How much information for the Players

[Sangeet]

Hi,

lets assume i start a new group, of totaly fresh players, which have not yet any knowlege, what information should i share with them before the game starts ?
Or what do you expect your players to read before the beginning ?
Do you make setting guides available to your players ?

kind regards

[Madhaus_Thunderforge]

For each game I've run in the past, and I have all of these still, I believe, I work up a basic -generally two-page- rules aid, so they can help me out. Then, I'll give them a basic description of the history, setting, and present circumstances. For Earthdawn, I have a tendency to explain HOW Earthdawn is not your typical fantasy game, but more like post-apocalyptic fantasy with very high magic. Then, I'll ask if there are any questions about anything I've just explained, or anything more they would like to know. If there's something about an adventure I need some help with from the party leader and/or a more specialized character, I'll take the player aside, do some role-playing with them to get them some basic information so they can help me get the rest of the party involved, and away we go.

Most of the time, however, I've found that my players prefer to think of the fantasy setting in their own way, don't want even a brief explanation of anything, they simply want to go, roll dice, kill things, solve puzzles, and learn about the world the good old-fashioned way, by playing in it.

[Telarus_KSC]

Similarly, I usually have a page of the "local area" that the campaign will start in. This can range from a stills sealed kaer up to a whole citadel or town/city. It's where the players will all start, and therefor needs the most up-front description to get all the player to buy-in. It should have a few conflicts going on, to be a dynamic place, but you can hook the players however you had planned to to get to your adventure. I probably have half-a page of notes on the behind the scenes stull for the "local area" to be introduced as needed, separate from the up-front player material.

Then, I usually have a half-page of general setting information: "Post-apoc lovecraftian high-fantasy world", "We all speak Dwarvish as the trade language because of the Theran's using the Kingdom of Throal as province administrators before the Scourge, and now that Throal is rebelling from Thera post-Scourge it serves as a unifying language among races and cultures.", "This is because of the Book of Tomorrow, which introduces concepts such as rights, just government, abolition of slavery, etc", "The Earthdawn was a famous ship which...", that kinda of stuff. Then I scan the player's Knowledge Skills and have 2-3 bullet points prepared for each rank they have. I keep that to myself until needed.

Finally, I have brief info on factions that PCs may be aligned with, or have come from via backstory (if you play a t'skrang swordsmaster, you get a brief description of the t'skrang feudal village org style, a bit more on your specific house, if your a windling you get a brief description of tribal life, etc).. These boil down to Racial factions, Discipline("profession") Factions, and Other (Passions, backstory, etc) mainly.

Then I usually re-focus the group by weaving the characters into the "active scene" by using the prior info.

[Avantio]

for a fresh group (didn't have that for a while) I usuall start them off in a Kaer or just as they leave the Kaer and explain the life insidie it ver much in depth. That covers the magic levels, the scourge, the races that shared the kaer and general every day life in barsavie. Then I tell about the book of tomorrow which they as adepts are very much familliar with that explains the concept of laws, describes other races that did not share the kaer with the PC's, the major factions and their pre-scourge politics (very briefly), some basic facts about wildlife and what to expect. That takes usually 1/4 to half of the first session. After that I let them explore the world, and delive additional info via story telling they hear in Inn's or travelers they meet.