Setting

Although this is going to be a short campaign, I am hoping to make it the first installment in a longer story (it will depend on how we all like the setting/story/my GMing skills). For this reason, please put some thought into your character's background. The sooner you can get a background to me (complete with trigger event) the more I can integrate it into the story. Aside from noting that, with the exception of your trigger event, you are a fairly normal person in a normal world, you have quite a bit of leeway. Some things I would like, however:

The characters should all know each other already. Maybe you are co-workers, member of the same street gang, members of the SCA, or whatever, but you should have some reason to spend time together and have some reason why you might work together.
You should have jobs that allow you some time to do some investigating during the day without raising too much suspicion. Police officers, the self (or un) employed, cab drivers, and other such jobs would be good. Elementary school teachers, assembly line workers, and other jobs that pretty much dictate where you are for most of the day would be less so. (Not that these positions couldn't work, but you will need to balance your job with your other activities.) If you have your heart set on being a secretary or something like that, let me know and I will think of some way to help you out.
The game will take place in (or very near) a large city that I have yet to determine. (Suggestions will be considered.)

You should have some idea of how much income you make, understanding that the more money you make, the more time I will expect you to spend working. You should also indicate whether you have families, other friends you hang out with regularly, or that kind of thing. Unknown Armies has no mechanics for this type of thing so just put it down in your background. If I think you are starting to spend more than you can afford I will let you know.

Examples

The book provides a few examples of groups. I have taken a couple examples and copied them here. Feel free to use none, some, or all of them. Obviously, some of these will not work as they are with the group and the location, but hopefully it will give you an idea of some things that are possible.

Dot Gone: The members of your group were co-workers at a local dot-com that went bust. The big project you all worked on was a data sniffer that could correlate seemingly unrelated events by performing text seraches on news sites, looking for patterns in global events that could indicate market trends. You began getting some very strange results, and then your stock tanked, the founder spontaneously combusted, and one of the shadowy venture capitalists behind the project stepped in and took all the code. In the weeks since you lost your jobs, you've begun to suspect you're under surveillance. But from whom, and why?

Cabana Boys: In your small resort town, there's a pretty big divide between the Haves and Have Nots. You and your buddies were Nots in terms of money, but you've always been Haves when it comes to looks. Now you're in your prime and while you may put "Tennis Instructor" or "Pool Attendant" or "Chauffer" or "Gardener" on your tax forms, you're really pretty much kept men for widows, spinster daughters, or lonesome wives attached to one of the Have families. But you're learning that all is not happiness and light for the rich and beautiful people. They scheme and plot constantly - and viciously. "Accidental" deaths, mysterious reversals of fortune, and murkey betrayals are their bread and butter. There's something weirdly rotten about this town. You never meant to get tangled in a web of intrigue, but it's increasingly obvious that if you're not the spider, then you're the helpless, struggling, fly.

Lab Section 6: Professor Morbius is a weird old guy, but you knew that when you signed up for his Psychology Open Study Course. You'd heard the rumors: alchemy, magic rituals, spirit summoning, all sorts of wack stuff that puts the "para" in front of "psychology". You and your fellow grad students comprise lab section six of the course, and the prof has given you your assignment for the semester. It's a hundred percent of your grade, all wrapped up in a nice little bundle: get off campus, mix it up with the alternative-spirituality community, and see just how deep the subculture goes. Wicca, Santeria, Rastafarianism, sure, but what else is out there? If this town has a cutting edge of the occult, your grade depends on finding it.

The DEA's Dirty Dawgs: It all started because you figured the Army sounded like more fun than technical school - and sure enough, it was. You all wound up detached to a covert South American command, a joint duty with the Drug Enforcement Agency, and that's where the ethics got confusing. I mean, kill a drug kingpin's bodyguard and you're doing your job. Blow up his house and his smuggling boats and you're a hero. But put one sticky finger on any of his durable consumer goods and suddenly you're a rogue, out of control, dishonorably discharged and shipped back home in disgrace. Lucky thing you didn't squeal about any of the stuff you saw in ol' Pablo's secret sub-basement: stuff like the moving head in the jar with the metal nose and those weird glass birds that actually talked. You'd have got a Section 8 instead. Now you're wondering what else is going on. Fortunately, not all your Army pals think you're crooked - and not all your DEA friends think you're crazy. Besides, it'd be a shame to let all that expensive demolitions training go to waste, right?

Style of play

To have an effective mood for the game, I want to go over a few guidelines for the game. No one is going to be penalized if they break them occasionally, but please try to keep them in mind since they will lead to a better overall experience.

Secrets - Secrets are the life's blood of the horror genre. Without them, the setting loses a lot of its impact. When you create your character, please don't share any more of your character's background with the other players than you think your character would let on. Likewise, as the GM I will occasionally take groups aside for brief periods if I don't want the rest of the group to know what is going on. Note passing is encouraged. This is being done for two reasons. First, it is sometimes difficult to keep player knowledge and character knowledge separate. (I know I have a great deal of trouble with it.) It isn't a problem if the player doesn't know it. Second, this is a horror game. If you, the player, know that the mysterious person walking up to you in the alley and telling you to come with them is a secret contact of one of the characters, it will inevitably reduce the suspense of the scene, even if you play your character well. Secrets make mystery, and the mystery is much of the fun.
In character vs. out of character - please do not give your (that is you - the player) opinion of a situation. It is irrelevant. Ideally, at times your character should do things that you, the player, do not think are good ideas. Don't share. In general, I will just play it that, what the player says, the character says. (I don't want to be oppressive about this and will use common sense, but, for the sake of the mood, please keep OOC comments out.) Please assume that the other players are doing the same and that, if they do something that makes no sense to you, that they are just doing an excellent job of staying in character. Don't prompt the other players unless it is reasonable that your character could do so (in which case, the character may do so). As the GM, I'll be working hard to follow this rule myself (since I happen to be somewhat prone to violating it.)
"Since this is a game we are expected to..." - Most role playing games are built around a tacit understanding that the players will cooperate with the GM and the story. For this reason, characters take jobs they should have misgivings about, go along with plans they should be opposing, and get involved in things that they would normally walk away from. (The Shadowrun mantra that "if you don't take the job you are being offered you will never work in this city again" comes immediately to mind.) Usually these rules are employed for the benefit of the poor GM who has spent all week working up this elaborate scene and doesn't want to have the characters just say no and walk away. These guidelines do not apply here. Trust your character. If the job smells bad to them, don't take it. If the plan is lousy, don't go along for the sake of group cohesion - argue and, if reasonable, leave. As the GM I can say that I will occasionally throw you bad deals and your best bet is to walk away. Don't worry - I have enough material. If you think your character would not get involved, I will find something interesting for them to do. (If I absolutely need them to go with the party, I will find an in-character reason for them to do so. Trust me.) All that needs to happen is you need to start with characters who are interested in digging deeper into this myth they call reality. Let the character take over from there.
Speed - At times, things will happen fast. You may need to provide an explanation to a guard who catches you inside the fence, or decide what you are doing when you hear the gunshot. You may not have time to plan something out. I reserve the right to not give you, the player, time to think. If you are faced with a snap decision and you pause, your character pauses. I am not doing this to be cruel (usually). This is done to establish a tone. Many scenes will lose their potency if run in a relaxed manner. Adding some pressure will hopefully make things more fun, not less. Just remember, it is perfectly reasonable that characters occasionally make mistakes when forced to think fast.

I mention all this because our earlier games were designed to have a very different feel and I wanted to spell out some of the methods I hoped to employ to set this new tone. Hopefully, they will work and create a nice, suspensful atmosphere. If, however, you find that any of them are decreasing your enjoyment of the game, tell me and I will fix the problem. After all, the ultimate point is to have fun.