Start RPG Scenes Without Front-Loading Exposition

RPG scenes fall flat when they begin with a long explanation. Learn how to open with immediate tension so players engage right away.

Scenes that begin with a detailed explanation tend to stall before they start. Info dumps leave the players in a passive role, as they sit and listen to everything that the gamemaster and the setting have done without them. While there’s often a call to action, like “stop the bad guy” or “steal the loot”, three things tend to be lacking: personal stakes, a clear starting point, and an understandable goal.

The solution is to reframe scenes around immediate disruption or imbalance, where something is already out of place and demands the player characters’ attention. It doesn’t need to be in media res, but it can be. Start inside the dragon’s lair, or free-falling into the villain’s secret lair. Look to the movies and to novels for great openings. Have something for the players to do, and let them figure out the rest as they go along.

Shifting the focus from delivering information to provoking a reaction instantly increases engagement. When players are pulled into action first, and details emerge through interaction, they’re automatically invested. This is what the Principia Canonica means when it says to start with an instability, a problem that can’t be ignored. You find a body next to the train tracks, and a moment later that cops arrive out of nowhere and think you did it. There’s a strange noise coming from the closet, and it won’t stop. Upon returning home, you find your house on fire.

The concept was written into the Canonica as part of the overall system, but the ideas are universal. Check out the book, and swipe the best ideas for your own campaign, regardless of the rules you’re using.