Gameplay

Basic Mechanics

Fear in the Foundation (FITF) is a tabletop role-playing game, or TTRPG, which is a collaborative story-telling game whose narrative is often shaped by its rules and setting. One player takes on the role of the "Game Master (GM)," who acts as the rules referee and lead storyteller. In FITF, the GM is known as the Overseer, in reference to the people who run the SCP Foundation. The Overseer creates situations for other players to deal with, describes their surroundings, and plays all non-player characters. Everyone other than the Overseer creates their own character to play within the game world. These characters often act as part of a "party," or group of characters that work towards common goals.
 
In most TTRPGs, players cannot simply do everything they wish to do. In some cases, they must roll dice to determine the outcome of an action. Fear in the Foundation uses a d20 for most rolls. Characters have general Abilities, as well as more specific Skills. In order to "pass a check," or, in other words, successfully carry out an action, players must roll a d20 and add their relevant Ability or Skill modifier, getting a result equal to or higher than the target number associated with the roll. 

Each character has 6 Abilities, plus Luck, and 16 Skills.

Abilities - Strength, Agility, Durability, Knowledge, Power, Charisma
 
Skills - Artillery, Bludgeoning, Espionage, Examination, Fraud, Gadget, Intimidation, Judgment, Medical, Negotiation, Occult, Perception, Presentation, Science, Resolve, and Tussle

Luck, though it is grouped in with character's Abilities, is a separate resource that allows characters to make failed rolls succeed. Say a player needs to roll a 15 or higher in order to pass a check, but rolls a 12. The player can use 3 Luck points to make that roll succeed. Players typically start each campaign with 40 Luck. Spent Luck can be recovered, but it's still often a resource that should be used carefully and conservatively.

The game also features a number of mechanics that have become stables in many other TTRPGs, such as Critical Rolls, Hit Points, Encounters, Status Effects, and grid-based maps, as well as unique mechanics concerned with SCP-specific things such as amnestics, memetics and reality anchors. 


Gameplay Loop

The game consists of four different types of missions. Breach, Containment, Exploration, and Operational.
 
Breach Missions are kicked off by a catastrophic event that leads to several anomalies escaping from their containment units and wreaking havoc throughout a Foundation facility. Players deal with a variety of issues as they attempt to capture said anomalies and bring the site back under control. These missions primarily feature four character classes: Researchers, Security Officers, Field Agents, and D-Classes.

Containment Missions involve Foundation agents going out into the wider world to apprehend anomalies. In some cases, Field Agents investigate potentially anomalous situations based on reports the Foundation has received, while in others, MTF Agents are sent out to capture anomalies that have escaped containment.
 
Exploration Missions are centered on the scientific study of anomalies. Typically, a team is sent out to investigate one or more anomalies, communicating with researchers along the way. This can involve a group of D-Class, Field Agents, or MTF Agents, depending on the anomaly and how it needs to be explored.
 
Operational Missions are assignments that aren't directly tied to containment or exploration, such as a secret operation to undermine a hostile group of interest or rescue civilians from a hostile group or deadly anomaly. In these missions, players take on the role of an MTF Agent.

In total, the game features five classes: D-Class, Field Agents, MTF Agents, Researchers, and Security Officers, and players can choose one of seven unique subclasses while playing any of them, which make for some interesting combinations. The subclasses are The Brawler, The Explorer, The Healer, The Marksman, The Occultist, The Showman, and The Technician, which, like the classes, have their own unique abilities.