Having defined their objective, the players expand on the world setting that they are going to be playing in.
Each player in turn adds an element and makes a connection between it and either their own character or another element that has been brought into play.
Add one element
Each player introduces one new element – either a location or a character that will be handled by the GM.
A location could be
- a generic place (a coffee shop; the shopping mall)
- a specific place at any scale (Joe’s Bar in the financial quarter; Warsaw; the Serengeti)
- an evocative place (where people go to lose themselves; )
A character could be
- just the name they are known by (Bill Fogerty; the Collector)
- a role the character has (parent; sheriff; investigative journalist)
- a high-level concept (Offhand Biochemist; Unreflective Producer)
- an individual, group or organisation (the neighbourhood bag lady; the local scout group; The Alumni)
Add this element to the corkboard or whiteboard. If available, use some kind of media – a photo, drawing, video, gif etc – to represent it. Otherwise, just write down its headline description.
If the group is using a seed bank, these might be pulled from there. Or they could be made up spontaneously in response to the objective that has emerged and what other players introduce.
Connect the element
The player draws a line from the element they have introduced to
- either their own character, or
- any one of the other elements in play.
Explain how they are linked, and label up the line accordingly.
A connection that is made in this step to a player character is not expressed as one of the character’s key relationships (favourite, guru, mentor, protege, responsibility).
Reference: UA3 Book 2: Run p27 | p26 pdf.