"23 Skidoo" was one of America's first pop culture memes. Its origins are murky, but its usage is not: You say it when you want people to clear out in a hurry, and that's exactly what I aim to do with this column. Each article will paint a setting in broad strokes, just enough detail to get you moving, and then it'll get outta your way. With one of these articles and a copy of Wushu, or some other rules lite system, you'll be able to run a sensational one-shot game with absolutely zero prep!

Here's the method I recommend:

1. Bring one of these settings to the table and give your players a quick run-down.
2. Help them decide on a premise: Who are the heros and what do they do?
3. Whip up some player-characters. With Wushu, it only takes a few minutes.
4. Brainstorm some nemeses and scenes you'd all like to include.

Armed with a premise, heros, nemeses, and a roadmap of scenes, you're ready to run a game! Improvising the rest should be a breeze. You are gamers, after all. The trick is to take a collaborative approach. Ask your players what the next scene should be and how they want their characters to get there. The GM isn't solely responsible for the plot, just for the NPCs. (If you do get stuck, see one of my other columns for inspiration: Action Scenes!)

Here's an example:

I sat down with a group of four friends, my Wushu dice, and some poker chips. I pitched them the first three Wushu Skidoo settings: a Taoist science fantasy, Mesoamerican post-apocalypse, and hoodoo cops in post-Katrina New Orleans. It was a tough call, but they decided to go with Aztech.

I gave them a quick overview of the setting (heart-taking fanatics rebuild the Mexica empire after a computer virus destroys the cyberpunk future) and let them brainstorm a premise. Two of them wanted to play bloodthirsty priests, so we came up with a splinter faction that was trying to resurrect the Toltec Empire and overthrow the Mexica. In pursuit of this goal, they sent an expeditionary force to seize control of an old resort hotel in Oaxaca, a forbidden place known as the Lair of the Spider Woman. (Trust me, that'll all make sense after the Aztech article goes online!)

One of the other players created a cyborg witch with mad kung-fu, while the other elected to play a mercenary/technomonger who was acting as their guide. I helped them come up with three Traits per character, then we rank ordered them and assigned values of 3, 4, and 5. (I skipped Weaknesses because it's just a one-shot.)

Finally, I asked them to brainstorm some scenes and nemeses. They wanted a cantina scene, a Mad Max style highway chase, cannibals, a snake pit, and demonic wolves. I jotted those things down on a sheet of paper, made a few notes to myself, and we were ready to roll. The whole process took about half an hour.

The subsequent game clocked in at three and a half hours, which is the Wushu sweet spot. They kicked the crap out of some cannibal bounty hunters, tangled with angry locals on dirt bikes and monster trucks, went toe to toe with the Spider Woman, and offered more still-beating hearts to Tezcatlipoca than I care to count.

This column will give you the tools to run pick-up games just like that, in a variety of genres, with virtually zero prep. Each article will be cool concentrate in a can, just add improv.

Short and sweet, starting now.