Website Building SoftwareSo you’re all scheduled, everyone has a character ready and you’re ready to start playing. You all show up for the first session and… now what?
First thing you should do is plan for 10-15 minutes of socialization at the top of the game. Giving people the opportunity to chat helps them get all the “out of character” energy out at the top of the game, lets them catch up on real life, and gets everyone comfortable and loosened up for social interaction. It also helps by providing a buffer of time in case one or more of the players is running late.
Now that it's time to get started, the next thing to do is to ask everyone to summarize the events of the last session. Even though you kept your own notes, it’s better to have the other players do the recap for two reasons. First it helps get everyone engaged, and second it lets you know if there are any important details they forgot to mention, you can bring them up at the end of the recap. If this is your very first game you can replace this recap with a summarization of the setting and group dynamic and move to the next step.
Have each player set their character challenge for the session.
If the characters have had off screen time in between the last session and this one you may want to resolve downtime actions. Ask each player what their character has been up to in the time. If they are doing activities that require a roll to be made, they can do so now. Downtime can be used for things like furthering personal stories, going shopping for equipment or resources, or performing labor and crafting tasks.
An important thing to consider when you are describing a location is what details are obvious, and what details are hidden?
You can require the players to make an investigation roll whenever you want there to be the possibility they miss something. But if you want to make sure they find a hidden clue or detail, draw attention directly to it during the description and then allow them to find it without a roll.
Each NPC has a distinct character voice and behavior, and the players have to directly roleplay their interactions with them using in-character dialogue. This method is arguably the harder of the two. It requires acting skills, quick improv, and the dedication to remain in character. But it also rewards you with the deepest level of immersion in the game world.
You describe the NPCs and their character voices, and provide a summary of their intent when they communicate, rather than use line by line dialogue. Players also respond in kind. This is the easier of the two. It lets the character do the talking instead of the player having to improv lines. But it adds a layer of separation, and is less immersive overall.
As you reach the last 10-15 minutes or so of your game time, you should wrap up the session. Finish whatever scene you were in, and then do an end of session discussion.
Add your end of session experience point. Determine if each character accomplished the character challenge they set for each other, if so, add the experience point. If a quandary completed this session, add an experience point.
Go around the table and do “Wonderful and Wishful”. Each player, including the Weaver, will discuss a moment in the session that they thought was wonderful, and a moment in the session they wished could have gone differently.
Remember to thank each other for sharing our precious time together.
Having a “voice” for your character helps distinguish when you are talking as a player, and when you are talking as a character. You don’t need a thick accent or distracting mannerism, just making a small adjustment to your normal speaking voice can be enough.
Your ability to engage with the game will be vastly improved with note-taking. Keeping track of; NPC names and personality traits, details about locations or events, and information about your quandary, enriches your ability to enjoy the game. You don’t have to write whole paragraphs, even just bullet points will make a huge difference.
The more you ask about the world around your character, the better your chance of success will be. Try to figure out how things work, question the motives and motivations of NPCs, and be mindful of the ripple effects of your actions. Remember to use all your characters senses. Use the Investigate and Assess moves whenever you can. Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions if you are confused or need more detail.
Don’t expect to play in a vacuum. This is a social, collaborative game, which makes it important for the players to find opportunities to cooperate wherever possible. When faced with a challenge, you don’t only have your own tools, you have those of your whole group. Discuss the challenge before acting, preferably in character whenever possible. Decide as a group what you are all going to do.
This is a positive-sum game. The more fun each player is having, the more fun everyone at the table is having. You should look for chances to shine the spotlight on every player at the table. It can be tempting to solve every challenge your party faces yourself, we all like to be the hero. However, instead, consider if your character can point out opportunities for other characters to show off their skills, share their backstory, or achieve an objective. Not only does this keep everyone involved, but opens up roleplay opportunities.
A part of learning to thrive at roleplaying games is to practice the skill of radical acceptance. To learn to embrace unexpected or unfavorable outcomes to your actions.
Remember that part of the excitement is not knowing exactly what is going to happen. You may make a perfect plan, only to feel like the dice deny you at every turn, and it's ok to get frustrated, chance is sometimes cruel. But if everything always went exactly as we wanted it to, it wouldn’t be a game. The failures are opportunities to laugh as a group, to learn new strategies, and to gain experience points.
It’s important to remember that Weaver is not out to defeat or trick the other players. So when a new story hook pops up in the campaign, you should trust that it is a real adventure, not a trap. That the Weaver has put real time and effort into preparing it, and has done their best to make sure the story it leads fits the players’ interests. And then you should bite the hook.
That isn’t to say that you should refrain from developing creative solutions to the hooks. Or not talk to the Weaver outside of the game with critical feedback if there’s something you’re not enjoying. But in almost all cases, Weavers work hard to create fun experiences for everyone, and simply ignoring the story hooks they provide only hurts the game.
After investing all that time, effort, and passion into building a character, it’s not uncommon for players to only really focus on their character sheet, mostly ignoring the world the campaign takes place in. Many RPG campaigns face a disconnect between the world of the game and the played experience of the players around the table. Especially if your experience comes from a top down system that has less player agency.
The Weaver may create the bulk of the game world after session zero. But Threads can create things too. Work with the Weaver to create locations, NPCs, or historical events that your character might be tied to. Collaborate to build real, meaningful relationships so that they may appear as hooks in the campaign.
By grounding your character with connections in the world, you can enrich your own gameplay experience, making the game a place for your character to act in, rather than a mere stage dressing for them to stand in front of.
There are a number of ways you can choose to handle currency in your game. Each of them comes with pros and cons and requires different levels of management. You’ll have to decide which one works for you.
If your setting has a strong element of politics and negotiation, where favors and reputation are important to the story. you will likely want to use the point system.
Assign each faction you are tracking a value of 1-10 with 1 being abject hate, 5 being neutral, and 10 being veneration.
As the players take actions for or against these factions, you can add or subtract points.
If your setting doesn’t require detailed reputation tracking you can assign each faction one of the following reputation levels and only have to change it if the characters make major story decisions.
Hated: Will attack on sight, will not cooperate at all.
Indifferent: Will only interact with you if there is something in it for them.
Friendly: On good terms with you, can provide limited assistance.
Allies: You are good friends and they will help you the best they can.
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