Hello all. Long time lurker, first time poster. I tried doing this the other night, but it seems my post wasnt approved for some reason as it hasnt shown up, with time ticking, im forced to try n' repost!

My group of 5 players ran the beginner game last sunday, and it was a blast. We decided it was a 1-off event, just to learn the game as we are all new to the system, and had a blast!

Now my trouble is, i cant figure out a way to get my groups characters together to go on their first mission.

The characters are as follows (to give an idea of what i have to work with):

Human Gunslinger: Shoots first asks questions later type, typically takes a job if the money is right.

Bothan Diplomat: Warents outspoke against the empire and went "missing" (think kidnapped or executed).... she is in town searching for their whereabouts. basically all skills in knowledge/negotiations.

Human Commando (retired old clone trooper): Wants to stick it to the empire in any way he can, wants to redeem himself for carrying out order 66.

Togruta explorer/jedi exile (from EotE core): went in to hiding and trying to live a normal life following order 66. Packed all his jedi items (robes, lightsaber, any related artifacts) in a cargo crate, paid someone to stash it someplace. He does NOT know its location.

Mon Calamari Engineer/Mechanic: Works as a lowly bartender, dreams of bigger things for himself. Local imperial officer goes out of his way to make his life hell. He feels this officer deliberately goes out of his way to cause him trouble.

Now i have lots of easy to come up with future plot hooks using what my players have come up with, and some of its good stuff, i particularly like the jedi hidden item stash, as i can wrangle that, the lost parents, and the evil officer all in to 1 big old adventure.... where i'm just dead in the water at..... is how to make them meet for the first time.

im brand new to GMing, maybe i am over thinking it. I feel like saying "you all know eachother because of blahblahblah" is just the easy way out... i'd like to have my players meet during the first few minutes of the session, but have it happen in a natural way somehow.

Im sorry this is a long post! Thank you everyone for any advice. I'll be taking notes like a madman for sure.

What I like to do is have a 1 on 1 with each player and write their backstory. The last part of their backstories always end the same. They are either on the same shuttle (which is about to crash/be boarded/etc), meeting an underworld contact (who is about to betray and ambush them/shanghai them, etc), etc. I obviously don't write the parts into parentheses with them. Basically I force a situation into their starting points that makes them allies of necessity until they realize they are better together as a group.

Here is a broad example:

P1: Smuggler

You were born on planet A. You always wanted to get off world. a local Hutt gangster offered you a job to courier a "package" of his to planet B. (Now I've set him up on a freighter with a box of contraband and some obligation)

P2: Jedi

you escaped the jedi purge when you were a padawaan. Now after finding stability in your life a sith inquisitor found you! You do some planet hopping and find youself on planet A taking a freighter to planet B.

(now I have a nemessis, and 2 players with vastly different careers on the same freighter)

then I just let the magic happen...

Hope that helped!

Take a page from the beginner box and flightmaster's suggestions, and start in media res . Having a common goal of "dealing with the current situation" is often the easiest way to start things off.

In jail....bad night in the cantina...

I while back someone asked a vaguely similar question. This was the advice I gave them:

Here's a good tool to use for those situations where you are gathering the party but don't feel comfortable riffing on meeting them up. Ever watch those heist movie where the experienced sponsor of the group of thieves bring in the new and up-and-comer? Across every move, the introduction of the team follows the same formula.

1) The newbie meets up with the veteran. At this point the veteran can explain what their mission will be, or he can wait for the rest of the party. In either case, the veteran explains why he needs the newbie - usually because of a unique skill that only he possesses or the newbie has a particular contact or set of friends they need to exploit.

2) The veteran will go to various locations to pick up a member (think how the party is formed in "Inception") that show off the unique skill sets of the recruit.

--------

Ex: The veteran takes the newbie to a swoop bike chop shop where the meet a bothan (Technician, outlaw tech) who is listening to some Rodian opera while working on a bike, sparks fly everywhere as a the torch he is using cuts through a segment of durasteel.

Veteran: "This is Jax. Some say he was born in a speeder. He certainly would rather spend time with his custom bike than with a lady."

Newbie: "What's his skills"

Veteran: "Hey Jax! Show the kid your latest toy"

Jax stands up, walks over to a common air speeder. nothing special about it. He reaches over to the control console and presses a button. The headlights slide over and the barrel of blaster rifles peak out from a hidden compartment.

------------------

This is repeated until all of the party is formed. Usually there is an unexpected addition late in the game. Usually the Veteran knows all the people. But sometimes other party members are recruited because one of the members the veteran knows recommends him.

3) The veteran takes the group to a secluded location that will act as their base of operations (a ship or the basement of a cantina or something), and lay out the plan.

I like the idea of an NPC or even one of your PCs acting as the veteran, and another of your PCs being the newbie. You then go around the table to each of your players and ask them to describe the scene where their character is introduced.

GM: So John, what do they see when they go to find your character?

John: Ok, So you go to a really seedy looking cantina. This place is so filthy a thick layer of grime has covered most of the sign making the sign hard to read. When you walk in, a heavy haze fills the room. The patrons all seem to be into their own drink and no one pays you any mind. The general quiet seems to be broken by a shout of anger. You see a human looming over a sabacc table, he's pointing a blaster at a smug looking Dug. "I promise you Drade! this is the last time you'll ever cheat me again."

The Dug looks up at the human, his snout forming a distinct smile. "You're so bad at this game, I don't need to cheat"

<Cue the Veteran and the Newbie swooping in to help>

The above process repeats until the party is formed. Each player gets to set the tone for his character right off the bat and you didn't have to lift a finger. Just play off of whatever the players tell you.

I recommend a PC act as your veteran introducing all the characters.

The above posts have some great ideas.

Another thing I love about EotE is the Obligation mechanic. It is rife with potential starting points for a group. With obligations like bounty and debt almost make the group come together themselves.

I also started a group off in media res after a disaterous 1st mission where all the obligation came from so they have this shared history that wasn't played out but they know they are free to referance later in the game. This groups the characters together and lets them improv the details from this mission as the obligation has given it a frame work.

I also like to have a "session 0" to make characters and let the group figure out why they are together. This for me works better than the everyone gets the same phone call or reads the same looking for work flier in the cantina. It also gets the characters involved shaping the narrative from the beginning. Don't be afraid to offer ideas if they thematically fit the campaign.

Wow guys so many great responses, thank you all. Kaosoe and flightmaster, you guys gave me some ideas with this thank you all for the long answers, i do appreciate it. whafrog what do you mean by start in "media res"... im afraid im not following on that phrase. I think what i'll do is i'll write a little paragraph or so, as suggested by flightmaster, that loops their situation together. Then i'll stage some event that occurs and forces their hands.

Out of curiosity would it be too simple to conveniently make both the moncal's angry officer problem, be the same person who took the bothans family? Like i said im new at this.. i dont want it to be too cliche about bad guys and such. I just want the players to have a good time. I'll try n' throw plot twists in as i think of the story

en media res - theater term meaning "in the middle of things" describing how some performances start in the middle of and existing action or activity.

Think EP 3&4.

RotS: Opens in the middle of a huge space battle.

ANH: Opens in the middle of a space battle/boarding action.

Wow guys so many great responses, thank you all. Kaosoe and flightmaster, you guys gave me some ideas with this thank you all for the long answers, i do appreciate it. whafrog what do you mean by start in "media res"... im afraid im not following on that phrase. I think what i'll do is i'll write a little paragraph or so, as suggested by flightmaster, that loops their situation together. Then i'll stage some event that occurs and forces their hands.

Out of curiosity would it be too simple to conveniently make both the moncal's angry officer problem, be the same person who took the bothans family? Like i said im new at this.. i dont want it to be too cliche about bad guys and such. I just want the players to have a good time. I'll try n' throw plot twists in as i think of the story

Its actually "In Media Res" or latin for in the in the middle of things. Its a literary device.

and second:

No. My sith inquisitor has visited all characters in the past, but I am very careful to give different "clues" in their backstory so when they meet him everyone at once will be like: "your that guy!" "He's not your bad guy he's my bad guy" "wait, we have the same bad guy. fate truly must have brought us together"

and so goes the cilice

The more links the better, if the PC's have things in common early then it makes more sense for them to stay together in the long run. So yes the Mon Cal and Bothan should have the same problem Officer.

The Gunslinger and Commando could have fought as Mercs together at some point in the past, even now they could be working together for the same Hutt that owns the bar the Mon Cal works in.

Perhaps the reason the Togruta doesn't know where their stuff is is because the Bothan she gave it to went "missing" soon after, and never got to pass the message back. Later on it will become apparent that the missing Bothan is on of the Bothan PC's Parents.

Lots of connections!

As to the actual opening scene, I'm not sure but lots of suggestions above.

1. In the middle of an employment offer from a person of power (Hutt, Official, Spy, Mysterious Stranger, Rebel)

2. Already employed by someone and part way through the contracted mission.

3. In the middle of action, all running from something (doesn't have to be the same something's as the party could be split) so long as they have the same destination, in this case a starship would be best.

4. In a bar (where the Mon Cal works?) just as Storm Troopers or Bounty Hunters charge in and try to arrest everyone.

For a very coherent group in the future I would recommend you run what's called a Session 0. Come up with a Campaign Theme, which gives a guide to the type of adventures the group will go on. As part of it also ask each player to come up with 1 NPC and 1 location for their background, then write in the location of the person to the left of them and the NPC to the right of them into their background.

Richardbuxton thank you for your reply, having a "session 0" would certainly help in the future and bring the ideas all together. I'll definately remember this and write stuff down. The "location and npc left and right" idea is a cool idea as well, as i can see how it would link people together through a chain of people. 6 degrees of kevin bacon, if you would.

Edit - tomorrow after work when i have a moment i'll update this with what i've come up with so far for a story, using some of you guys advice. Thanks fellas, i knew i could get a helping hand here.

I have found the following useful for starting and managing games:

theangrygm.com/

thealexandrian.net/

www.gamemastering.info/

Kaosoe's post is essentially how I started my EotE game, then once all the PC's were assembled, my NPC said (paraphrased) Go here, kill these guys, report back, and thus the Marauders were born along with the ship they acquired from the dead guys.

I find an easy first session goal, is start them without their group resource, and then the first session is about acquiring said group resource, by hook, crook or blaster bolts.

Hello all. Long time lurker, first time poster. I tried doing this the other night, but it seems my post wasnt approved for some reason as it hasnt shown up, with time ticking, im forced to try n' repost!

My group of 5 players ran the beginner game last sunday, and it was a blast. We decided it was a 1-off event, just to learn the game as we are all new to the system, and had a blast!

Now my trouble is, i cant figure out a way to get my groups characters together to go on their first mission.

The characters are as follows (to give an idea of what i have to work with):

Human Gunslinger: Shoots first asks questions later type, typically takes a job if the money is right.

Bothan Diplomat: Warents outspoke against the empire and went "missing" (think kidnapped or executed).... she is in town searching for their whereabouts. basically all skills in knowledge/negotiations.

Human Commando (retired old clone trooper): Wants to stick it to the empire in any way he can, wants to redeem himself for carrying out order 66.

Togruta explorer/jedi exile (from EotE core): went in to hiding and trying to live a normal life following order 66. Packed all his jedi items (robes, lightsaber, any related artifacts) in a cargo crate, paid someone to stash it someplace. He does NOT know its location.

Mon Calamari Engineer/Mechanic: Works as a lowly bartender, dreams of bigger things for himself. Local imperial officer goes out of his way to make his life hell. He feels this officer deliberately goes out of his way to cause him trouble.

Now i have lots of easy to come up with future plot hooks using what my players have come up with, and some of its good stuff, i particularly like the jedi hidden item stash, as i can wrangle that, the lost parents, and the evil officer all in to 1 big old adventure.... where i'm just dead in the water at..... is how to make them meet for the first time.

im brand new to GMing, maybe i am over thinking it. I feel like saying "you all know eachother because of blahblahblah" is just the easy way out... i'd like to have my players meet during the first few minutes of the session, but have it happen in a natural way somehow.

Im sorry this is a long post! Thank you everyone for any advice. I'll be taking notes like a madman for sure.

Well off the top of my head the Gunslinger was hired to protect the Bothan Diplomat who is seeking information on their missing family.

This leads them to the Mon calamari Engineer/Mechanic who learned of someone searching for the same people namely the Togruta Explorer/Exile and her elderly uncle the Human Commando...

Could ask the Commando how their chip was disabled maybe he was shot during the fight and upon recovering discovered he was back to normal and beset by the horror inflicted by Order 66 he discovered the Togruta and helped them escape choosing to protect them as his means of atoning for what happened?

So the real question should be who has a ship?

Will the Imperial Officer harassing the Mon Calamari force the others to step in to help only for him to try and get the group arrested setting a group of storm troopers on them and in the process burn down the bar (Raiders of the Lost Ark anyone?) cue their escape...

Hmm maybe have the diplomat's ship stolen during that last encounter and when they reach the spaceport see it blast off only to explode making it clear someone is targeting the Bothan Diplomat meaning they now need to hitch a lift with the Togruta and the Commando which gets them thanks to the Mon calamari coming along framed as part of a rebel cell responsible for the Bothan's ship blowing up and careering back down on the port...

Sorry going too far but an interesting premise you presented us with!

Again thanks yall for the AWESOME replies, this great stuff from all of you.

So heres what i've got so far (this is very early concept, ive got to sit down and type it up properly later, and maybe rework some ideas):

The bothan lady goes to all highs and lows of society in her search for the missing family members, this forces her WAY out of her element, dealing with some shady folks. She learns the best place to find any clue on the planet would be to visit (insert blahblah the hutts name... need to think of a name) As he knows all of the imperial ongoings on the planet. Its "his" planet, as people will come to tell her. The imperials may rule, but nothing goes on that he is not aware of. Any prisoners or slave trading would be amongst his knowledge. This causes her to travel and meet him.

The gunslinger and commando are offered a job by a local imperial officer to find a certain mon calamari at X location, and essentially set him up as a rebel sympathizer by planting evidence. They dislike the officer and have no plan on framing anyone, but he made the mistake of paying half up front. They plan to travel to the location, warn the person in question, see if they can sabotage/rough up/steal any imperial goods, just to stick it to 'em. then take the money and run. This could lead to a few possibilities. A) they have blackmail on the officer for trying to frame people, B) future obligation.... they cheated the officer.

The jedi in hiding goes on the search for his missing items, after having been in hiding since the Order. (the game is taking place roughly a few years before A new hope, so a few years have gone by) as his search comes up empty for some time, he manages to gain the information about his lost crate, only to find out the only person who knows where it is.... is missing. (this leads to the bothans lost father)

The mon calamari, after sick and tired of this particular officers harrasment and troubles finally confronts the officer and demands to know just what the deal is. The officer tells him he just flat out hates his kind and dislikes him, and at the snap of his fingers he could make up any excuse he wants, and have him put away. the officer admits to getting a great joy of watching the moncal turn "green around the gills" whenever he sees him. The officer tells the mon calamari he will let him be and cease his endless harasment if the moncal does a job for him. He is to go to X location and deliver a package, a simple delivery job, nothing special. The Mon Calamari obviously does not trust the officer, and hates the idea of being his lackey, but has always wanted to see other planets, and an excuse to travel and get away from him is something he is more than happy to accept.

this ties it together. the officer is the same for all PCs, the moncal being framed is the same being sent to deliver the package. He is the one responsible for the missing parents, which in turn leads to the finding of the jedi's stuff. The end result being the show-down with the officer... the middle ground being forced to do favors for the Hutt, before he will reveal any information he may know, or where to find the info at. The beginning has them all conviniently traveling on a frieghter together when.......... something happens.

super long post, but once i started typing, i had to keep going. Thank you fellas! awesome ideas, great community.

Edit - quesiton!.... Im sure it'll be obvious to some of my players... but should i omit the officers name from all of them but the Moncalamari? He has the history with the officer and would obviously know his name, the rest i think i should leave less informed, that way for the ones who dont figure it out, it could be a suprise. Any thoughts?

Great story, well done.

For the officers name you could play it either way. Personally I would not tell them, just to give them a chance for it to come up in Character conversion, the little bit of doubt will be just 1 more thing to keep them engaged.

My standard solution is to ask the players. Especially if you're having a session zero, this is a perfect time for it.

As they're developing their backgrounds and Obligations, etc, have them determine how they met up and started adventuring together.

If you have it all in place when you start adventuring, that's great! But you don't even need to have that. You could have them fill in the details as they go along.

Take a page from the beginner box and flightmaster's suggestions, and start in media res . Having a common goal of "dealing with the current situation" is often the easiest way to start things off.

This seems to work the best in my experience. If a group leverages Dungeon World's Bonds mechanic (e.g. each player is linked to a couple or all of the others via some one sentence description) then they can let the rest evolve during gameplay.

This is a good topic to cover at session 0, and while setting aside time for mutual backstory creation is fun, so is flying by the seats of one's trousers and growing the story together at the table.

Simple, Have the first mission (if your making up your own) involve some one hiring them, bringing in each via there own connection but all being hired to be part of a group.

Like for a Bank job, the person who organizes the job may not be personally connected to each person being brought in, and each may not know the others, though some may be known by reputation.

Have you thought about making his surname be Tarkin ?

Doesn't necessarily be related to the Grand Moff but your players don't know that !

On a side-but related-note, I've had a couple players shuffle out of my game due to RL time constraints, so the first "replacement" player I brought in by tying him to an existings players Obligation. Does anybody have an clever ways of bringing in new meat into your games.

Does the primary group have a backer or sponsor? If so, have that guy assign the new guy to the group to get the job done.

One of my favorites is to manipulate work with the new guy when he builds his character so that he or she is after the same things as the main group. It helps if their goals are impossible with out each other's help.

On a side-but related-note, I've had a couple players shuffle out of my game due to RL time constraints, so the first "replacement" player I brought in by tying him to an existings players Obligation. Does anybody have an clever ways of bringing in new meat into your games.

My players had landed on a planet where a bunch of aliens from all over had been kidnapped to do slave labor building a massive ziggurat. The new player's character was one of those aliens, rescued by the party who then helped them complete their quest. A departing player's character stayed behind on the planet and the new one joined the party when they left.

So we've had a bit of an update. After taking the time to figure this all out, last night i got a call from 1 of my players, the gunslinger. His work just told him hes on weekend duty as a sales rep from now 'till January. (Its holiday computer sales at big chains like best buy, so hes stuck on holiday hours)

I think what i'll change it up to now, as the veteran commando is going to be hired by the bothan girl to help get her to her destination and find her folks. I'm thinking itll be based on the honor code sort of thing..... "Once my parents are found, they'll gladly pay you X amount"....meanwhile Commando is just happy to help this poor girl out, and mayyyybe happy to get a shot at blowing up some imperial stuff.

Again fellas thank you guys for the heads up. I'll totally be updating this post again after our 1st session, and tell ya how it goes. My group is fairly experienced in RPGs, and this is my 1st time GMing... so its a reverse learning curve. I expect 3 of my players to do some VERY unorthodox things. The need to improv' is going to come in to play very often i can tell. Gonna be a blast i hope

So Update since last time i asked for some advice, this was our first session thus far, and it went off fairly well. I certainly learned a lot as far as planning goes.

Our intrepid team of adventurers were on a small tiny shuttle going to meet the all mighty Gorra Tagga the Hutt, in order to go about their business. The bothan went to learn information about her parents, with the commando as her "body guard". The togruta was in search of her missing informant in search of her jedi possesions, and the poor mon calamari was on his way to deliver his package sent from the imperial officer.

The shuttle makes a small detour to a tiny shipping facility that is purely autonomous, all droid employed, no humans. As it lands their pilot (also a droid) steps out to go retreive a crate, as he gets blown up upon reaching the warehouse door, out from inside come 4 pirates, pushing crates of stolen goods. With their pilot dead, and no way to fly the shuttle (its a small in-atmosphere ship, it cant leave planet. It is also a droid pilot only type of ship, there is no chair/interface for a human to operate on his own) they slowly approach the pirates... only to try and talk their way in to seeing what the trouble is.

The pirates cant have any witnesses of course, so the fight breaks out (this is our 2nd introduction to combat, i felt starting 1 fight early just to refresh mechanics was a simple way to learn the rules). They decide to take a hostage using stun settings on their blasters (i had NOT accounted for that idea!) and take the crate. It turns out to be freeze dried food stuffs, nothing of any true value. The pirates drive a dilapitated old 'falcon YT ship (because why not, and it fits their crew of 4 nicely, and goes by the books recommendation.) Inside the ship they find the pirates R4 unit, who angrily charges at them with his little tazer out, but the commando tells it to calm down, or he'll throw a restraining bolt on him. the droid complies, and was thus given a new name by the mon calamari player.... "K4RP"... or Karp as they call it. They explore the ships cargo area, finding a smuggler compartment with 4 FULL size wookie pelts, and an intact b1 battle droid, with a missing droid brain. Its perfectly in working order... but nothing upstairs, so to speak. The commando burns the wookie pelts despite the black market value, and shoots the droid in the chest to make sure its "down for good"

After letting the captive go after a round of questioning, they take off to meet the Hutt. They skipped everything there was to do in town, and went straight to him (i was slightly nervous this would happen, for lack of other content on my part but it worked out in the end) They met with the hutt's interpretor droid, and just before meeting the hutt himself, the mon'cal's package starts humming and beeping. The droid panicks, saying the noise must be silenced for fear of angering his "enormousness". The moncal and commando go to open the box, inside is a cluster of 6 thermal detonators set to a GPS system, designed to blow at this location. Furious of this would-be assasination attempt, Gorra throws them in his dungeon to rot until execution time.

Inside the dungeon they meet a trapped man, Jim Tohano. Jim tells the players they have to help him bust out of there, to escape and meet his friend, only known as "Shady Al". Jim says there is a sewer tunnel that leads to the housing section of town, and if he gets him to his friend, they'll be rewarded. Upon questioning, Jim reveals he was caught selling Gorra's smuggled property...back to Gorras own men for profit, that didn't go over too well.

The escape! They pick the locks of thier cells using a found screwdriver and hammer from a tool box left near by. They make their way to pit, but come across Gorra's storage room. They take sacks of food as bait for the rancor. They get to the door, Jim tells them to throw their food and full speed run it, its their only chance! They go, jim high tales it straight to the grate in the wall, the others try and follow. The moncal totally botches his athletics roll to throw his heavy bag of food, he doesnt let go as he throws, and it topples him over. The rancor turns from his tiny enclosure, and makes his way to the food thrown by him. The rocks through out the large open room block his sight to jim and 3 other players that went around out of his vision, but he spots the togruta helping the moncal get back on his feet, they dive out of the way as the beast charges forward. Jim Commando and bothan all pry the grate open just enough to squeeze through, the other 2 catch up before getting snatched.

They meet up with Jim's friend "Shady Al", after going to a run down shack of a house. On the inside however, was different than anything they've seen in the city so far. The floors walls and ceiling were brand new and immaculately clean, the house on the outside, was more of a jewelery store in appearance on the inside. Glass cabinets set up in rows with varying merchandise of all types. As they enter Jim introduces them, and thanks his saviors officially. Al tells them time is short, as when Gorra finds their escape, its a matter of time until he turns the entire city upside down to find them, Al is annoyed he must relocate, but is thankful for his business partner back.

Al sells the players some discounted merchandise of all sorts, the only thing of note is the Moncal mechanic bought parts to repair the droid back on their ship. (The droid is a possible helper NPC aboard their ship, or in party. He is meant to fill a gap as they deem necessary)

Then we had to call it quits for time. Plans for next session so far, Al tells them they can't leave the city in the same ship they entered, and they need to get their BoSS information changed. Gorra will know how to track their ship, and without a new identity, he'll always be on their tail. The players have 2 options at this point, that players talked about breifly....1) go after the captain who obviously gave the moncal the bomb in the first place... or 2) go back to Gorra and TRY to reason with him, and explain it all a HUGE misunderstanding of sorts.

I'm sorry this is such a huge post, but i wanted to give an update after you guys helped me figure it out at the start. I'm kinda sorta stuck on how to make the story branch based on those ideas and what the players have told me. Do i plan on 2 sessions essdentially, 1 based off each possible idea???

Thanks again, our first game went awesome and had some hilarious interactions, thanks to your help everyone.