The new campaign is outlined and detailed. You've got a stack of NPCs, a list of random encounters, a dungeon or two, and secret plots that will captivate novice and veteran alike. Now all you need is a band of heroes to play pivot in your tale. Enter the players, expectant and burdened with munchies. They take places at the table, gather six-sided dice, and smile as they wait for you to help them make characters. Happily, you declare the attribute generation method, starting level, and relevant house rules. That's when the dreaded query is raised, "What about our backgrounds?"

Good question. Traditionally, a dungeon master has few options, and these often less than sufficient. You could just show them the world map and let them go wild. Chances are you'll get a handful of lone heroes with nothing in common, strangers meeting in a tavern to discuss only the present or chat about completely disconnected pasts. Is it really possible to believe that these people have become close so quickly: close enough to watch each others' backs? The other extreme is pre-generated backgrounds. Your players glare at you for even mentioning it. After all, the history of a character defines it and -since developing the persona is at least half the fun of playing at all- most players are loathe to relinquish the right of creation. Besides, with only statistics to concentrate on, even the purest of role-players is likely to min-max. If you're not careful, you could start the game with a munchkin posse. Of course you can mix these options, find some balance between them. It's tough to juggle though and hard to keep the attention of overanxious players with lengthy debates.

So what's a DM to do? I've asked myself the same question on several occasions. The answer, discovered in a moment of inspiration, is a technique I call the prelude. Would you like the PCs to start with pre-fabricated relationships between them? Would it be nice if they already knew some of the major NPCs? Would you like them to have skills and abilities based on their past experiences? And wouldn't it be great if they were already deeply involved in the plot? If you have answered yes to one or more of these questions, then your reply to the dreaded query -listed above- will be...

"We'll be using preludes. You can all start by creating first level characters from one of these two towns." They're looking at the map but you're reading those two locales from a cheat sheet heretofore referred to as the outline. Those two town names are each surrounded by a few symbols. These represent choices and plots that can be opened but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Start by penciling in the character names next to those of their homes. While they work out the details of first level, draw lines between each name and three or four of the symbols. Erase and redraw as you see fit while the characters take form around you. When the fastest player is done, the fun begins

Example: The names of two towns appear at the top of the outline. One is a farming village named Shadfeld, the other is a river port called Whiterock. Around the former are spaced five symbols: (1) a skull, (2) two crossed swords, (3) a crescent moon, (4) three interlocked circles, and a (5) banneret's spear. The moon and spear actually stand between the two towns so that they are also included in the list of five symbols surrounding Whiterock. The other three of those are a (6) triangle, (7) a wolf's head, and (8) a key. There are five PCs, each connected to three symbols: paladin (5, 6, 8), rogue (5, 6, 7), wizard (3, 7, 8) cleric (1, 3, 4) and barbarian (1,2,3). The paladin, rogue, and wizard are from the city. The barbarian is from the plains near the farming village where the cleric lives.

Pull that player aside. Spend five to ten minutes describing an opening scene for her character. You'll have to do this first one off the cuff, based on their level one background, but it shouldn't be too tough. Introduce an NPC or two and drop clues for major plot-lines. At the end, leave a pretty basic choice, allowing the character to guide the plot of his background. It should be a choice that will obviously lead to entire modules. The player makes the decision. You make a couple notes give him two handouts. One is a sheet of paper listing the encounters the character faced en route to level two as well as some notes about the level up. The second bit is a 3"x 5" card with a list of treasure on the lined side and a symbol on the other.

Example: Our fastest player was making the barbarian. She will start her adventures in Shadfeld. Her name, on the outline, is connected to a skull, two-crossed swords, and a crescent moon. The skull represents a plot in which the player tries to prevent a murder. The two crossed swords represent investigations into a local bandit troupe. The crescent moon is a wilderness adventure to find the source of ill magic that is making animals react strangely in the area. The opening scene would be as simple as a character coming into a bar where one patron (a bandit) is arguing with another (a local petty villain). They start to brawl and the bandit wins by fighting dirty. Then he leaves before the garrison patrol comes by. Nearby comments curse the bandit troupe for always causing trouble. Meanwhile, the guy that got beat up is professing revenge with an unsettling look in his eye. All the while, the barbarian cannot stop thinking about how strangely her dog's been reacting since she came so close to town. The player decides what plot to follow. Let's say she's worried about her dog. You hand her a sheet of paper containing a bare outline of the encounters she faced and the XP gained. Something like: questioned local wise man learning that the magic started when an old druid moved to the nearby woods (plot award 300XP), fought a small group of animals on the way to the druid's glade (combat award 300XP), triggered trap while spying on the druid (trap award 100XP), defeated the druid who has died and been raised as a zombie (combat award 300 XP). The treasure card would simply contain a list of goodies gained: either randomly generated or tailored to the adventure. It might also contain important plot items. A vial used in the zombie ritual, for instance.The player is told to fill in the details of how her character got through the encounters, no rolls required. She is also told that she may conspire or share details with anyone that has a matching symbol on his treasure card. Then she is sent out and another player brought in. Rinse and repeat.

Example: The wizard's player is next in line. He is given the option of helping to find an escaped criminal (crescent moon), delivering a message to a local tribe (wolf's head), or attempting to infiltrate a local secret society (key). His entire opening scene might be a talk with his overburdened mentor about all the things that need to be taken care of. For convenience, let's say he chooses the fugitive hunt. He learns that the bad guy is a necromancer, and is sent to the place that guy was last seen. His list of encounters is entirely different but it leads him to the place where his fugitive last struck: the hut of an innocent druid. These players both have crescent moons on their cards. They can talk about what happened in their preludes, and here's why...

Once everybody has been through the first prelude, they should make their character level six. This should be quick and painless. They should also be separated into groups. Make a few rounds to give brief details of the scenes where they met. Encourage them to role-play those scenes but inform them that a certain amount of time will be spent training for the level (or pursuing fruitless clues). When they're starting to wind down, pull aside one group. Ask them how and where they will spend their downtime, as well as their excuses for being in each other's company a few days later. It may be that they are investigating the same thing. Once you have an answer, hit them with another brief scene like the opening one. Leave them a choice and let them know that they can decide as a group or got their separate ways. It will probably take them a while to talk it over so move on and prep the next group.

It is important to note that your next row of outline symbols are set up differently. They are not linked to the place names but -instead- stand in a row. Also, two of the symbols are missing. Each of the previous symbols is connected to three of these new ones in exactly the same way the character names were linked.

Example: The spear and the skull have disappeared from the second line. The crescent moon is connected to another crescent moon, the crossed swords, and the key. The players of the wizard and barbarian role-play out their meeting over the corpse of the zombie druid. When they have finished, the wizard's player declares that he is searching for leads in the druid's domain and then checking surrounding settlements for clues. The barbarian, having completed her mission, is going home to party. A few days later, they bump into one another when the wizard's investigation leads him to the bar where the wild woman likes to drink. The DM takes over and says she's meeting an informant there. He claims that the renegade necromancer was a member of an underground death cult in the city. A bystander overhears the conversation and chips in that he spotted a creepy looking wizard on the road to his fishing hole, which -incidentally- leads to an abandoned logger's shack. He says that he knew the man was a necromancer because a zombie defended him from a bandit attack. The choices are obvious: investigate the cult for clues (triangle), go search the logger's shack (crescent moon), or finally silence those annoying bandits.

Once your players have made their choices, it goes pretty much like before. They get a joint encounter sheet if they stick together, separate ones if they split up. This time there's enough XP for each character to reach third level. Treasure cards are shared between participants on like missions but their number is always equal to that of the players. Finish the whole circuit of groups, have them advance characters to level three. Repeat ad, infinitum; or at least until you reach starting level.

Example: Your encounter sheets look a little different this time. Here's the list for the crescent moon: finding the fishing hole (plot award 200XP), thwarting [blank] bandits that try to mug you (combat award 300XP), locating the logger's shack (plot award 300XP), fighting [blank] zombies and necromancer's [blank] level fighter companion (combat award 900XP), finding the necromancer absent but freeing his soon-to-be-next victim (plot award 300XP). Fill in the blanks so that the correct amount of XP will be gained, depending on how many PCs are participating. So, if both players pick the crescent moon plot, they were jumped by two bandits, etc. Each will get a treasure card no matter what but if the symbols match, the total contents represent treasure gathered together and can be divided however they like.

So, the trick is simply to reduce the number of available symbols with each prelude. As the characters progress, they are entwined with one another by fate. They also become deeply involved in the main plot because -as the DM you already know this- there is really only one plot. The symbol plots are simply the interrelated threads of the main story. Eventually everyone will have the same symbol on his or her treasure card. A good way to do this is by making the last prelude's choice one of method.

Example: The players only have one prelude to go. Even though there were three choices last time, they've gotten into two groups. One is still persistently pursuing that necromancer. The other is after a hobgoblin assassin that killed a city official or whatever. Each of their last preludes has lead them to a bandit fortress in the wilderness. The wizard-hunters are sure that their target is an advisor to the bandit leader who is a bit of a puppet. The hobgoblin hunters know that they're target works for the bandits and lives at the fort. The choice for both groups is to enter the fort by force, sneak in. or try to talk their way in. Each method leads to a different series of encounters and ends with the two parties meeting at the opening of a crucial scene.That's when you tell your players, "Let's call it a wrap. See you all next week for the game." If you did it right, they answer with impatient groans. Now, before I put you to sleep with this ramble, I want to cover a few options and notes.

  • Alignment Tracking: The decisions of the preludes are great measures of alignment. For example, if the barbarian would have investigated the bandits in prelude one, it would have been lawful. Investigating them in prelude two is a more chaotic choice. Keeping a little set of notes at the bottom of the outline can help you referee over alignment changes. To be fair, no character should start the game with an alignment restricted by their class. After all, you wouldn't make an ex-paladin with regular character creation. If you like, you can start all the characters (except the alignment restricted) at N and see where they take it.

  • Identification: It's probably a good idea to let the players know what their treasure items are without identifying them. Again, you would normally make a character by purchasing items on a budget with full knowledge of what they are. The players are already sacrificing a choice of items, why make them give up any more control?

  • Limitation One (buying and selling): The way a character spends the downtime between preludes can be made to limit what can be bought and sold. For example, our wizard spent most of his time in the wilderness and so would only be able to trade simple things on that day he got back to town. The barbarian would be able to use all of the town's services and even pursue custom crafted items between mugs of ale. A character that spent downtime in the city would have more options.

  • Limitation Two (multi-classing): The place that a character levels up can be made to limit available multi-classes. I did it by the following rules. A character can always advance a level in a current class. He can multi to any class currently held by another PC or major NPC that he spends the entire downtime with. In addition, he may multi-class in any locale where certain facilities are available (temples for clerics, guilds for rogues, etc).

  • Limitation Three (two-part adventures): To better control the flow, you might have a few linear adventures stuck into the outline. This means that a character who finishes the prelude is not left with a choice of plot but, instead, has only one of method. For example, I tempted some characters to explore an abandoned underground city. But prelude one left them lost in the ruins. The question wasn't about which lead they followed. It was about which route they took trying to escape. They automatically moved on to the next prelude which was an extension of the ruins plot.

  • Replacing Dead Characters: This system also works well for replacing dead characters at the proper entrance level. The only difference is that it's more of a solo thing. Though the character may not met the PCs during the preludes, she may be involved in the same plot lines and will probably know who they are when she enters regular play. As an aside, I seeded my preludes with "phantom" characters, like a generic group of rogues that was spotted interacting with a particular plot but fled before they could be identified. At a later date, when running a replacement character through the preludes, I could have made him one of those rogues if he had selected the right plot.

  • Monster Races and ECL: The system is easily adapted to characters with an ECL modifier. Just start them later in the preludes.

    So, in closing, this system of background generation finds a nice middle ground between the traditional options. It involves your players in the plot, gives them a chance to define relationships through decisions and role-play, and leaves you with a solid group of adventurers that all know each other. Perhaps the wizard only met the barbarian twice: once over a dead zombie and once in a bar, just before the crazy warrior announced his departure for a bandit slaughter. Perhaps they've been traveling together since day one. Either way, they'll recognize one another in that crucial scene at the bandit fort. Things will seem well plotted, the world will seem small, coincidences will make the lives of characters feel real, and your campaign will be off to a grand start.