Starting A Game
Before You Start
Choose your players wisely. Be picky. Before you even start, pick players that will get along and communicate well. Pick players that actually want to play and aren’t being dragged into it. Defaulting to your friends is charitable and generous, but it won’t necessarily make a group that will enjoy playing together and you should know that before you dump a lot of time and energy into this. Four to five players is recommended, but you can start with as low as two and as high as six.
Boundaries, Real and Imaginary
The expectations of the players DEFINE whether or not a game is good or bad. Always. The Judge doesn’t get to decide that, only the players. So knowing the expectations of a game are beyond critical for success. This step explicitly states what the players all agree on. They also need to know what they want, but you don’t have much of a choice but to take them at their word on that. As the Judge, ask questions, make them elaborate what they mean by “Adventure” or “Exploration.” Have them give examples. if they don’t know, now is the time to talk through it because there will be almost no other time afterwards.
Also, when you set the world, let the players set themes outside the premise of your intended world, and make every effort to extend that world to meet those themes. You’ll be extending the world quite a bit when you get to Step 3: The Wheel, so you might as well start a little early. Let them talk and let them air out all their concerns, as well as their enthusiasm. It’s healthy.
One last word. It is already stated in character creation but this needs to be emphasized, If you cannot all enthusiastically agree on the themes of the game, the game is over.
Character Creation
Veto Attempts to Cheat the System. Red suit is hard to cheat. You really have to go out of your way and attempts to do so are obvious. If players pick traits that apply all the time, veto it. For example: “Lucky” or “Perfect” as a Talent. That’s just silly.
Allow Attempts to be Ridiculous. Character creation is very very fluid. You are using literal words to describe your character both in capability and literally as descriptors. You will get strange characters that seem like they aren’t optimized or gimped. Allow it. They won’t seem good enough but often times it is exactly what a player wants. The goal isn’t to be good, but to have fun.
Inventory
Minor item kits are just umbrella categories. It's on an individual basis, but if players want to add items to a kit and it fits the theme of the kit, there's usually no reason to deny them.
Let players have whatever Trivial Items they want. It almost certainly will make the game better.
As an unspoken rule, yes you can have a pet as a Major Item. Major Items are intentionally designed to be creatively interpreted.
If a player can't carry it with them, it's pushing the boundaries of what can be a starting item, so please keep that in mind.
Picking a Good Flaw
Don’t pick anything that nullifies a strength of a character. So if a character is some kind of gunslinger, giving them clumsy would just inhibit their primary function at all times. Try to be very specific as well. Being clumsy is generic, but "Missing Three Fingers" is not only specific but sounds like the start of a great story. Flaws should be quirky and not just used to inhibit the players but also create leverage to make both a situation and the character interesting. Remember, these don’t just provide a penalty card, they create a situation where the character can lose narrative control entirely.
The best kinds of flaws are fun for a player and a little silly.
Here are some of my favorites:
Missing a Body Part
Mostly Deaf
Fiscally Irresponsible
Deathly Afraid of Cats
Vainglorious
Inappropriately Pedantic
Mute
Infamous among a subset of people
Inhuman Appearance - Give Specifics
The Wheel
Don’t be afraid to go micro. There is a large world and setting, but trying to go on a world tour of the universe can be overwhelming and disconnected. Settle for something intimate and make it your own instead of trying something that ecompasses the world in its whole. There will be other campaigns and other stories to tell. If your game never leaves a single district in the Iron Cities, that is fine, perhaps even better than fine because the right players will really fill in the details. These player created details will really make the group invested in the setting as well, because they made it their own.
The Pilot Episode
Writing the formula for the pilot episode and how to handle it are covered here.