100 Ways To Start A Campaign (That Aren’t In A Tavern)

It's either a tradition or a trope for adventuring parties to meet down at the local tavern, and to come together in common cause over drinks. However, while that is a perfectly functional beginning for a campaign, sometimes you want to do something different. If you've been trying to figure out where your party first got together, or you just want to make a different impression on your players, then consider trying some of the following starting places and framing devices for your current round of characters to form a party! As a disclaimer, these starting points are not universal. Many of them will be tied closely to particular genres of adventure, or they will require greater levels of player buy-in to work. With that said, though, consider talking to your players, and even letting them vote on a handful of suggestions you think work best for the story you're telling. Or, for hard mode, roll a d100 during Session 0, and whatever comes up is the first session that you and your players need to prepare for next week! This PDF supports Adobe layers and the page backgrounds and images can be disabled to make printing easier. Here are some sample results: Collector's Items: The characters all awaken in a bizarre chamber. Each of them stands atop a stone plinth with a magical symbol carved into a plaque attached just beneath their feet. None of them recall how they came to be here, but they have all their gear (along with a few fresh additions), and beneath the symbols are their names and a date. It's as if they're all part of some kind of living library, or collection. Whether they've been gathered by an obsessive dragon, an obscure cult or even a god remains to be seen. However, if they've escaped their containment, other (particularly dangerous) parts of the collection may have done so as well! Between The Stacks: The library is the center of culture and entertainment in this town. Perhaps some of the characters arrive for a regular book club meeting. One might be in the midst of doing important research. Some might be there to listen to a dramatic reading from a local author or theater company, while others are just there to return their most recent borrowed materials. Something happens, though, that causes chaos. An attempt to steal a rare book, perhaps? Maybe a cursed item was placed in the stacks, or a spell was set to go off when more people would be in attendance? Perhaps a cult is attempting to use an ancient ritual chamber that's been remodeled and turned into a children's section? The specific event matters less than the characters attempting to step in to handle it, and it can be either a one-off occurrence, or a hook into a deeper, broader plot that runs through the rest of the campaign. Trapped: The characters find themselves in a small town that's little more than a wide spot in the road between two drawbridges that cross a river that splits around the outskirts of the settlement. Maybe some of the characters were just passing through, and they intended to head out the next morning. Perhaps some are regulars in this town, and they were here for supplies, or to gather news before heading back out into the wider world. When the morning comes, however, the town is completely surrounded by a thick, unnatural fog that seems to rest on the far bank of the river. Things can be seen moving in that fog, and those who go out into it disappear without a trace or a sound. A survivor or two might stumble back, bloody and babbling, their minds broken by what they saw. If the characters want to escape, they'll need to form a plan, and pool their efforts, lest they be devoured by the fog. Once Upon A Dream: The characters may have never met one another before, but a strange nightmare brings them all together. Stalked by phantasmal monsters, and seeking to return to the world of the waking, they need to band together in order to escape unscathed. Those who die in the dream will awaken with wounds reminiscent of the blows that killed them, and all characters have vivid memories of both the dream, and those they met while they were in it. Upon waking, they may even experience a compulsion to find one another... or perhaps seemingly random chance brings them together for reasons none can yet explain. Into The Wyld: Never walk under the arch of hanging branches that touch the ground, or step into a mushroom circle... according to the old stories, at least, that's how you fall out of this world and into another. While there are a thousand different ways one can end up in the realms of the fey, somehow or another this group of characters finds themselves stepping out of their world, and into a truly unfamiliar place. Strange creatures whirl about them as they dance to inhuman songs, and trencher tables of bizarre foods with exotic aromas can be found in forest clearings, or alongside rutted tracks. Characters will need to tread carefully, and mind both their manners and their words, for it is far more difficult to escape the Lords and Ladies than it is to find oneself among their number. One page is the front cover, three the front matter and one is ads. Play YouTube Preview Click on an image to check out more Guides More guids for players and GMs Keep checking back to see if more are added