Add this to your SESSION ZERO

Here is a link to my session zero notes since a few of you asked for it. The notes are very tailored to my specific group but hopefully you can get something out of them.


#dnd #ttrpg #dm #gm

[NoDiceDnD]

Here is a link to my session zero notes since a few of you asked for it. The notes are very tailored to my specific group but hopefully you can get something out of them.


Thanks for watching!

[joshuacaulfield]

Great video. I appreciate the depth and examples. Also, you secretly added in a number of extra good GM tactics: “Yes, and…”; common knowledge, and player investment in the world. Nice. I bet they don’t forget or deliberately mispronounce those NPC names.

[PaddyCapDice]

I think this would be fantastic if the thing they’re adding to the world is directly connected to their backstory. I mean it’s already a good idea. Maybe they could do this for one location that has nothing to do with their backstory, and one that does. And I also think that as much as possible, if players background related places are intrinsic to the campaign setting, it will be easier to really immerse the PCs into the story because they will be so connected to it. Really up the stakes for them!

[NZand]

Whats up man?
I just started watching your videos today. I’m a fan. I haven’t played D&D yet but I’ve always wanted to. I brought it up to my partner at work (who has played for 30 years) and he surprised me and bought me the players manual. I’ve been pouring over this thing from cover to cover and have been watching a lot of videos for research.
Myself and several of my friends just had our first children and I’m glad I’ll have something creative to share with all of them one day. My friends and their wives agreed to play with me and my wife.
Videos like these are a big inspiration into what I’d like to do as I’ll probably end up being the DM most of the time after I play a few sessions and learn the rules better.

[swordplaysorcery]

I really love the idea of the players working together to create lore, locations, monsters, etc! It reminds me a lot of the FATE CORE RPG's character creation. It's very collaborative and extremely useful for making parties that already know each other by the first session!

[Bloodthirstier]

I used this collaborative lore building! We use this all the time. I also ask my players to have a list of 5 monsters, 5 locations and 5 NPCs always ready and I pull from that randomly when I struggle. It helps them feel part of the world. I also ask my players what kind of drama/interactions do they want from other players or NPCS. It's similar to tone but it helps establish on whether or not every shopkeeper etc has to have a name and a backstory and/or where should I lead them.

[At_Tar_Ras]

man im so glad i found your channel. i was looking at stuff for bg3 and am now binge watching your content. i've never even played dnd but this makes me want to really badly!

keep up the content, only a matter of time till you're a cemented figure of the dnd community.

[Doughy_in_the_Middle]

We have the running joke at our table "Next campaign guys!" when we send videos around. This might be on the list. LOL

Seriously though, one of my plans as the typical "forever DM" is to make an entire "planet" where we'll all literally cut a section out for each other. The "main campaign" where we'll "start" is where I'm going to kick things off, but if someone wants a desert one-shot (or mini-campaign) with our without the main characters, they take the desert. Someone wants the rainforest? Have at it!

In this same vein, I'm going to go to each player at the table and let everyone pick a Domain to create a deity. Death, light, war, whatever. Counting me, there are nine of us at the table. We could have a full host of gods easily with that.

[gergosoos]

What kind of encounters I want? Jackie Chan fights! Vaulting over obstackles, using the environment, making chandeliers fall on opponents, shaping the environment to make sure they bottleneck etc.

[luckyroller]

This an example of a great idea with substance that actually adds to the game

[greatmooncake]

Awesome video! I wish more people did these things at session zero so now I will do it to spread these practices.

I genuinely love your videos, you always talk with such love and interest for your hobby!

[garrettlentz]

I collect miniatures and I'm constantly coming up with concepts for how our dm can implement them into the campaign and i also try to help with story building because i love adding emotion to the campaign. In a way I'm a DM in the shadows. 🤣

[nitehood]

This is an amazing idea. Definitely going to use this for my next campaign.

[rollnycgaming]

Great video, very insightful. I've always found that players spend more time on their backstory rather than their character's goals. Knowing where a character comes from is important, but knowing roughly where they want to go or what they want to achieve, I think is more important.

[JB]

I should preface this with I have never been involved with a session zero from either a DM or player point of view, so my opinions may not apply exactly. But, I've been playing for more than 40 years, so I hope experience counts for something :)

Collective lore building is a really cool idea. Having established my game world some 30+ years ago, I'm protective over it, but one thing I noticed many years ago is that many cities have a less distinct flavor than I would prefer. Using other people's ideas will invest them in the game more than "Oh, look another cave network, just like the last one we were in" as well as come up with ideas that just wouldn't cross my mind. I dont feel like the whole campaign should be heavily tailored to what the players are looking for, because my philosophy is that the world exists, the characters are part of it, it doesn't revolve around them. That said, I run a VERY sandboxy game, so if the party says "nope, we're not going into the haunted cliffside manor" then they can travel elsewhere in search of adventure. Some DMs will lose their minds because this is all they have prepped. I try to have several ideas prepared and see what direction the group goes. This doesnt mean I've never railroaded them, but I strongly prefer to let them figure out what works for them, rather than cater specifically to them. This has led to everything from TPKs to gloriously epic stuff of legends.

[Wraithling]

You can also make it so that the player that designed the location knows about the location itself, and then the ones that added the fun fact are the ones that go "oh i know about that place, did you know that..."

[Zamun]

Thanks for this. GM-player collaboration is the best worldbuilding

[davidegrisanti]

GOATED video. Great ideas and explanation man

[wittiestrhyme]

This is real useful as I'm becoming a DM very shortly

[LuizCesarFariaLC]

Instead of just a fun fact in the end, you could make the locations go around the table for each topic: each player pick a kind of place, then the player to the left pick the name and so on