...as promised, for ease of reference, here is the script for the Session 0 video. Might be slightly different that what was filmed; as I'm a habitual Ad-libber, but any changes are minor.
This is Delcar's Dungeonmastery. Grab your dicebag, sit down, and lets go on an adventure.
This is episode 1, so lets talk about session 0. It makes sense, shut up.
This is where everyone gets together to make their characters, and the DM explains the world, and here are the 10 things your players MUST KNOW to have a smooth campaign start.
If you're playing a pre-existing setting, some of the work has been done for you - but if you've made changes, or if its homebrew, this is when its time to make that clear.
1) Define "Adventurers" - working for the authorities, free-roaming mercenaries or divinely appointed champions? Widely welcome heroes for hire or barely tolerated useful outsiders?
2) The GAWDS - Who are they, how many do we know about, and do they meddle all the time, talking directly to the people of the world like the Greek Pantheon, or are they subtle, sending signs and gifts only to those who listen?
3)Magic level - Hi-magic, low magic, no or unknown magic. Are your cities alight with magical streetlamps and you can expect magic items on the regular, or are wizards shunned, and magic a hidden thing, not trusted and little understood.
4)Tech Level - Using the GURPS definitions, most fantasy campaigns are comfortably somewhere between tech level 3 - true Medieval and tech level 4 - Age of Sail, varying slightly in parts of the world.
Tying together magic level and tech level, now is the time to be specific about Guns, communication, and transportation.
Is it a Flinstones Setting? In other words, all the conviniences of today just reskinned? Can you fly cross-country? Can you grab the Shell-phone and call someone magically? These things will change the nature of society and its governments in HUGE ways.
The rarer and more expensive the magic and tech are, the more they will be concentrated in the hands of the elite, and in a typical psuedo-medieval RPG world, that means the rulers.
5)Classes and Races - DMs, this is where you are going to have to learn to say 'No'. Not all races and classes fit every setting. For example, Tieflings and the Aasimar. If your Gawds and demons can't manifest in a physical sense, or don't exist as such, these races just aren't part of the setting. They'll either be one-off NPCs or a PC that whined itself into existance. Your Warforged Artificer? He won't fit in my Shamans and Superstitions Stone Age game.
No outer beings at all? No warlocks, maybe no clerics. Now's also the time to touch on how the races can be expected to interact. The less contact societies have with one another, the more 'the other' is going to be looked upon with suspicion. If the Dwarves and Elves had a Millenia-long war, don't expect them to be sharing drinks at the bar.
To be clear, I encourage DMs to try and let players play the character they want, but players, GENUINELY listen when the DM explains that your character concept just doesn't fit.
This can be make or break. The game does not belong to any one person,
BUT:
Players - if you don't respect the Dungeon Master's time in building his world, and respect his vision, this may not be the game for you. Dungeon Masters - if you think your game is going to be this, and just this, and players need to accept it as is or take a hike, you may not have any players. Find the middle ground.
6)Uncomfortable Situations - X cards are bullshit. Period. If you've got no-go situations game-wise, bring them up before the game. If you're an arachnophobe, and your DM is going to run the Drow series, dip out.
Bringing the game to a screeching halt sucks, and is unfair to the other players.
DMs, read the room. Dial back the descriptions of gore, the skittering noises of the approaching spiders, and pull back a little. Unless its a horror game - they signed up for this shit.
But lets touch on the most common uncomfortable situation in games:
Sex.
Sex in the game. I'm an advocate of 'fade to black'. Even if everyone -thinks- they're cool with it, someone won't be, or someone will take it too far. If you want explicit sex scenes in your game
Seek professional help. Even better:
I want you to picture your gamer group sitting around your bed with bored, confused and uncomfortable looks on their faces the next time you're intimate with someone - or by yourself - BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THE TABLE.
Try this instead:
"Horndawg the bard leads the stableboy/barwench/sex goblin off into a private room, while the rest of you wind down and have a well deserved rest. The next morning
you gather in the common room..."
One player shouldn't steal time from the group as a whole. It's the same if Bobo Badhill wants to pickpocket every NPC, or Merlindore the Wizard wants to RP his shopping sessions.
7) Languages - DMs, make clear what the common tongue is - do all travelers speak elvish since its long-established and slow changing, or is there a pidgin trade tongue? How many languages are in the campaign area? How screwed is my low-int Fighter?
8) Money - Gold standard, silver standard paper money or even credit? Is a gold coin a gold coin world round, or will they need to hit a moneychanger every time they cross borders? Do I need to track every expense, or is there a weekly or monthly 'cost of living'?
9) Supplies. Do I get a 'refill' every time we camp, or are we going to track every arrow, bite of food and how much water we have? Even if the answer is 'mostly no' like most campaigns, don't be offended when the DM 'suddenly' wants to track how much water you carry as you cross the Desert of Defenestration, DM's don't be a dick and let them know when they need to think about it.
And those two points lead neatly into:
10) Encumbrance, or where exactly ARE you carrying three halberds?
Use common sense here, even if you're character is strong enough to do it, after the third hand weapon, you're going be clumsy carrying all that steel. Quivers aren't bottomless without some heavy enchanting, and gold weighs a hell of a lot. This is another one where most DMs will handwave until you start abusing it, so if you're going truly old-school and want exact weights carried, tell them up front.
Those are the ten things I recommend you cover during session 0. I will be touching on some of them in even greater detail in videos of their own, but this is a good overview.
When everyone comes together to game, its to have fun. You all have to find that common core where you can collaborate. If the setting doesn't do it for you, or you can't find a character concept that works, don't play. It'll be better for the game, and your friendships to say, "Hey thanks for the invite, but this one isn't for me." Than for you to either sit there bored and frustrated, or to disrupt the game, making it into what you 'really wanted'
