The "you're all in a tavern" start for fantasy RPGs is still one of my favorite starts...

The "you're all in a tavern" start for fantasy RPGs is still one of my favorite starts. There's something so simple and classic about it that really makes it work, and I don't think anyone at my table dislikes it.

I've also started campaigns by
>Having them already on the road during a quest they've already accepted
>Waking up with ringing ears and lost senses in the middle of a battle, or waking up after a battle has already happened, both with everyone thrown about with very little knowledge of who everyone else is
>Freefaling into a cavern's underground lake from 50m high
>In the dark, inside the gladiator chambers of an arena where they're taken as prisoners and have the chance to fight together to get out

what are some other campaign starters to get the ball (and dice) rolling with everyone together as soon as possible? doesn't have to be just fantasy, i'm open for stories and ideas

>You are all in a caravan traveling towards the destination for various reasons. Suddenly, some event (Monsters, thunder, horror, etc) causes the horses to spook and wreck the wagons in front of a strange town.
And the one I'll be using on Wednesday for a new game I'm starting.
>The party has, through a series of related incidents, ended up in jail, sharing the same holding cell. While they wait out the night, a strange man approaches the cell and offers them a choice: Perform a task for him and go free, or stay and await whatever fate the officials have for them.

That last one can go bad really quickly. Your players can tell the guy to fuck off or some will accept while others refuse and still walk out. Or they may take it as a railroading moment as it can come off as a do or die situation.

The next time I run a campaign,all the PCs will know each other.

The PC's first session will start with them at the bottom of a pile of corpses that is on fire. When they dig their way out, it will be revealed that their whole village has been butchered, family and friends either taken as slaves or put to death via sword or torture, perhaps the corpse of a spouse or child either impaled on a stake or hanging from a tree by their neck. Their lives will have been ruined, their gear non-existent. They will have to scavenge what they can, avoid or kill any baddies lingering around for bits of loot, and decide where to go from there.

Vengeance, I should think. But I mean, y'know, PCs.

Edginess, am i doin it rite?

I'm counting on the fact that a couple of the characters have major reasons that being in jail is a bad, bad idea, and are also charismatic/desperate enough to get the rest of them in on it.

The secret is, I've planned for both options.

>Waking up with ringing ears and lost senses in the middle of a battle, or waking up after a battle has already happened, both with everyone thrown about with very little knowledge of who everyone else is

I like this one. Honestly, mine are boring. It's usually "You all already know each other", and a rundown of their location and general financial situation.

I am proud of one Rogue Trader game I ran, which had each character get introduced over the course of a couple days. The RT and the Militant knew each other for ages, so they had the first session, just to build some background between the two. They encountered the Explorator the next day while looking for someone to oversee the repairs of their shuttlecraft. The next day, they were en route to a hive city to see an opera and talk to the theater manager, a former treasure hunter, when they were attacked by pirates. They spaced one ship, and crippled another entirely before it surrendered. The old pirate captain, a Voidmaster with shitty cybernetics, but great skill in ship-to-ship combat (despite his failure to defeat the RT and his entourage), was given an offer to join the RT as a pilot, or be press-ganged into engine service.

By letting two players have some experience in the beginning, it gave the story a sense of chronological depth, and reduced the number of people I had to help with the mechanics. As the two other players came into picture, the first ones could help those after them learn the mechanics, and bring them up to speed in character. If you have the free time over the course of a few days (a vacation, in my case), then I'd recommend giving the intro a shot.

Pretty edgy, but it's the classic kind of edge that can work, rather then the DA OC edge that just makes you cringe. Go for it user.

Horror ones work pretty well with;
>you awaken on a slab, in a place you do not recognise. With a start, you realise you cannot even remember who you are....

But my personal favourite is having all the characters wake up in a strange place with awful hangovers and no memory of how they got there. The Hangover: RPG, basically.

So, you're all in a stuffer shack, when...

>You start in a pile of flaming corpses
lol

I think the best way I ever seen someone satrt it was with all of us being chased by an angry mob, it appears we were all mercenaries and our rogue had commited some dickery of the highest level.

Thanks. I will definitely use it.

I mean, I could make it edgier, but then it would just turn to, well, cheese and cringe.

"HURRRR YOU WERE ALL USED AS SEX SLAVES AND BEATEN N SHIT"
I'd never go that far because, well, that's retarded.

lol i kno, rite?

"...we start WHERE!?"

>tavern
But my character is a recovering alcoholic

Then it's an interesting plot point.

So you're handing out temperance leaflets outside, and meet the rest of the party when they're ejected for being too drunk...

I think my favorite opening line to any action-centric game is "Make a dodge roll."
In systems where you can make a dodge roll, of course.
Similar to OP's "Start confused in the middle of a fight", but instead we are opening on the players actively fighting whatever

> you're all at Larry's funeral. how did you know Larry?

and then kick it off from there. I like the options it gives players, maybe someone cared about larry, maybe larry was a piece of shit and he stole something from a player, maybe you're a cop and you're investigating larry's death, maybe he's your brother. It links the PCs to a story thread that isn't just you met in a bar now go kill some goblins

I've seen that used in a few places before, if I'm not mistaken. Giovanni Chronicles?

Or was that just a Church Service?

i'm sorry to disappoint but i'm not sure, i got it from a guy who probably got it from whatever it actually came from

In my current game, all the PCs acquired a letter telling them to meet at the docks at sunrise- though none of them were actually the intended recipients of the letters. I let the players decide how they got their hands on the letter- stole it, was mistaken for the intended recipient and had it slipped into their pocket, etc.

I want to start with a grand railroad. Everyone is in main town/big city, it starts raining fire and brimstone. Huge devastation, tons of NPCs death. Ending first session with them being kidnapped magically to the middle of a huge arena/battleground, they choose sides as people are being dragged off to opposite sides, they can join ranks with other people of their class and they are expected to fight with the opposite side. Quest is to get out and find out wtf. Battle has been going on for centuries.

I want to do Gantz/ old books mtg game. For the setting. Two gods bring people and things in to their arena to entertain them.

I might throw elements and NPCs from a multi verse or have players secretly role characters from different games with similar systems.

>Freefaling into a cavern's underground lake from 50m high
This sounds interesting. Details?

I always start my campaigns the same way "your character is dead" haven't lost a game of dnd yet

>You all own a share in X business.
I like to do that because characters tend to get invested in the business, and it also makes roleplaying fun as they can start as adventurers with a side job as bartenders, waiters, etc. And it allows me to do come up with quick starts such as:
>Someone steals tons of stuff from the backroom.
>Your business suddenly gets attacked by masked men throwing rocks and torches.
>Your business is visited by strange, mysterious figures.

Only problem, you can only really do it once or twice with the same group.

>sci-fi campaign
>start in an overtly gaudy and stylized tavern, whole pig on a spit, scantily dressed wenches(but no one touching) flagons of mead errywhere, loud, bawdy music.
>suddenly a comm implant goes off and the PCs have to leave
>fuck, shore leave is over
>but yeah, this reenactment festival was a great idea, we had loadsa fun

I start almost all my homebrew games like this, but I have a custom tavern setting that I use for it that specifically caters to mercenaries and adventurers looking for work. It's fun because a lot of times you can get by with forming the party in real-time.

Why not start with them in different locations that fit each one of the characters?

I love it. There are so many ways to use this hook with a tavern start. Maybe they used to run the tavern and have unfinished personal business there. Maybe someone they care fore is in danger and despite the risk of relapsing, they know that this is where intrepid adventureres gather. Maybe someone wants them to go back to drinking so they're out of the way later on, and contrived a situation where they have to go back.

>Wake up on a sandy beach next to pieces of floatsam that used to be the transport ship you were on

>Wake up in the boarding area of the space port, the flight attendant is announcing that your flight will be boarding in a few minutes.

>You wake up in a ruined backyard after a crazy party in suburbia. Roll to see who is naked and who has dicks drawn on their faces.

Just start campaign on a train/ ship/ zeppelin so all players are locked in a small area that is not a tavern. Something interesting happens and they're either connected or forced to act.

Because the rest of the table will be bored out of their fucking skulls while you cater to each individual player?
Honestly, TTRPGs are a group activity. If significant portions of time are spent with one-on-one interactions, that means everyone else isn't actually playing.
"Tea-party," as I put it, is fine from time to time, as players should be able to be on their own for short/medium periods of time, but starting your campaign like that is a dreadful idea.

If you really wish to do that, you'll probably have to set up a meeting point/situation, like, you guessed it, a tavern/prison/whatever. Hell it can be a good idea to set up individual sessions ahead of the first "real" session to prep players on their character, the setting and the campaign.

If you're thinking about players organically forming a party, I find the idea unpalatable. It relies either on heavy player contrivances and metagaming, or a very specific table mentallity.

> Goodnight morning class, welcome to high school.

I like a slice of life on the side of my superpowered shenanigans.

>In the dark, inside the gladiator chambers of an arena where they're taken as prisoners and have the chance to fight together to get out

I had a pretty funny campaign I ran with this once. I had the party face a bunch of wolves that were a pretty easy fight for the party. Then the cleric rushed forward to engage in melee combat, the wolves go second and tear him to fucking shreds.

Good times.

I'd like to try the start of Dark Matter in a game.
>party wakes up from stasis in orbit over a backwater mining colony
>finds they all have amnesia and the shops computer has been wiped
>they have all their skills and a hold full of guns
>the colonists think the party are mercenaries hired to protect them from Evil Corp.
>the party slowly figures out that have actual been hired by Evil Corp as leg breakers to get the colonists in line

I like to start my sci-fi campaigns in a bar that reflects the place they're at. So if they're at a space station, it's SpaceTrader Joe's which serves a glowing green beer that's brewed over the reactor stack of lighters. One trick I prefer in settings with information technology is to have a news feed read out the important news stories.

>...stocks for InterGal Corp remain at an all time low after the second major accident...
>...despite pressure from the council president Harrison has made no move to abdicate...
>...luxury liner VSS Mary Celeste has been found with no signs of damage, but all passengers and crew missing...

>start with them at the bottom of a pile of corpses that is on fire.
>whole village has been butchered
>family and friends either taken as slaves or put to death via sword or torture
>spouse or child either impaled on a stake or hanging

YES

>I'm counting on my players making the choice I want them to make

Let me tell you why that's a bad idea

>You're lucky! The guy hiding behind the nocked up table missed you and is reloading, exposing himself for a counter-attack
>What?! What's happening, where are we GM?
>While you were reflecting on past choices that brought you here and other stuff irrelevant to the current situation, you gave him time to reload!
Basically put them right in the middle of some massive shitstorm without explaining what the hell is happening, but make it clear that the stakes are big. Bonus points for putting some monologuing bad guy, who they have no idea who he is. Then, right in the most dramatic moment:
>*record scratch*
>*freeze frame*
>Yeah, you probably all wonder how did you end up in this situation. To explain this, we will have to go a while back...
And then proceed with the actual campaign being a retrospection leading to this event. Requires quite specific scenarios and possibly some clever railroading, but is guaranteed to keep the players interested.

It's the way the Pathfinder adventure Carrion Crown starts.

>old books mtg game
God tier taste. Pre-revision Magic has some of the best untapped storytelling potential out there. Anything newer and you just wind up with
>are we Planeswalkers yet
>what do you mean we don't have the spark, we're PCs

There are a lot of good ways to start a campaign. The only thing that doesn't fly with me is if the characters know each other before the first session. Don't know why, always hated that, always will.
The first session should be devoted to introducing the pcs to each other in an organic manner, and then giving them a reason to stay as a group.

I have wanted to try this one out for a long-ass time.

Lets see, the most ambitious cold openings I have ever pulled off:
>The party are all in a mexican standoff with weapons drawn at each other, with a dead body in the middle. Said dead body was another one of the party members.
>The pantheon of all creation are in the middle of explaining to the party how it really IS their fault that their parents are fighting right now
>"Alright, you've just convinced Mary and Joseph to get out of the trailer park before the bomb goes off, the three wise men seem pretty pleased with you. Now what?"

I usually ask the players where they are in a specific city/town/etc and then [EVENT] happens which causes them to all meet up. Exactly what depends on the game and characters in question. Such as Orcs launching a daring raid on the town where caravans often layover during long trips. As the players fight against the Orcs they slowly meet up with each other, building a larger and more competent force to defeat the raiding party.

Of course, you can always go the "everyone knows everyone" route, which does have some merits. I do like your suggestion of players starting in the middle of a fight. I might try that with the Only War game I'm about to start.

Characters come to blindfolded in a bandit camp

I like it especially for beginner groups because it drops them right in to outside the box problem solving with reasonably conventional problems in how to escape the camp and then again to survive and navigate the wilderness, builds a team cohesion and let's people trial their skill sets outside if 'hit with sword', but still a bit of combat here or there. Always wraps up nicely pointing directly at a town the players are already invested in as a team-reached goal and place of safety, and any number of plot hooks to go from there

In FFG Star Wars, I started my first campaign at the Podracing OTB. I let my players bet on a race. One of them ignored the race because she just came out to get a change of scenery while she worked on her blueprints. One got wasted on space booze and put a huge bet on the "sure thing." One put a small bet on the long shot while watching the drunk player to make sure he caused no trouble. The last one was an astromech and used Bad Motivator to say he had previously sabotaged the Sure Thing's pod in order to fix the race for his NPC owner.

My goal was to give the four unrelated characters an innocuous event largely irrelevant to what would follow as a way to introduce themselves via their responses. It was a resounding success among the players, and they kept bringing up the totally unrelated podrace betting event for weeks afterward.

My last campaign started in a weapon shop. Everyone was going about their own journey, and either needed a hilt tightened, blade sharpened, etc., and that just so happened to be when someone "sneaks" in to steal the macguffin that was hidden there.

>So you all wake up from cryostasis...

When I run games the party always already know each other and are part of some already established group, be it a mercenary company, a traveling performance troupe, a family of monster hunters, whatever. They work the roles (including who is the group leader) and relationships ahead of time. Then I start them already on the adventure, ready to explore/kill/loot right away. It is always a short mission that can be completed in one session. At the end they resolve the conflict and are in the "quest hub" location where things open up. They declare their post adventure down time activities and we wrap for the night. Next session we pick it up with them finishing up their activities, a bit of exposition, then they are free to follow adventure hooks or run around as they see fit.

It might seem a bit railroad-ish for that first session, but I have found that is the only way to start if we want the game to get anywhere. Otherwise they just wander off and dick around and the game never goes anywhere other than a bar to drink and argue with each other. A friend and I take turns GMing and running various things, and he does the traditional "you are all in a tavern" start and the games rarely make it beyond the first session, and almost never past the 2nd. We have never once finished one of his starting adventures.