Playing the Right Game: Session Zero

Sessions zero became a topic several years ago as many new and often young people with no D&D background joined the hobby thanks to juggernauts in the pop culture space like Critical Role. As such, much of the discussion around zeros was focused on things like trigger warnings and what topics were off limits, in addition to the setting, style of game, etc.

Given my generation, and the fact that I play exclusively with close friends, the discussion about what was faux pas was never necessary. But interestingly, the discussion about what kind of game to play happened but was rarely impactful. It ended up being more of a “what story do we want to tell” not “what areas of play do we want to focus on.”

Given that this blog is an attempt to codify my system and philosophy, I'm going to skip the twinkle-toed "what you can and should do in a session zero for whatever game you like" and instead go right for the heavy-handed approach where I assume you want to play a game like the one my system is designed for, and give you advise about how to run a session zero for it.

Step 1: Communicate the Drivers of the Game

The game is about playing together cooperatively. That cooperation should take the form of going on adventures and exploring dangerous environments and treasure hunting for a majority of the sessions. The juice of the game is in discovery and overcoming challenges that don't have deterministic outcomes. This is what tabletop gaming does that no other medium can capture. 

The game system has procedures for resolving these game modes in partially random ways to ensure that there is variety within the pattern of play. These procedures are also tuned to create satisfying resolutions and reward smart play by the players.

Step 2: Communicate the Patterns of Play

The meta-procedure of the game is to run through the following cycle: Prepare in city or town, travel to a dungeon, delve for treasure in said dungeon, travel back to civilization, spend the treasure as desired. Repeat with the same or different dungeon. In between excursions, carousing or city/countryside adventures can act as an occasional palette cleanse.

This grand procedure is the first casualty of GMs who want a railroading story-driven game. This game is not designed to support that kind of play. One session exploring the political situation in a major city can be interesting when the players need a break from delving. A spy thriller campaign is a poor fit to these rules. Any story can be told in a tabletop game, but the stories that naturally emerge from the kinds of games this system is designed to play are the goal.

Step 3: Setting will Reinforce the Pattern of Play

The world is old, magic is dangerous, monsters want to eat you and they are everywhere, travel consumes resources, light below ground is the exception and not the rule. Language barriers are real. The civilized races do not get along like modern nation states. War is always brewing. Dungeons will be larger than a party can clear in one venture. Time is tracked and days pass accordingly. Seasons change, celebrations start and end, weather gets worse, weather gets better.

The world is alive, breathing, and changing. Players must constantly react.