How do you guys normally start your campaigns? Classic tavern, or something unique each time?
I’ve been thinking of starting my next one with a surprise DMPC.
He’ll be mid-high level and over the top, inducting the players into his party because despite his power, the contract he has specifies it must be accepted by a party. He’ll want them to do nothing but stay out of his way. I’m thinking the contract will either be a bounty or goblin clearing task. The target either way will be in a small fort with only a rope bridge for access. He’ll tell them to stay with the horses, go off on his own and promptly have the bridge cut out from under him, dieing to the fall.
If the party want the payout, they’ll have to both get the contract from his corpse and then complete it on their own.
If I am planning on doing a sandbox in a modern setting, I like:
Everyone was invited to NPC’s 40th birthday. This NPC is a bit of a social butterfly, and has invited friends from all of their social groups. I let the players know that they can either choose to already know each other or not, and they are likely to have at least heard a positive story or two about each other. Then inciting indecent happens at the party, or the police come because they are investigating the mysterious death of the birthday NPC.
If I am planning on doing a sandbox in sci-fi or cyberpunk:
Players respond to a Craiglist-esque easy-money job listing; they can choose to have known each other beforehand or not. Things go wrong, and they are left in possession of a small spaceship and a grudge.