What's a good starting place for a new character in an RPG?

In the middle of traveling, on the road, being pestered by a friendly, yet overly talkative stranger.

Be a kid leaving home on a new adventure in the world. Japan with everything they make has me believe kids just do that there.

A tavern

>>3507607
Yeah, I think that non-contextual situations that don't go into story building or shameful tropes (village burning, amnesia) are better since they leave more in the hands of the player in terms of submersion and roleplay.
Somebody asking you for help or just interacting with the you is a good idea since it leaves the response to the player, even if he/she is than forced into a situation. It feels less hammy than telling you what you should do.

my option would be a scripted robbing on the street. It's aggressive, it makes to player itself go after the objective and can develop in a more interesting plot without much effort (item get's sold to pawnshop, then bought by a stranger, thieves getting killed after that or running away in the next area and so on)

>>3507607
Parents basement.

Dungeon cell.

>>3507607
You should make a game with elements like harvest moon or animal crossing where you spend the first part of the game farming and living a simple, happy life in the country. Make the player be able to stay there as long as they want, farming, talking to people maybe building romance. But the start of the real game starts when they visit a certain place, pull a sword from a stone or something else that sets events in motion. Then the village is burnt to the ground, everyone dead and you can never return to your old happy like

>Childhood
>Amnesia
>Prison
Yup we've covered all the basics

On the toilet.

>>3507806
>>3507854
I think the character being in a prison is a bad call

If you're innocent, what does that say about the kingdom? This would be a huge problem if the kingdom was a just and fair one. If you're evil, wouldn't you feel fine being put into a prison because you probably did something stupid worth being put in prison for?

>>3507854
Washing up on a beach after a shipwreck hasn't been mentioned yet. Far more common than escaped or released prisoners (can't think of a single example outside that one series that does it just about every game)

>>3507880
>If you're innocent, what does that say about the kingdom?
That they're corrupt? Exposition right away without words, not seeing a problem here!

I didn't feel like taking a screenshot but one of my captcha words is 'penis'. Just wanted to share.

>plz design my rpg maker game

>>3507893
>That they're corrupt? Exposition right away without words, not seeing a problem here!

So why would you care about saving the world if they're shitheads?

>>3507623
This. If you are a traveller, then being hired to do a job in a tavern would make the most sense... and things would snowball from there.

>>3507904
Quite obviously because they are the shitheads you need to save the world from!

Come on, topple the bad government is another super old cliche bruv, let's not pretend to be surprised.

>Starting on your home village/your home
Gives you the opportunity to set up the character by it's surroundings and a "home" to return to later on.
>Starting with amnesia/brainwash
You can basically do anything, which works for customization, but you need a decent explanation to the amnesia
>Starting on jail/tavern/ship/hotel or any type of "temporary" location
The same as above, but better as it's less retarded, but you'll also need an explanation.
>Start as a slave acquiring freedom
You can set up pretty much anything from there, but it also says a lot about the world the character lives in

Travelling or having a sheltered upbringing tend to be the best way to keep the player and protagonist on an equal playing field. Getting transported to a new world often feels cheap and amnesia is just an excuse for lazy twists.

Time travel/supernatural intervention can work well too, but it's trickier to pull off.

>>3507607
An experienced adventurer who don't need no tutorial. Let the player figure things out by trial and error.

>>3507607
>What's a good starting place for a new character in an RPG?
Anything as long as it's properly contextualized.
>Usually it seems to be amnesia to help tell the story and setting to newbies
Who fucking cares about the newbies?
Are you going to make a game or a handholding simulator?
Go crazy, as long as the introduction makes sense and helps creating a basic context for the character you want to make it's alright, leave a bit to the imagination of the player to fill out the blanks, it also helps to give more character to the character, "show, don't tell" is a staple of proper narrative.

>>3507607
Make a game where you start as an aged level 100 hero who has to go on one last quest before he dies. You start extremely powerful, but loose XP every time you have to fight due to old man weakness, and then die once you hit level 0, so it's a race against time to get to the end still strong enough to complete your task.

>>3507880
>If you're evil, wouldn't you feel fine being put into a prison

Sure, most modern day inmates are perfectly content with being locked up and if given the option to leave would say no, because they belong in jail.

>>3507607
I like vengeance, when the game gives you an antagonist from the start to give you a goal : like the first Phantasy Star, FF2.

Or else, being a mercenary/adventurer that gets involved in a bigger adventure seem pretty cool if well told.

Please no amnesia, it's the laziest and most overused RPG intro you can make.

>>3507893
>Washing up on a beach after a shipwreck
>can't think of a single example outside that one series that does it just about every game
Come on, it doesn't happen in...Origins, II, III and...that's all.

Goddamnit Adol.

>>3507607
your main character could be an idiot/uneducated/sheltered (a fact that's acknowledged in the game) and needs to have everything explained to him

The game should start as you kill the final boss and then show you the entire story through flashbacks during a 2 hour FMV.

Do you think a rpg in which you start powerful, and max level and gradually lose your abilities-skills due to plot shit would be viable? So basically at the end you have to fight the last boss at level 1 while the first half of the game you butchered pretty much everything?

>>3510245
I doubt it, a lot of people like the feeling of starting out weak and becoming stronger as the game goes on
besides, most battles are pretty uninteresting when you're level 1 because there aren't that many options you can use other than the fight command

>>3510245
Warcraft 3 the frozen throne kind of did this during the undead campaign.

You start with a maxed-out Arthas and he gradually loses his powers... he does recover at the end, though.

>>3510245
It would be hard to do, but could be really awesome if done well.

>>3507607
In the womb of the final boss.