Getting the band together

[JmOz]

So I have a group of players, they have made a batch of characters, unfortunatly I do not have all of there names handy, but rough concepts I remember

We have a knight in the service of the King

We have a Priestess of the Elven nations, High elf, for those who don't know my high elf society is based of the world of the three muskateers, so something to remember

A goblin Treasure hunter/Thief type

A wood elf Treasure hunter/ranger kind of guy, already partnered with the goblin...don't ask, the players Idea...leave it at that ok =)

A Human Thief on the run

A human Mage / confidence man from a borderland town...

I figured out how to get them all into the inn, located in the borderlands of the kingdom, (The three thieves are on the run, the Knight and the elf are meeting to drop off messages to someone in town). Now the issue is the first adventure, and how to get these seperate groups together

[jtelson]

Place the Inn under seige. Someone chasing one of the thieves or someone else in the Inn. Nothing gets players working together like a common powerful enemy even if they started out as bystanders. Maybe make several potential targets keep them guessing about who the seigers are after.

[jtelson]

Viscious storms sweeps through the area, the Inn is one of the few 'safe' places where people can gather. The Inn becomes crowded with people waiting out the storms. Then people start dying...A shapeshifter trapped in the Inn killing people and replacing them? Maybe demonic possession ala Supernatural, moving from person to person.

[Shadowsoul]

Guess I hadn't read your post properly when I answered the first time.

Here's a more useful suggestion.

A few years ago a certain artefact with considerable cultural/magical significance to the kingdom was stolen from the royal palace. It is a silver pendant with a large saphire set in it.

A new ambassador has arrived in the city and his wife is wearing a pendant that looks disturbingly similar to the one which was lost. The King does not wish to offend the ambassador unnecessarily but needs to have the item checked out. So he's commanded the Knight to gain any assistance he can and 'borrow' the pendant so that it can be checked. Local spies have reported the presence of three competent thieves who are currently on the run; the Knight and his companion have to capture the thieves and offer them a choice between facing justice or pulling a discrete job for the crown.

Thus the opening stages of the first adventure actually pits the party against itself, which will make a bit of a change. If you think that might not work then the knight can just use royal money to hire the thieves instead.

Once the pendant has been examined it turns out to be a fake. Either the ambassador was trying to force the King to insult him in order to create a pretext for some hostile action or a third party is trying to stir up trouble between the two kingdoms.

Further investigation will be necessary ...

[JmOz]

First session went well

Only half the group showed up (The Goblin, Knight, and Priestess were missing)

Everyone was already in town, the treasure hunter has been working as a bounty hunter in the area, the city thief was hiding out in the inn as a juggler, and the apprentice mage were all in the inn.

The Captain of the guard came rushing in, looking for the elf bounty hunter, his daughter is missing, offering his entire life savings (20 silver pieces) if they could find her

A investigation of the mushroom patch (Last place she was seen picking mushrooms for her mother) showed a struggle, the party followed where they ran into a pack of hungry wolves. The wolves pretty much ripped into 2 of them, while the third one through a combination of armor and Combat luck avoided most of the damage

Following the trail the elf led them to a cave, unfortunatly a dry twig notified a couple members of the snake cult that had grabed the young girl. The fight was quick and decisive, when all was done the four cultist layed dead, the party investigated and found that the daggers they carried were "Soul Stealers", daggers that capture the souls of the dead so that dark necromancers can use the power for the blackest of magic.

Giving the daggers to Master Arwyn to get rid of the party collected the reward and heal up...

[Curufea]

Relatives and old friends-

Have some of the characters be related to each other. Make sure that some of the characters have background write ups that include a history of friendship with other characters.