So I mainly run arena games and published material. My session zero mainly consists of housekeeping technical issues(player: how do I make a sheet on roll20? Etc..) and some brief pre session setup handled during the week in discord. Then I like to get them in game rolling dice at first session start time. Realizing that homebrew worlds may have more rules, restrictions or additions how long do you guys run a session zero-if at all?
Mine go as long as it takes. It's normally at least a couple of hours but it also depends on things like how well the players know each other and how much experience they have as a group.
I DM online (Discord). My session 0 usually takes an hour or two. I post all my homebrew rules and lore in a text channel for reference, and all character building happens one-on-one. I also talk individually with my players about any yellow light/red light subject matter (especially important since I run horror games).
I mostly use the session 0 time for player introductions if needed, game etiquette and expectations, scheduling clarifications, and then a short teaser game so everyone can flex their new character sheets and get a feel for the game world and each other's playstyles.
Yah, I think it’s easier when running official stuff. And if they are starting at level 1 or 3 there really aren’t many ‘mistakes’ they can make. I just set the expectation on discord with a rules list for conduct and a line ‘be patient and kind to each other and me :D’.
Ours usually take an hour or two. we've all been playing together for years, so we don't really have to get much into what red flags people have, since we have a handle on them. Also, we've been playing in the same homebrew world for the last 5 or so campaigns, so we all kind of know what's going on there. Mostly is hashing out what kind of campaign we'll have, where within that world it will be set, and then talking about our character ideas, making sure the party will work, seeing if there might be room to combine backstories, that kind of thing. That plus the usual goofing off, and yeah, typically a couple hours.
I make Character Creation and Rules Clarification posts on the game's forum. I include the campaign concept in the Character Creation thread so the players can work on their own buy in. This will include if the premise includes them having known, or at least heard of, each other before the game begins. Or if they're just thrown together as in Out of the Abyss.
This makes Session Zero usually be quick unless I've recruited a new player. (Which is "challenging" on Roll20 so it's fortunate I haven't had to do that for a couple years now.) It could be as simple as "Ok, I've checked your character sheets. Any questions? No? Ok, our story begins..." But for our Call of the Netherdeep campaign, since the players weren't as familiar with Exandria as they are the Forgotten Realms, we went through all the character creation macros found in the Frozen Sick sample module so it took longer.
Mine go as long as any regular session, typically 3-4 hours with a break and side chats and stuff. They include going over table rules, going over setting specific info, and character creation. If all that is done before the end of the session then we start playing that day. If that all doesn’t get finished before the end of session 0 then the players finish creating their characters on their own. I DM in person most of the time, but occasionally on Teams.
Last week first session of witchlight, no one had ever used Roll20 before…everyone did have a d&d beyond account. Set up 4 noobs 10 minutes prior, just attaching tokens and assigning sheets in roll20. Sweating a bit but we got running at game time or maybe a couple minutes after.
Usually one long session or two regular sessions. Most of it is spent on backstories and then the role playing how all the characters meet for the first time.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Yah, I think there are 2 approaches..gang gets together as not necessarily brothers in arms but compatriots in pursuit of coin and glory. I lay out calls to action-if these aren’t answered quickly reset. In more role play heavy campaigns I can see longer session 0.
For a more roleplay oriented group you get to add in fun things like rumors. Have everyone roll initiative and then go down the line with "1st player, pick another character and what your character has heard about that character. It's up to the other player to decide if this rumor is true or not." Then there's the "two truths and a lie" where each player creates three rumors about their own character that the others have heard. (Leave it up to the players whether the rumors actually fall under the two truths and a lie rule or not.)
If you use random tables for background, such as those found in Xanathar's and Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, if a couple of players roll the same thing then that can be a shared event.
But if you've got a group that prefers dungeon crawling over roleplay then there's no real need. They're all in it for either the money, the glory or both.
My main goal setting up the campaign is to ensure the player characters aren't complete strangers to avoid the "I don't care if any of these people live or die" mentality.
- Clarifying the balance of the campaign between combat/rp/exploration and lore/notetaking necessity - Providing players with some possible connections their characters can have to the campaign (though usually i plot campaigns after i receive backstories so everything can be more relevant) - Telling players I'd like them to come up with a backstory and warning that their backstories will be as involved or non-involved as whatever they give me, so they have to give more to get more - Helping people build characters if they don't know how - A little bit of rp or narration by each player that gets their character to the place and time where the official first session will start, which can be either solo or with another character if they decide they know each other beforehand.
With experienced players, 1-2 hours, with new players, 2-A Long Time, depending on how much support they need to really get What's Going On mechanics and rp-wise :)
The lenght of session 0 i run depend on the group familiarity, experience etc.. My safety rules and houserules and rules variant usage fit on a single page that i can share to players and offer availability to answer any questions. So i will often run an 30-90 minutes Session 0 to Q&A during character creation and DM rules. Other times this is all settled in advance so that the first time we meet is session 1, with a few minutes before the start to adress table rules. My preference is to start playing on the first meet but one way or another, i never neglect communicating table rules wether its on prior date or on game day 1.
We don't usually have a session zero together. Players usually make their characters themselves and consult the DM if something is iffy. Then they send the sheet and BG to the DM.
Setting info and requirements/limitations for character creation are sent beforehand.
DM personally makes a character with newbies.
It's important to know, though, that our group has always been pretty much the same three players +- one or two new ones. So we rarely have games with the majority being new to the game/group.
I think a session zero would be important if we were to expect conflicting expectations.
But then again. It's quite difficult to arrange even the game sessions for a bunch of middle aged people with children. So a session zero feels like a wasted chance to play at least a bit after everything is sorted. 😅
'Session zero' is like that one hour or hour and a half on the first evening of a new campaign where everyone makes their characters, asks questions, rolls dice, pass books around, and the like. To me, 'session zero' is precisely like calling a sales guy a business development consultant. Session zero is character generation. When everyone is ready, the next words will be: You all find yourselves at the Prancing Pony Inn. Spirits are high - or expensive, depending on what you mean - the music is great, and the food even greater. Suddenly .....
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
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So I mainly run arena games and published material. My session zero mainly consists of housekeeping technical issues(player: how do I make a sheet on roll20? Etc..) and some brief pre session setup handled during the week in discord. Then I like to get them in game rolling dice at first session start time. Realizing that homebrew worlds may have more rules, restrictions or additions how long do you guys run a session zero-if at all?
sidenote: I’m playing online using roll20.
Mine go as long as it takes. It's normally at least a couple of hours but it also depends on things like how well the players know each other and how much experience they have as a group.
I DM online (Discord). My session 0 usually takes an hour or two. I post all my homebrew rules and lore in a text channel for reference, and all character building happens one-on-one. I also talk individually with my players about any yellow light/red light subject matter (especially important since I run horror games).
I mostly use the session 0 time for player introductions if needed, game etiquette and expectations, scheduling clarifications, and then a short teaser game so everyone can flex their new character sheets and get a feel for the game world and each other's playstyles.
Yah, I think it’s easier when running official stuff. And if they are starting at level 1 or 3 there really aren’t many ‘mistakes’ they can make. I just set the expectation on discord with a rules list for conduct and a line ‘be patient and kind to each other and me :D’.
Ours usually take an hour or two. we've all been playing together for years, so we don't really have to get much into what red flags people have, since we have a handle on them. Also, we've been playing in the same homebrew world for the last 5 or so campaigns, so we all kind of know what's going on there. Mostly is hashing out what kind of campaign we'll have, where within that world it will be set, and then talking about our character ideas, making sure the party will work, seeing if there might be room to combine backstories, that kind of thing. That plus the usual goofing off, and yeah, typically a couple hours.
I make Character Creation and Rules Clarification posts on the game's forum. I include the campaign concept in the Character Creation thread so the players can work on their own buy in. This will include if the premise includes them having known, or at least heard of, each other before the game begins. Or if they're just thrown together as in Out of the Abyss.
This makes Session Zero usually be quick unless I've recruited a new player. (Which is "challenging" on Roll20 so it's fortunate I haven't had to do that for a couple years now.) It could be as simple as "Ok, I've checked your character sheets. Any questions? No? Ok, our story begins..." But for our Call of the Netherdeep campaign, since the players weren't as familiar with Exandria as they are the Forgotten Realms, we went through all the character creation macros found in the Frozen Sick sample module so it took longer.
Mine go as long as any regular session, typically 3-4 hours with a break and side chats and stuff. They include going over table rules, going over setting specific info, and character creation. If all that is done before the end of the session then we start playing that day. If that all doesn’t get finished before the end of session 0 then the players finish creating their characters on their own. I DM in person most of the time, but occasionally on Teams.
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Last week first session of witchlight, no one had ever used Roll20 before…everyone did have a d&d beyond account. Set up 4 noobs 10 minutes prior, just attaching tokens and assigning sheets in roll20. Sweating a bit but we got running at game time or maybe a couple minutes after.
Usually one long session or two regular sessions. Most of it is spent on backstories and then the role playing how all the characters meet for the first time.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Yah, I think there are 2 approaches..gang gets together as not necessarily brothers in arms but compatriots in pursuit of coin and glory. I lay out calls to action-if these aren’t answered quickly reset. In more role play heavy campaigns I can see longer session 0.
For a more roleplay oriented group you get to add in fun things like rumors. Have everyone roll initiative and then go down the line with "1st player, pick another character and what your character has heard about that character. It's up to the other player to decide if this rumor is true or not." Then there's the "two truths and a lie" where each player creates three rumors about their own character that the others have heard. (Leave it up to the players whether the rumors actually fall under the two truths and a lie rule or not.)
If you use random tables for background, such as those found in Xanathar's and Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, if a couple of players roll the same thing then that can be a shared event.
But if you've got a group that prefers dungeon crawling over roleplay then there's no real need. They're all in it for either the money, the glory or both.
My main goal setting up the campaign is to ensure the player characters aren't complete strangers to avoid the "I don't care if any of these people live or die" mentality.
My session 0's consist of:
- Clarifying the balance of the campaign between combat/rp/exploration and lore/notetaking necessity
- Providing players with some possible connections their characters can have to the campaign (though usually i plot campaigns after i receive backstories so everything can be more relevant)
- Telling players I'd like them to come up with a backstory and warning that their backstories will be as involved or non-involved as whatever they give me, so they have to give more to get more
- Helping people build characters if they don't know how
- A little bit of rp or narration by each player that gets their character to the place and time where the official first session will start, which can be either solo or with another character if they decide they know each other beforehand.
With experienced players, 1-2 hours, with new players, 2-A Long Time, depending on how much support they need to really get What's Going On mechanics and rp-wise :)
:)
The lenght of session 0 i run depend on the group familiarity, experience etc.. My safety rules and houserules and rules variant usage fit on a single page that i can share to players and offer availability to answer any questions. So i will often run an 30-90 minutes Session 0 to Q&A during character creation and DM rules. Other times this is all settled in advance so that the first time we meet is session 1, with a few minutes before the start to adress table rules. My preference is to start playing on the first meet but one way or another, i never neglect communicating table rules wether its on prior date or on game day 1.
We don't usually have a session zero together. Players usually make their characters themselves and consult the DM if something is iffy. Then they send the sheet and BG to the DM.
Setting info and requirements/limitations for character creation are sent beforehand.
DM personally makes a character with newbies.
It's important to know, though, that our group has always been pretty much the same three players +- one or two new ones. So we rarely have games with the majority being new to the game/group.
I think a session zero would be important if we were to expect conflicting expectations.
But then again. It's quite difficult to arrange even the game sessions for a bunch of middle aged people with children. So a session zero feels like a wasted chance to play at least a bit after everything is sorted. 😅
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'Session zero' is like that one hour or hour and a half on the first evening of a new campaign where everyone makes their characters, asks questions, rolls dice, pass books around, and the like. To me, 'session zero' is precisely like calling a sales guy a business development consultant. Session zero is character generation. When everyone is ready, the next words will be: You all find yourselves at the Prancing Pony Inn. Spirits are high - or expensive, depending on what you mean - the music is great, and the food even greater. Suddenly .....
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.