A Dragon Flew Away With the Tavern or: How To Start a Campaign

I’ve always tried to start my campaigns in unique ways. In my first game, played with a not-so-serious group of friends, I had them encounter a cloaked figure in the corner of a bar, whom the players immediately assumed would be their quest giver. He turned out to be no person at all, but simply a cloak on a broomstick placed there by the bartender as a joke. In Enter The Hollow the players were all traveling together when they heard a loud boom, followed by a stampede of animals. In a short-lived Greek mythology campaign, they began in medias res in gladiatorial combat. But my favorite campaign start is from The World Rune, and it was glorious indeed.

The World Rune started in a big, rotten steampunk city. Smog filled the cobblestone streets, airships drifted silently above, and most of the houses had been shoddily extended vertically to accommodate the growing populace. The player characters had all been hired by the Stormcriers, a private detective agency that had just gotten most of its staff killed off. The name came from an azure, hawk-like bird known for its distinctive call that had been said to predict storms. On the first day of their new job, the group was to meet up at a place called Cornelius’s Tavern for a drink. It was a new place, just opened the day before. The owner, Cornelius, was ecstatic to finally have been granted the loan he needed to fulfill his lifelong dream of running a tavern.

The party arrived, one by one, joining each other at a table in the center of the tavern. It being morning, the place was empty except for our heroes. No attempt at conversation was made at any point because that’s what this particular group was like—just sitting there, waiting for me to spoonfeed them entertainment. And I could deliver.

Suddenly, loud, repeated whooshing sounds came from outside, like strong winds coming in waves. People in the streets began screaming, scattering and running in every direction. The air smelt of ozone. The sunlight from the windows went dark; as if the whole tavern was being shadowed by some massive creature. Then, a loud crash as a gigantic blue claw tore through and grabbed hold of the roof of the tavern, tearing the whole building off of its foundation and dragging it into the sky.

An ancient blue dragon had picked up the tavern and was carrying it away with the characters inside. Also Cornelius.

Inside, tables, chairs, drinks, and people were being tossed around like grains of salt in a shaker. The party’s wizard dove after Cornelius, who was about to fall out the large window behind the bar disk. He managed to grab the barman’s hand, but nothing else, and now they were both crashing through the window. The rogue¹, previously busy tying a rope to the bar disk (somehow) to lower himself safely to the ground, reacted quickly and reached for the wizard, catching his hand at the last possible moment. The tavern was on its side now, with the large window facing the distant ground below. The rogue, the wizard, and Cornelius managed to hang on, despite being assaulted by an onslaught of falling furniture.

Inside, the remaining adventurers; the cleric, the fighter, and the smaller cleric, noticed a lit candle rolling around on the floor, dangerously close to a large puddle of extremely flammable dwarven ale. It was time to bail. Fortunately, the wizard now decided that this was a good time to reveal that he had feather fall prepared and could slow their fall. Or at least, the fall of up to five creatures. Less fortunately, there were six of them, but the rogue still had that rope he’d tied to the bar disk and instructed the others to jump. They did, and floated safely to the ground, with the rogue sliding down the rope closely behind them.

As they landed, the tavern exploded into flames. The dragon threw it at the ground and landed before the players, who no longer found themselves in the city but in the nearby mountains. What followed was a short interrogation by the dragon about a stolen jewel (which they had nothing to do with, of course) and a nice walk back to town. Everyone agreed it was a great start to the campaign.

Moral of the story: throw dragons at your level 1 party.