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Talk to any Game Master and they will likely tell you the most important step for a successful campaign is introducing the Player Characters to each other. There are a variety of ways to do this, but over the years I have found certain elements are key to getting it right. Most beginning GMs underestimate the importance of the first session, and tend to overlook important warning signs. Many pitfalls and missteps can be avoided with a little preparation and a bit of forethought. So with this in mind, I have outlined a few things that have worked for me in the past.

Step 1- Party Balance

The first thing to consider is party balance. By balance I don't mean party composition (as in all parties need a cleric), but rather the personality make-up of the group as a whole. For example, it is obviously a bad idea to have a self-serving evil mage in the same party as a paladin. Such a party can still work, but unless handled very carefully, the group may fracture and fall apart.

Avoiding situations such as these is not all very difficult, but it takes a fair amount of planning. You will need to talk to each player before the game starts, and to try to get a feel for the character they want to play. Not just their race/class, but who the character is and a little bit of what makes them tick. It's not necessary to know every detail about the characters before the game starts, but a rough understanding of their likes and dislikes is imperative.

Once you have a fair idea of who each of the characters are, take a good look at the group as a whole. Try to spot any obvious problems, and then decide whether or not they need to be eliminated.

For example, let's say your group includes a Barbarian Berserker who hates magic, and a studious young Sorcerer. Both of them may be very well thought out character concepts, but you may find the two locked in a dual to the death in the first session. Worse, the characters may simply refuse to work together, and one of them may opt to leave the group.

Fixing this problem can be done in several ways. The easiest is to ask the Barbarian to modify his background slightly. Instead of a passionate hatred of magic, ask him to distrust it instead. Then, in the first session, arrange for the sorcerer to have the chance to save the Barbarian's life. You may still run into problems between the two, but this should at least stop them from killing each other.

This is only one of many possible solutions to the scenario I've presented. The point is that you should be looking for such conflicts before the game starts. This way, your group is much more likely to hold together when the game actually starts.

Step 2- Draw Them Together

Once you have a good idea of what motivates the characters, its time to come up with a way to get them together. Nothing is more frustrating than laying an adventure before the characters and having them chose to ignore it; and this problem is worsened if it happens in the first session. Fortunately there are ways to avoid these types of pitfalls.

First off, make sure that the plot is something your characters are likely to be interested in. Since by now you know roughly what your PCs are it shouldn't be all that difficult. Just remember you should always figure out who the characters are before solidifying any ideas you have about a campaign.

A few years ago I played in an RPGA Living Realm adventure at a convention. It was, without a doubt, the lamest adventure I have ever had the misfortune to be involved in. Some griffin eggs had been stolen (and were about to hatch), and the party was supposed to care enough to try to find them. There was no monetary reward, and really no reason to find the eggs unless you were a druid or loved nature.

To complicate things, the people who stole the eggs were ridiculously powerful. The highest-level character in the group was 3rd, and we were going up against 15th level adversaries. Needless to say, our party gave up about a third of the way through the adventure. Why? Because the adventure was created without any idea of whom the characters were, and consequently we had no real reason to be involved.

Now of course this is a rather extreme example, but you get my point. If your starting adventure centers around the party saving the town from marauding Orcs, then you had better make sure they have a reason to care about the town. Perhaps it is their hometown, or perhaps certain members are greedy and the town council is willing to pay them for protection.

Once you have a starting adventure you feel the PCs will be interested in, its time for the next step. Make sure your characters have a reason to be in the campaign's starting location.

You can write the best adventure in the history of role-playing, but if it requires the PCs to be in the Mountains of Karalesh and they are in the Swamps of Despair it will still fail. Before you begin a campaign I recommend doing a 1-2 page handout for the PCs. In it you will want to describe the starting location of the campaign, and perhaps a little bit about what the first adventure will pertain to. If your adventure takes place in the town of Hillcrest, then let the PCs know that. When you review their backgrounds make sure they take this into account.

Step 3- Take Charge

No player likes their GM to be a tyrant, but at the same time it is important to have control over your game. When designing a campaign you need to get your initial goals across to the characters. By this I mean you should give them some guidance, and some idea of what style game you tend to run.

If you enjoy a lot of combat, then make sure they are aware of this. Nothing is more frustrating for a player than having a useless character, and if you run a combat heavy game your players had better know it. Asthmatic juggling bards are probably not going to last long in such a setting, and you can avoid major headaches by getting this across before the game begins.

On the flipside, if you prefer more intrigue the problem can be reversed. Conan the Asskicker is going to be pretty useless in a political game, and the players should know this going in.

The bottom line is: don't be afraid to take charge of the game. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being organized and putting a bit of prep work into your game. Your players will thank you for it, and it will make your games much more enjoyable.