How to Run a Session Zero for Dungeons and Dragons 5e

MONSTERS OF DRAKKENHEIM is 300+ pages of eldritch horror inspired monsters for 5e by the Dungeon Dudes! Coming to Kickstarter March 26th, 2024: www.kickstarter.com/projects/... Holding a “Session Zero” is perhaps the most often-recommended “best practice” for roleplaying game groups. We share the key topics we think are really important to cover in a successful session zero!
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[@Goddamnitiwantaname]

"Do you prefer combat, social aspects or exploration?" Yes.

[@DungeonDudes]

Exactly! And this is why it’s important to know *what* and *why* you enjoy those elements!

[@Goddamnitiwantaname]

@@DungeonDudes I'll keep it in mind.

[@kazikmajster5650]

*Same*

[@sanctifiedsuccubus2562]

c:

[@cdfreester]

Bottom line: manage everyone's expectations.

[@synthetic240]

"Start with a skeleton, then add flesh, then sail off to adventure." I don't want to know what sort of sailing ships you've been travelling on.

[@lenorevanalstine1219]

and this is why if the necromancer says they have a ship you need to ask alot of questions

[@Cyrrex91]

There is a german song called Knochenschiff ( boneship ) in short it describes a living boat made up of bone, flesh and skin and how the sea is really rough for an entity like that.

[@samchafin4623]

@@Cyrrex91 IS this a German folk song, or as I imagine it is, death metal?

[@Cyrrex91]

@@samchafin4623 it is probably folk metal "subway to sally - Knochenschiff"

[@jamesdahlstrom7819]

@@Cyrrex91 Thx this is now going in my campaign.

[@sophialambert2616]

A suggestion on scheduling- if you have a friend who genuinely wants to be there, but has many outside responsibilities and they can only make every couple of sessions, just don't make them a full party member. One of my players had a new job come up with an on call availability, so he'd only make 1 out of 3 or 4 sessions. I started planning encounters for the smaller party size and when he showed up he either played a repeating ally or would exercise his acting skills as various one off NPCs. It's not hard to add a little to a session to keep it challenging, instead of scrambling to scale something down or accounting for a skill set no longer being available. He didn't feel left out for being a responsible adult, and we still got to have fun seeing him when he could make it. When the party leveled, I'd level his characters so he stayed relevant, even if he missed out on loot because he wasn't there for collecting.

[@theDMLair]

If you want to include your friend, I suggest scheduling and prepping for your game with the assumption that he WON'T be there. And then when he can make it, great. You just scale things up a little, a few extra monsters, buff the hit points maybe, that sort of thing. If he's missing out on loot, then maybe every so often, take a look at his character sheet, see what he has in comparison to others, and then give him some gold and other stuff to get him caught up.

[@sophialambert2616]

@@theDMLair that's exactly what I said. Re-read my original comment please.

[@theDMLair]

@@sophialambert2616 You're right. Lol. I was tired and misunderstood, thinking you were asking a question. Sorry. 😀

[@sophialambert2616]

@@theDMLair happens to the best of us. Hope you have a great weekend!

[@chrisw3024]

Good call on leveling the occasional player. We do that too, and it works quite well. I’ve been the player who couldn’t be there half the time, and it’s no fun being three levels behind the rest of the group.

[@sadiemcc9363]

DMs--something particular to definitely tell your players is the social stigma around different races. I made a tiefling, and in our second session she went up to a farmer and the NPC screamed "DEVIL!" and refused to speak to her. Rinse and repeat for half of the campaign, including me being absolutely miserable because I couldn't even find a potions shop and disguise myself. If the DM had told me this was how tieflings were treated, I would have just made a freaking gnome!

[@ensrceler]

if a dm is consistently making a player unhappy to be in the game, theyre messing up badly. the point of a game is for people to be able to play. npcs (your dm) refusing to interact with the player is very counterproductive because nothing happens, the actions the player takes dont matter. "play" that isnt enjoyed isnt a game, just a set of rules. hopefully you can straighten your dm out or find a better one. its not normal for a dm to intentionally make it hard to play a character

[@fredrickbriner88]

this.. can be discovered by reading up on your race. I love playing lizardfolk and kobold and even I knew from jump that there's a bias against them. Tieflings are, iirc, typically found in shadier areas of society due to their discrimination. They're also no stranger to conflict due to having many conflicts 'cos..yanno.. "DEVIL!". There SHOULD be ways around it such as persuation, or other endless rp possibilities.

[@jennisspace]

I would say this is a DM mistake, not a "I rolled the wrong character" mistake. It's the DM world. They can decide that the world, or a portion of it, isn't particularly hostile to tieflings (perhaps there is a tiefling folk hero who has changed peoples' minds)

[@honoratagold]

@@fredrickbriner88 I disagree that this is fully on the player. Both because 1) I think "people are biased against PCs of this race" can mean a lot of different things. The player could very easily assume it means that social DCs will be higher for them, or they won't be able to haggle, which is very different from "NPCs literally will not even talk to you and may attack you on sight." 2) this depends a lot on setting. How much discrimination there is against tieflings depends a lot on what part of the world you're in in my DM's homebrew setting. In one country, they're considered fairly normal -- who *doesn't* have an ancient ancestor who made an infernal pact? In another country they're considered very suspicious because that history isn't there. The description of races given in the 5e books is often specifically the description as it exists in the Forgotten Realms -- it often doesn't even apply to many of the other official settings -- especially ones like Eberron and Tal'Dorei, which tend to have fewer "always evil" sentient species in them.

[@bulldozer8950]

@@fredrickbriner88 ya but tieflings shouldn’t be shunned by everyone. Sure, there might be noticeable bias for npcs to first address other characters or initially call for help from other characters, and the occasional npc to hate them “because they’re the devil” but they shouldn’t be constantly silenced. Most npcs should be fine talking to them, just noticeably not view them as the most trust worthy or leader of the group, and there should be a few who shun them, and a few that are completely open to them and have zero bias. If you’re a goblin it’s reasonable for the vast majority of npcs to be terrified because you’re literally a monster, but after some talking and convincing from other party members, even being a goblin at least half of npcs should be willing to converse hesitantly. It doesn’t make any sense for every npc to shun one race: you have a group of people presumably doing fairly good things, and so the majority of npcs should, at least over time, become hesitantly accepting. Most people wouldn’t be violently racist regardless of the actions of an individual, and in fact people being racist yet making exceptions for a couple people they’ve gotten to know and now like is pretty common in our world, and would presumably be even more common in a world with as many exceptions as the worlds of dnd. Sure, the npcs shouldnt learn to love every goblin because your goblin cleric saved the village from a curse, but your specific goblin should be valued. There may be a few people who maintain their hatred just because youre a goblin, but the vast majority should end up being inviting and if you ever return to the village the moment they realize who you are the npcs should to from nearly hostile to happy to see you again because they know, you’re not like other goblins. Basically, it seems like this was far to extreme and unrealistic a treatment, even in a racist world with the most hostile overall feelings to a specific race.

[@ronin7997]

I run 2 D&D groups; one with longtime friends and their neighbors and a group with workmates. Didn't run a session zero with the friends group due to taking past gaming experiences for granted. With the workmate group, half of them had never played D&D before and some of the players I'd only known from work 6 months at best, so I ran a session zero for them with nearly all the guidelines noted in the video. The friends group has not had a session in over a year due to scheduling issues, disruptive and inattentive players, and no boundaries set on gaming expectations, draining most of my enthusiasm running that game (Curse of Strahd of all campaigns too!) Conversely, the workmate group still regularly meets every 2 weeks to this day with well over 30 game sessions played, with that campaign running smoothly and overall being fun. Session 0 is an absolute MUST to do, even with established friends and players. I currently enjoy DMing for workmates than I do with friends I've known for decades, all because of session 0.

[@romeotango5597]

Agreed. I always had a session 0 and a session 1.5 and I played with a group that kept at least it’s core members consistently across campaigns, one shots, and years of playing together. Session 0 set up the campaign/adventure and expectations and helped the party work out their makeup of classes/bounce off some origins of the party ideas. We also discussed timing and any upcoming stuff that might keep members from being available. We rarely had issues beyond scheduling and until folks started moving out of state. Session 1.5 was basically just an end cap to the first session where feedback could be given in any particular direction. It really helped keep everyone on the same track and we had great sessions as a result.

[@jamesbillings18]

"Nobody eats the veggie tray." Y'all haven't figured out that if you fry the veggies, they get eaten? I'm not saying it's healthy, just a way to eat veggies.

[@ecthelion1735]

I always eat the veggie tray.

[@tassadar7945]

@@ecthelion1735 I eat the tray, but leave the veggies

[@jimmyflores9235]

@@tassadar7945 you must have a tray made of hard-shelled tortillas... sounds delicious

[@robinmatz6686]

Or dips. Just serve up a quick guacamole and sth heavy with garlic, Tzatziki or sth

[@lanceknightmare]

The ideal for tray for me. Individual bowls of chips, chopped up vegetables, tacos, anything which vaguely resembles a taco, hotdogs, or burgers. Ways to ruin a tray. Place a bowl of dip anywhere. Not asking the group about any food allergies they have.

[@toggerz7487]

We deal with those busy schedules by having one of the players run a one shot. December is the one shot month, and it gives players a chance to try as a DM.

[@Lellie77]

Great idea!

[@maxmccullough8548]

In my group we always had a tradition of people who didn't regularly DM running horror one shots in October.

[@ratkid4560]

@@maxmccullough8548 now I need to find out if all my friends are ok with horror/spooky stuff bc I need to make an October campaign

[@tr4n515t0r]

I used a bit of a planning board. The players had to come up with three NPCs from their past or present, three towns they had a past in, and some aspirations of the characters and depending on where the players were planning on sitting at the table they had to then make connections to their two neighbors, either their neighbors NPCs, the PCs themselves, or the locations so that everyone was interwoven in some fashion. This created a 6 degrees of separation thing and I basically built the "flesh" of my campaign's skeleton around all of their answers. Even the mysterious loner rogue was excited to have connections with his table neighbors and everyone had a blast, was excited about theirs and their neighbors characters and everything ran super smoothly.

[@charliearthur7776]

A great example of this is critical role. By introducing character to each others in pairs it creates a better party dynamic.

[@animistchannel2983]

Great ideas, Transistor! That beats the old "You walk into a bar..." startup by miles.

[@tr4n515t0r]

@@animistchannel2983 the real kicker came when the campaign started. I had all of the characters risen from the dead. 10 years had passed since their deaths and some of the things they knew were not as they left it. Our fighters daughter had grown into a ranger, his wife had moved on and was now elsewhere, the rogues guild had been placed into hiding, the druids alchemist mentor had been acting strangely, the nobel's hometown had become a pile of smoldering rubble. Each event a new mystery pertaining to each character pretty much getting their own spotlight adventure. All culminating to a massive climactic finish of that ever looming mystery... who killed them and why?

[@jacobhamilton2473]

Phone use is probably the most important thing to discuss in session zero right after scheduling.

[@victoria4987]

I have a policy for everyone to put their phones on a basket and just set it aside. You are allowed to take your phone, but it's better to not have the temptation present.

[@Joshuazx]

Players on their phones? Stop using battle maps. Use theater of the mind. Tell your players you won't repeat yourself during combat. Pay attention or you character loses their turn.

[@victoria4987]

@@Joshuazx I already do but like, I have 10 players

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

You can use it, but not at the table, so leave the table and lose a turn (or more). If you're going to be distracted and not pay attention, you might as well not play.

[@Entropy67]

@@victoria4987 10 players is hell lmao

[@DesolatorMagic]

The 3 keys are pizza, jerky, and watching Dungeon Dudes videos :D Oh and it helps if the residence has a cat or dog to pet.

[@nightflame69]

Cats have a habit of going after the dice. I have used my bearded dragon as my wizard’s familiar though.

[@animistchannel2983]

Kitty rerolls count if the dice haven't stopped yet! Also, Kitty assassinations of minor monsters on the battle map also count. Narrating such acts of fate are part of the fun: i.e. friendly fire incidents, floors cracking through, falling rocks, monsters settling private scores with each other in the moment, sudden morale breaks/retreats, etc. You can always bring in fresh reinforcements to compensate if really needed.

[@billdaguy338]

Part of my cousins group he has a dog that fake growls to get attention and is scared of her own farts

[@darrenmcentire2374]

Beer you forgot beer

[@RodrigoMera]

my dog is too hyperactive, she doesn't help that much.

[@Vetlund]

Could you do an episode on the difference between The Forgotten Realms, Ebberon, Greyhawk and Dragonlance? What importance do they have in the game.

[@raymondtimke1641]

I would love this.

[@Oldentide]

In short, Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk are superficially the same, though it's implied that Greyhawk is a post-apocalyptic setting, Ebberon is a high magic fantasy take on the industrial revolution, Dragonlance is a more grounded, low magic setting closer to something like Game of Thrones.

[@dastanghaedrahmati6977]

I up vote this

[@Eothr]

I miss Fallcrest and the Nentir Vale 😢

[@dakotacouch5642]

@@Eothr bro me too. I still use the shit out of fallcrest and winterhaven.

[@joshaqy]

Starting my own session 0 in 12hrs. Much excite!

[@adrianmalinowski1073]

how did it went

[@Flasa]

Much excite, very roleplay

[@kevinerose]

Did you nail it?

[@_Woody_]

Legends say, they died on that session zero and never returned.

[@dcpigpen]

Bro, it's still happening!

[@Zedrinbot]

I tried a session zero for the first time in a Pathfinder 2e playtest game I'm currently, and man it made starting the campaign easier for everyone. It even included a little bit of preemptive roleplay, prior to even getting character sheets. I'm playing a paladin, and we have a rogue and cleric in the party. I know the cleric through the church and we already are friends, and she's responsible for doing a lot of bookkeeping for the city. Meanwhile I kinda was like a parole officer, specifically for our rogue who was caught trying to steal from a bank (because taxes were too severe and his family was starving, though I didn't know this at the time). I was trying to persuade the rogue to stay on the straight and narrow. An expedition was being mounted to start a new settlement, which I had volunteered to prior (for a change in scenery), our rogue agreed to assist with in exchange for his freedom, and our cleric was roped in to joining because of a political power move from the judge who was overseeing the rogue's parole hearing. We also spent part of the time coming up with NPCs who we'd try to get to join us as part of our caravan. But right off the bat we knew how our characters knew each other as a result, and why kinda dynamics they'd have together, so it wasn't just "you're a random batch of strangers in a tavern, now interact!" Figuring out how characters might know each other in session 0 is *so* useful.

[@gggg-hq4td]

Cool story, and even better backstory

[@noejalen8374]

you all prolly dont care at all but does any of you know of a tool to log back into an instagram account..? I somehow lost the account password. I would appreciate any tips you can offer me!

[@tuckeraxton9064]

@Noe Jalen Instablaster :)

[@noejalen8374]

@Tucker Axton i really appreciate your reply. I found the site on google and Im in the hacking process now. Takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@noejalen8374]

@Tucker Axton it worked and I finally got access to my account again. Im so happy:D Thanks so much you saved my ass !

[@dirk_gently]

I think the scheduling part of a session 0 is the most important. We have a small group, so not having 1 player is tough and it turns out 1 of our players is almost always unavailable. We've been trying to run through Phandelver for a year. Had we known, like that player though we do, we wouldn't have had him in the group. Live and learn!

[@_Woody_]

I really, really, REALLY feel this

[@supremehare9893]

You could talk to them, and ask if they want to run a smaller campaign when they're available, and the main group can continue.

[@kallisti425]

i lol'd at the 'everyone bringing 2 bags of nacho cheese doritos' 'I'll eat 'em... but i won't feel good about it.' so true. haha.

[@emilysmith2965]

I like to use a one-shot RPG (like Dread or Fiasco) to set up the circumstances that will give rise to a longer campaign. If the players can still make it work and want to progress in the story, roll D&D (Fate, Pathfinder, Genesys, whatever...) stat blocks. If it falls apart for some reason, it was still a cool one-shot. Plus it forces min-maxers to get into character at least a little bit before they pick out the nitty-gritty of their mechanical abilities.

[@elbruces]

This is the kind of innovation I dig into the comment sections looking for. Brava.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

I do something similar, but still use D&D system. I have a level-zero mini adventure before even creating characters. The players choose name, race, and gender for characters and start with some simple equipment and then we roleplay (and roll-play) how those characters met each other and became adventurers. It acts like a tutorial and flashback scene. When all the players are cool with how things work and the style of the game, then they choose class and we flashforward to level 3 or 8 or whatever level of campaign we want to do.

[@Blackwing2007]

I have never had a gaming group that required years to reach lvl 20. Then again, my players are all power gamers that build characters to handle challenges well above their lvl, and we usually play 3.5 edition. Honestly, I'd love to have a group that took it's time.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

How about playing once or twice per week, and it takes the players 4 real-world years to get from level 3 to level 6 or 7? I had a group who were so hesitant to take risks, and never bit on any adventure hooks or spoke to NPCs. It seemed like they were still having fun, doing so little actual adventure, but I was bummed as DM getting to so little game content.

[@Daredhnu]

i think they were talking specifically if you played only once a month or so, if your players manage to rush to level 20 in less than 2 years under those circumstances i will applaud them. (or you're what they call a Sugar DM one who overly rewards his players, but lets assume it's due to your players for now.)

[@Wineblood]

I'm DM'ing for the first time soon on my own campaign (ambitious, I know) and I'm getting nervous about my session 0 and what I need to do before playing. I've watched this video a few times and it has definitely helped.

[@hyserbomb]

Wineblood I hope your campaign runs well 👍

[@AssassinLupus7]

We're actually just about to start a campaign with someone who is fairly experienced as a player but hasn't DM'ed before. One other experienced player and three people who have never played before. I'm one of the noobs. Wish us luck. @Wineblood How's your campaign going so far?

[@flyingskyward2153]

How'd that work out?

[@Thyrwyn]

Great video guys, as always! One piece of advice i would offer, especially if your Session Zero includes people with whom you have never gamed (even if you know them): DMs and Players both should be very vocal and forthcoming about topics and themes that are absolutely off the table, and those which need to be handled with delicacy. This can be anything from language (not everyone has the same comfort level with f-bombs or derogatory language), to topics (politics, religion, sexuality, ...), to themes (torture, genocide, violence against children, sex, sexual violence, vorpal bunnies, ...). Session Zero is the place to get these out in the open, to avoid any anger, trauma, or discomfort later on. I once had a new player - whom I knew but had never gamed with - join an existing campaign: he played one session, said his character "doesn't like that at all" when an NPC mentioned they were gay, and never came back. Had I known ahead of time, I never would have put him in that position, but I also would never have asked him to join - two of the other players were gay. I just never even thought about it.

[@edlaprade]

But, but, but... no vorpal bunnies? (Great points, btw.)

[@EmptyKingdoms]

I like the points and I think, yes, if we are up for the "rule of fun (above all)" then it is valid. But this is conflicting with _role-playing._ Role-playing is closer to acting, except it is sandbox when it comes to plot/story, even if character consistency has to withstand. Fiction has the power for facing fear, the weird, etc. It is the safety of harmlessness.

[@Thyrwyn]

EmptyKingdoms - Even Improv has pre-established rules and topics subjects that are out of bounds. You play and have fun however works for you; but a group activity has to respect what works for each and every member of the group. If someone is uncomfortable with graphic role-play of torture, don’t do it. You’ve agreed to play with that person and to help them have fun -as they’ve defined it- It’s not okay for someone else to force them to try something they’ve red-flagged because “this is fiction, it’s harmless”. Words and fiction can do a great deal of harm. Also, different people have different degrees of engagement and identification with their characters and the world. For some, role-play is exceptionally personal and tangible. Knowing what to expect ahead of time allows everyone to decide whether or not this particular campaign and group will be right for them,; to decide whether they can accept the scope of the game and the expectations of the other players, or whether they should find another group more to their taste. You do you, respect others, and don’t be a jerk. Session zero should put all of that out in the open, so we can all avoid being jerks to each other.

[@EmptyKingdoms]

@@Thyrwyn , I insist on my points, thus disagreeing with you, but I will not argue any longer, because you were so polite and well-written in your response that I have admiration for your patience and comprehension. May the best of adventures come your way. Thank you.

[@theark890]

@Thyrwyn - Not a bad tip, as I get being polite and courteous of your players, but tbh if they’re that sensitive to mature content (especially just someone being gay, which isn’t exclusively a fantasy concept, like really, it’s the 21st century...) they prolly won’t enjoy our campaigns or the PCs my players want to role play anyway, which are weird, eccentric, and graphic sometimes - and if 4/5 of my players enjoy it and have fun, the offended party can just peace out early if they don’t like it. I DM for a group of adults, and if I ask someone if they’d like to join, I just tell them it’s an R rated game with adult concepts (cause we’re adults who can manage our emotions and adapt to uncomfortable situations) - if they choose to come and play, I’m not going to censor my party for the sensitivity of one new player. If I’m playing with kids, like my nieces or nephews, I will run a lite-campaign designed for that age group, but otherwise I do not censor my party or go through my entire planned adventures and npcs to remove possibly offensive content, unless the party together agree to tone it down during or after session. I purposely put my adventuring PCs into uncomfortable/mature situations so they can truly flex their role playing and get into character. The more sensitive person could create a buzz kill personality for their PC like their real self, but chances are the other PCs won’t respect that PC who is a buzz kill very much. Edit: misspelled your screen name.

[@chefdontrun7436]

Wrapped up a campaign last night, new session zero next Wednesday

[@TheDungineer]

Homebrew? How'd it go?

[@chefdontrun7436]

Yeah it was homebrew. We all died, but our DM did a really good job so I think everyone was satisfied.

[@JB-xl2jc]

Sometimes a brutal n’ beautiful TPK is just a work of art

[@mortasidhe1992]

Your timing is impeccable. I searched for "session 0" this morning and wondered why you guys hadn't done an episode on it yet :D

[@cavalcantineto9857]

“From zero to hero” Yeah, you got my like right there!

[@markbyrd7710]

Thought the title said "How to Ruin a Session Zero" I could think of so many ways... Hahah

[@elbruces]

Roll initiative!

[@goldengaruda8935]

Oh no..

[@asquirrel1640]

I thought so too. I still clicked on it XD

[@user2C47]

"We have a homebrew flying rule: No matter how much thrust you have, all it does is move some air." "We use the 12-level encumbrance table." "No laptops at the table!"

[@BarokaiRein]

Nowadays there is a way to have session 0 without having to actually ''have a session 0'' and that's setting up a discord server,even if your group plays offline it's a good idea to have one. Over there you can create a post simply titled ''houserules and what to expect'' and the players can read through that and then you guys can talk about what you'd like to change or what you agree on in discord,either with text or using the voice chat. SImply having a discord voice chat as session 0 instead of having people go to wherever you play is also a pretty good idea since some people kinda get irritated by the fact that they had to leave their house just to talk about playing instead of playing.

[@adakahless]

I always add an intro to my session 0 that showcases the rules or at least brings the party together.

[@noahtackett6264]

I do like that concept but at the same time finding where you are going to be playing and getting familiar with it is a good idea too

[@lungtoast]

#1: Anyone who would get irritated by not being allowed to just dive right into playing a game with a new group doesn’t belong at a social gaming table. They have issues that need to be dealt with before private social interactions occur. #2: Anyone who doesn’t come anywhere near to being acceptable in one’s home, and will be told such in even the kindest of terms, shouldn’t ever know your exact address. Lord, how I feel old writing that.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

I call that "session negative one:" it's the session that happens before session zero.

[@westnlyguard]

I personally don’t love going all the way out to someone’s place to create characters and then not play, because it’s hard enough getting everyone together, but I do agree that you should absolutely go through rules and expectations before you start. This is a good idea to do that. As far as getting to know people, I think being in person is a good idea if you really are playing with people you don’t know.

[@OffbrandGandalf]

Picked up a couple of great tips. And to think, I almost skipped this video because I thought I'd already heard everything there was to hear about starting a Session 0. Great video, guys!

[@ancientswordrage]

I find this a lot with Dungeon Dudes... "I don't need to watch...", Just sit down and watch!

[@juliethebeans2]

I just want someone to look at me the way Monty looks at Kelly while he's talking

[@tonic3898]

No offense to either of them or anything... but that was the first thing I noticed too, and unfortunately I found it distracting me from the commentary, which is the point of the video ... it was waaaay too much. He needs to dial that back like 90%...

[@kevinerose]

They been clapping too many cheeks.

[@jtjpro13]

I never noticed this before but now that you've pointed it out I can't unsee it and now feel wildly either uncomfortable or like I'm a teenager who wants to ship them. Thanks.

[@coeruleo]

and they sit so close together...

[@OhNoTheFace]

ITT: people uncomfortable with their fellow bros

[@wildside316]

I remember in my brother's session(we didn't get that far, various reasons), when we'd enter a room, he'd uncover a part of the map. He hates chess(or chess puzzles, been a few years), but we entered a chess puzzle room, and it made me smile☺. My character was a dragon soul sorcerer, knowledgeable of such games, so he took the role of rook. A friend took bishop, but while he moved diagonally, he forgot to only move once, and suffered damage for it. Just before his 2nd move, I tried to warn him.

[@shadowrunner2050]

I have been playing since the mid 80s and find your videos to be informative and concise. Keep up the good work. I have been lucky enough to have found a group of players that show up every week since July. I agree that scheduling is the number 1 killer of campaigns.

[@dfallenb9358]

I am a simple man, I see Dungeon Dudes, I click.

[@demoulius1529]

With the 'everyone starts as prisoner' start of a campaign and when you are afraid that the players will backstab eachother. Make them fight in an arena (or somesuch) and make it clear that the group's performance, not individual performance; counts. Survival is often a very effective incentive not to be a dick at the table xD

[@RedLilyPetals]

A great friend of mine ran a session zero for me so I could test the waters, I was incredibly nervous. However these sessions are a great way to get some hands-on experience without feeling like you're suffering some sort of performance anxiety. It is great to practice with friends too! :D

[@ComicSams48]

Sending this to my friends. Got a group of them into D&D in late 2017, had to leave them sooner than intended so they're looking for a new DM

[@TheDungineer]

Everyone always want's to play, no one ever wants to DM :p

[@ComicSams48]

@@TheDungineer one guy wants to DM, he's just really new and nobody enjoyed his sessions enough to continue which is too bad

[@TheDungineer]

@@ComicSams48 ah that sucks. Being a DM is hard, it's something you have to practice, but that makes it so hard to get started because you need people to enjoy it to come back.

[@ComicSams48]

@@TheDungineer yeah. I wasn't good, but my friends kept coming back. Sadly those same friends are less than excited to play for the other guy

[@commandercaptain4664]

There really needs to be a Starter Set for DMs.

[@cora-illus]

im having a session zero tomorrow in my first dnd campaign. the party consists of three complete newbies (me, my friend and my 50y/o mother) and our semi-experienced dm, so this will be interesting. this video has given me an idea of what to expect, so thanks !

[@dgtlrn]

To help build party coherence in an upcoming Dragon Heist campaign, I ripped something from Fate Core that really helped. Have each character write out, on an index card, a small scene, event, encounter, or adventure (couple sentences to a paragraph) that their character is central to. Then fold and shuffle those cards, and deal them out until everyone has a new card. That person then writes out a way they either helped, hindered or helped and hindered, that characters situation. Once again, refold and shuffle until everyone has yet again a completely new card, and they also write how they had a hand in this situation. Then, return the cards to the original players and have them read out the ridiculous results. In the ensuing mess is a fun introduction of each character to several other characters. It's fun, it's improv, and it REALLY helped flesh out why they knew each other (and even created new NPC's, hooks, and adventures for me to fuel the game with).

[@elbruces]

Awesome way to add a Fiasco-like element to it

[@lungtoast]

Brilliant.

[@AC-hj9tv]

I love how you guys present so much knowledge in such an organized and detailed way. Thanks for helping me become a better DM

[@kemvaros5031]

I love your "Dungeons of Drakkenheim" campaign and I love your videos! I have been trying to learn as much as I can to be a DM and this was actually the topic I needed the most. Thanks for all your great work!

[@jackcojisan]

There’s a ton of great D&D content being put out, on a consistent basis on here, but you guys really are some of the very best. You are incredibly thoughtful and insightful, and I always walk away with something I can use in my game. Thank you so much!

[@matt.oconnor]

Nice video. New subscriber. Wrapping up an almost 2 year west marches turned campaign that started with over 20 people and now down to 9. Been designing the world for a while and excited for a new session 0 so these are great reminders. Thanks!

[@zararok]

Great job guys! I just recently found your channel and I have the least year been getting back into tabeltop rpgs and are now gonna run my own campaign again, hoping it turns out well! and keep up the good work! Love your videos!

[@TheCoulsonlax]

Staring my first D&D session this week and your guys’s videos have been really helping me out. Thank you.

[@larsmatthesen3571]

reminds me of playing a wizard and then getting thrown into a world where it's impossible to get any magic scrolls...

[@TheDungineer]

5E was definitely written as a high magic setting. The books discuss how to run a low magic/no-magic game, but then you're basically only left with Barbarian, fighter, monk, ranger rogue. I think that's no fun, If I want a no magic fight I'll join an MMA gym. When I write a home brew I always write in magic schools into cities. Depending on the size of the city, some are more useful than others!

[@MistahBryan]

Ugh, That's just as bad as a Half-Orc who looses Savage Strikes because the DM's Wife thought it was OP.

[@TheDungineer]

@@MistahBryan ouch. I might understand that you were doing PVP, but having overpowered allies helps everyone on the team! They don't sound fun to play with.

[@mattrondeau2]

How about being a warlock where your DM didn't roleplay your patron or collaborate with you on how the pact works or how you get the powers you have... Never again...

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

It is the DM's responsibility to be clear about what races, classes, abilities etc are allowed and/or recommended.

[@JelloSalad021]

Today was my session 0 for Dungeon of The Mad Mage, was alot of fun

[@lewisworley7830]

You Dudes are amazing literally about to run session zero tonight for a new campaign as in the previous campaign we kinda just started and worked things out as we played which led to issues. This will really help thanks guys keep up the good work

[@chetmanly8831]

You've continued making top notch videos, fantastic content lads. I would like to suggest a video series on how to handle the unexpected player requests that happen (knocking enemies unconscious, owning mounts and pets, charisma encounters, etc.. )

[@thesuperduck24]

Thank you guys so much for this video! Been watching for a couple years, and I’ve loved you guys’ content ever since the first video. I’m just about to get into my first session zero as a DM, so I’ve kind of been binge watching various videos of yours to help manage my nervousness. Keep up the good work, Dudes!

[@lordchipo]

First session zero ever tomorrow, this helped me setup what else I needed to talk about besides character creation and the world, thank you!

[@jackgrizzly7140]

I am leading up to running my first DnD campaign with several of my childhood friends. This video was super helpful!

[@loganlima6864]

Thanks for the great content, guys. This video sort of gave me the insight i needed for saving my current ongoing campaign. Keep up the good work ♡

[@tsumihitsuki9538]

Thank you so much! I'm a new DM trying to introduce new players to D&D with a homebrew, and I've been really stressing about this. I'm positive my players would balk at character creation so I'm going to follow your advice and have pre-generated characters ready. :)

[@Fjuron]

That you very much for the tips! Soon, I will game master the first ever session in my own new tabletop RPG system and asking the players beforehand, what they want to get out of the game, and what aspects they like the most, is something I will do right now.

[@jeremytarr6602]

This was really helpful! I'm GMing 2 new games starting this weekend and next weekend, so a roadmap for my session zeroes is gonna be really helpful!

[@joshuapulsinelli2365]

One of my favorite way is I started a campaign before was in an arena where all my players were gladiators but the whole game was actually set up in a multiplanar campaign. They basically met on the battlefield in the Arena to fight each other and then basically more creature started popping up and getting released so they had to work together as well as against each other

[@Goon94]

You guys Knocked it out of the park with this video, thank you.

[@wynautwarrior2161]

Hey. Thank you so much for this video. I've played a tiny bit of DnD myself and I've come up with a story that I want to DM. Obviously, I'm meeting with friends, looking at online sources, and practicing a bit to prepare myself to DM since it's obvious I'm not the most D&D savy gal. This vid really helped give me a good idea of a session 0 and how to do it correctly. I'll be sure to binge watch some other videos to help me too. You guys are rockstars.

[@johnr7279]

Like #499 and this was one of your best yet. I think I've typed that a few times for your videos but you guys just have a great knack for knowing what kind of content to create and how to do it. Super job!

[@rossleerichard1852]

I really wish that Dungeon Dudes have a TOC for their chats with timestamps as I want to re-watch certain portions of their videos but have to find the start of that portion manually (so annoying). Otherwise, this is my favorite channel for discussing D&D-related items!

[@MacAllen]

Been using session 0 for 40 years, can't recommend it enough. Too many players create their character in a complete vacuum without meeting the GM, the other players, the world, etc. It allows us to create a party, vs independent characters and then dumping it all on the GM. Love it.

[@TwistedTentacleInn]

This came at the perfect time.Thanks for the tips, guys! We'll be holding a session 0 this week. - Innkeeper Vase Odin

[@cylordm6994]

I am the DM for my group and i'm fairly new but one thing I did enjoy to help my campaign start off a bit more flawlessly (second time starting a campaign) is telling the players to describe the type of area they would have grown up in and then placing them in a place like that on my world as well as giving them basic information that they would know from growing up in that area and then having them start their backstory with that reference. after knowing their backstory i asked for permission to make slight changes if necessary and more importantly to take control of the last few sentences of their backstory to lead them into the current campaign. that way they knew why and how they got where they are and it helped them continue this character story into the story the group is beginning to make together. but this is a lot of work on the DM's part to form a story for each character that leads into each other's story's so be aware of the extra effort needed.

[@nathankelley1466]

Dungeon Therapy session.

[@nyrdexperience]

Running a session zero has helped soooo much with our current campaign. I actually used these tips to help with the discussion about what expectations were, etiquette etc.,

[@oguzhanozgenc7843]

this is absolutely better than tashas session zero, also there is a session zero checklist on the internet. Tasha's book did not overthrow you on this. You are better.

[@elbruces]

Hey Dudes, first off I want to say that this is one of the best videos I've seen from you, because it's taking something that isn't already explained in the published literature and breaking it down in a way that both novice and experienced groups can use. That said, I disagree with Monty's claim that players shouldn't bring too much backstory preparation to session zero. If the DM is also keeping an open mind and being flexible, every page the player writes is a page you don't have to. Getting the players to do some of your work for you is a great way to maximize your preparation. For example, a player that describes the town their character comes from, along with many of its key NPC's etc, just saved you hours of work. As long as they understand that once they hand it over, they lose ownership/control over that material and that some details may be altered to balance it and fit it into your campaign world. Also, if two players provide similar background information, that's a great opportunity to blend them together, which also provides a justification for how they already know each other. Now you've got an even richer location already created plus a character relationship hook, with minimal work put in by the DM, who can focus that saved time on enriching other areas of the campaign. Back when it was more popular, the Amber DRPG was great for this kind of thing, even including ongoing incentives for players to write up post-session journals of what happened, provide sketches of theirs and each others' characters, and even maintain webpages to store it all. It provides a neat historical record of the campaign that makes it feel even more special for everyone involved.

[@mattjohnson6314]

Digging the beard, Kelly

[@cattrucker8257]

Dungeon Dudes evolving into Dungeon Men.

[@Fraginator]

And then DunGentlemen!

[@francispicotte6174]

One of the most underrated topics

[@mingbritson]

THE BEST DND channel I've found -- ALWAYS worth watching you content -- thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

[@DungeonDudes]

Thank you!

[@theeristicwriter8280]

You guys are seriously the top D&D channel. I watch a lot of rpg based creators and they all have great advice but you guys cover topics in such a practical and detailed focused way. Love the content.

[@DungeonDudes]

Thank you!

[@billwinston7912]

I love you guys! I feel like I know you from your content, but you are oh so wise. Thanks for your pro tips! I heart your videos.

[@kimnykim12]

Thank you for this gonna make a check list with these ideas and improve it over time.

[@nataliedavison7140]

This was very useful for helping me start up my campaign, very informative thank you very much :D

[@ClarkyClark]

As we're playing in my friend's campaign, we also talk about my campaign I'm planning. It gives me basically multiple session zeros to work out ideas and issues.

[@couzin2000]

Awesome video. Very informative for someone who wants to start such as myself!

[@trevorl.4332]

I just ran my first session 0 last night using this as a guide/outline, and it went incredibly well! I now have so much insight into my players' (who are my family members) RPG preferences, likes/dislikes, motivations, etc. Honestly, I'm super excited to DM a campaign for my older brothers, who are old school RPG players who got their start in the 80s, but we have never played together. One of them regularly plays Pathfinder, and it took some convincing to get him to play DnD (which is what I play with my friends), but we are really excited to use this unprecedented global crisis as an opportunity to draw closer to one another as a family and to do some fun collaborative storytelling.

[@joshuachristofferson9227]

What an InsightFul episode, thx!

[@KevShaw808]

Awesome video guys. Really good ideas to keep in mind.

[@TheOnlySheet]

Excellent advice!! And don't forget you can use TOS FIVE to create & manage your Characters!

[@richardneri9759]

I’ve got a second concurrent campaign and this video is exactly what I needed

[@paulschirf9259]

The schedule discussion was good. I'd add that it isn't a bad idea to build in the occasional marathon. One group I was in had a weekly Wednesday night that also had an occasional full Saturday session with the decision that the Saturday sessions would never occur more frequently than once every three weeks.

[@InvinciblKillerQueen]

I just wanna say, y'all rule. Very few channels or groups I follow that focus on ttrpgs seem to really understand the real, material circumstances for groups trying to get together and play a game that's fun for everybody. Keep up the good work, I love the "How to" tutorialish videos and the Mordhei-I mean, Drakkheim campaign.

[@srvfan17]

So I had the first session of my new campaign last night, and it was awesome! I had the players making their characters in advance, and then as they finished, I gave the first two a sort of early roleplay session and a combat demonstration, and then the next two each got to meet one of the first two, so they had some friendships going before they were made as a party. I think it worked really well, plus it set the general tone, and geared up the storyline of the "main quest" up very clearly. And they all seemed to have fun! I don't know if it would work for everyone, but it worked for us! One of the players is a DM himself, so his main concern was fleshing out personality and making his character fun and memorable. One has never really been in a non-joke campaign, so a lot of his earliest work was on setting time and making a REAL character instead if a onenote murder hobo. And two of them don't know mechanics very well, but are very good at cinematic and interesting character elements, so they both needed more mechanical advice. All in all, I think it was helpful for our group! Anyways, great video! It really does help me and people like me make sure we've considered all those factors instead of just jumping in blindly!

[@jannienordby4198]

Thank you so much for this very insightful video. I love your videos and I am learning so much from them. So from my heart really thank you

[@drewharner3387]

I just started dming. We are starting with curse of strahd. Ive been playing for years. I realize i didnt do the payers enough justice for a session zero. We only got to play 1 session before schedules and virus kept us from playing. All i did was talk to them within 2 weeks before session 1 and created characters. Once next semester starts back up i need to talk about doing a soft reset and getting a better start before they come out of the mist and go into barovia. Luckly its a good place to be able to do this. All of these dm tip videos have been an amazing help and have given me a new outlook i need to use

[@TheAceOfSevens]

I was in the middle of preparing my session 0 for this Saturday. I'm DMing my first campaign!! (Only done one shots) This was very helpful, great videos dudes!

[@animistchannel2983]

Go for it! The world needs more GM's. Guiding an ongoing story is both the most fun and the most challenging. Don't be afraid to let your setting get a little twisty and improvisational as it goes on... the players will make every unexpected turn, so just recalculate and surf that chaos :) One trick to cover when you have to re-figure is keep a few "drop box" random combats/events in reserve to throw at them to buy time. Bar fight, street brawl, highway robbers, bank/shop robbery to thwart, the town fair starts, sudden need to rescue a captive/hostage, random pack of landscape monsters with no deeper connections, premade monster den or micro dungeon, some injustice that needs fixing, save elderly & children from a fire/earthquake, etc. These kinds of encounters are a place to let them experiment with their abilities and have lighthearted action-adventure that doesn't mess up your storyline... because they already did that and you're just keeping them busy so you can plan for next week. Let them think you intended it all along. You can also sneak in a clue for the main storyline with an NPC or message that way, so also have a clue list of stuff you can drop in any time.

[@TheAceOfSevens]

@@animistchannel2983 This is some really great advice! Thank you so much :D I'm gonna start preparing some of these. I'm so excited I can't wait haha

[@traxathon4464]

First time as a DM with a bunch of brand new players this weekend. You guys just calmed a lot of my nerves

[@DungeonDudes]

Good luck! You got this!

[@kjaamor2057]

I found this to be incredibly useful and insightful. I started D&D as a DM with nothing more than a few episodes of critical role under my belt, and although I have faith in the homebrew campaign I have created, I didn't do a session zero - having never even heard of this. I regret this now, because around 40 sessions in, the characters still do not bond to each other, and often they don't to the world. Subsequently, I feel like I have to steer my players into action rather than allowing them to find their way naturally and I feel like quite a distant DM to their motivations as characters and players. I have discussed doing a session 41.0, but currently they are now running a new campaign DM'd by one of my players which I left. It feels like he got things much closer to a session zero (if only by virtue of living with one of the players!) and that the table have bonded well with it.

[@WhatsAGoodName42069]

Your story sounds exactly like one of my friends. He started dming us while he had only played for 2 months and had watched most of critical role season 1. We had 15 sessions and by the end of it the group was still pvping over disagreements and no cared for the story. So I guess you're not alone with your struggles.

[@chrishamilton8134]

Nice one guys, very helpful as usual.

[@glenndiddy]

This isn't a DnD schedule, but my friends and I always get together on saturday around 8pm to play games. Usually video games, but we rarely miss a week since we already know Saturday is game night

[@noahtackett6264]

I was part of a group where I brought candy a lot as snacks. Our DM went a lot with rule of cool and allowed pretty much all official expansions to d and d and some homebrew stuff, and used theater of the mind for most things but miniatures and a mat for combat for simplicity I'm working on a campaign but I'd start it out as a one shot with sunless citadel, which I feel like is really cool in some ways

[@everybodytogether5532]

Noon on sunday. Every sunday. The food plan is super important. Not only for portion control but the clutter! Just made some dope wood stained boxes for infront of everyone to control that clutter.

[@_BELMONT_]

another great video with some awesome advice!

[@nondisclosureable]

Back in the 90s my main group had a Gaming Dues system. Everyone showed up with a couple bucks a week that got tossed into a Crown royal bag. We'd total it up then decide on the nights munchies and the dm's spouse would have a shopping/carry-out run. At the end of the month, any extra funds left in the bags would go towards game improvement. We would vote on new things to pick up from the local game store. Typically we'd get a new 3/3.5e book. Sometimes there'd be a new book for another system we wanted to try. Often there would be some left for some DMs choice minis. All of the books and minis were considered group property and anyone in the group could swing by outside of game time to read, or paint minis. We also had a book checkout system if you really wanted to learn some particular mechanic as long as the book was back in time for the next game.

[@cappilau7448]

Hi, newcomer to D&D here, and I have to say that ensuring people are available is very important. In the first campaign I joined during this year in my uni, there was a player who was busy with his dissertation and couldn’t show up during the 2nd and 3rd terms. Added with the fact that people might not be able to show up on certain days for personal reasons, we had to cancel some sessions due to the lack of players. Also, having the DM doing some additional explanation on the world setting to newcomers is important, like what type of fantasy is that, because new players often don’t know what to expect, so making sure they won’t make any character that doesn’t fit in the setting is important.

[@TheJaimeGamingShow]

Thanks! Excellent content!

[@judgetato]

That was some good stuff. thanks, Dudes!

[@DungeonsAndDrams]

I know you guys get some flack for the length of your videos but this one specifically was worth every minute. Thanks!

[@kimberlybarnes739]

My group has been playing together for 20 years or so. It’s been a great way to be social. We meet monthly for about 6-8 hours at each shot

[@wunnamwnn]

Excellent video. As a DM, I've never done an actual session 0 cuz none of my former DMs did one, so I was looking for tips or ideas to do my first session 0 with my next campaign. Now I see a few problems I had in previous campaigns with different people were due to not having a session 0.

[@drexelrep]

This video may be 4 years old, but i cant tell you how helpful it's been in helping me prepare for my first ever campaign as DM. I knew I should do a session 0, but this video gave me specific, actionable aspects of what I should include in that session that I would never have thought of if I hadn't watched. Thanks guys. I'm really excited to DM, but also nervous, and this video calmed those nerves and gave me condidence.

[@DungeonDudes]

You can do it!

[@fenrizsharp3938]

Doing a session 0 today, watched this like 15 times