[UA] Re: Stupid Newbie GM questions...

[Josh MacLeod]

> So... is it hard to make up a story? 

Depends on the characters made. For the current game
I'm running, I said both "make pcs you think would be
fun" and "here is what's going on in the bigger
world". The end result was one player who was miffed
because he couldn't come up with a character who fit
UA (some people simply don't grok a setting). The
actual making of it was about 2 weeks, during which I
kibitzed with players on their character ideas and
we're figured out how they knew each other and such.

> How much time do you usually spend planning a
session?

Hrm. Not that long, since I tend to run whatever comes
to mind and hope my subconscious knows what its doing.
UA tends to be very much character-driven, more than
plot-driven (at least for me) so I tend to throw
things at players at see what they nibble on/sticks
and go from there. 


As for introducing players to UA, I'd be up front
about it being horror-ish and lethal. If need be, I'd
arrange with one player beforehand to have them make 2
characters, one to get wiped out as a 'this is why
combat is dangerous in this game' lesson, if such
seemed necessary for other players. 

I suspect a lot of that depends upon what the players
want out of a game, too. Giving PCs concrete goals is
almost essential, and making sure the players have
ones of their own for the game couldn't hurt.

- Josh