Before you start
- A basic understanding of Late Legends (from a player perspective), check out Learn Late Legends.
Starting off
- Set some ground rules for the world.
- What kind of forces shaped this world? Are they gods at play, and what is their role in the current time?
- Is there magic in the world, how does that work and why?
- What kind of energy is used when legends perform class skills?
- How unique are the powers of the legends? Are they extremely common or are they the only ones with those class powers?
- What kind of people live in the world, what kind of races are there and what are their relationships to each other?
- Is there a concept of money in this world, how is trade handled and what is the difference between the poor and the rich?
- Where is the story going to take place (for at least the first couple of play sessions)?
- How is the world ruled, is it ruled by royalty or is it a wild world of survival of the fittest?
- Be sure to consult the group of players on the type of story you would like to play. You might want to do a traditional role-playing adventure around the world, while your group would like to do a top secret train heist. Make sure you align these preferences beforehand.
- Try to conceptualize the world on a map. A simple map should do the trick when starting off.
At this point, you got a basic understanding of what the story is going to be. It is important to stay flexible at this point to create the story that not only you like, but also the group likes. With the blanks filled in, make sure you have a chat with the group. In this chat, you should try to get to know what the other players have in mind, so you can tweak your ground rules accordingly.
At this point, you should be helping the players create their legend and backstory. Help them find a place and motive in the world. This will usually force you to add more to the world, and it is important to do so. Make sure the group of players fits together. Even if the legends don’t know each other yet, they will be traveling together, give them a reason to.
Be sure to be ready for questions of the group, the more they get invested, the more they want to visualize the world. Use this as an opportunity to refine the world. It is your job to glue the ground rules of the world together with the individual ideas of the players.
Keep in mind, an inexperienced group of players might find it hard these decisions beforehand. Maybe they want to ‘just play’. If so, you could make some choices for them, fill in some more of the world. Most of these steps can be done on your own discretion. Keep in mind that it is more fun if all participants are involved in the creation process since they are more likely to be invested in the playing process.
Be sure to save all the notes, maps and drawings that you made for the world and focus on prepping the first session.
Prep the first session
When it is time to start playing, prepping the first session is very important. You’ve got a couple of challenges ahead of you:
- The group can be either strangers, friends or rivals, but make sure they have the space to click in some way.
- Establish a group goal, this is the start of the adventure, give the group something to do.
- Introduce NPC’s, the world should feel alive with lots of stuff happening.
- Let the players see all the sheets they have at least once, this means a simple interaction with abilities, items and a quick battle. Does not have to be anything major, but it is nice to tick all the boxes for the first session.
- Be very ready for a change of plans, the players can do what they want, so it will probably go different than you planned. It is very important to go with the flow, but you can abruptly stop them if they act out of hand (if they steal from shops, you can throw them in jail if it is noticed). If they really behave out of hand you can also talk to them after the session.