# Running a Session ## *from the opening line to the last breath* A session is a story you steer but do not own. The Fell pull it in directions you did not plan, and the good ones always do. Your job is to give them a world worth pulling on, keep the pace honest, and know when to stop. ## Before the table You do not need a script. You need a handful of things you can lean on when the table surprises you. > [!note] Light Prep > > - One opening. A place, a problem, and a reason the Fell are standing in it. > - Two or three beats you expect to hit, held loosely. The Fell will skip at least one. > - A name list. Five or six, ready to hand to whoever the Fell decide to talk to. > - One Crucible built and statted, and a rough idea of a second in case the night runs long. > - The open threads from last session, so you know which hooks are already baited. Prep the situation, not the outcome. A locked tower with something inside it survives contact with the players. A scene where the Fell are supposed to fail the lock does not. ## Opening the session Start with a recap, in the world, no dice and no table talk. One short paragraph that reminds everyone where they stood when the last session ended and what is still hanging over them. Then drop them into a moment with a decision in it. Not a tavern. A choice. ## The three kinds of scene Most of a session moves through three modes, and you will swing between them all night. - **Exploration.** The Fell move through a place and pull on it. You describe, they probe, you call for the occasional roll. Reward curiosity with something real. A Vigilance that finds nothing twice teaches the table to stop looking. - **Social.** The Fell deal with someone who wants something. Voice the someone, hold their goal, and let the conversation actually be able to go wrong or go well. See The Table. - **Combat.** The blades come out. Hand the round its structure and keep it moving. See Running Combat. ## Pacing Watch the energy at the table, not the clock. When a scene has given what it has to give, cut to the next one. You do not have to play out the walk down the corridor. > [!note] Signs a scene is over > > - The Fell have the information and are now repeating themselves. > - Everyone has spoken except the one player who checked out. > - The decision that mattered has been made and you are narrating the cleanup. When you feel a session sagging, raise a stake or spring a hook. A messenger, a tremor, a face from an open thread. Pressure restarts a stalled table faster than another description. ## Ending the session End on a hook, not a resolution. The strongest stopping point is the moment after a question lands and before the Fell can answer it. A door opening. A name spoken that should not have been known. A choice put in front of them with the lights coming up before they choose. After the table clears, that is when the session becomes canon. The recap, the records, the threads. That work lives in the canonization process, not here.