Sun Runners: A First Line is Impossible

First lines are difficult. First impressions last.

It helps to know what one wants to achieve with them. To think about how to direct the audience's attention. What to hint at, what to demonstrate, what to promise outright. 
And the slightly more mechanical question: what do they need to know to understand those hints, demonstrations and promises?What do they need to know about the game structure and the setting.

And most importantly for a game... how does the player influence the story? (Co-authoring)

With this first scene of Sun Runners I need to establish a handful of facts about the setting:

• The planet (Akanaka) is frozen and inhospitable, with a day/night cycle that takes as long as Earth seasons.
• The player is first generation of human born on the planet. Just stepping into adulthood.
• There is no contact between the mining colonies on the planet.
• There is no prospect of leaving the colonies.

And I need problems and opportunities derived from the facts:

• Getting out of the colony.

And certain mechanics - the levers that the player can pull to co-author the story.

• Defining PC features with no mechanical impact (name, gender, physical appearance).
• Defining PC features with a mechanical impact (reputation, skills).
• Assembling a crew of NPCs that the player partially defines.
• Gathering equipment and supplies, and using them.
• Managing tasks by assigning crew.
• Moving around areas to interact with NPCs.

The player also needs to have a sense for which choices matter. I use a conceptual framework borrowed from Roadwarden's Aureus Gaj: "The fluff, the Spice, the Floodgates, the Burnt Bridges."  What I really like about the framework is that the names are poetically self-explanatory.

A crucial feature though is that Sun Runners uses generators to introduce some randomness. Core NPC traits are radomised, including name and gender. This is the part I'm really interested in exploring as a writer and game designer: emergent narrative.

Take a look at where Sun Runners has started from. I look forward to exploring this territory with you, co-author.

- Keevy