MUP Ep 352 – How to Start a Scenario

This episode, Keepers Bridgett & Evan unpack the best ways to begin a scenario! We’re going to define what the means, things to consider, best practices, worst practices, and even provide you with some recommendations on authors who truly stuck the landing on a strong opener! Patreon Plug & Update Hey listeners! Did you know that MUP has a Patreon? That’s right! We do!  You can directly support the show, and our surrounding community, by becoming a Patreon! “Dr Weir’s Optometry and Travel Agency: Where you’re going, you won’t need eyes to see.” Submitted by iPwned Head over to patreon.com/MUP or click the patreon icon on the sidebar of our website. If you’re able to support us, we’d appreciate it! Patreon, we offer everything from exclusive backer only bonus content, Patreon only episodes, backer only hangouts, access to our backer only portal on Discord, and more! The Discord Plug Our MUP Discord and we are all there! We invite all of our listeners to come and enjoy the community of horror gaming and cute pet pics. Link in the show notes: MU Discord server invite link: https://discord.gg/vNjEv9D  And thank you to our editor NATE for editing this episode.  Bridgett’s Pet Pick Shout Out Tonight, I’d like to shout out friend of the show, GroucyLenny and their cats, Lily and Camille, who are captured here with the caption– nefarious plan is to absorb all of the sun’s energy to destroy humankind. Wait. You guys are getting sun? I’m in Ohio. I haven’t seen the sun since October 2025. Can I join this plan?? Thanks for sharing with us, GroucyLenny! Main Topic Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Main Topic! Tonight, we’re going to unpack the best ways to begin a scenario! We’re going to define what the means, things to consider, best practices, worst practices, and even provide you with some recommendations on authors who truly stuck the landing on a strong opener!  From a storytelling perspective and from a game design standpoint, this is such an important topic that I don’t believe it is getting enough affection. It needs some love, so I’m happy that we’re slowing down to really explore the impact that introductory scenes and onboarding have on the rest of your game and storytelling experience! What is the beginning of the scenario? Is this… a roundtable of character introductions? What do you look like, name, occupation? Is this an opening scene? Is this worldbuilding? Why do we care about this topic? Arguably, the introduction, climax, and conclusion are the most essential and vital points of storytelling Essential things to establish? The world The vibe/genre/tone/expectation Your PC’s place and impact in the world Character connection Level of buy-in/care Good Examples: Sorrow in Tsvao by Bridgett Jeffries (begins with a team meeting) buff.ly/3AvlvAr Taken for Granite by Jade Griffin’s (begins with a car crash) https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/379700/taken-for-granite Graham Walmsley’s Cosmic Dark  Opening scenes for a campaign: Two-Headed Serpent drops you right in the action and sprays your face with blood, while setting up the central mystery of the campaign. HotOE lets you fool around at a party with some characters who later become important but it doesn’t do much to establish the plot. [As a counter-example, the start of The Haunting often flops because it’s geared towards new players and doesn’t immediately put them in the action.]  Homework Dear listener, tell us of your favorite scenario start!