<span class="bbc_u">Before we move on to that third stage</span>, the one with the story and all, who's still working on the first two: background and rising conflict?<br/><br/>Hairy, me ol' chum, how do we want to try the card shuffle?<br/><br/>Here's the Third Phase, to quote the rules:<br/><br/>The third phase is your character’s first true adventure—his first book, episode, case, movie, whatever—starring him. You’ll need to come up with a title for this adventure. (This can be a lot of fun, but don’t burn too much time on it.) A quick way to do it is to pick an arbitrary rule to guide the selection of the title. The rule could be as simple as “two words, each with the same number of letters”—that gets you Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, and so on. Or it could be thematic, like poker or  gambling terms for a character who’s all about<br/>luck—Suicide King, Aces High, All In.<br/><br/>Then, you need to think up and write down the basic details of this story for the phase’s summary. The story doesn’t need to have a lot of detail—in fact, a pair of sentences (see<br/>below) works pretty well, because your fellow players will add in their own details to this past adventure in the next two phases (as you will to theirs).<br/><br/>If you find yourself stuck, look first to your character’s trouble. Find a dilemma that has a chance of throwing that idea into question or focus again. That said, you needn’t directly<br/>address the issue there—just provide an opportunity for it to be a factor.<br/><br/>You can also look to a tried and true author’s trick—the “story skeleton” (or “story question”). A story skeleton fits this format:<br/><em>When [something happens], [your protagonist] [pursues a goal]. But will [your protagonist] succeed when [antagonist provides opposition]?</em><br/><br/>Simple as that, but powerful when put into effect. Consider:<br/><br/>When a series of grisly supernatural murders tears through Chicago, wizard Harry Dresden sets out to find the killer. But will Harry succeed when he finds himself pitted against a<br/>dark wizard, a Warden of the White Council, a vicious gang war, and the Chicago Police Department?