The session 0 that didn’t happen Session 0 was supposed to happen last night. I put the group together through a local D&D Facebook group. None of us knew each other going in, but we’ve been chatting on Discord for about a month. I shared a few player primers about the campaign, and everyone seemed genuinely excited to get started. Then the weather got involved. The big winter storm threw a wrench into things. Even though the worst of it wasn’t expected until Saturday, one player was feeling anxious about the possibility of getting stuck in bad conditions. They let the group know they couldn’t make it and didn’t want to hold everyone else up, even offering to bow out. Since this was Session 0, I felt it was too important for anyone to miss. I decided to push the start back two weeks. We meet every other week, and I’d rather have everyone present and comfortable than rush it. The good news is everyone was understanding, and a couple of others admitted they were also feeling anxious about the weather. Honestly, that response made me feel even better about the group. I’ve got a strong feeling this is going to be a really good table. I think the moral of the story for GM’s would be: take care of your players before the schedule. I think when players feel safe, heard, and included, the group becomes stronger and more connected.

I’ve been working on a homebrew campaign setting and campaign for about 4-5 months now. The group is set to have its session 0 in late January. The campaign setting seems fine, just some short gazetteers on nations, cities, leader NPC’s, etc. As for the campaign I may be overdoing it, over planning, and frankly I think it’s set up for reactive gaming. I finished the book Collaborative Campaign Design a couple of weeks ago and I just started Proactive Roleplaying. I’m only one chapter in and I think I’ve gone way overboard on the campaign. I have created an entire outline for the campaign already. I started with the BBEG, made 4 lieutenants, one per tier-arc, and worked backwards to make this campaign outline. Now I haven’t planned every little detail. My plan was to give the players “missions” that they could choose from. However, I still think this is reactive gaming. The overall arc of the campaign is that a new leader took over a nation and has become a tyrant, attempting to control magic users, remove all influences of races other than human, etc. I based all this on the Earth Civil War from the 90’s Sci-fi show, Babylon 5. The players already know some of this as I gave them the following as the campaign pitch: The first campaign takes place in the Free Concord, a nation founded on liberty and open debate, now buckling under the rule of a new High Chancellor. You’ll begin the story as fugitives, pulled into a growing resistance as cities fracture, laws tighten, and magic itself comes under suspicion. This is a campaign focused on political intrigue, moral gray areas, and meaningful choices. It’s about deciding what freedom is worth as the costs continue to rise. So, they are expecting that. I already have the first two short adventures created. Should I just scrap all this work I’ve done and wait until session 0 to get the character’s goals? I’m sure I could probably work their goals into what I’ve already created somehow. As I read chapter 1 of Proactive Roleplaying, I thought to myself that I should just scrap it. Explain the campaign setting to the players at session 0, then let them decide where in the world they want to play, instead of forcing the Free Concord Civil War on them. What to do?

I want to learn about ways you make combat interesting and reward tactical creativity!

I’ve been playing D&D on and off for about 40 years and have experience with every edition from 1st through 5th. I enjoy the game from both sides of the screen and have DM’d several campaigns over the years, usually long-form stories with a strong group focus. I’m always interested in trying other systems, though D&D tends to be the easiest way to find a consistent group. I strongly prefer in-person play, but I’ve also done long-term online games, including a three-year Curse of Strahd campaign as a player. For me, the best games are collaborative, respectful, and built around players who show up ready to tell a story together. I’m in the early planning stages of an in-person D&D 5e (2024) game starting early next year and starting to look for players. I just wrapped up The GM’s Handbook of Collaborative Campaign Design and am about to read The Handbook of Proactive Roleplaying. Yes, I know that’s backwards. Story of my life.