And that goes double for you as the GM. Because you need to know how their sheets work, and the mechanics your players are going to use, just as well as they do... especially if they're utilizing parts of the rulebook you don't typically crack open.
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Make Sure The Sheet Runs The Way You Think It Runs
The purpose of a stress test is to make sure that all the mechanics on a character's sheet work the way the player thinks they do, and to give it a try under laboratory conditions. The idea is that you, as the GM, should construct a situation where the character gets to try out their abilities and skills to be sure they function the way they're supposed to when the dice hit the mat. Sort of like how in 1 on 1 fighting games there's a mode where you have an opponent that doesn't do much so you can practice your moves to be sure you understand your character's abilities.
For bonus points I recommend running scenes from a character's history, or from the group's history if they've been together for a while. On the one hand, doing a single session for the group as a whole is easier to put together, but making individual sessions where you can work one-on-one allows you to construct individual scenarios geared to test each character specifically. It's why I recommend the latter option, if you have it available to you.
While the examples given are for characters in the World/Chronicles of Darkness, the idea is pretty applicable to most game systems. If you have a character who is meant to be a stealth-based infiltrator, then you can run them through a break-in, or a prison escape, to see if their skills are functioning the way they're supposed to. If you have a character that's an unarmed fighter, put them in a cage match, or a bar fight, so they can test out their abilities real-time. If a character is supposed to be the party face, run an interrogation, a trade negotiation, or something similar to see if they're really as good as they think they are when it comes to utilizing their social skills.
And if things go wrong, you can claim it was all a dream, or that things didn't go down the way they remembered, and it turns out they're telling this story in a tavern several years later.
Whether you want to test the mechanics for flying a spaceship, participating in a car chase, social combat (if your game has rules for that), or just making sure that your party bruiser can bust heads and crack teeth, the stress test saves you a lot of time, energy, and effort. However, there is a benefit over and above just making sure the mechanics work the way you and your players think; it also allows players to get into their character's skin, and play out some of their earlier moments and memories.
At the end of the day, a character trial run under controlled circumstances saves you a lot of time and energy, as there's fewer issues of players being unfamiliar with how their own characters work, and it allows players to really figure out their character's personality, style, and voice in a safe place instead of waiting until they're at a table surrounded by other players.
And, of course, it's sometimes fun to do a little one-on-one RP with your players to start building the foundation of the game, and really getting them invested in the campaign to come!
As with a Session 0, this isn't technically necessary. However, if you haven't tried this before, I highly recommend giving it a shot. Especially if you have players who are new to a system, or if you as the GM are new to the system and you want to build your familiarity with it before you take on a full session with everyone gathered around the table and looking to you to crank the motor, and get the game started.
And if you're looking for more pieces of advice from me, check out the collected tips and tricks in the following supplements:
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