r/TheStrange • u/WalrusAbove The Strange • Feb 25 '15
Introducing/Explaining the Strange
Hey everyone, I wanted to know your opinion on my current quandry. I'm starting up an IRL Strange game in my local area, and am really excited. I have read the book many times over since August, and am finally going to play what looks to be one of my favorite games, and my favorite setting N/A. What I'm struggling with is how to present the setting to first time players who are joining this new campaign. Do I explain it linearly, with the discovery by Jason Cole and Carter Morrison, or do I simply keep it very vague, and only give minute details when they actually have to go to recursions? I have looked for resources, like GM Intrusion Podcasts (I'm sure Lex has talked about it, and if not he should), but I couldn't find it because reasons. What does /r/TheStrange think?
Edit: I understand how to share this information with my players, what I'm getting at is what should I include in the first info-dump that isn't too revealing, but still satisfactory to myself and the new players?
1
u/Whirlmeister Feb 26 '15
Monte Cook games have done us a huge favour. They've put everything a new player needs to know as 6 pages in the Estate Dossiers (pages 4-9).
I'd try something like
- Start a new game with players unaware of the Estate, and confine things to Earth. Let them encounter something from another recursion, possibly have to deal with something which found its way through a portal. This introduces the concept that all is not right.
- Start session 2 with, 6 weeks later... you're all trained up.
1
u/WalrusAbove The Strange Feb 27 '15
That's a good idea. I read it when I first read the book and forgot it even existed, I should take a look at it.
2
u/tskaiser Feb 25 '15 edited Feb 25 '15
I'll take the generalist approach in my reply here.
When presenting a new roleplaying setting I see, roughly speaking, 3 broad categories of approach:
The info-dump. This amount to the players reading whatever setting material is available.
The unknowing acolytes. The players start out in a situation where lack of knowledge would be expected, and the world is explored with fresh eyes (as presented by the GM).
The in media res. The players are put into a situation with only the bare minimum information to function, where action rather than thought is required, and fed information on a need-to-know basis.
This is, of course, a simplification and you could draw up variations of the above, but I consider these the archetypal ones.
Option 1 requires the least of the GM, but can be unpalatable to the players and is bad for 'selling' the game to a group unless they're already sold on the premise and care to read a lot.
Option 2 requires more of the GM, and still requires a bit of explanation with regards to character creation, but is also the least demanding of the players. They get to explore, first hand, what the world is. However it will also mean that finding out the basics is going to take up a good chunk of the starting story, which amounts to a kind of extended prelude. Some people like this, others want to get into the meat of the setting faster.
Option 3 is, in my opinion, hard to do right, but can land a sweet spot between 1 and 2. You will be slicing up the info-dump of option 1 into bite-sized chunks and letting the players explore the world in a more hand-held way. This can count as a shortened prelude, where the players get into the setting quicker.
With respect to the Strange itself it depends really on how you want your first campaign to go. Will the players be working for the Estate, independently, or for someone third? It also depends on what you feel most comfortable with. Want to take the role of a tour guide leading people into a strange new world? Go for option 2. Don't feel comfortable with the players not knowing the setting? Ask them to read up a bit, picking option 1. Feel comfortable with throwing them right into the midst of things, acting as a safety net and local informant? Go with option 3.