Hey! So, I'm starting up roleplaying again, having played and GM'd the last time probably around 15 years ago. Me (the GM) and my playgroup is swedish, and we fell in love with Johan Egerkrans illustrations and the setting. Now, my players are new, but I believe they will be very good at getting into the world and in character. Now, I need some help with how to introduce them to the specifics of the setting.
How much of "The Society and the Headquarters" do you feel should be revealed beforehand? Should I print part of it and hand it out for them to read? Should I try and playthrough a few scenes introducing both the society, Castle Gyllencreutz and Linnea? I want to "capture" the players straight away, so I don't want to bog them down with too many things as we start. My first thought was to have most of the PC's be young and inexperienced with Vaesen, they had minor encounters and are idealistic and naive. This would mirror how the players are, as they have only a rudimentary idea about the world.
From that, I would do a very short introduction about how these few people suddenly were the owners of a castle and formed a society where they will look into mythological creatures and supernatural events showing up. My idea is that in their minds, they can't foresee anything bad happening to them, young and naive as they are. Then throw them pretty much straight into the adventure from the rulebook, which has some very nice horror moments. I'm looking for a way to get them hooked before I start introducing the meta mechanics surrounding the castle and the Society. At the same time, I want the way mysteries are played to be introduced as early as possible, I'm just not sure if the preparation in Upsala is somethin to introduce on the first session. Maybe I just make sure they have some things prepared and narrate what they do, so they can use that as inspiration for future sessions? I should note that I have no qualms about characters dying, just not all of them, and not in the first adventure. I want the players to feel like things wont always go their way, and it opens up ways for them to come back as more experienced PC's if their first one should die. I'm hoping the first session should be;
1) Create the RP's, have their stories be connected and have them talk through their trauma and dark secrets with me in private
2) Very short introduction about how they came to posses the Castle, a scene with Linnea, then a scene where they get the letter from the introductory adventure
3) I narrate their preparations
4) Travel scene
5) Adventure
6) Aftermath, if we have time introduce how the Society and Castle Gyllencreutz works on a mechanic level and have them make improvements or discover more parts of it
I can then take all of the information gained and the changes done to the castle to prepare the next mystery. I guess I'm mostly looking for feedback and if anyone has done something similiar?