So. I’m running Monsterhearts. We’ve made characters, gotten the seating chart done, we’re all really looking forward to playing it.
A question for folks who have run it: How much prep do you find is appropriate? I’m no stranger to games of various levels of GM prep (I’m running Night’s Black Agents at the moment as well, which is very prep-heavy, and I run a lot of indie games that are more collaborative), I’m just curious as to how other folks have done.
Have you made up Menaces before the first session, or just let the PCs sort of guide you to the story? How much detail have you put into the town?
I think for PBtA games, it really is best to let PCs guide things around for the first session and have only a tiny bit of prep. If your players are proactive and ready to answer the questions you’ll give them, you’ll be swimming in Menaces and have a good idea of what the town is like by the session’s end.
I remember running my first game going practically by the seat of my pants and by the time it was all done the high school had a secret occult section ,a meth dealing network set up in town, and one hell of a love triangle involving an ancient demon.
I never prep for first sessions of *World games unless they are one-shots, and sometimes not even then. This us the give-them-enough-rope session and the tell-me-what-you-think-is-interesting session. Once I know that, Fronts/Threats/Menaces are not only easier to write but also matter more to the players. In other words, my job in the first session is nothing more than to look hard at what my players are pointing at.
A good PBtA game should be very light on the prep. After the first session it’s basically thinking of what character have been doing, and maybe writing love letters (something I think should be done right before you start playing). The first session should be even less prep because ideally the players should be telling you what is important. Of course just because I know this doesn’t mean that it’s easy to do.