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.
Totally depending on the game/setting/campaign genre. I see the classic you’re in a tavern as a bad practice and try to avoid-it (OSR may be an exception). In general, I would address the group consistency/relationship/and why they want to work together as part of character creation, but sometimes I’ll start in media res by breaking the PC relax life with a dramatic event