Ritualized Openings

It may prove useful to experiment with the idea of an opening invocation, to be recited at the beginning of each session. They can set the tone as well as signal to the players that it's time to cut the chatter and start playing. Consider the following passages, and how they work as opening rituals.

In the year 1994, from out of space, comes a runaway planet, hurtling between the Earth and the moon, unleashing cosmic destruction. Man's civilization is cast in ruin. Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn. A strange new world rises from the old. A world of savagery, super-science, and sorcery. But one man bursts his bonds to fight for justice. With his companions, Ookla the Mok and Princess Ariel, he pits his strength, his courage, and his fabulous sunsword, against the forces of evil. He is Thundarr, the Barbarian!

In the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the rise of the sons of Aryus, there was an age undreamed of... and unto this, Conan, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow... It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga... Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!

Space... the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldy go where no one has gone before!

To any hardy adventurer words such as these ought to act as a clarion call. Combine them with kick-ass opening music and you'll have the players ready to get it on like Diddy Kong.