How do YOU introduce players to each other in-game?

[PapaMambo]

This is something I've always had an issue with - how to introduce players to each other in game, without it seeming forced or contrived.

There's the 'you guys already know each other' idea, or the 'you all work for the same crime fighting organization' or something similar. I've also made it so that they all seem to be responding to the same crime in progress all at once, but it just seems forced.

How do you handle introducing a disparate group of player characters to each other??

[Matt]

Personally I dislike the "you already know each other" only a little less than I detest "you all work for th government" stuff.

Other than responding to the same crime, I have two other methods:

(1) responding separately to different crimes that turn out to be part of a single, larger plot or conspiracy, so the heroes stumble onto each other--this is always a good excuse for heroes to fight in the grand Marvel tradition of " I thought you were a villain!"

(2) start on a big holiday with parades and such, like St. Patrick's Day, 4th of July, or Thanksgiving, so they all have a less contrived reason to be in the vicinity--after all, half the city is out watching the floats go by--and then have the bad guys interrupt. You can even have hero vs. hero fights in all th confusion.

[Iczer]

I usually have them work interconnected cases, or offer some incentive to team up. a really big-bad works wonders to unite characters, as does a defining disaster.

In Huston, PC's responded well to the city's "Cash for Capes" promotion which caused them to band together.

I have had some success with the old 'Wealthy older gent is putting together a team for his own purposes" schtick as well.

Batts

[The Beast]

Have them all going to the same office building for various reasons and get in the same elevator at the same time. Then have someone dump infected rats into the elevator that only he has the cure for.

[Damian Magecraft]

This is something I've always had an issue with - how to introduce players to each other in game, without it seeming forced or contrived.

There's the 'you guys already know each other' idea, or the 'you all work for the same crime fighting organization' or something similar. I've also made it so that they all seem to be responding to the same crime in progress all at once, but it just seems forced.

How do you handle introducing a disparate group of player characters to each other??

I have used all sorts of methods (most are just me railroading the group together).
My favorite method is one I "borrowed" from another game system.
I have the players write up 3 back stories.
One is their origin (or what they know of it if they chose the "mysterious origin" option)
the other two are on how they met/know two other members of the group (a kind of 6 degrees of separation thing).
From there I typically just start the campaign (At least one person in the group of players will want to create a team from that point typically).

[Looonatic]

One of the PCs owned a bar in a small town that got on the map in a big way due to rumors of an ancient and powerful artifact being in the vicinity. DOzens of treasure hunters congregate. Someone blows up the bar. By a happy coincidence, the survivors are the now former bar owner and the other PCs. Everybody else was killed or severely maimed in the explosion.

[Incriptus]

There are a variety of ways, however to tell you the truth it is often something that we've decided before the game even starts.

My last game was more of a spy theme. So it was decided that the players were specifically recruited.

Before that the game had a theme of young people suddenly manifesting powers. So it was decided that the players were the only people in that highschool to develope powers.

I've very rarely tried the "Ok guys go make characters and I'll try to build a game around them when you show up".

[Glistam]

In the past I've either had the players already start off knowing each other or be brought together by an NPC. Next time I get to run, if the players don't already have an idea for how they should be together I plan to take a page from another game I've enjoyed (maybe even the same one that Damian was talking about), where each player writes up a bare bones paragraph for a mission/story which involved that character, and then two other random players each add a few lines to it indicating how they were involved in that story (how they "guest starred" in it). This starts each character already knowing two other characters somehow, and makes it easier for everyone to get together.

[Ranger]

Via a battle where they all turn up to safe the day

[Noon]

Ask the players to figure out a way they get together.

They will either A: Enthusiastically come up with ideas and work something out together or B: They don't care if how they get together feels forced or not.

[Kagashi]

Ask the players to figure out a way they get together.

They will either A: Enthusiastically come up with ideas and work something out together or B: They don't care if how they get together feels forced or not.

This is the best way when starting a game out. Just give them a common overarching theme to work off of which would likely be dependent on the game you are going to play (work for a particular company, attend the same church, escaping from a mental asylum, ect).

[slade the sniper]

Ask the players to figure out a way they get together.

They will either A: Enthusiastically come up with ideas and work something out together or B: They don't care if how they get together feels forced or not.

This is the best way when starting a game out. Just give them a common overarching theme to work off of which would likely be dependent on the game you are going to play (work for a particular company, attend the same church, escaping from a mental asylum, ect).

Agreed. I prefer the players to come up with reasons they are working together... siblings, cousins, students at the same dojo/university, ex-soldiers, current soldiers, knew each other in lockup, etc. I dread playing Casey Jones and sticking them together via some contrived deus ex machina. Since that first meeting/game session sets the tone for the entire game, having it be some sloppy "meet in a bar" scene does not due the game justice....unless of course it's Cyberpunk, when you do all meet at a bar and a boostergang shows up and starts killing everyone with heavy ordnance and the PCs are the only one who make it out alive...and thus become Persons of Interest for Corp X that was having a meet at the bar and now the PCs are hunted by the cops, the corps, the gang they smoked...

-STS

[Alrik Vas]

Last game i started the players all grew up in the same small town, left for a number of years and slowly met up again in their background stories, then as the game began they all had experiences to tell each other about. They'd all loved and lost, met friends and enemies, they had full backgrounds. To flesh that out I ran a few solo sessions for those who were interested so they'd have real experiences, though some were less-willing to share than others. Essentially they were all children of a poor town that was overrun by corrupt officials, thugs and general apathy. They were all a part of the same wilderness group (basically a boy scout troop, of which one of the character's father was the scout master) so they had childhood experiences together etc. We really made it come alive and some of them even still call each other's characters by their childhood nickname (Art the Fart, Piddles etc...one character is a wolfen, so he was much younger than the others and needed a newspaper bed often bwahahaha).

I tend to do this a lot, whatever the game may be. if your characters don't have a developed backstory, they're left with little recourse but to be a collection of numbers. These kinds of details give the GM plot hooks to bring the group together as well.

[Brothershadow]

This is something I've always had an issue with - how to introduce players to each other in game, without it seeming forced or contrived.

There's the 'you guys already know each other' idea, or the 'you all work for the same crime fighting organization' or something similar. I've also made it so that they all seem to be responding to the same crime in progress all at once, but it just seems forced.

How do you handle introducing a disparate group of player characters to each other??

Whenever we/I start a new campaign, it tends to be the longest of the beginning stories. Players will generally email their characters to me & we discuss their origins and where they are now.
This gives me time to create the first adventure on how the heroes will meet. The first story is "always" a simple story, where the heroes are patrolling and all come across the same event roughly around the same time, so that's generally your "hook" to bring them together to combat a common foe, gang, drug bust, or alien invasion. Point is, its a moment where they all get to shine, and notice they are all working together. This tends to start a team bonding event. Now that the group is established, new members being introduced is a piece of cake, as the new character is either discussed with me before the next game & more often than not the players are usually recruiting for new members to their legionnaire team roster.