The first part of each StoryCards demo at GenCon 2008 consisted of a draw from the Random Genre table, followed by an environment reading, in order to answer the question "Who are our characters, and what are we trying to accomplish?" The demo-ees astounded me with their creativity. Here are some of the settings they came up with:

A colony of robots, rejected due to defects in their artificial emotion circuits, seeking the lone human child who can lead them.

Mutants created by megacorps as slaves in an oppressive police state, starting a revolution in order to create a utopia with their precognitive messiah as queen.

Conmen from the future, selling manure-powered robots in medieval times.

Nanite-powered psionic agents, capturing victims of nanite malfunctions that turn them into destructive monsters. (Or are they malfunctions, really?)

Inquisitors of the Dream World, conspiring to invade the Waking World and make people bleed from their eyes.

Mecha pilots of Ancient Egypt, struggling to keep their ancient alien relic fighting machines running long enough to drive off the Hittite invaders.

Human knights, recovering an artifact from the tomb of a long-dead king in order to avoid a war with the faerie realm, hindered by Unseelie water sprites that want the war to come.

Ordinary people trying to lead normal lives, as those they love most turn into mindless zombies.

Pacifism enforcers of the Old West, dissuading the continual stream of immigrant would-be heroes from pursuing vigilante justice, lest God once more send the demonic sand worms that punish lawlessness.