Preparing Your Game

Roleplaying games involve a lot of improvisation and collaboration, but proper preparation will make this experience much more enjoyable, especially for new GMs. Whether you have a storyline planned out or are building off your players’ desires, a session 0 is key to this prep. Before your actual game begins, gather your players and discuss the following:

• What setting do we want to play in? What is the time period?
• What tone do we want to set for this game?
• What important things are happening or have recently happened in our setting?
• What do we hope to see in this game?
• What subjects or topics relevant to the setting or theme should be off-limits or handled with caution? (EG body horror, mental trauma, etc.) [see: Player Safety]
• Who is everyone playing?
• What has brought your specific group of characters together for this adventure?

You may omit some or many of these, but at the very least you should discuss player safety, the player characters who will be participating in the story, and any setting background or information necessary if you’ve already prepared something, in order to bring everyone on the same level.

The list above is a high-level overview of topics to discuss. What follows is a more in-depth guide to discussing these topics in a constructive and useful way, to aid inexperienced players and GMs.

Setting and Time Period

You and your players may have different desires when it comes to the setting and time period of your game. It is important to align everyone's expectations and understanding of the narrative setting ahead of time in order to allow for an easier transition into roleplaying. The SCP body of fiction supports all sorts of settings, from cyberpunk techno-magical neon cities to foreboding ancient castles harboring demonic forces. As an example, the campaign starter from this book is based in a roughly modern-day time period in the "Three Portlands" pocket-dimension.

What Tone Should the Game Have?

The SCP multiverse contains tones and themes ranging the gamut from dark and disturbing to fun and whimsical. We all have our own preferences for a game or piece of fiction's general tone, but some folks may also have hard restrictions on not wanting to play within certain themes, such as grotesque gore. Take a moment to discuss with everyone who will be participating in the game to ensure that your game's tone is as safe, fun, and engaging as it can be!

Important Events and Recent History

In order to help bring the world you all will build to life, establishing a set of important events or notable elements wihin that world is important. Things like broken-masquerade events [glossary], recent anomalous sightings, and even political shake-ups can all serve to add dynamism and flavor to the narrative you will bring to life, and allow the players and GM space to improvise when things inevitably go off the rails.

Desired Plot Points, Characters, Groups, and Events

While discussing the game plans during a session zero, it can be helpful to spend a little bit of time getting to know what each player would like to experience out of the game. Note that this doesn't necessarily mean asking the players for exact plot events, catering your collaborative narrative to incorporate elements that entice players helps to ensure everyone stays engaged and interested. For instance, a player might desire to explore what an interaction between the U.I.U. [glossary] and a group of paratechnology hackers would look like. These desired elements can help the GM flesh out the planned story and its various branches and subplots.

Off-Limits Topics and Themes

As discussed in player safety, it is important to discuss with everyone who will be a part of your game what topics and themes should be left out of the game, or handled with care. Later in this chapter there will be an example "session-zero" which will depict what this can look like. Remember to be considerate and empathetic whilst having these discussions. Everyone has their own sensitivities and limits, and being mindful of that can help to ensure a fun and trouble-free game!

Discuss Your Characters or Character Plans

Session zeros can look different from group to group, and players may be just as likely to come to the table with already prepared characters and backstories as they are to show up without even the vaguest hint of the character they want to create. Either of these possibilities can be fine, depending on how the group and GM like to operate. If you wish for everyone to show up to the table with fully ready-to-play characters, make sure to communicate that! However, it can be very helpful to come up with the more concrete character elements together as the group discusses the general 'shape' of the game and the world, especially as relates to how the various player characters know each other and what brings them all into the same mission.

What Brings the Group Together

This goes hand-in-hand with discussing your characters, but discussing how the party has formed within the context of the narrative will help to facilitate a smooth transition into the game's world and story. This might be as simple as all the characters being assigned to the same task force, to a complicated web of interpersonal relationships and motives. Discussing this ahead of time will give players a chance not only to flesh out their own characters and their backstories, but also provide room for players to veto anything they might feel uncomfortable with (for example, someone may suggest that two characters dated in the past, while the other player does not feel comfortable with this).