As the Storyteller, your first role is to bring people into the game and make them feel comfortable. During the first session, a new Society of Rafa Circle sets group expectations and creates their characters. We also recommend starting to play the scenario, even if you will not have time to finish it, because it’s fun to actually use those new characters!

Before meeting up #

Ask the players to read through the Quick Start and Character Creation sections at least. For experienced roleplayers, you may also ask them to start creating their characters to save time in session.

Ask players if they know of anything they already know that they want to avoid during roleplay, to avoid preparing a scenario with themes that may be triggering for your players. 

Share the agenda  #

First share the agenda for the first session. A typical agenda looks like the following:  

1. Introductions
2. Circle Expectations  
3. Character Creation & Rules
   1. Create Characters 
   2. Character Relationships 
   3. Choose Skills & Assets 
   4. Review Rules 
4. Play a scenario

Introductions  #

If the players do not all know each other, have everyone introduce themselves. You may choose to include a simple icebreaker, like “What excites you most about playing Society of Rafa?” or “What’s your favorite game?”

Setting Circle Expectations #

Facilitate a discussion about expectations for the game. See the Circle Expectations Activity. Your role is to make sure each player is heard. Give quieter players opportunities to talk. Ask questions to understand a particular point more.  If someone sets a boundary and starts to minimize it, let them know that their boundary is fair and you will work with them. Also, remind players that they can talk to you privately at any time. Consent is never a one-and-done thing, and they can change their minds at any time.

 You may also want to create a Circle Code of Conduct together. This is an example of one we use when playing with a group who does not know each other:

• Conduct yourself in a manner conducive to the enjoyment and safety of other players.
• Respect other participants’ stated pronouns and names, in and out of character
• Do not bully, harass, shame, or intimidate other participants.
• Do not engage in hate speech or conduct against other participants. No racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, Islamophobia, or any other type of religious or spiritual discrimination will be tolerated. 
• Do not engage in proselytization.
• Avoid sexually explicit in-game themes unless you receive express consent of every participant and validate all participants are above 18 years of age. 

Character Creation  #

The storyteller’s key role in character creation is to reassure the players they can do nothing wrong and help lead the social scaffolding discussion. Have the players reference the Quick Start section as they create their character. 

1. Give players time to fill out their character sheet quietly.  #

The purpose of the character sheet is for players to come up with character details to use in role play. At this point they do not need to know everything about their character. Some details may never be used, and seemingly insignificant details may become central to play.

For example, one character had a great backstory about being a Shepherd of Souls who lost his husband and could not talk to him in the World To Come. He also was 6ft tall. His deceased husband never came up but his tall stature effectively blocked a door in the first play session.

Remind characters that they can start wherever they like and details often build on each other. 

2. Ask the players to introduce their characters.  #

Ask each player to introduce their character and create a nametag with their character’s first name and specialty. If you are playing online, some apps like Zoom let users change their name.

After each introduction, ask each player leading questions about particular details to help them further flesh out their character. 

If the character loves to cook, ask them for their signature dish and when they cook it. Prompt them with relevant context to their details. In the cooking example, you can mention that Avodai is a vegetarian society and that Rafas often eat together in the dining hall when working.

Suggest details that connect the character to Kahal or one another.

Would the same specialists have trained under the same mentors, or would their divergent interests lead to choosing different skills within the specialty?

3. Help the players build their social scaffolding  #

Next, ask the players to develop their relationships with one another. Remind them that they all work together at the House of Healing in Kahal. Observe similarities (or differences) like their relative ages or specialties or outlooks on life–how would these influence relationships between the characters?

Examples:

• If two characters have the same speciality, do they get along? Did they train together, or is one a mentor to the other?
• If two characters have opposite personalities, do they clash?
• If players happen to overlap names, are they related?
• Which characters of different ages feel they’d have the strongest feelings about one another? This could bring them closer together or emphasize the age gap.

4. Have players pick their skills & review mechanics  #

Have a player do a test roll of an energy skill for the group. This can reinforce everyone’s knowledge of how to use their standard skills and makes it much more likely that they will engage with the mechanics.