Getting a new cabal/group together

I am thinking about running a mage game of my very own, and I am trying to decide how to get the characters started into a new cabal. So here is the question... how do I get 7 or so characters to think to themselves "hey you know what! these other people and I should get together to start a brand new cabal... why didn't I think of that before!". Plotting and story are very important to me and I don't want to just use my mystic Storyteller powers to force it. What has worked for others in the past?

Personally, what I tend to do is just say

"Hey guys, I'd like to start a mage/vampire/werewolf/whatever game, but I'd like to have you all start off in a cabal/coterie/pack/what-have-you already. It would make things easier on my end and give you guys some backstory to bounce off each other."

I've always felt that's reasonable

Pretty much what Apocrypha said.  If you want to do it from scratch, however, typically them knowing each other or having a common goal works wonders.

Agreed with Apocrypha as well.  You work together with your players during character creation to figure out how the group comes together.  It avoids the "you all meet the Hierarch in a tavern and he tasks you all with a great quest" trope and usually makes sure that the characters have a more vested interest in each other.

Also, if they set common goals for both their characters and their cabal as a whole it helps write storylines.

A cabal that works together should make since as well. Either all members should be in the same order, on the same path,  studing the same legacy, or have the same political ideology. My experiance shows that a group of players that tries to form a cabal with  1-per-path-per-order is usually (not always ofcourse)  a group trying circumvent penalties, not a group concerned with realy playing the characters they created.

Maybe you could start them out before they awaken. Then after the big event happens and they are all trying to piece together whats going on, they might reach out and find one another. If your eyes are opened and you realize your a small fish in a very big pond with very big fish, you look for others that might be like yourself.

bfieldscg63:

Either all members should be in the same order, on the same path,  studing the same legacy, or have the same political ideology.

Completely disagreed, what they should have is the same goals and interests within the Fallen World.

For example my current groups Mage Cabal consists of an Obrimos Adamantine Arrow, an Acanthus Guardian of the Veil, A Mastigos Silver Ladder, a Obrimos Mysterium and a Moros Mysterium.  Their goal is to protect the integrety of the ley lines and nodes in New York City and to ensure that their energy isn't used to strengthen the Seers of the Throne or the Abyss.

To artifically limit the players just because "they are trying to circumvent penalities" is a really limited perception and really shows very little trust for your players.

For my part, I wanted to run a game with a nice variety of Orders and Paths. I have three players: Free Council Mastigos, Silver Ladder Thyrsus, and Mysterium Acanthus. It took a little more effort from a story perspective to get the Cabal together, but I think I'll have a richer game because of it. I think you have to remember that Mages are people first. If these people have reasons to need each other, then they can be any Paths and Orders you want.

You could always steall from DaveB's Broken Diamond and say that in order to perserve some political balance the Consillium has declared that the new mages in their midst must form a new cabal together rather than joining any existing ones.

Deimos_Masque:

To artifically limit the players just because "they are trying to circumvent penalities" is a really limited perception and really shows very little trust for your players.

Lol. You'd have to know my group. We've all be gaming together for a while, we all ST different nWoD games, and we are all very competitive. Actually this wasn't even one of my rules, but one of the other guys. I'd like to point out that in my post I did say that it wasn't always the case.

Deimos_Masque:

what they should have is the same goals and interests within the Fallen World.

   
            That works too. My point is the group should have common goals beyond "this is the PC group".

See there is your problem right there.  You are all "competitive" in a type of game that is by its nature meant to be "cooperative."  And I don't mean just Mage, I mean RPGs in general.

If the players have an US vs the ST/GM/Narrator/Etc. mentality it shows a lack of trust with he ST.  if the ST has the same thing then it really means you should be devoting your nights to LAN parties of FPS games rather than Roleplaying.  If you guys want to fight each other and "win."  Roleplaying is probably not the best of hobbies.

And for the record most people had already pointed out "more than the PC group" already before your post. 

Deimos_Masque:

See there is your problem right there.  You are all "competitive" in a type of game that is by its nature meant to be "cooperative."  And I don't mean just Mage, I mean RPGs in general.

     
 
    Again you'd have to know my group. It's hard to explain. We have fun, so I don't see a problem anywhere.

Deimos_Masque:

If the players have an US vs the ST/GM/Narrator/Etc. mentality it shows a lack of trust with he ST.  if the ST has the same thing then it really means you should be devoting your nights to LAN parties of FPS games rather than Roleplaying.  If you guys want to fight each other and "win."  Roleplaying is probably not the best of hobbies.

      I take majior offence to your elitest tone. We do have FPS parties, Halo 3and Call of Duty 4 infact, what of it? We still dig nWoD. So we have certain restrictions at charater creation that make the job of the ST a little easier, and forces everyone at the table to think about more than thier character. Who the hell are you to say who should roleplay?

Deimos_Masque:

And for the record most people had already pointed out "more than the PC group" already before your post.

    Which is the point of thread. I gave a  way to do that, by restricting order/path combinations for the PC cabal, which I might point out isn't really that rare, and even makes since.

I'm sorry I didn't mean to come off as elitist.  And I realize looking back I came off that way.  So please except my deepest apologies.  What I was trying to say was more of that I've had many groups have total meltdowns due to "competition" between the players constantly trying to one-up each other.  I wasn't suggesting you were having WRONG FUN which doesn't exist.  What I was saying that if restrictions had to be put in place to keep you guys from trying to "beat" the other players then that might be indicative of a deeper problem.

Now you are saying that the restrictions are to help players come up with original characters and help everyone think more deeply about the character.  I agree that's a very valid reason for having restrictions to player characters.  The problem was in your first post you suggested that everyone should have to play all the same Orders and/or Paths because other wise they were trying to "beat the system" which lead me to my statements.

If I misunderstood you I apologize but I could only go off what you said and didn't mean to suggest that you can't play the game how it works for you.

Deimos_Masque:

See there is your problem right there.

   
  Again, you'd have to know our group, we have fun so I don't see a problem anywhere.
 

Deimos_Masque:

If the players have an US vs the ST/GM/Narrator/Etc. mentality it shows a lack of trust with he ST.  if the ST has the same thing then it really means you should be devoting your nights to LAN parties of FPS games rather than Roleplaying.  If you guys want to fight each other and "win."  Roleplaying is probably not the best of hobbies.

  Who are you to say who can roleplay or not? And whats wrong with FPS?

Deimos_Masque:

And for the record most people had already pointed out "more than the PC group" already before your post. 

  Which is the point of the thread.  I just gave one way of accomplishing that- restricting certain order combos for the player cabal isn't exactly sacrilage-it even makes some since.

sorry doubble post