One of the most common tools or things that you’ll hear about for a D&D campaign or other RPG campaign is this idea of a Session 0. So we’ve already gotten our idea for a campaign, which you can find here. And now as the Dungeon Master, you’ve gotten all the players together. Everyone is ready to get going, but it’s generally smart to have a Session 0. So let’s talk through what a Session 0 is and why it’s important tool for a Dungeon Master to use.

Dungeon Master Tools – Session 0

What Is A Session 0?

A session 0 is your first session of your RPG campaign, kind of. Everyone gets together, like you would normally to play the game. But instead of just playing the game, you instead are getting ready to play the game. Players don’t come with rolled up characters or anything like that. This session is for chatting, talking through your character ideas and rolling up those characters.

Why Do A Session 0?

We know what a session 0 is now. The better question might be, why do a session 0? Is there a very good reason for doing it, or is this just extra work for everyone and you should just jump right in? I’ll give you a spoiler, it’s a good thing to do.

Players Handbook

One of the reasons it’s a good thing to do is because not everyone has a players handbook. And that is a bit of an investment for a players handbook that in all fairness the fighter might not really need 99% of the time. So it makes sense to share the players handbook around the table so everyone can create their own character. If even one player doesn’t come to that first playing session without a built character, you’re going to spend most of the time making the character, so might as well have everyone do it at once.

Player Conversation

Beyond that practical reason, it’s great to have players talk and bounce character ideas off one each other. You can do that via an e-mail, but if someone is waffling between what stats to make strongest, a couple of different character backstories, things like that, the Session 0 is amazing for players to work together and create their party that can work cohesively. The example would be the rogue and the paladin. How do they work together, well, if they are created together to be in the same party, the players can talk through that.

Dungeon Master Benefits

And for the Dungeon Master it is great as well. You see what the players want to play. And as part of the conversation, you know what elements are the most important to the players. Is the background an urchin, but the backstory is really focused on the fact that they were a noble who got lost and lived as a urchin? Well, now I know all of that if I am part of the character creation process.

What Else Can Be Done in Session 0?

So, I talk a lot about character creation. And I think that is going to be the bulk of the time that is spent in a session 0. But it is also a chance for players who maybe don’t know each other to get to know each other. Because I find that I often pull in from different groups of friends to play in a campaign. So they might not know each other at the start of the campaign. A session 0 is a great way for people to get to know each other.

And as the Dungeon Master it is a great time to workshop other ideas. If you want a list of NPC names, have the players right down five each. If you want locations, let the players create some of the locations. This is a chance to flesh out some of that stuff that I think Dungeon Masters often try and do themselves for the campaign. Take off some of the load and share the fun and frustration of some of that creation on the fly with the players.

Finally, it is a chance as the Dungeon Master to pitch more of the tone of the game. This might be in giving the elevator pitch again. Or it might be adding to that pitch as you’ve planned a bit more, or integrating things from what the players are talking about. But this somewhat goes back to character creation. If someone is creating a character that doesn’t fit the tone, you know ahead of time.

Final Thoughts

This is a really useful tool. I think, and I don’t want to over emphasize it, but also don’t want to under emphasize it, it’s a great chance to socialize. Even if it’s a friend group, it is going to let you set the tone for the time and keep that focus on the fun of the game. Though every session is going to have tangents and things like that.

But for a new Dungeon Master or even someone who knows the game really well and has run many campaigns, this is very nice to use. Especially because you get to know the characters and see that work done collaboratively. It immediately cuts down on potential party friction if someone believes that there character should work in one hyper specific way that goes against what the rest of the party wants. And yes, this is something that happens.

So what is coming up next?

• Session 1
• Story Arcs
• World Building
• Combat
• Exploration
• NPCs/Social Interactions
• Meta Game and Players at the Table

And let me know if there are other things to cover as well that you want to know more about, or help with. I think that there are a ton of different things that new Dungeon Masters are curious about or that feel intimidating. So I hope that I can help make them clearer and simpler for you. And this one is really that first step that you can take before you even start to think about the other elements.

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