Here's something fun I did to begin now two new campaigns of AW. (Inspired by the World-Burning from the Burning Wheel rpg.)
I'm reluctant to simply start a game of AW without knowing basic things about the world - setting especially - so I devised a number of questions to fill in the broad strokes of the world. And then I get the players to answer them.
For my current game, I made nine questions, and I equally divided them amongst the three players. In no order:
What was the height of technology before the Apocalypse?
When did the Apocalypse happen? And what was its duration? (Long/sudden? In one lifetime? Several?)
What's a major event in recent memory?
What's the ecology of the immediate vicinity?
Where will humanity be in twenty years? In fifty? One hundred years?
What is the current state of humanity?
If the Maelstrom were a person, what emotion would be tied to it?
Are we on Earth?
What or where is an example of the Maelstrom in everyday life?
Questions answered, a general idea of the world is formed. Each time I've done this, I've noticed the players were salivating to fill the world in with their characters. Playbooks were snapped up, and I proceed to then ask probing questions about the characters.
Exciting things are defined right from the beginning, and players can create characters with confidence of where they'll be in the world, but general enough to have opportunities for further creation. Also, because the players answer the questions, they're already emotionally tied to the fictional world. Stakes named and put out there by the players.
Hoping this may inspire some other intrepid MCs.
I'm going to post the result of these questions from my current game, as well as post the on going sessions. So far I'm really enjoying MCing, more than with any other rpg.
Peace.