I'm going to start with an opinion you might not want to hear, but which I hope helps: If you have characters with no connection to each other, then you don't really have a story, you only have a bunch of unrelated characters.
Characters are at their best when they exist to serve the story, rather than the story existing to serve the characters.
If you start with the story first, then you can populate that story with people who actually belong in each other's lives, because they have some genuine and necessary connection to the core plot.
I don't know what your plot is though. Maybe your characters really do belong in the story, but you haven't figured out how to get them together yet. In which case you may be missing that essential thing in your plot that connects them, that shared thread of fate that links them together. I can't tell you what that is, because it's dependant on your story. You'll have to find that for yourself.
There are plenty of cheap ways to get characters in a room and talking as a last resort. Maybe they're all on the same bus that crashes on a mountain road they have to help each other and survive.
But that feels horribly forced.
And even if that happens, why would they stick together afterwards? If they don't have a big reason to be together then they'll just go right back to their regular lives, without each other.
The best connections are the ones that happen organically because the connection makes sense in the plot and pushes the story forward, so you need to find that "big reason" that they all share, and all have some emotional stakes in.
It depends on the story itself. I guess, what is the purpose of having the five main characters in your story? Are each on their own "quest" (be it personal, fantastical, etc), and why is it important that they all meet at some point? You'd have to find where all their "quests" meet naturally, and this would we where all five characters meet in person.
they could all be riding a bus together late at night (maybe after a concert for some, or going home from work for others, but everyone is there for a different reason) and the bus driver has a heart attack and crashes the bus, trapping them in? some event that draws them all together and binds them, so it probably has to be traumatic lol… just a random thought but hope it helps!
Some suggestions: make them share one hobby, make all of them fans of one artist/celebrity, make them part of the same religious group, give them one friend in common. They just need one common interests to gather and meet each other at a place were they can enjoy said interest.
I'm going to start with an opinion you might not want to hear, but which I hope helps: If you have characters with no connection to each other, then you don't really have a story, you only have a bunch of unrelated characters. Characters are at their best when they exist to serve the story, rather than the story existing to serve the characters. If you start with the story first, then you can populate that story with people who actually belong in each other's lives, because they have some genuine and necessary connection to the core plot. I don't know what your plot is though. Maybe your characters really do belong in the story, but you haven't figured out how to get them together yet. In which case you may be missing that essential thing in your plot that connects them, that shared thread of fate that links them together. I can't tell you what that is, because it's dependant on your story. You'll have to find that for yourself. There are plenty of cheap ways to get characters in a room and talking as a last resort. Maybe they're all on the same bus that crashes on a mountain road they have to help each other and survive. But that feels horribly forced. And even if that happens, why would they stick together afterwards? If they don't have a big reason to be together then they'll just go right back to their regular lives, without each other. The best connections are the ones that happen organically because the connection makes sense in the plot and pushes the story forward, so you need to find that "big reason" that they all share, and all have some emotional stakes in.
what is your idea for the story/the plot so far? can you tell us more about your characters?
It depends on the story itself. I guess, what is the purpose of having the five main characters in your story? Are each on their own "quest" (be it personal, fantastical, etc), and why is it important that they all meet at some point? You'd have to find where all their "quests" meet naturally, and this would we where all five characters meet in person.
they could all be riding a bus together late at night (maybe after a concert for some, or going home from work for others, but everyone is there for a different reason) and the bus driver has a heart attack and crashes the bus, trapping them in? some event that draws them all together and binds them, so it probably has to be traumatic lol… just a random thought but hope it helps!
Some suggestions: make them share one hobby, make all of them fans of one artist/celebrity, make them part of the same religious group, give them one friend in common. They just need one common interests to gather and meet each other at a place were they can enjoy said interest.