So I’m a huge proponent of not using any pre-planned material as a GM and letting the players set the stage for their adventure through questioning. The question I typically start with is:
“What makes this world so fantastically different from our own?”
Given that eventually your players will come to expect this question, what are some other fun and interesting questions that will provide the setting for this adventure? Here’s one:
“What was it that wiped out half of the planet’s inhabitants, and how has life prevailed?”
I unconditionally approve of this method ^^
Who used to rule this land, and why don’t they anymore?
What was the scourge that was beaten back centuries ago?
What is a unique feature of the night sky? What are some of the legends about it?
This world is not your people’s home. How did they come to be here?
Which one of you has been accused of murdering a noble? Did you actually do it? If so, why?
Why are the rest of you consorting with a killer?
Where are you hiding?
What do you plan on doing to escape the bounty hunters?
What has changed since the fire nation attacked and the avatar vanished?
Why did your people flee to another plane, and which perils must you protect them from?
I find that this seems to work rather poorly with my Kids. Mostly its an expectation thing. Sure they engage in make belive, but as soon as they sit down to play a game they expect it to have a ready made world.
Ask them a bunch of questions, no matter how open, and their answers are “no”. One of the things missing I suspect is genre savyness. Even My older son who reads a lot probably hasn’t cottoned on to the idea of identifying common tropes in the books he reads.
What’s creeping up on you from the dark corner of the room?
Joel Watkins Ask a kid who’s browsed the D&D monster manual recently and you are heading for a TPK within the next 5 minutes.
Konrad Zielinski 🙂 I recently played with some kids, and I asked “What is that smell that keeps getting stronger?” The answer: “Dragon”.
Of course, the Goblin alchemists had manufactured the Dragon smell to scare away people from their caves.
Joel Watkins
Nice whop around, making them say what their characters’ perceive, and then shake it up and make something totally unexpected.
What changed when magic returned to the land a year ago?
How did you shelter the the time of the burning plague?
Are speaking monsters considered people in this world? If so, do they have their own nations?
If you have a thief, ask them what they most regret stealing and if they still have it, then send someone after them because of it. 😉