Beginning the "End of Days"

[Wychcraft]

I'm starting a new campaign based in a variant of the Champions Universe. The game will begin (in-game time) around the end of 2008 and run until 21 Dec 2012 (the end of the current age according to the ancient Mayan calendar).

 

I have ideas for the Middle (joining one of the "50-state Initiative"-like teams the government will form) and the End (tring to stop, or at least mitigate, the Apocalypse) of the campaign, but I'm having problems with the beginning.

 

I was wondering what methods the rest of you used to get your teams together initially? Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.

[Tech]

Re: Beginning the "End of Days"

 

Generally, I've used:

 

Individual characters meet in the course of an episode to defeat a common enemy. In the course of meeting again & again, they decide that they work better as a team.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Beginning the "End of Days"

 

There were some useful scenarios and rationales for gathering heroes posted to this thread: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33035

 

BTW the 5E Champs sourcebook DEMON: Servants Of Darkness deals specifically with the apocalypse in 2012. Given you're using a modified CU you might want to look into that.

[RDU Neil]

Re: Beginning the "End of Days"

 

Let the play group come up with it. One thing I did once was have an initial session, where folks just "story told" a bit of their origins and past adventures... and everyone got to jump in and add to it, linking their characters and the like... and the play group essentially built up a "history" for their characters and the group so that everyone felt that when actual play started, they already knew each other and had a sense of continuity.

 

I even did this as part of a large metacampaign with 15 years of history... retroactively adding in the characters as having existed for a while and how they had fit into past events, or been shaped by them... as well as simply creating all new elements of teh world that hadn't been fleshed out, yet.

 

It was a fascinating free form experiment that was really successful... with both experienced long term players and newbies at the table.

 

Try it for your campaign and see what the players come up with. When the campaign starts, with many elements based on their own input, you'll have inherent buy in and commitment to the game from the start. Remember... it isn't how well the charcters know each other... it is how well the players know eachother and the game.

[Certified]

Re: Beginning the "End of Days"

 

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but a whimper.

 

- The Hollow Men (1925) - T. S. Eliot

 

- - -

 

There are many ways to bring a team together. However, with something on the scope of the end of the world or the end of an age I would recommend a more subtle start. Something small that draws the players together. Depending on the nature of your End of Days this could range from busting up a cult as mentioned before to a lab fire or helping the CDC control and/or transport a vaccine somewhere. What I would avoid is having this first storyline tipping your hand too soon. Let whatever happens in the opening story give some small allusion to the larger plot but cloud it with other storylines afterward. One tool you may use is if the story that brings the team together happens in one location and the characters move on, after some time have news reports and other media begin filtering in on the ramifications of what's happened. Although this may not be the trigger event to the End let it play a significant roll as the overall story progresses Players should begin to gain a greater perspective of what's going on because of their involvment and the other paraphial events occoring arround them.

 

To put this another way...

 

 

 

 

"See? That was nothing. But that's how it always begins. Very small."

[Certified]

Re: Beginning the "End of Days"

 

I wonder why the change in posting, it took almost a day for that to go up.

[Grimble]

Re: Beginning the "End of Days"

 

I like to use a mysterious (or not so mysterious) benefactor who brings the group together and funds their base and equipment. He usually has some secret reasons of his own, but the group gets (mostly) free reign to fight crime and save lives.

 

A variation on this theme is if you have a PC who took filthy rich. As GM you have a 1-on-1 with the player before the first session. See if they wouldn't mind being the founding father of a new super-group. The other PCs would get invitations to the new base (or founding PCs mansion or office building or whatever) and the rich PC gives the pitch to the other supers to join forces and yadda,yadda,yadda. This method is very easy on the GM.

[Wychcraft]

Re: Beginning the "End of Days"

 

Let the play group come up with it. One thing I did once was have an initial session, where folks just "story told" a bit of their origins and past adventures... and everyone got to jump in and add to it, linking their characters and the like... and the play group essentially built up a "history" for their characters and the group so that everyone felt that when actual play started, they already knew each other and had a sense of continuity.

 

I even did this as part of a large metacampaign with 15 years of history... retroactively adding in the characters as having existed for a while and how they had fit into past events, or been shaped by them... as well as simply creating all new elements of teh world that hadn't been fleshed out, yet.

 

It was a fascinating free form experiment that was really successful... with both experienced long term players and newbies at the table.

 

Try it for your campaign and see what the players come up with. When the campaign starts, with many elements based on their own input, you'll have inherent buy in and commitment to the game from the start. Remember... it isn't how well the charcters know each other... it is how well the players know eachother and the game.

 

 

This sounds like a very cool idea. I'll talk to my players and see what they think of trying it.

[RDU Neil]

Re: Beginning the "End of Days"

 

This sounds like a very cool idea. I'll talk to my players and see what they think of trying it.

 

If you do it, let us know how it works out. It takes openness from all... so that the GM is open to input from players... players are open to input from others on their character... etc. I'd suggest having people come in with just a two sentence description of their character... and nothing more. Let the details and further aspects fleshout in the story telling. THEN go make the characters in detail, with points and all.

 

Hope it works for you!