Gentlemen Start Your Engines

[NetNemesis316]

So what is your favorite way to get heroes together to start a campaign. And what ways haven't you tried that you would like to?

[James Gillen]

I usually have them recruited by a stranger they met while drinking together at a bar.

JG

[Coxcomb]

Although I don't think I'd ever be as cruel as to actually use it, I think it might be fun to start a campaign by having the heroes be "contestants" on a reality tv-show.

It'd only work with some cooperation with the heroes' backgrounds, especially if some of them were "has-beens" or down on their luck. It's something the FOX network of a Champions' World would try if they could... mix some heroes, some "reformed" supervillains, and a couple joe normals. Of course the Joe Normals would have some secret that FOX'd spring a couple episodes in (they used to be a minion for Foxbat, or they're currently dating Prof. Meurtre).

[Pulsar]

When I was running Marvel Super heros RPG, I would sometimes start a campaign by having the heros working individually, with some perhaps being friendly. After a couple of games to get them used to the game I would start throwing threats at them that would require cooperation between them. and later suggest that they form a team. To me that made the team a more natural thing, and from the players, they felt the same way.

[winterhawk]

Although I don't think I'd ever be as cruel as to actually use it, I think it might be fun to start a campaign by having the heroes be "contestants" on a reality tv-show.


My current campaign group was formed in just this way...it was a lot of fun...and I really hate reality shows.

[CrosshairCollie]

I've always wanted to have the characters all gain their powers through the same circumstances. Something on the order of the Fantastic Four's origin, or like the game Freedom Force where everybody got their powers from Energy X.

[Hawksmoor]

I've always wanted to have the characters all gain their powers through the same circumstances. Something on the order of the Fantastic Four's origin, or like the game Freedom Force where everybody got their powers from Energy X.

Yes! I was empowered by the uncanny abilities of Energy X!

My Super Power?! I Must End Every Sentance With An Exclaimation Point!

Hawksmoor

[The Mad GM]

Big explosions. Crowds of innocent bystanders. Some cryptic puzzle. A minor villain who shows strange new powers or gadgets. A duck.

[Supreme Serpent]

We've done a lot of ways.

Collaboration over time->team

Government recruited

Tryout for branch team

Linked origin, often starting play as normals

The favorite that I've done personally so far - Time-travel villain comes into past (our present) before the team that troubles him so much in the future (his past) is formed and attacks them individually, exhibiting knowledge of powers, weaknesses, etc. Of course, the heroes end up winning in the end and banding together (thus, villain effectively forming the group himself). :thumbup:

One I've wanted to do for awhile involves a villain group I have which has a member (Moonbeam) whose EB causes short-term memory loss if it KO's you. Wanted to start players out waking up in site of recent battle, with no idea how they got there, what happened, etc. but recognizing each other vaguely from news reports, etc. First story arc revolves around them trying to recreate the detective work, etc. they did to run into the villains the first time (which would also show them that they had partnered with each other, etc.). Then they need to track down the villains again, and have hopefully pieced enough together on the bad guys and the last battle so they won't lose again. :think:

[Vex]

For the new Weapon X team for going into my Exiles-style campaign I have decided to surprise the characters. To get the players excited about the campaign and their characters, I am building 4 adventures. One based on each character that will detail their last adventure before they become part of the Weapon X team. I am still trying to figure out all the details of each, for example I have built "reimagined" versions of some of the Batman style heroes and villans and have a story line for them to go through. One character will play his new character and the other players will get a randomly selected hero. I have done this for each of the new characters. Hopefully, they will like it!

[Fenixcrest]

When it's just starting out, I prefer to, if possible, have the PCs all be familiar with each other, preferably already be a team of some kind. This is especially true if the first arc represents their "origin story," a bunch of buddies get irradiated in some accident and become a super-team.

Otherwise, I just try to open up like.. the day after they form the team; maybe one of them is the leader, and formed the team to stop a given threat, which then leads to other events.

When it's a new player coming in, I like to have them encounter an NPC superhero, who doesn't quite like the cut of the newbie's jib. They duke it out for a couple turns, then a nearby federal bank explodes. Instant moment of truth.

That's just for supers campaigns... I've tried all kinds of crazy junk for other genres... I don't really wanna go into it just now, though. Maybe later...

[Shikarr]

Mine usually starts as a detective type game that weaves all the characters in in some way or another using there backgrounds or their disadvantages until they meet and find out they are more together than apart.

[Mayday]

Probably the most interesting method I've tried was to use one of the character's backgrounds so that he had just stolen a high tech device from his bosses, after finding out they had criminal intent. He crashed his car into one driven by another pair of heroes in secret ID. The last hero had instant change and so was the only one in costume and able to act heroic for a good hour.

Another time everyone was staying at the same hotel on the same floor and began to notice one of the hotel guests acting strangely. He too was on their floor, let the midnight stealth rolls begin.

[Hermit]

I've always wanted to have the characters all gain their powers through the same circumstances. Something on the order of the Fantastic Four's origin, or like the game Freedom Force where everybody got their powers from Energy X.

Did that with the "Fabulous Four" Campaign recently, it worked well. :)
Kelvarite is a wonderful CU creation.

[Redmenace]

We have a diverse group whose player characters don't often have a lot in common.

What I like to do is have a natural disaster, I'm on the west coast so earthquakes and tsunamis are the favorite. That makes it of immediateconcern for all the characters to get involved and actually cooperate from the beginning

[CrosshairCollie]

Did that with the "Fabulous Four" Campaign recently, it worked well. :)
Kelvarite is a wonderful CU creation.

Ooh ... and isn't it the 'official' stance that everybody with Kelvarite-induced powers has roughly the same disadvantages? Wow ... that's just shaft-job central. It's bad enough when the Justice League runs into one guy who's carrying around a lump of Kryptonite; imagine what happens when this team runs into a guy carrying around a lump of Kelvarite!

[zornwil]

I used to team people up by the providence of them running across the same crime scene, but last time I did it as something like that but 2 characters were already together as detectives in a law firm (their choice), another 2 were husband and wife (both as PCs and real-life) and there was a contrivance on the gov'ts part to get the latter 2 out and adventuring in hopes of them hooking up with others.