each of the characters (either individually or in small groups) and they are enthralled enough to join to take care of a small problem (possibly a rival). This may even open up competition between the characters for the affection of the temptress

 

[Ichabod]

We've had three parties.

First was formed as new recruits to defend the Pictish frontier.

Second was a noble, his herald, and a hired man-at-arms.

Third was a scholar doing research on the Pictish frontier while the other two were there for similar individual reasons when the Picts assaulted the town.

Personally, I like the idea that players create characters who are family or friends to begin with to establish immediate party cohesion. Uncooperative parties might be okay in a one shot, but they are painful in campaigns.

 

[Verderer]

My group starts with a variant of the slave gig: all PCs have somehow ended as slaves, some captured by conquest, some are convicted felons, etc. As the play starts they're in slave caravan marching through some inhospitable terrain (haven't pinned the location down yet). So their mission is to escape, hopefully together, and to survive long enough in order to get back to civilization. On their way they will find an abandoned city (or is it?) or mysterious ruins, some bandits, wild beasts etc... you know the drill. :wink:

 

[maladaar]

28.) Each of the characters is owed coin from a merchant with a gambling problem. Each character receives word that the merchant has mysteriously disappeared. Has the merchant fled without paying his debts or is there foul play? All of the characters just happen to arrive at the merchant's place at the same time to discover that it has been ransacked with nothing left of value that has not been destroyed. Do they accuse each other or join forces?

29) The characters happen to be at the same tavern not knowing that slavers have targeted this establishment. All patrons that eat or drink have been drugged causing them to go unconscious. The characters awake to find themselves in a slave caravan.

 

[Sir Hackalot]

I had one were all the characters were members of the Nemedian Adventurers. They were hired to defend the settlers in Pictland during the events of Beyond the Thunder River.

 

[maladaar]

30) Either a flash-flood or volcanic eruption wipes out the village/town that the characters are in. Seeking refuge in higher grounds (to escape the rising waters or lava flows) the characters run into each other and soon realize the entire village/town has been wiped out with no other survivors.

31) An earthquake hits the town/village that the characters are in. Unknown to the characters and most of the villagers is that the town/village was built on ancient catacombs. The characters land in tunnels/chambers below the surface as the tavern collapses. Everyone must thrown their lot in together if they are to escape from the catacombs.

 

[Barbarossa Rotbart]

In an old campaign I've played some years ago, the heroes met eachother after been arrested for murder, which they did not commit.

 

[Krushnak]

I started my game by having the pc's gang pressed into service onto a pirate ship.

34) All the characters know the same npc who has called them in aswell as a bunch of other adventurers and friends to help defend a village that he's been hired to protect. The village gets attacked by mercenaries each year as they return back to their homeland at the end of the fighting season (plot to a warhammer fantasy novel)

 

[maladaar]

35) The characters each individually end up owing a gambling debt to a Noble. The Noble has a rival that needs to be taken care of and calls in his debts by calling in all of the characters to take care of his "problem" in exchange for removing their gambling debts.