The campaign will begin in the metropolis, Ophir, City of Slaves so it seems only proper to set aside one cliche (meeting in a tavern) for another (imprisoned!). At campaign launch, the characters will all share one commonality: they are enslaved and awaiting purchase in the slave-market of Ophir. They will immediately be offered one dangerous mission or another, completion of which will earn them their legal freedom. Slavery is common in genre fiction, and of course the ancient world on which Nod is loosely based. But it's obviously a serious thing--and even within the fiction is clearly seen as an evil act . Most in Ophir either do not care or profit too greatly to be very concerned. But there are those who work to free slaves, and perhaps even those who work in secret for deeper political change. If this starting point greatly bothers anyone, I'm perfectly willing to discuss alternate hooks for the campaign launch. Ophir happens to be both centrally located and a large hub of trade and traffic, making it an ideal beginning point, but it's not the only option, merely the most convenient. The players are, of course, welcome to abandon this city in disgust at the first opportunity, work to free slaves en masse, or provoke a revolution/rebellion. Such is the nature of a sandbox.
