This refers to the first episode of Agora Core:
It is a conundrum, because however original your plot may seem, you need to contrive a reason for a group to form. How should they begin? Perhaps there is a backstory connecting some or all of the players. An example of this approach is in Will Wheton’s Titans Grave where character backstories are discussed and secret bonds are disclosed to the Games Master.
Another simpler approach is a reason that attracts the players to one spot, such as a call for adventures and the promise of riches for successfully completing a mission. I decided to loosely follow this second approach, bringing the group together at the docks of the town of Nis-Ton. Their reasons for being there were their own, but each was looking for an opportunity; perhaps to earn more money, perhaps for adventuring, perhaps they hoped to escape the land of DaNis altogether.
In much the same way as Character Creation, I left the players to choose their reasons for being there. This has both advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage, as I see it, is that they are in total control of their characters and can develop them organically. I can then suggest paths for them to follow during the roleplay but they can choose where they go from there. The main disadvantage is that they are complete strangers and they have no bonds to each other or to a central plot. The introduction of Long mid-way through this episode highlights the loose bonds between the characters.
What worked really well at the docks was that the players grasped the situation quickly and decided that there was an opportunity worth exploring. They then advanced the plot with their actions and dice rolling.
The finding of a horse and cart was a single line plot that developed because Hector did not roll well when perceiving where to look for a horse and did not ask anyone. So rather than go straight to the transportation store, they successfully deceived a resident and took their horse. Then they had to deal with the transportation store for the cart. In this case, the characters of Nomo and Hector started out being civil and ran an errand for the store owner; collecting flowers that grew on the cliffs ledges, but when that didn’t work out they resorted to tossing him over the side of the cliff. Hector is definitely a bad influence on Nomo! The interesting part is that they had already secured a horse and cart but decided that they needed an extra horse! The poor store owner needn’t have been so roughly discarded! But this is what makes roleplays so interesting – you never know how players and plot will interact!
A lovely moment was when Orix decided to pay special attention to the horse they commandeered and named it Loki. I liked that personal touch, which he also displayed when creating the Weasel familiar. Another character-driven bonus was the strange friction between man-of-the-wilds Long and the dry-witted drow Hector. Long simply didn’t trust Hector. To be fair to Hector, if someone threw a warhammer at me I would not warm to them either! Still, it is moments such as these that make each party unique, for which I am very grateful.
