Campaign Setup

Game Genre

The first thing to decide is usually what kind of game your group will play. A lot of the time, this will be decided in advance: "Hey, anyone want to play in my new Platinum Age campaign?" but sometimes you can collaboratively decide the genre of the next game together.

Social Contract Options

Things like Session Zero or X Card tools should be decided in advance, and probably used right away, since this is likely your session zero.

Character Discussion

Don't create your character in a vacuum. Talk to the other players and speculate about what you want to play, what might work, and what would be cool or fun for other players. This will help the group figure out what the game is going to be like together.

It's also a chance for the GM to start thinking about what kinds of challenges they'll need to prepare for the game.

Dials & Knobs

These are sort of like alignment axes for the campaign. Discuss each with the group and figure out where you want the campaign to sit on each axis. If it helps, use a 1-5 scale.

• Scope & Scale: how epic and world-spanning the campaign should be
• Campaign Lethality: how hard the GM will be pushing the PCs
• Skill Group Bias: which skill groups should be prioritized from (Academic, Combat, Espionage, Social, Special¹)
• Team Unity: how likely and extreme interparty conflict is permitted to be
• Romance & Relationships: how focal relationships are to the game, and whether romance will play a part for the PCs
• Experimentation: Any new or unusual house rules or otherwise experimental content. This should be agreed on in advance by the whole group.