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First Session
Situating the Characters
A Typical Scene
1. Determine a location where everyone starts
- A marketplace looking for obscure items
- On the public transportation system
- Sharing a carriage to a party
- A neighborhood street festival
- An interesting location on your map
- A sporting event
If it’s not possible to put everyone in the same location, put half the group there. Play out the situation until the group makes their first move. Then find a way to draw the others in or switch locations and do the same thing for the other half of the group.
2. Create a dramatic situation
- Stampede - some domestic beasts get loose
- Crash - a vehicle careens onto the scene
- Chase - members of a faction are chasing someone through the crowd
- Weather - a weather event (storm? earthquake? tsunami?) erupts
- Confrontation - the characters are not supposed to be there
- Commotion - one of the characters accidentally offends someone
Make sure the characters are in the middle of the situation or close enough to it that they have to act. Avoid violence. In the city, violence is always threatened but rarely carried out.
3. Reveal a character; Imply a conspiracy
- One of the character’s Ties
- A well-known public figure
- A mysterious person fleeing the scene
- A person believed to be long gone