D&D Campaign - Starting the players in a dungeon?

[WiMoTj]

I'm not entirely sure if this is the right place for this, but eff, it, The Escapist users are usually pretty helpful.

Anyway, I'm writing a D&D adventure, and I'm not entirely sure where the players will start.
I was thinking of having them be locked in a dungeon alongside a wizard, who offers to help them get out of the dungeon in exchange for their service (this being the adventure hook, they're gonna have to be his bodyguards on a huge The Hobbit-style quest).

Is this an acceptable way to start off a campaign? I was otherwise thinking of just starting off with them being invited to a tavern or the wizard's home and then he makes the offer.

My main concern with the second option is the fact that one player in the group likes to fuck with the status quo and mess up adventure hooks and stuff. Also, at the beginning of the campaign we're currently on we were just supposed to meet up in a tavern, group up and go off on an adventure, instead we got into a huge bar fight with each other and it took us about two sessions to get the game back on track.

(Ironically enough, the captcha says "play ball!")

 

[Beautiful Tragedy]

I think this is a great hook. Maybe even the PCs not even know how or why they got there. possibly even add in some "memory hints" along the way to seed other adventures (hooks). If you're planning on making it into a campaign. Also, if your players are true RPers, they most likely will have, at the very least, vague origin or background stories. Get those from them, and seed in things from their origins SLOWLY over time... I've noticed from past campaigns I've been in that when a player's character is "personally" linked to whatever the hook is, they tend to become more involved an active.

 

[Brown Cap]

This would be a nice shift from the standard but classic tavern atmosphere. I say have at it, and if it doesn't turn out quite as you wanted it to, let the players roll with what they like and build an adventure from that. Otherwise, it's a good start.

 

[Rylot]

I'd say that sounds interesting. You can flush out the world around the dungeon and who runs the dungeon and let the players tell you how they got there. Might create more player involvement. Good luck.