Introducing new players to Infinite Worlds

[Ronnke]

I'm looking to run an Infinite Worlds campaign for a group of players with no knowledge of the setting whatsoever. Prior to the session, I'd like to give them a handout to read so they can understand the setting and conceptualize some characters.

To save me writing it myself, does anyone know of an already existing player intro?

[Gollum]

In a similar French roleplaying game, Mega*, there is a very good introduction adventure. The players have to ignore the game world. They create ordinary characters living in our ordinary world (they usually expect a horror or an investigation adventure).

The player characters just have been recruited by a multinational company. That one is a cover on the Earth for the Galactic Assembly*. It builds a lot of different electrical devices, especially radars (which allows to make extraterrestrial space ship undetectable on most of the Earth - but the player characters ignore it, of course). The Mega organization has noticed the latent power of the player characters and is going to test them before recruiting them.

Then, a plot begins. While the player characters are doing their ordinary mundane job, some strange events occur. Little events first. Like a hobo sleeping in one office and refusing to leave it (just to test how the player characters will react in a potential combat situation). Then, the radar cover of an important airport doesn't work for several hours and the player characters have to handle it (just to see how discreet they are when journalists are involved). And then a colleague tell them that extraterrestrials are invading Earth and that the two people who work in his office have been replaced by them. To prove that he is not crazy, he shows them a very strange item, which is obviously extraterrestrial (a little moebius ring in liquid metal with flashing colored lights - which actually is an extraterrestrial game like our Rubix'cube) and, then, exactly as the player characters leave him to go home, he is kidnapped right in front them. The player characters have then to investigate and this investigation eventually bring them to a disused building where they are waited and where everything will be explained to them.

I played this intro adventure several time and it works very well!

Unfortunately, I only have it in French. But the idea is really amazing and should not be too complex to make as a Infinite World Introduction adventure.



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*The player characters are Megas, that is "Messagers Galactiques" (galactic messengers), living in a SF world. In that world, our earth is exactly like it is in reality. But the difference is that extraterrestrial do exist and watch us. There is even a Galactic Assembly which rules the galaxy. The earth is not developed enough to join this Assembly, so the extraterrestrials prefer letting humans in ignorance. But sometimes, some rare humans are born with a specific latent power: the ability to jump from one point or one world to the other through specific artifacts: tetrahedrons. Since such a power is vital for the Galactic Assembly, it recruits them in a secret organization whose members are used as spies, diplomats, explorers, adventurers... the Megas. The player characters are born with this power and, so, have been secretly recruited.

[sn0wball]

I have thrown unsuspecting characters and players into Infinite Worlds or similiar games several times as well. Having them figure out what is going on is just too much of an opportunity for fun roleplaying to let it pass.

[Ronnke]

For this campaign, I want the characters to be established Infinity agents, thats why I want them to have a good understanding from the start.

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by Ronnke

For this campaign, I want the characters to be established Infinity agents, thats why I want them to have a good understanding from the start.

OK.

Then, no matter if you don't find an intro adventure specifically designed for Infinite Worlds. Te advantage of Infinite Worlds is precisely that you can use any adventure, since it can happen in any world...

The only thing to find is: why will Infinite agents want to achieve the goal of the adventure you chose? So, just imagine a good reason to involve them, change a bit the introduction of the adventure in order to fit with that good reason, maybe the main bad guy too (if necessary), the conclusion, and you will have your infinite adventure.

And since it is a first mission, just try to choose a quite simple one... Good bosses don't send rookies in very dangerous and complex missions with a lot of political repercussions.

[Michael Cule]

Well, the ways to do it are:

1) Start on Homeline. The characters are working for Infinity in one or more of the branches. They are built on templates available in INFINITE WORLDS and know (more or less) what's going on from the start. You can write the background as a series of Infinity Inc. briefing papers.

2) Start on a world much like our own. The characters are, let us say, members of one of the shadowy agencies or even city cops. (I did this with a group who were the Gang Intervention Unit in the city that HILL STREET BLUES was set in) Gradually they become aware that Weird **** is going on and even more gradually they realise that their world is the battle ground for a conflict between various factions from other realities.

3) As with 2 but the world is a lot weirder than ours from the start.

4) This is the insanely complex option! Start by giving each player a separate briefing document for the world they're going to be playing in. Get them to generate characters... And then in rapid succession have them all swept up by some sort of inter-world snatch, perhaps a Banestorm that sweeps through their worlds, and get them all together on one mission. Maybe they're trying to find a way home, maybe they're working for ISWAT. This one might work best as play-by-post.

All except 1 have a certain amount of Bait-and-Switch to them, telling the players the game's going to be about one thing and then changing the world under them. Some people resent that sort of thing.

Of the others, I'd go for 2 (and in fact I did as I told you) because in my opinion if you're going to Bait-And-Switch you should do it in such a way as the world becomes a cooler and more interesting place. With the others you've already sold the players on cool and interesting worlds different from our own... and then taken it away from them.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Michael Cule

1) Start on Homeline. The characters are working for Infinity in one or more of the branches. They are built on templates available in INFINITE WORLDS and know (more or less) what's going on from the start. You can write the background as a series of Infinity Inc. briefing papers.

Or, if not feeling energetic, simply allow them to read the Infinity chapter of Infinite Worlds, which leaves plenty of wiggle-room for plots.