The good ol’ fashioned “You all meet in a tavern, answering a poster offering gold for help…”? The action-scene, “You’re all engaged in mutual mundane task, when suddenly a band of thugs/goblins/whatever bust in looking for the plot coupon and chaos breaks out”? The “Elder Scrolls classic” - all being prisoners thrown in together? Tie it in to a character’s backstory and let them lead the other party members in?
What have you found interesting or successful, and why?
Even better that the one player who showed up super late has an arrow in his knee. No worries, though, he forgot his character sheet, so he’s just running a pregen -but he’s making up for it with a catchphrase. All the time.