Beef! A simple session zero tool

I'm starting a new campaign and always find starting to be the hardest part. It's all about inertia.

In the spirit of the previous post, I've come up with a quick tool/checklist to help me begin.

Image credit: Dopaprime on DeviantArt

Starting point:

• The GM presents a list of say half a dozen key NPCs from the setting, OR
• The GM and players each create one key NPC as part of session zero

(I'll be running Mothership, and I'll be using the existing NPCs from "A Pound of Flesh" for this.)

Hopefully, putting the PCs in one of four basic situations with some of the key NPCs can help provide easy inspiration, possible plot hooks and shapes, and get the campaign wheels turning:

They got beef with you. Something you did has upset them or made them angry! The idea is this helps provide an immediate antagonist or villain, even if only short term...

You got beef with them. The idea is this can provide an antagonist as above, and/or a plot point where the party might need someone's help and need to get over their beef...

They owe you a favour. The idea is to set up an ally, willing or reluctant, that might be able to help the party overcome a problem...

You owe them a favour. The idea is to provide a hook for, or add a complication to, immediate or later adventures...

The GM's role is to ask the questions / lead the conversation about the nature of the situation, the cause, and mine the answers for hooks for hooks and inspiration, e.g.

• Why?
• What happened?
• What things/people were involved?
• Where are any relevant things/people now?
• What's the current situation? 
• What do the various parties want?

For longer and/or character driven campaigns, each player:

1. Chooses (or rolls) one of the NPCs
2. Determines the situation their PC has with the NPC (could be roll a d4, or choose)
3. Answers questions from the GM to create some brief backstory which becomes part of the campaign canon

For shorter campaigns, for simplicity, etc. the group as a whole:

1. Chooses (or rolls) one NPC for each of the four situations, which applies to the whole party not an individual
2. Answers questions from the GM to create some brief backstory which becomes part of the campaign canon

As I'm planning on around 10 sessions, and Mothership PCs are fairly disposable, I'll be going for the second option.

Comments always welcome.