Do THIS before starting your D&D campaign 

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I love how Ginny has gone from "the flow is probably better if I cut away to me reading aloud rather than do it in the same shot" to "Books is now a fully fledged character with her own motivations and personality!"

Something my group has is a "Focus Word". If the game devolves into jokes, cross chatter, or people being distracted by outside influences: Anyone seeing it can say the word, (e.g. "Rutabaga") and get the game back on track.

Ginny, your nerdy friend's puns are delightful. Please tell her that if she's trying to make us laugh, she's on the _write_ track 🤓

I use safety tools for the two games I run for kids aged 9 to 14. People might say, "Why do you need safety tools for kids?!? You shouldn't be have that kind of stuff in your game if there are kids in it!" But you know what one of the biggest lines I have in one of the groups is? Zombies. One of the younger kids is really freaked out by zombies. That is his line, so, as DM, I know that while we can have zombies, their tokens (we play online) can't look like zombies. Another kids raised an X card because an NPC got hot sauce in his eyes. He really wasn't comfortable with that, so we retconned it. Safety tools cover anything that will make a player uncomfortable and no longer having fun. And this opinion is from an old school player - I survived THAC0, and lived to tell the tale. USE THE SAFETY TOOLS!

Ginny pretends that she doesnt love these puns to the moon and back so well

As well as discussing things like lines & veils at a session zero, I think it's important to keep that conversation open and make sure players know they can come back with amended lines & veils if things change for them. For example, a party that has pets might usually be fine with those pets coming to harm, but this might change in the wake of someone's irl pet passing away. For long campaigns in particular, I think it's worth doing "top-up" sessions to review whether the ground rules set in session zero are still working for everyone-but this is a concept I don't really hear talked about.

City of Mist has a pretty good built in session 0. It asks the table what tone they want for the campaign and what kind of team are they, goes over character creation, and has something called "A day in the life" which acts as a kind of session 0.5 to establish things.

In spite of myself I kept laughing at the banter between Ginny and The Books. "These are terrible. Did you just look up a bunch of book puns?" *crumples up paper and tosses it.* 🤣

I'm a brand new D&D player, and just attended my first ever session zero yesterday. It's really helped make me feel more confident and prepared to start at the next session!

Here's a fun Session 0 story. I recently joined a DnD group that was just beginning a DM's campaign that was intended to be a gothic horror "Curse of Strahd in Eberron" type campaign...but due to players leaving early, he decided to refresh it with the newer players and had a new session 0 to discuss the one-shot adventures leading up to the main campaign and mainly wanted us to figure out how our characters would have come together as a group. I suggested the idea of being pirates, and everybody got excited about that idea that essentially, we ended up retheming our upcoming adventure to be about Gentleman Pirates facing the supernatural in a very "Pirates of the Carribean" like way.

One of my go-tos for new players is a funeral for a character the party has in common. Give them a little prologue session with a likable NPC, then reveal next session that they're dead. Bonus points if you manage to get your players to like the NPC a ton, then get a villainous character to show up and talk badly or start something at the wake. Great way to set up a dynamic early, even for characters that haven't met each other!

This all has really great advice, Ginny, including the advice about safety tools being for more than just trauma-based things. My fiancée has told she is genuinely creeped out by Mind Flayers. Naturally, she has not had a traumatic event in her past about being captured by aliens who tried to eat her brain, she just finds them really creepy and gets freaked out by them. So, I know when I DM games she plays in, I won’t be using Mind Flayers

Ginny talking to 'Books' cracks me up cuz its just her giving herself a hard time

As a new DM I brushed off the idea of a Session Zero, thinking I didn't need it because we weren't all that serious about D&D, and I immediately regretted it when I ended up with a group of Murder Hobos in a lighthearted RP adventure.

About to start watching. Just wanted to submit my predictive summary: "try talking to each other" you'd think with so many high Cha characters that maybe at least one player would know how to use words and safety tools to avoid as much conflict as there is at table!

The campaign I’m currently in has some mild horror elements, so the DM made a little form for Session Zero with checkboxes indicating how comfortable players would be with certain things (spiders, gore, hallucinations/dream sequences, etc.) The results set such a cohesive tone for the game that I now use the template for that form with the DM’s permission. (Also a fun little story: I’m running a game for some friends who are almost all new to D&D. At the end of our Session Zero, I invited them to introduce their characters thinking they’d simply say things like “firbolg fighter” etc. They were so excited to play that they introduced themselves in character and started some non-canon roleplay just for fun! I was so proud :D)

I didn't really run my party's session 0 properly and ended up with drastically differing tone for each character and a member that straight up refused to join the party when the time came 😬 Always good to have a resource to fall back on for this kind of thing

Share off-limit subjects with the whole table! I made the mistake of not sharing my players off-limit items with the group, thinking as DM I shouldn't out their concerns. A big mistake! Two of the players had expressed that child harm would be upsetting to them, and while I avoided that outcome in game, one of the other players made a tactical decision in a tricky boss fight that meant harming a child. That player, who has kids of his own so felt he knew pretty well where the line was on that subject, was then confused and upset with the intense reaction they got from the table for that decision. Everybody loses. I've since shared what subjects are off limits for our game, keeping the individuals who shared those limits anonymous, and there haven't been any similar incidents since.

When I started brainstorming for my new campaign, I actually went a little further and had a Session -1. This is where I outlined the rules of conduct (and accepted player feedback to revise said rules) and opened a poll to get ideas for game tone, areas of interest in the setting, what kinds of missions/quests people enjoy being tasked with, and what kinds of rewards people want to get. It's also where I worked with folks to brainstorm some of their backstory ideas and help them fit within the setting. Then at Session Zero, we went over boundaries, finalized character creation (I had asked them to pick one other party member to partner up with between Session -1 and Session 0), and settled on the low-level adventure I would run for them to get them up to Level 3 before sending them out into the world

Ah, talking to your players and communicating like grown-ups! Why are the simple things always so neglected? When I first started roleplaying with friends, we didn't yet have the language of "lines and veils", but we would roll up characters together and talk through what the game was going to be like, so we all knew what to expect. It didn't cover all of the same ground, but it was a good way to set expectations around theme and mood. More recently when I started running a dark fantasy game I made a deliberate point of doing an actual session zero, following the advice from one of Bob World Builder's videos. It was genuinely enlightening as a GM, not so much in terms of triggers and trauma, but just as a way of finding out what each player was actually wanting to get out of the game. From both sides, then - trigger situations and player goals - I would definitely recommend running a session zero, or introductory session, or whatever you want to call it.

Ginny, another GREAT video with PERFECT timing! Our campaign that we have been playing for 3 years (Curse of Strahd) is coming to an end within the next month and a half (end of January-ish, because Holidays, etc.), I am DEFINITELY going to send this video to my DM for his consideration before we start our new Campaign. Thx again, for putting out high quality, topical videos! You are the best!

Recently I replayed Dragon Age Origins and think it does offer a good example of what a session zero or one could look like. Each background has their own self contained story arc that leads into the main campaign. This is great as it introduces the player to the world without getting them involved in the main event right away. A player might have chosen to play druid but after that session they realize they don’t like playing that class. The DM could ether would with them so they understand the class better or they could just role up a new character.

"It just needs what all of us needs. 2 triple A batteries and a little encouragement. " 🤣💀💀 You are a treasure Ginny Di! And your interaction with Books makes this so amazing.

I run games for folks with disabilities, and session zero is key to building positive group dynamics. Well done to Books for the groanabilty with their puns. Great video.

Great video! I will stand by that Session 0 is mandatory for a good game. It doesn't need to be anything extravagant, it could be a group Zoom call or a text chat if that's more convenient. No matter what form it takes, it needs to happen. Something I need to start doing is writing down all my homebrew rules for session 0. I've been playing in a bubble for so long that I kind of forgot which rules I made up myself. In fact, writing down more material for session 0 is just something I need to do in general.

That point about safety tools is so important. It's a shame some people get so defensive about it and can't just accept that they're super useful for making sure everyone has a fun, safe time. Great video, Ginny!

The cosplay for the add break is genius considering it’s inspired by fresh cut grass who is from cr and who’s player makes the commercials in cr

If Books appears to be threatening you, remember, you can take a page from her book and tell her to leaf.

I very much appreciate this! I definitely fall into the third camp. Heck I wish videos like these were around when I first started D&D. We had no idea what the books were talking about half the time. We rolled a d20 to determine each of the players' stats, didn't understand spells so we made up our own, and the first combat encounter with a random man with a shovel nearly killed our Drow ranger in one hit as our opening to the campaign. It also didn't help that we all thought it'd be LotR right up until they approached a man in a hood in the starting tavern and opened with "Do you have any memes? Like pictures of cats?"

I always combine session 0 with character creation. Basically it's a time to establish what the world is and then I know what the characters are when planning session 1.... otherwise I could end up planning something everyone would suck at. If I am playing with new players I will set the "rating" of the campaign... basically outlining the level of violence and making it clear that I don't want any weird pervy stuff.

A lot of new players are coming into the game after watching streams like Critical Role or Dimension 20, so a Session Zero is also an excellent time to manage their expectations as to what the experience is like. Most DMs don't run games like Matt Mercer, and new players who expect that sort of experience can be disappointed if the game isn't like what they expect. The same thing can happen en regards to roleplay. The majority of players are there just to have fun, not put on a nuanced performance for the entertainment of an audience. So, a Session Zero can be a great time to let the players know that the game they'll be playing, probably won't be like the professional RPG shows they've streamed.

I just had a player DM conflict at my table a few days ago. this is perfect

As someone who has had people in my life who weren't good at expressing boundaries until I had already crossed far over them, I absolutely LOVE when boundaries are clearly set and communicated upfront. Being able to trust that someone will let me know if I'm approaching a boundary means I don't have to tiptoe around anything that could ever possibly be a boundary in fear of hurting someone without realizing it (which has been my other defense mechanism, and let me tell you that is exhausting -- and it sometimes means I don't ask questions that someone WANTS me to ask, so they think I don't care). And as someone who has some very specific and unique triggers, I super appreciate highlighting that lines or challenge points don't have to be "typical" -- or even things that by themselves seem hurtful, but could be something that is associated with the hurtful memory. I don't expect people to predict that a particularly popular open mic song reminds me of my 4th grade teacher bullying me relentlessly for being a ten-year-old who experienced emotions, but if I tell them that I need this song to be skipped *right now* or I'm going to start crying and shaking, I *do* expect them to respect that.

This is a beautiful video! I did a session zero for my first game, since my world was home brew I think it really helped my players understand the setting of the game. I wouldn't have had the comfort I had as a new DM without it. Also have to say every friend I've ever had vent to me about issues in their game has always said "no" when I ask if they've had a session zero. It's really one of the most helpful things, thank you for this great video on running one!

I usually never comment on any videos, but Ginny has been so extremely helpful towards my own complete homebrew campaign that I felt the need to! It's my first time attempting to create + run a game, and I was extremely nervous I'd fumble my first session 0. But thankfully, it went so well that we ended up from 2 players to 5! (Somehow convinced my mom and aunt to try playing for the first time.) If not by Ginny's guides, I wouldn't be anywhere near as knowledgeable as I am now. Sure I did have to create my own extremely simplifies system, but at least I'm trying! I'm not really sure how to end this comment, or why I really started it. But I just wanted to share my gratefulness and joy! I hope everyone is able to have a great campaign, regardless if you're a newbie like me, or if you're a veteran!

I like every once and awhile to have a one on one conversation with my players after a game to discuss background an what they think of the game, it keeps everyone one the same page.

I recently ran a session 0 for my upcoming campaign and I included a question about "dm responsibilities" based off one of your videos, and it went so well!! All of my players wanted a hand in at least one aspect of running/creating a game like handling the music or making npcs :)

Thank you so much for making this video. If I had seen it 6 months ago, it would probably have prevented the end of my D&D campaign,the end of a friendship with close ones, and the nipping of my life partner's new love for RPG in the bud. After this trainwreck of a D&D game in August, this feels like some atonement and a new shot at making something better and more stable. I hope I can someday get back at DMing with my partner and do it right this time.

"The part that gives my finger a workout on the block button..." - Excellent intro.

Hearing this is outlined in the Tasha's book, I grabbed my copy and found that section to learn about the sidekick option for running a game for one player. Such a great idea that I never thought about or heard of before!! Kinda wish I had a DM who could run a game for just me when having a monster be my buddy sounds like an idea that does not get enough respect/coverage. But I've had a Session Zero checklist in the past of things I thought were important (how much they want RP vs combat, level of gore they like, etc) but found watching this and reading in a book I didn't have back in my last campaign really help me feel ready for my next one that I hope will be starting soon. Am just doing starter sessions to help my newest best friend learn the game when they currently play Baldur's Gate 3 and the rules system in that game is almost identical and they have always wanted to play D&D but just never had a chance when they live in a country that nerds are most geeks who are into clubs versus gaming.

It's mentioned, but often overlooked, that DMs need to have their needs met too. The game needs to be fun for the person running it as much as the players in it. A DM lovingly crafts a rich homebrew world with interesting NPCs, and all their players prefer just dungeon crawling, looting, and min-maxing without roleplay? That's totally fine for players to want that out of a game, but that particular DM will not have much fun and wouldn't be a good fit. DMs shouldn't feel like slaves to serve their players' desires no matter what. Hours and hours of prep for something you're not excited about? Everyone suffers in the long run.

Nice topic! It still might be a good thing to test certain boundaries, as long as everyone is on board. I used to hate the thought of a romantic subplot despite being a hopeless romantic myself. My bard is now embroiled in a love triangle between two women who could kill him quite easily if either had a mind to (Augury just might once she finds out he lost his soul in a card game to a devil). Any sex stuff is handled behind the scenes (and I prefer it that way). My wife wasn't on board with it at all at first, and now her priestess leaves most horny bards in the dust.

This is such crucial advice. When my D&D game started, we were all entirely new to playing. We sort of had a session zero, but since none of us (including me as DM) had any prior experience, we weren't necessarily aware of all the things that should be discussed. As a result, a lot was left open, some of which did lead to some conflict at the table between players down the line (mostly concerning different views on what is considered respectful above-table behaviour). Now, our game is currently paused because I'm lacking the time to properly DM at the moment, but ngl, part of the reason I paused it is also because the constant low-key conflict between my players was stressing me out majorly, especially since they kept venting to me about it. If we ever take it back up, I'm definitely preparing a long-ass survey for my group on their expectations, needs and limits, and making them talk to each other about it. Game's only gonna be fun if everybody manages to get along.

"All booked up" invoked a snort laugh from me.

Thanks for making this video! I emailed you a while back to ask for insight about how to run a Session 0, and you gave me some great resources. Love your content!

I used session zero many years ago and it has always been a great aide to facilitating fun. Kinda sad it took till Tasha's for the official word on "session 0"

I not really done one but before we started I sent a info sheet and talk to each player before hand and I tell them before we start the first session but give the player as much freedom, but I like all the help and you give. Please keep doing them

I swear Ginny can read my mind, always releasing videos painfully accurate to whatever I'm currently planning/thinking of for d&d.

I did a session zero for my game. It went really well and we were all on the same page, which was really nice

Such an amazing, fun, and helpful video as always Ginny! I'm truly so thankful for all your hard work and experience in running TTRPGs. I'm a very new DM planning my first campaign with friends, and these videos are liquid gold. Thank you, keep it up!

👍👍 great advice and insight, thank you! Also, lovely to see The Book is growing a spine 😁

I’ve played D&D plenty of times in my life and not once have I had a session zero (because I didn’t know what one was until I started watching your videos and Crit Crab’s videos). I should start incorporating them more often into my games. Fleshing out those characters and getting everybody on the same page is not only a fun creative exercise, but it just might save the game for everyone involved. Thanks for the video, Ginny! You’re amazing! :)

Aw, don't be so hard on Books. She's doing her best. I bet the next time you need a rules lawyer, you'll be PAGING her again. (Get it? Get it? Say you get it.) As always, great information in an accessible and entertaining format. "New Ginny Video Day" is my favorite day of the week.

One element you can add is small combat and feat rolls so everyone is familiar with how game mechanics are used and can be used. Anything from a group of mystery men attacking the new party, to a series of items found in the room being analyzed for game starting clues.

This is SO helpful. I'm getting ready to GM for the first time (my friends usually do it, but asked if I wanted to try). We've all played together for a few years, but this is a new setting, so I didn't know how to broach some of these topics. Thank you!

Great video. And about the lines and veils - I think that’s something that can be discussed at any time because you never know what can trigger someone. They may not even be conscious of it. An old friend discovered he had issues involving drowning because a scene brought back memories he’d forgotten about someone in the Navy he knew going overboard. So we had that discussion when it came up and adjusted future things appropriately

I haven’t done a session zero but definitely want to next time I play. Definitely could have used one in the last game I played, where my character was out of step with the GMs ideas and although he knew and approved my backstory seemed to delight in pushing my characters buttons with NPCs and then being upset when I escalated based on that. Ultimately made a new character but the game was not the same after that and petered out shortly thereafter

This is a great video. I really like the tips for the social contract portion. Here are some of the things I have always included in my Session Zero that hopefully help any DM's out there struggling: Context first My groups run our campaigns like TV shows. Each campaign is split into seasons which are about 10 to 15 sessions or Episodes at a time. Once we are take a break from that story and it goes into an "off-season" and either pull out one of our previous games that is in "off-season" or come up with a new one (decided in our "writers room" which is what we call our Session Zero). I only explain this context so that the specifics of our Session Zero go to's make sense. Stuff we always do 1 - We start by seeing if we need to update our safety tools (we have always called them limits but the same thing). This si sometimes done prior to the inperson session over chat so I have time to factor them into my number 2 but is a major step to make sure everyone is comfortable. 2 - We have a Pitch meeting section of the session zero where I as a GM pitch the kinds of stories I am interested in running. This way the players can have input on which ones they are interested in, themes they want to explore I have not thought of, and in general collaborate in the particular story they want to pick out of my pitches. I find it a great way to give players agency int he story by having them be a part of the world at creation. 3 - We always include charecter creation in session. This way people can huddle off in corners together if they want to have specific secrets between their characters, connection between characters, share secrets with me so I can incorporate them into the story , ask permission of me if something will be ok or fit, and share a copy of their sheet with me so I have it to make sure I can make them shine in the story while I am crafting the story. **side note for number three** I remember one player wanted to secretly be dying in our game and every time she used her abilities it killed her a little more. Her motivation for being on the adventure was to find a cure, and no players knew it. Since I did I was able to incorporate it into the story, build a death check system for her whenever she used her abilities with a secret roll), create scenarios that created powerful tension when she had to save the group, peek the other players curiosity when she was playing different than normal and not using her abilities (this player was known for going all out with her skills), and create an epic moment when everyone found out she was dying because she had to risk her life to save all of them with her abilities. 4 - That is it for Session Zero, but we also have a session 0.5 or what we call a Pilot session where we play what I am hoping to be the opening of the game to see if everyone is liking their characters, the story, and everything and give us a chance to make any changes before we commit to it. Hopefully this helps other DM's. Again AMAZING video.

I'm gearing up to DM a Zelda themed campaign and will be having a session zero soon, this was very helpful and brought up points I hadn't thought to discuss with my players. Thank you!

Books deserves to be a recurring character in all of Ginny Di's videos.

Thanks Ginny. This might just be the best all-around video I've "checked out" on when, why, what, and how to run a session zero.

This is super timely as I’m about to embark on a campaign in January with a bunch of new players! I’m very excited, and I am definitely having a session 0!

I'm starting my first campaign in about an hour. I hated the general "you meet in a tavern" thing so instead, I had my players split into 2 groups. One with 3 people, the other with 2. The second group are long lost siblings so a backstop was already started. The first group, however, I asked them to come up with a story of how they met. Then, I took each group separately onto a one shot which ended when the two groups meet. This gave me a way to see how each player plays together without worrying about tye entire group, and gives a unique start to the campaign.

Thank you! I'm new to being a DM/GM so this will help!

Hands down, loved you explaining safety tools a bit more - more importantly that you are sticking to it, because people you are playing with matter! It might be worth a skit sometime, as if in actual session 0. I think it could work, with your original characters discussing it, because it seems like they would have hard and soft limits of a large variety. Not all filmed at once, obviously because that's insanity, but running some lines during other projects while you are already in cosplay seems like it'd be easier to shoot. Editing is still going to consume your soul though, I don't see a way around that - have a great weekend!

I've absolutely never played dnd before, nor has my party. Only the DM. We did a session 0, asking basic questions and learning how to make a character sheet. We also picked our campaign together (we're all friends but the DM is one's older sister. Also the session to get 3 characters sheets and other stuff together took 3 and a half hours, but it was so fun it felt like 30 minutes because we were able to communicate and we're all really excited (even the dm)

I'm running my first campaign and doing our session zero tomorrow and this video is helping me a lot in planning the session. Thanks! Also I LOVE The Books

Advice from writing groups I've been in is discuss what's off limit but also what's on the table. Grief can be difficult for some but it might be a theme your team loves to explore, or perhaps nobodys been discussing sexuality because of assumptions but actually you'd all love to learn more about your characters and you all have fascinating ideas of romance subplots.

I'm actually planning my first session 0 for January, my first time DMing and none of my players have played before. Looking forward to a lot of character building and basic rule explaining, definitely going to take your tips into account

Puns and Dad Jokes are the highest form of comedy!

The Books' part in this video dewey decimated me.

Once, as I DM for a group of friends, their characters had nothing to do with one another, so I ran a (as I called it) for them all to meet at the tavern. But they didn't START meeting at the tavern, that was the endpoint. The Sesión was made where they arrived at the City one by one, and met each other on the way, finally reaching the tavern for a final event for they all to interact with everyone else at once and act as a group for the first time before wrapping up, so we could start Sesion One on the next time. One thing of note is the amount of fun my players had on the Prologues, as their characters' personalities clashed, and bonds form naturally between them, was completely unmatch by anything the Campaign had for them. The Csmpaing itself was not boring, by any stretch, but chaoticness of the group just wondering into each other had us all laughing ourselves to tears more than once.

Total third group here. Would love a session zero, and would love to be part of a long-enough game for that to matter, but so far no luck.

glad to see your FCG costume again. part of me fears a day when CR ask you back but this time they ask you to dress sam up as pinup FCG

The pre-campaign connections can be a lot of other things too! What I did for my players, and what I asked the DM at another table, was to have everyone roll a d20. The idea is that you pick something from your backstory, be it good or bad, that the other character might have heard of. The highest roll tells their secret to the player with the 2nd highest roll, the 2nd player grabs something from their backstory and gives it to the 3rd highest roll, till the lowest rolled player which will give it to the highest roller to make it go full circle! Not sure if I explained this well enough, but I feel the concept is easy to implement and can help A LOT in establishing connections between characters right out of the gate. So instead of not trusting the Rogue for being a Rogue, you might feel different based on what they shared! Like maybe they wear the crest of a dead kingdom, and this makes you feel empathy for them instead. In the end I think it does not matter what is shared, as long as it gives reason for the characters to make an initial bond similar to what the Tasha rules try to establish! So get out there and find a way that you think is fun!

This is so helpful!! Thank you! It's a great launching point-- like I am starting a campaign 2, and the players had some opinions about the end of the first campaign. I'm looking forward to having a better idea about their expectations (using some of these ideas) before launching into the next one. I love this!!

I love Safety Rules and how you addressed them!

Love the artwork on Book's room wall. Really cool! 😜🥰

I love DnD, so I stay in touch with local clubs and stores for new groups that migh be starting new games because, good for me, I have more free time than my all-time group of friends and I like to play as well instead of only DMing for them. So I came across this group of people, the DM and 3 players that were looking for a fourth to start a new campaign. There was no session 0. So I brought to the table my old human male paladin, as generic as possible to stay cool with everyone new, but with the cool background I built around him over the years. Session 1 comes by and what I found was: -A guy running a female "custom" race which he didnt even know or cared to explain what background races were those, it was tiefling and something else. A warlock. -Another guy playing a female tiefling druid. -A girl playing a female half-orc barbarian. None of them gave any background or anything so straight up to the tavern we go. And from there, all was about sex. Players flirting around sometimes in character sometimes out of character, stating very vividly how their characters touch each other and stuff like that, sex jokes flying all around. An hour goes by and there I am waiting for something to happen. The DM seems cool about it and havent even given us an intro or an NPC besides the tavern keeper. Never made it to session 2.

You and DM lair have been my DM academy, and this video is why I am so much more confident doing!

Love Books, hope she and her SO Tome have happy holidays.😋

Awesome video! I’m really glad I found this channel and I love all your content. I haven’t heard about session 0 until now. It makes so much sense. Will definitely be doing this!

When I played years back, our session 0 was just character creation. I've been out of DnD for a long time and have been thinking of learning to DM because i miss gaming. Your videos are an incredible resource. Thank you 💜

Please keep bringing back books, she’s my favourite character

I love that you are examples of styles of play are Terry Pratchett and George R.R.Martin. It’s a great contrast, but made better by the fact that both of those authors are/were also Dungeon Masters.

Dude these videos are amazing. Easy to understand and apply. Really sorting my campaign out. Thank you.

9:52 This is such a key point. I'll be six years sober from alcohol this month, and I had a GM a year or two ago who was big on florid descriptions of drinks in taverns and stuff, which was, suffice it to say, frustrating for me. I eventually did say something, but I don't necessarily like revealing that this is a thing I've dealt with, and I suspect that to the people in the group that didn't already know, it hadn't at all occurred to them that these scenes could be uncomfortable for someone.

I have been DMing (and GMing) since 1985, and although I have never done an explicit "session zero," I long ago settled into the understanding that the key to a successful campaign is directly proportional to efforts made before the main game officially starts. There are a wide variety of things I do and have done before bringing a group together at the table, which may include some or all of these: - Share with any potential players the general concept and idea for my game - Get feedback on interest, and if they have any idea(s) for characters - Discuss scheduling plans out of the gate to ensure anybody interested could actually attend - I have put together 'primers' which tell a bit of story about the campaign setting and situation, setting the stage and backdrop for the game - I always explain my guidelines for character generation, what method to use, what races and classes are available, and what house rules or changes I will be using, before generating characters - I generally make clear that if a player has something outside my guidelines they want to use, bring it to me so we can discuss it (I know I can't always predict every possible scenario) - Recommend players think of at least two character ideas they would to play, to give options for party balance (though an all-paladin game might be fun, it might not fit the campaign) - Character backgrounds are created co-operatively with me in a one-on-one environment that allows the character to be integrated in the campaign arc in an organic way from the start - Sometimes actual role-playing will start one-on-one to set up the scenario that brings everyone together Work done with your players before the full party sessions starts pay huge dividends and lead to much longer lasting, enjoyable games.

This is a great video! i'm DM for the first time for a table where i only know about half of the people in not too long so this was awesome so i know more abot what to ask

7:17 I am so glad I wasn't taking a drink when you said this 🤣💀

You got my like specifically for that "fully booked" pun.

a great and actionable break-down! thank you for sharing your wisdom

This happened with my campaign. Started out running Tomb, but it was just off. We had some fun, but no one really wanted to do the hex crawl book keeping or grueling stuff, and the campaign was just getting dull. So I told everyone I wanted to start over and we made an Eberron campaign (favorite setting) and got a more proper session 0 to get everyone on board for my pulp noir detective horror genre. Been playing that for, like, 2+ years now.

Great Video! Particularly for younger and new players, after the game-session mechanics, people's availability, and ground rules are discussed, I've used this session as a character formulation tool (rather than try to explain what all the classes do..). Before anything is written down, there's more variability and it's more like a thought experiment. Without a character sheet and with minimal book-dealving, the session can more closely focus on the character's raw interest, attention to detail, and approach to problem solving. Of course, it may not go the way they want. They may go fishing, but that doesn't work out, so they may go another direction (e.g., falling in love with a mud-farmer). Chance, the GMs game concept, and the players expectations, can be blended to form a character acceptable to the player, good for your campaign, good for the party, and in alignment with however the die rolls go. The session represents the point their character goes from normal dweeb (e.g., on a camping trip) to a level 1 whateveritis. Issues like multi-class, ambidexterity, even their first feats - can be seen as special effects that are dressed out between the GM and player interaction in this session (heavy emphasis on GM or another party member figuring out the particulars since most new players will take some time getting used to all of the tables). Then any extras they want to make up or fill in, so long as it's consistent with the above is on them before session 1.

Just had a session zero last week. Looking forward to the new game. Still getting used to them but I'm I think session zeros are pretty great. They seem to always take twice as long as I think because my players and I just chat about their character ideas, and I answer any world/lore related questions they may have. Personally as a DM I like session zero because I like getting tid bits from them to build the world. I love having players create their home town/island sometimes even continent.

Loved how the video was structured. This dialogue style cracked me up! :D I think the puns where funny too.

i LOVE that back and forth with "books". and agree to the video's message, but mostly i love books, the character

When you said, "Whether or not it is okay to eat during the game." I heard 'Whether or not it is okay to EAT DIRT in the game." (Emphasis mine). I was then wondering if that was a character rule or a player rule.

For our campaigns, it's as follows -We use hero points and better crits in addition to quite some minor house rules -Everyone except the host (nearly always me and my brother) brings food. -Sessions will not simply be canceled for one player, it will be built in the story. -We only allow sourcebooks we physically own (Pretty much everything that isn't a campaign guide) -Character sheets stay at the hosts house in a binder with that players notes and other characters. -Safeguard tools are not necesarily needed, it's not that adult themed and the worst is maybe some creepy stuff, but I polled my players for that. That's about it.