I think most groups that have been playing together for a while will make characters as group. But I am sure we have played a night or a couple of campaigns with "random" groups. And with random groups you often have people joining who to play a specific character or may have different vision of game play than the other people at the table. Some people would shy away from this or dismiss the unruly gamers as power gamers or failed actors, but what when I saw this post I saw it as a call to arms. Perhaps even the beginning of a manifesto, DOSSTA HAS SAID TO US THAT WE AS GMs NEED NOT TURN A PLAYER AWAY. WE SHOULD REJECT NO CHARACTER CONCEPT *that fits reasonably well into the mechanics and genre our specific game*


I don't see any trouble with these starts other than they may not be the right start for your campaign. But these are just starts, without the characters it may be hard to flesh out. Thus I again offer a challenge, a game if you will, we fill a hat with 60 character concepts and then we pick 5 and pick a "start" then we write an exposition that reasonably connects all the characters without significantly altering their backstory. Go to Comment

Really good idea!

I don't see the same strictures as Redgre - there are some assumptions of racial integration that can be challenged, depending on your campaign.


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Ditto. I'm sure I'll be using some of these in the future! Very useful and well-written post. Go to Comment

I agree with pretty much everything that's been said. I like your post and I guess I have been waiting for someone to take the initiative on this. I would like to see it expanded upon, but like Echo, I don't have that inspiration at my finger tips. The trouble I see with some of your 'starts' is the need for the PCs to be similar in many respects. To give a few examples: with #5, #10, & #18 the PCs should be of the same race. For #12, #15, #16, & #20 the PCs should be the same (or very similar) classes/occupations, and lastly surviving a plague or hiding from the same guards doesn't always unite PCs... perhaps that can't be fleshed out at this point, but it would be cool if we could. Nice resource. You've definitely given me something I can use. Go to Comment

Echo & axelrowes, I agree with what you're saying. I think you have misunderstood my comment. First, this is fantasy. There is always stretch room. Yes, a lesser diety, a demon spawned cockroach, and a dolphin can all be members of the same family, quest, and so on. I'm not arguing that. I was only making a point that to keep continuity with story lines same race in those mentioned instances makes the most sense and likewise with the classes. Birds of a feather flock together. I used the word 'should' not 'must'. For example: Does it make sense to you with #20 that all the apprentices of a thieves guild must pass an initiation test that will kill all but the best of them and some how in their midst needing the same stealth and skills you find a gnome wizard, a elven druid, and a human paladin of Ra? Along the same vein is the wizard supposed to enter a joust (like in #12)? All I'm saying is that character diversity makes some of the starts harder to pull off. That's it. If you missed it, I too like this submission. Thanks for your feedback on my feedback. Go to Comment

Most of these use the "adventure finds you" premise, and are intended as a quick way to group the players together. The DM should use these intros to introduce a common objective or common enemy to the players that ties in with the rest of the campaign.

With 21, for example, the MacGuffin could be stolen out from under the PCs noses by a villain from the main campaign. Or they deliver the MacGuffin, only to have the credit for the recovery stolen by a corrupt official who figures prominently in the main storyline. In both cases the GM has given the players a common enemy that unites them.

With 13, the tie-in could be that the PCs have all suffered terrible loss during the plague (travelling companions if they were visiting, friends/relatives if they lived there) and are drawn together for moral support. Perhaps the plague was magical in origin, released by the denizens of the campaign's antagonists, and the PCs want to prevent other towns from being devastated.

The point is, use these to forge a group, but find some way to introduce a goal or enemy during that first adventure that is compelling enough to keep the party together when its over. Go to Comment

I don't think I made the introduction very clear, so thank you very much for your feedback. I may have to go back and rewrite it at some point. Go to Comment

I've really enjoyed the feedback that I've received on this submission. It's given me a lot to think about, and I will use it as a guideline when trying to improve the post.

AG and Redgre have both pointed out the two really weak spots with these starts -- that several share a common theme (how many ways can you really spin the prison/slave start? Let's find out!), or require at least some GM meddling with a character's backstory (you are all nobles, you all went to university, etc). While I did try to address the first problem by putting a different spin on the common ones (prison escape, prison parole, exile, slaving, etc, etc), I realise that I may have relied on the trope too much when creating these.

As to the second point, the game that axlerowes suggested is a good exercise, and believe that we should try it, though I'm unsure of the proper venue for it (forum, comments?). Ideally, I would like as many hooks as possible to get these unrelated character concepts on the same path, without requiring backstory tinkering.

Overall, though, I am pleased. I found the Citadel by following a link to a 30's list from some other site, and have been wanting to do one ever since. Knowing that someone finds this list helpful and may even use one of these to start their campaign is the best complement that could ever be paid to my work. The only thing that could be better would be to have it expanded by others as well. Go to Comment

In the months since I wrote this post, I have found a few other online resources that run very much along the same vein.  Here are two that I will list here in case someone finds them useful:

http://strolen.com/viewing/Character_Hooks

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=505#tips

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Update: Added a few more to the list. More to come soon. Go to Comment

Only Voted

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I never anticipated how much awesome material would spawn from The Staff of The Golden King. Dossta, I tip my hat to you. This is a great piece with a power that is not only inspiring and useful, but themed appropriately. I am greatly enjoying out almost symbiotic relationship in posting. I feel like this could go on for many more submission, especially if we take the time to communicate ideas. Good work, dude. Go to Comment

What about the fragments of the lost mirror? Go to Comment

5/5-it's a pretty and useful item. Go to Comment

I'm absolutely captivated by this submission. I'm not sure exactly why, but it seems like the perfect combination of elements. Very nicely done.

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Sounds exactly like the Upright Citizens Brigades "Bucket of Truth" skits only not funny.  In fact

"Drawing near the Mirror, you can almost hear the sound of children's laughter and it brings great joy to those who view it.  At night the colors calm and begin to shimmer like the aurora, as seen in only the coldest northern climes.  Gazing at the swirling aurora will instill the viewer with a sense of profound peace, as if wrapped in a mother's embrace.  "

 

that sounds down right unnerving. 

 

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Thanks, man. Bouncing these things off each other has been a lot of fun, and there is so much left in this world to flesh out. We should probably consider making a codex for all of this stuff at some point. Go to Comment

I've been rolling a quest line around in my head that involves the lost fragments, but wasn't ready to post it yet. I may add it to this post if I don't have time to flesh it out properly, but it will hopefully end up being its own submission. I'll let you know when it's done. Go to Comment

Awesome! Such a great creation myth, and I'm glad I could help inspire it. I feel like the myth overshadows the temple itself but they have been intertwined in an awesome way. The temple mimicking the light as it was when they were together is just great. Good work. Go to Comment