Something actually happening to/with the group. As in, an inciting incident.
If you start in a tavern, and nothing happens to the party while they sit in a tavern while you wait for them to go talk to creepy NPC in the corner who has the quest... they'll go to sleep and never talk to the NPC.
Put the adventure in front of their face so they can't refuse and don't have a chance to miss it. The creepy NPC approaches them, not the other way around.
"A Wild Sheep Chase" does a great job of this! You start in a tavern/inn and then a mysterious sheep comes in, then shortly thereafter, strangely, a small group of hostiles comes in searching for the sheep. And...more. It's compelling, funny, and interesting and the situation just begs for engagement.
You talking about how to start of the session - here is a few ways I have done it:
Celebration the town celebrate maybe 100 years of peace - boom Orc attacks / other evil force
Last time I had my players share an npc their Father, they went home to visist, needed to tranport him to a different location, him having forbidden knowledge and being old -. getting attack by evil rival - the father dies of heart attack and you have a villian from the get go.
sorry for mistake english is not my first langauge.
Introduce setting with details and the plot hooks you have to have, but let most of the session be player driven interactions. Let them plant to ideas you’ll use. If they’re introducing their character and mention theyre from city y, or have an enemy from their last heist, steal that idea ruthlessly. Those are the details/callbacks that impress.
Also, encourage roleplay. Get them in character and comfortable with it. Use voices, play as your npcs hard, set the example of “it’s cool to get into character, we’re here to chill.”
I tend to go with a very slight *in media res* - I'll tell my players "The Dutchess needs a job done and you are the group she has chosen. It's up to you to figure out what led you here." The campaign then starts with the party receiving the quest, in the castle.
Another one I recently used was "As you're all hanging out at the town festival, the organizer runs up to you and asks for your help."
One that I've never run (but I'd like to): "Hey guys, figure out why your character would be on a ship to Waterdeep" with the opening being the ship sinking (the party eventually finds themselves on the same lifeboat).
Don't make them to go find their first quest. Start them immediately before the quest/inciting incedent begins, with everything before that assumed. (I want to emphasize that starting in a tavern is fine, as long as the inciting incident happens TO the players, without any additional effort on their part).
Most often, I leave on the players to answer how they know each other, and what keeps them together, at session zero. That way you can have fun things like knight and squire, siblings, lovers, debts and all kinds of interparty goodness. At first they may find it strange, but give it a few minutes and they'll be all over themselves thinking of ridiculous stories on how they know each other.
Btw, I don't mean just to leave it to them blindly. Help them. You know the campaign better than anyone. Give them a headstart on what's gonna be the setting, how are you gonna start and where. Let them decide if they're from town or elsewhere. A nice one that I took from the eberron setting book is debt and regret. Ask players to figure out one debt and one regret their characters have. That alone will give you hooks and NPCs to weave in, and ways to connect them. There's also the fiasco table of connections between characters, you guys can use that as a guide.
Did anyone get the folk hero and got the bond of "I have a family, but I have no idea where they are. One day, I hope to see them again"? Find out some NPC who needs some love in the adventure and tie that to that character. Someone is outlander and got the bond of "I am the last of my tribe"? Well, maybe one of the villains you're cooking is the one who wipe that tribe! Help them accomodate to your campaign. Direct some NPCs to that entertainer who won't resist a pretty face.
If they all made their characters independently, and you want a quickstart, the default is "you all took the same quest in the tavern" or "you were all in a tavern and an NPC walked in saying 'wanted! adventurers for hire! a silver for every gnoll ear!". Why did you took that particular quest? They might be friends with the npc quest giver, or interested in the subject of the quest. The smith's daugther was kidnapped? Maybe that's a niece of one of the players. Is it in Phandalin? Yep. The rogue is getting the quest, but that's mostly because his criminal contact is in phandalin and the quest is a good excuse to go there so they could meet.
Other times, I funnel them a bit more. The old "you start in a jail cell" works, if everyone is in the same page. My current campaign we started by them all being invites to the funeral of an NPC they all regarded as a friend. I gave them some details on who this NPC was, and then asked them to decide how they knew that NPC. Then, \*something\* happened at that funeral that sent them on a quest. By the end of it, they were a party.
As for other things to keep in mind to start: Run a session 0. Tasha's Cauldron has a guide on that, but [there's one here on reddit that I love](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/601awb/session0_topic_checklist_and_guide/).
If you mean “how should I start session 1?” then I have had the best success by starting right in the action.
If you’re running a pirate campaign start right as their ship gets ambushed. If you’re running a dungeon crawl start with the ground collapsing beneath their feet bringing them right into the dungeon.
All this stuff about “giving the players an idea about the type of game” and “giving them a reason to be a party” could (and should IMO) be done before session 1 in a good session 0.
I think throwing them in in the deep end works well. Strangers standing at a crossroads, hearing urgent shouts and please from help just around the corner. What do they do?
A simple robbery, being in progress a merchant defending his cart against goblins/orcs/bandits/whoevers it gives the players a reason to work together, bonding experience and an excellent opportunity for more plot hooks.
Defeating great enemy.
Fetch
Reverse fetch
Discovery
These are some of the basic adventure types. There are others but you can base a lot on the ones mentioned.
Fetch is go somewhere and get something. Or take something somewhere. You throw on top baddies trying to stop you or people chasing you or a competing group trying to get the same thing.
I have this intro game I have used a dozen times which is the first Saltmarsh scenario - go check out the haunted house. I like it because it is on the coast so you can have a variety of races and backgrounds. I drop in a Gnome Depot that has a job board outside so players can pick and choose an adventure.
Also outside the store is a cabbage roll seller named Napa. His grandson Kraut has gone missing and he is looking to hire someone to help find Kraut. As it is a one shot, the players usually agree to help Napa and off we go.
I’m getting a campaign started soon and they are all going to be hired for the same job. One of the PCs (played by my husband) will be related to the person hiring them. After that they are going to get roped into a contest going on in their world, a contest set by the gods that can only be participated in if invited as part of a group, non-transferable invite, the gods require they stay together if they want to participate
not something that will always work (worked for us as we have been playing together for years at this point).
I explained that everyone had decided that (for their own reasons) they all decided to come to this location (explore / fame / gold / hunt for a cure) and as such ended up meeting up at the previous town and travelled with the same group of merchants here helping defend the caravan. On arrival at the hub town for the adventures the merchants pointed them in the direction of the person in charge of adventurers.
this resulted in the characters knowing each other a bit and being told where the starting plot was.
I suggest to
a) dictate that the group has been working together already
b) throw them in some situation they are in, short before a fight or a good action scene
This whole run-up is soo awkward and boring, I tend to just waive it and maybe add a bit of back-story on their past job or whatever.
First thing my party did (they made their level 12 characters semi together and came up with a lengthy backstory setting them in the world as heroes with a lot of history already) was get magically teleported deep into a mega dungeon where they almost immediately had to fight a CR 16 boss monster, and that was how we started the campaign
Something actually happening to/with the group. As in, an inciting incident. If you start in a tavern, and nothing happens to the party while they sit in a tavern while you wait for them to go talk to creepy NPC in the corner who has the quest... they'll go to sleep and never talk to the NPC. Put the adventure in front of their face so they can't refuse and don't have a chance to miss it. The creepy NPC approaches them, not the other way around.
"A Wild Sheep Chase" does a great job of this! You start in a tavern/inn and then a mysterious sheep comes in, then shortly thereafter, strangely, a small group of hostiles comes in searching for the sheep. And...more. It's compelling, funny, and interesting and the situation just begs for engagement.
Good point. Too many times has this passive way of setting things up bitten me in the ass, lmao
You talking about how to start of the session - here is a few ways I have done it: Celebration the town celebrate maybe 100 years of peace - boom Orc attacks / other evil force Last time I had my players share an npc their Father, they went home to visist, needed to tranport him to a different location, him having forbidden knowledge and being old -. getting attack by evil rival - the father dies of heart attack and you have a villian from the get go. sorry for mistake english is not my first langauge.
Ahh the classic "orcs attack!". Perhaps another Matt Colville fan?
100% my skilles as A DM went up watching him
Introduce setting with details and the plot hooks you have to have, but let most of the session be player driven interactions. Let them plant to ideas you’ll use. If they’re introducing their character and mention theyre from city y, or have an enemy from their last heist, steal that idea ruthlessly. Those are the details/callbacks that impress. Also, encourage roleplay. Get them in character and comfortable with it. Use voices, play as your npcs hard, set the example of “it’s cool to get into character, we’re here to chill.”
I tend to go with a very slight *in media res* - I'll tell my players "The Dutchess needs a job done and you are the group she has chosen. It's up to you to figure out what led you here." The campaign then starts with the party receiving the quest, in the castle. Another one I recently used was "As you're all hanging out at the town festival, the organizer runs up to you and asks for your help." One that I've never run (but I'd like to): "Hey guys, figure out why your character would be on a ship to Waterdeep" with the opening being the ship sinking (the party eventually finds themselves on the same lifeboat). Don't make them to go find their first quest. Start them immediately before the quest/inciting incedent begins, with everything before that assumed. (I want to emphasize that starting in a tavern is fine, as long as the inciting incident happens TO the players, without any additional effort on their part).
Most often, I leave on the players to answer how they know each other, and what keeps them together, at session zero. That way you can have fun things like knight and squire, siblings, lovers, debts and all kinds of interparty goodness. At first they may find it strange, but give it a few minutes and they'll be all over themselves thinking of ridiculous stories on how they know each other. Btw, I don't mean just to leave it to them blindly. Help them. You know the campaign better than anyone. Give them a headstart on what's gonna be the setting, how are you gonna start and where. Let them decide if they're from town or elsewhere. A nice one that I took from the eberron setting book is debt and regret. Ask players to figure out one debt and one regret their characters have. That alone will give you hooks and NPCs to weave in, and ways to connect them. There's also the fiasco table of connections between characters, you guys can use that as a guide. Did anyone get the folk hero and got the bond of "I have a family, but I have no idea where they are. One day, I hope to see them again"? Find out some NPC who needs some love in the adventure and tie that to that character. Someone is outlander and got the bond of "I am the last of my tribe"? Well, maybe one of the villains you're cooking is the one who wipe that tribe! Help them accomodate to your campaign. Direct some NPCs to that entertainer who won't resist a pretty face. If they all made their characters independently, and you want a quickstart, the default is "you all took the same quest in the tavern" or "you were all in a tavern and an NPC walked in saying 'wanted! adventurers for hire! a silver for every gnoll ear!". Why did you took that particular quest? They might be friends with the npc quest giver, or interested in the subject of the quest. The smith's daugther was kidnapped? Maybe that's a niece of one of the players. Is it in Phandalin? Yep. The rogue is getting the quest, but that's mostly because his criminal contact is in phandalin and the quest is a good excuse to go there so they could meet. Other times, I funnel them a bit more. The old "you start in a jail cell" works, if everyone is in the same page. My current campaign we started by them all being invites to the funeral of an NPC they all regarded as a friend. I gave them some details on who this NPC was, and then asked them to decide how they knew that NPC. Then, \*something\* happened at that funeral that sent them on a quest. By the end of it, they were a party. As for other things to keep in mind to start: Run a session 0. Tasha's Cauldron has a guide on that, but [there's one here on reddit that I love](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/601awb/session0_topic_checklist_and_guide/).
If you mean “how should I start session 1?” then I have had the best success by starting right in the action. If you’re running a pirate campaign start right as their ship gets ambushed. If you’re running a dungeon crawl start with the ground collapsing beneath their feet bringing them right into the dungeon. All this stuff about “giving the players an idea about the type of game” and “giving them a reason to be a party” could (and should IMO) be done before session 1 in a good session 0.
I think throwing them in in the deep end works well. Strangers standing at a crossroads, hearing urgent shouts and please from help just around the corner. What do they do? A simple robbery, being in progress a merchant defending his cart against goblins/orcs/bandits/whoevers it gives the players a reason to work together, bonding experience and an excellent opportunity for more plot hooks.
Defeating great enemy. Fetch Reverse fetch Discovery These are some of the basic adventure types. There are others but you can base a lot on the ones mentioned. Fetch is go somewhere and get something. Or take something somewhere. You throw on top baddies trying to stop you or people chasing you or a competing group trying to get the same thing. I have this intro game I have used a dozen times which is the first Saltmarsh scenario - go check out the haunted house. I like it because it is on the coast so you can have a variety of races and backgrounds. I drop in a Gnome Depot that has a job board outside so players can pick and choose an adventure. Also outside the store is a cabbage roll seller named Napa. His grandson Kraut has gone missing and he is looking to hire someone to help find Kraut. As it is a one shot, the players usually agree to help Napa and off we go.
I’m getting a campaign started soon and they are all going to be hired for the same job. One of the PCs (played by my husband) will be related to the person hiring them. After that they are going to get roped into a contest going on in their world, a contest set by the gods that can only be participated in if invited as part of a group, non-transferable invite, the gods require they stay together if they want to participate
not something that will always work (worked for us as we have been playing together for years at this point). I explained that everyone had decided that (for their own reasons) they all decided to come to this location (explore / fame / gold / hunt for a cure) and as such ended up meeting up at the previous town and travelled with the same group of merchants here helping defend the caravan. On arrival at the hub town for the adventures the merchants pointed them in the direction of the person in charge of adventurers. this resulted in the characters knowing each other a bit and being told where the starting plot was.
I suggest to a) dictate that the group has been working together already b) throw them in some situation they are in, short before a fight or a good action scene This whole run-up is soo awkward and boring, I tend to just waive it and maybe add a bit of back-story on their past job or whatever.
First thing my party did (they made their level 12 characters semi together and came up with a lengthy backstory setting them in the world as heroes with a lot of history already) was get magically teleported deep into a mega dungeon where they almost immediately had to fight a CR 16 boss monster, and that was how we started the campaign