Step 1. List Favorite Media
Go around the table, and ask each person to name one of their favorite pieces of media.
Step 2. Explain Inspirations
Go around the table again. Now, everyone explains what they like the most about their choice. Make a numbered list of these explanations, as Inspirations. You can add as many Inspirations as you the group wants.
Step 3. Describe the Genre
As a group, consider all of the Inspirations and decide on a single genre for your Setting. Create a single adjective or noun to describe the differences this Setting has from the norm.
Step 4. Decide the Scale
Decide how epic or personal your story will be.
Step 5. Establish Facts
Everyone takes two tokens, and the group takes turns answering a question to establish a Fact, then asks their own. The GM asks the first question.
Step 6. Create a Title
Take a step back and look at the setting as a whole. Consider all of the Facts and look to see if any common ideas emerge. Try to express the common understanding of what the Setting is, with a short and evocative Title.
Step 7. Create Sparks
Go around the table, giving each player two chances to create their own Spark—a potential problem or struggle within the setting. As a player proposes a Spark, others should check that it makes sense and fits with the setting.
Step 8. Select Issues
The GM looks over the list of Sparks and chooses three to focus on at the beginning of the game. Each of these leads to an Aspect:
- The Legacy Issue was dominant in the past, and still influences the setting.
- The Current Issue currently threatens to disrupt the status quo, affecting almost every character.
- The Impending Issue is looming on the horizon, threatening the future of the setting.
Step 9. Create Faces
Each Issue is represented by two different Faces; one defined by supporting the Aspect, and one that struggles against it. Go around the table, giving each player the chance to claim at least one of the Faces. Each person gets to create an evocative names for each Face, followed by a single sentence description.
Step 10. Create Places
Each Place represents one of the Sparks generated in Step 6 which is not yet an Issue. Go around the table, giving each player the chance to claim one of the Places. Each person gets to create an evocative name for their location, followed by a single sentence description. They also create one situational Aspect for that location, based on the physical features of the place.