Getting Started as a Game Master

Docs > Getting Started

New to CyberScribe? This walkthrough takes you from an empty dashboard to your first generated session summary. Everything lives in a tree — Game System → Campaign → Session — so you'll build up from the top. See Understanding the Hierarchy for the big picture.

1. Create a Game System

From your Dashboard, click "New Game System".

  1. Enter the name of the rulebook or setting you play (e.g. "D&D 5e", "Cyberpunk RED", "Call of Cthulhu").
  2. Optionally set a Summary Prompt or Plot Hook Prompt — there are handy presets for common systems. You can leave these blank and fill them in later.
  3. Click "Create Game System".

2. Create a Campaign

From the Game System page, click "New Campaign".

  1. Give the campaign a name (e.g. "The Lost Mines of Phandelver").
  2. Optionally add a Discord Webhook URL now to post summaries to a public channel later — or come back to it in Campaign Settings.
  3. Click "Create Campaign".

3. Add a Session

From the Campaign page, click "Add Session".

  1. Enter the session number (e.g. 1) and optionally a date.
  2. Active player characters in the campaign are added automatically — you can change them later.
  3. Click "Create Session", then open the session by clicking its number.

4. Upload Audio & Transcribe

On the Session page, scroll to "Upload Session Audio".

  1. Select a recording (FLAC, MP3, WAV, OGG, M4A, etc., up to 500MB).
  2. Click "Upload Audio". The session enters the transcription queue.
  3. When it's your turn the audio is transcribed on CPU — watch the progress bar and the live transcript.

You must obtain consent from all participants before recording or uploading a session; as the Game Master you are responsible for that consent. Uploaded audio files are deleted after transcription completes.

5. Generate a Summary

Once you have a transcript, click "Generate Summary" on the Session Summary card. When it completes you can edit, download, or Send to Discord the summary. Players can see summaries when they log in.

Want this to happen automatically? Turn on "Auto-Generate Summary on Transcription Completion" in Session Settings (or set the default in Campaign / GM Settings).

6. Optional: Plot Hooks & Discord

  • Plot Hooks — private to you. Generate them the same way as the summary, and they're never shown to players.
  • Discord — set a webhook in Campaign Settings (public channel for summaries) and in your GM Settings (hidden channel for plot hooks), then use the Send to Discord buttons or the auto-post toggles. See Discord Integrations.

7. Optional: Player Accounts & Characters

To let players log in and see their session summaries, you first create a Player Account (a login for the real person), then add Player Characters (the fictional character in your campaign) and link them to the account.

  1. On your Dashboard, click "New Player Account", enter a Username and Password, and optionally a Discord Name. Share the credentials with your player.
  2. Open the Campaign and click "Add Player".
  3. Select the player account from the dropdown and enter the Character Name.
  4. Click "Add Player Character".

Active characters in a campaign are added to each new session automatically, and players see only the sessions that include their character (GM Hooks are never shown to players). See Players & Characters for the full details.

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