I suggest using the first one or two sessions for city and character creation. When arranging your session, ask each player to come up with one or more locations and one or more interesting NPCs. If you have already chosen a city, let them know this as well. Some players enjoy doing the research and will be eager to incorporate specifics.
This should get you through the city sheet s (high level), (locations) and (faces) and give you a good idea about what kind of encounters your group wants. I would also suggest having a second copy of the (faces) sheet to use during the character creation process and while planning your story. This is great for filling in the gaps and the players don’t need to know about all of your NPCs.
Note cards are helpful. But you will also need extra pencils – yes, really. Beyond that, just have fun with it. If things bog down, go ahead and switch to character creation. You can always come back and add more details later.
Finally, for the characters themselves, definitely use the phases work sheet. It’s a great tool both for background and for creating connections between the characters.
