Where Everybody Knows Your Name
“You all meet at an inn (or tavern).” You can probably already hear the players groan as you trot out the time-tested opening. Why do they have to meet there? Well certainly they don’t have to. There are numerous places characters that don’t even know each other can meet. However, inns and tavern are a social hubs. These are places people routinely frequent for their basic needs and sometimes their... more adult desires. Need a place to sleep? Unless your characters are crashing out in a tent or bedroll in the woods, they’re likely hitting the inn. Want a hot cooked meal you haven’t made yourself? Probably going to the tavern. Seeking libations or other adult pleasures? The inn or tavern is certainly a good place to hunt those down if they can’t provide them outright. Perhaps not all of the characters in the building know your name (or are glad you came) but all sorts of folks from the community are likely to be there. This is a hub that people frequent, so why wouldn’t your adventuring party meet there, even for the very first time?
Inn Consequential
If your characters aren’t meeting at the local inn or tavern, where are you going to have them meet? They could meet in a jail cell, and play out that (alternate) overused trope instead. It's possible they meet in the town square’s market - but how different is that really from meeting at the inn? While other goods may be sold, and you can’t really sleep there, it's still pretty similar. Having them meet on a job, or while being offered/assigned a job, is a possibility. Unless you have a truly rich employer, though, a lot of this sort of activity already happens at the inn. As already noted, you’d be trying to replace a social hub here. Removing it as a starting point is likely going to leave you having to choose something rather similar. There is a reason this one get called "over used", which is that it works so well and appropriately.
The players don’t want to hear a tired trope though, so what can you do? If you’re going to stick with it, customize things a bit. Don’t start it with the "it was a dark and stormy night" of adventures. Make it something special that players will remember. That can be anything from notable clientele to distinct descriptions of the place itself. For example: “You push your way into the Rat King Inn, a bustling place with a central round bar and packed tables scattered about in every direction. You manage to find a spot where a group is just getting up to leave, and grab a seat just as a few other patrons grab the other chairs.” This isn’t just “you meet at an inn”, it forces the characters together in a busy and unique place in your world. They may still not be interested in starting there, though, so the easy thing to do is solicit ideas - another great thing to do at a Session 0. Not only can players discuss how they might already know each other (it makes things easier if some do), but they can discuss where in the world they might like to start. They might all be on a ride together, be it a wagon, ship, train, or other. They might all be forced into the same safe spot during a storm or other natural circumstances. Find out who these characters are and what they’ve been doing, even if they don’t know each other, and use that to inform where they might be or meet.
The inn/tavern really is a great place to start, though. The old west saloon, Ten Forward, Moe’s, Cheers, Fawlty Towers, the White Lotus, the Mos Eisley cantina. We could go on and on. Again, there's a reason it's considered an overused trope - because it works! Even Chaucer had his group meet at an inn, and a real one at that. Are we better than Chaucer? Probably not! Alright, it's a bit overused, but you could always solicit ideas from your players for where they may want to start out in a world. They don’t even necessarily have to start out together, as long as events pull them to the same group eventually. You shouldn’t shy away from the inn though. People and characters need a shared space in their lives, no matter what that particular place is actually referred to. Until next week folks, inn-joy your tables and your dice.
- A
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