When to submit a hook (now):

The best times to submit hooks are immediately after a session you’d like to follow up on, or if we’ve not seen you in sesh or the hook sheet for a while. You can have two hooks in at a time per character, but you can withdraw one if it’s not getting traction. Maybe leave it a good six months though. Sometimes we’re just busy.

Writing a Title (for lols): 

KDMs will almost always write their own title as it makes us feel in control, so don’t worry about it being appropriate for the session. Your objective here is to get noticed. Use deception, puns, shocking innuendo. Your goal is to start a conversation in the KDM channel -  that’s how you manipulate us into getting excited.

Tagging KDMs (if needed):

If your hook is for a specific KDM’s ongoing plot, let us know. Stick “FAO: Dee” or whoever right up top and if you like, ask us about it first. If we can’t run it any time soon, you can save your hook slot until we’re ready. If your hook isn’t specific to someone; don’t do this. You want to widen your options, and we like surprising you.

Brevity (yes): 

Keep it short, succinct, pithy. Ideally, tell us what you want in sentence one. If it’s more than three paragraphs long, your prospects decline rapidly. Your objective isn’t to lay out all the detail, it’s to lure us into your DMs with something dynamic. Something where we can see a session unfolding with drama or conflict at its core. 

Items (1): 

The base rule we work to is one item hook per PC. Anything more than that is up to individual discretion, far from a guarantee, and is rare so that we can get around everyone, so be strategic in your requests. We do love homebrewing things that are specific to your PC, but we want to be fair. Between something that might unbalance the already tenuous Kantasian economy and something super flavourful, personal and probably cursed, we’ll always choose the latter. Hook accordingly!

Content: 

The surest way to get us locked in is to appeal to ongoing material. We’ve foreshadowed thing or place X and you want to know more? Tell us: who it is; what you want to do with/to them; why you want to go there; what you hope to find. You can also focus on fan favourite places (Kul’Goran!) or characters (Wendy!). But be aware that although you might desperately want to know about Bob le Goblin, if he was a throw away who’s never reappeared since, we’re not that hyped about him. Instead, maybe hook for specific kinds of content. We love getting requests for Kantas versions of popular TV shows (Below Decks!), a specific genre (Heists! Noir!), or a particular kind of combat or challenge (Gladiators! Downhill racing!).

Next up is backstory. We love character growth, celebrating your PC and the story they bring to Kantas. At the same time, don’t forget that up to five other people will be there, and we’re looking to tell tales about the setting, its places, long term NPCs, and unfolding events that drag in other characters. Write a hook that’s about your PC… for their pals. Or enemies! If this session could have been a write-up (or RP), we’re less interested in running it. You should definitely do that write-up / RP though.

Space for Surprises:

There is one thing we love more than all of the above: fucking with you. We reserve the absolute right to monkey’s paw your requests and to pull rugs out from under your feet. Our job is, essentially, drama. You, my friend, are the subject of that drama. Give us room to get creative with ongoing narrative and how you see your character. Give us a big question and the rough neighbourhood, we’ll build the funhouse. Hooks should be at most a fifth of a story so that we can really enjoy crafting the other four.

Baiting our KDMs:

If you want to get a specific KDM interested in your hook, here are the plotlines we’re running and the themes we enjoy. None of this is a guarantee, but appealing to this stuff does up your chances. 

If you’re looking to bring in a new character and they lean heavily into any of the themes above, you might want to pop a completed backstory template over to the relevant KDMs.