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I'm assisting my GM in how to run a session 0 for his next campaign. I've never needed to to run a Session 0 cause my players always have an idea as to what/how they want to play. My only question to them is do you wanna be heroes or villains? And I run with thier desires.
My alternate gaming group don't necessarily build off each other's weakness/or strengths and they don't really adapt to the party. So we really need a session 0 and I'm wondering if there is maybe a guideline on how to run one, like what questions to ask players and about party building not just character building. I always end up in the position of party glue to bridge the gaps in the party so the GM can build the adventure.
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Here are a few questions to ask each of them in private
1) what kind of person is your character?(List basic personality types but don't make the list short or too long)
2) how do they feel about people who are (give the same list)
3) Parents alive? Have siblings? Other family?
4) defining moment in the characters personal history
(This list will literally set them on view points from each other (don't let them know that the other pcs are pcs, make treat em like npcs)
take said list (especially questions 4 and 5) see if any could be related and what moments are workable together
then make the loose ends wave in with the rest
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When I have run session zeros I normally use the following order.
Outline my goals/aims/desires for the campaign.
Tell my players my table/house rules.
Tell my players the character creation rules.
Hand it over to them to make characters together whilst I sit back as a resource to be used.
Generally my players form party roles on their own, discuss overlaps and share our skills so no one steps on anyone's toes too much.
You could try asking them questions like "what will your reactions be when you encounter x" or "you've come to a room with a possible trap, what will you do?" and give them some scenarios to think through and problem solve as a group.
Find out who wants to the the loot person to record and divvy it up, who wants to make notes about NPCs for the group etc. try and think of ways where you can get them to talk to each other and discuss things they can do to help one another.
Hopefully this help, not sure if it's exactly what you were looking for however.
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I'm still figuring this out- the idea of a session 0 is a somewhat novel concept to me as a GM - I cover most of the busy work of telling the players rules and background through roll20 forums, but something that gets lost is the intertwining of characters so that they're a natural part of the world and so that the party is more than a bunch of random people who just happen to be traveling together.
For me then, the most important thing to cover in a Session 0 is Relationships.
- Relationship of the character to the world. Where the character came from, noteworthy relationships with NPCs/factions, etc.
- Relationship of the character to other PCs. Rivalries, shared backstories, and the like make characters much more interesting.
I'm still figuring out how to present this in a way that subtly guides the players to finding inspiration as opposed to saying "so, guys, where do your characters come from" (and similar questions) and getting blank looks back.
The other super important thing I try to get my players to think about is Motivation. It's such a small thing to have a solid, specific motivation, and it does so much for RP.
I need to run a FATE game, I think, lol.
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My Campaign started a month ago and had the PC's start out as Commoners. It was quite fun, the PC's came up with background stories while playing and it allowed them to flesh out their characters as we went along.
Obviously tactics changed as far as combat, and the risk of death was high, but I think that to this day, it has made the PC's appreciate their character more, getting to level 1 and earning a class is much more interesting then just handing it to them.
I know he was thinking about the starting us a commoners but we have at least 1 stubborn player that may not fly with and another player that is like an old dog and learning commoner then learning level 1 may over complicate things. Writing how she got to level is no problem for her though she's super creative and builds wonderful backstories. She wrote me novella on her evil kitsune bard that wants to rule world.
Seriously though, all the things to discuss are super helpful, I read a thread on session 0's written in February and I couldn't glean as much information on what I wanted to know about.
Here is my take on everything. (I'm the GM Dolly is talking about.) My current game has 4 players of different experience of the game. One of them (Player 1) is a head strong individual that generally likes to make murder hobo characters that needs 3 things, the ability to fly, know everything about anything, and the ability to speak any language.
Next we have Dolly (Player 2). Experienced player, help GM when possible.
Player 3 is relatively new, extremely creative, still kind of learning the rules of the game and is constantly butting heads with player 1.
Finally player 4. Loves to roll random characters in order to see what she gets and try to have fun with what the dice present her.
We need session 0 pretty badly because player 1 generally breaks the games he's in by making rediculas characters for damage and almost inconsistant back stories and then causes trouble to the other players. He is also for most part sarcastic and unenthusiastic when it comes to the surprises and options offered by the GM. This player in particular is the reason for session 0.
dot
An elaboration on Garion Beckett's post in the same order he used:
Player 1: likes to build badasses. Isn't happy with playing any character that isn't a half-elf wizard for extended campaigns will only role play with npcs/pcs that are smart or magical
Player 2: me, I prefer Finesse characters or Charisma based characters, I enjoy playing witty risk-takers. I easily build bonds with the other players and I don't miss sessions.
Player 3: builds characters with in depth backstories and role plays based on her character's experiences. Likes non-standard races and limited or non spell casters
Player 4: builds totally random characters and hopes the party will deal with it. Literally rolls for race, background, personality, class and it's specialties
My current campaign started last spring. I'm trying to remember if we had 3 sessions 0 or just 2 ...
I've never played a successful campaign without first laying some proper groundwork. I haven't had that much of a stable gaming group (but rather a pretty large number of gamers, alternating in ever-new constellations). And I've never had a specific game that I've played countless of times in. Those things increases the necessity of a session 0.
I list things that a session 0 should cover, ordered from "big to small". Early decisions influences later ones, so take the important stuff first. But the list is not a very rigid one, sometimes you'll go back-and-forth.
*The pitch. What's the campaign about? What gaming system is used? Maybe Pathfinder isn't right for what we want this time ... Most likely, the prospective GM has a gaming system and a (possible pretty strong) idea for what's the campaign's about. But the players need to be brought on board. Sometimes, the GM wants to snowball or brainstorm campaign concepts with the players, sometimes the GM has several ideas an want the players to choose.
A answer to "What's the campaign about?" can be "a retro-influenced dungeon-crawling game with murder-hobo characters" or "high-paced, black-and-white high-fantasy where the characters are prophesied heroes fighting an evil dragon-empire".
Here, it might be necessary to talk about gaming format. How often do we meet, will everyone be able to attended every session? You don't want a story-heavy game about close-knit survivors on a deserted island if one player risks missing every third session. A beer-and-pretzel approach where players are more-or-less interchangeable might work better.
*The gaming system. Sure, Pathfinder. But what supplements? Any third party products? House-rules? Talk about how the inevitable rules disputes will be solved (right at the table, postponed to mail after the session?).
*The game world. This is where I needed a second session 0, because the world had to be refined from between the pitch and this point. What does the players need to know? The pitch might have established we wanted a full-out feudal world where the characters aspirer to knighthood, but now we need more. What strong lords are there, which one are the characters going to work for in the beginning?
Players will want to know what enemies will be common (rangers pick favourites!), what gods there are to worship, how common spell-caster NPCs are, if every village has a tavern (a resounding NO! if the GM is a history buff), how magical items can be traded.
*The characters. Player characters should always be made, at least partially, as a collaborative effort. Build a party, not a rag-tag band of weirdos (even if you want a rag-tag band, you'll probably better of making it together). The first rules conflicts might arise here already, and any new players need help with a system as complex as Pathfinder. It's often better if the characters know each other before the first adventure, so talk about that.
I think what Garion wants to know is how to build a party in session 0 without putting too many restrictions on creative characters?
How can he bridge the gaps between Player 1 and Player 3 without having to rely on me to be the adhesive?
How can he persuade PCs to join forces with new characters in the event one of us dies or requires a hiatus? (Player 4 had some personal issues that required several months to clear, and I mentioned that I often play witty risk-takers right?)
I think what Garion wants to know is how to build a party in session 0 without putting too many restrictions on creative characters?
How can he bridge the gaps between Player 1 and Player 3 without having to rely on me to be the adhesive?
How can he persuade PCs to join forces with new characters in the event one of us dies or requires a hiatus? (Player 4 had some personal issues that required several months to clear, and I mentioned that I often play witty risk-takers right?)
Am I right to understand that Garion Beckett is the GM you're assisting, FoolNamedFreedom?
Here's Garions post:
Here is my take on everything. (I'm the GM Dolly is talking about.) My current game has 4 players of different experience of the game. One of them (Player 1) is a head strong individual that generally likes to make murder hobo characters that needs 3 things, the ability to fly, know everything about anything, and the ability to speak any language.
Next we have Dolly (Player 2). Experienced player, help GM when possible.
Player 3 is relatively new, extremely creative, still kind of learning the rules of the game and is constantly butting heads with player 1.
Finally player 4. Loves to roll random characters in order to see what she gets and try to have fun with what the dice present her.
We need session 0 pretty badly because player 1 generally breaks the games he's in by making rediculas characters for damage and almost inconsistant back stories and then causes trouble to the other players. He is also for most part sarcastic and unenthusiastic when it comes to the surprises and options offered by the GM. This player in particular is the reason for session 0.
I'd love for you to elaborate on why player 1 and 3 are constantly in a struggle. I'm guessing the creative, perhaps story-focused approach of 3 doesn’t go down well with 1, who focuses on PC survival by a kill-first-ask-later style, perhaps a bit of meta-gaming and (in my mind) tedious caution looking for traps.
Maybe one of them will have to change play-style. It's not always possible to please everyone. I'd rather try to change the old, veteran player 1 rather than squish the enthusiasm of a beginner. And I'd be open about it with player 1. »For this campaign, I don't want the same old we always play. I'm not going to spring traps on the party and I want my NPCs to not get stabbed all the time. So, could you tone down the murder-hobo style and perhaps play a loftier, more trusty character who takes risks? I'll promise it won't bite you in the ass«.
I see two possibilities with player 1. Either he/she really likes to murder things. For player 1, this might be the point of sitting down at a gaming table. Which is fine, albeit a bit problematic if the rest of the group wants something different. And maybe there's not much to do.
But there's an alternative. Maybe player 1 has a murder-hobo play-style because of experience, he/she has learned to play this way because every time some played risky, their PC died of a foul GM trap. If that's the case, it might be possible to change this attitude. Start by rewarding a risky, trusting and creative play-style. Every crazy antics of player 3 works out, leading first to complications, but fun ones, and then to results. And every time player 1 takes charge with the 10-ft pole, have it end slightly bad. And tell the players what you're up to - that the intention is to favour play styles, not players.
If there's no changing ones style, compromise. In pathfinder, this could actually be rather easy. Let murder-hoboism rule when in dungeons, and every other time (so, say 50-50 game time) you adopt a different approach, more akin to how player 3 functions.
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As for creating PCs that work together: screw creative freedom. Or rather, require the players to explain why their wacky characters will work in the party.
The "accepting a new PC to the party"-conundrum should be a non-issue. And you should say this to every player. »If you don't work together so we can play this adventure I've prepared, there is no game.« Anyone who fundamentally don't grasp this concept isn't actually worth playing with. No amount of in-game considerations can be allowed to go against the fact that I, as a GM, spend most of my free time the last 3 weeks to prepare this session.
However, you can help to mitigate. People don't want their suspension of belief broken too often.
At the beginning of the campaign (in the pitch, as I mentioned above), create a common cause. Make the party part of an organisation of some kind. In my second-last Pathfinder campaign, the PCs where part of a rebellion working to reinstate the true queen. If a new PC was introduced they were part of the same rebellion from the start.
If one player creates some wacky character that doesn't seem to function with the cause and party, ask that player to explain how it will work.
Say your the members of your party all have a divine symbol on their bodies, marking them as participants in fulfilling an old prophesy of a glorious elf-dwarf alliance. And one player wants to play a ratfolk alchemist who don't believe in prophesies and want to stay in her lab. Well, maybe that can still work. It can be fun to play a reluctant adventurer, but you have to handle the meta-gaming of keeping the party together and moving forward in the adventure - you can have a character constantly muttering about wanting to go home, while still actually going along. And if the player explains it'll work this way, fine.
Because, restrictions in the game world doesn’t work. You don't get a coherent party by requiring everyone to choose among the core races and only have non-evil alignments. A player who thrives on shenanigans will circumvent those restrictions anyway. This is a player issue, and should be handled as such.
(Of course, you can have restrictions on races, classes etc. for story-purposes. Maybe elf always are evil non-adventurers in this campaign! And that's fine. Sometimes it limits creativity, but creativity grows stronger when it's bound and contained.)
Brainstorm.
As the GM you just need to throw out settings, ideas and concepts you want. Let players stew their ideas together. As ideas are thrown out be sure to make notes and get everyone's input as to what they want. Don't be afraid to ask about their favourite books, movies and video games for inspiration and as a visual aid for what you're looking for.
> What sort of setting do you like?
Victorian
Egyptian
Aztec jungle
> Okay great, what sort of mood?
Political intrigue
Ancient mysteries
Dangerous adventures
> Who will you all be?
We all attended the same academy
We're all looking for the same artefact
We are chasing a rival who swindled us
> Where do you start?
In a tavern
A basement laboratory
On a boat
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Actually, before you do all of this there's some other stuff you might want to get down pat, because no matter how amazing your session 0 is it won't go any further without planning.
> What day and time is best for everyone?
Tuesday at 6pm
> How long can people commit to each session?
Three hours
> Food? Drink?
I'll order some pizza.
> What play space do we have? Who can bring the equipment or stationary needed to play?
I've got extra dice
I can bring miniatures
I've got a grid map with dry erase markers
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Another thing that you should clarify is the nitty-gritty details of the game, stuff like
> These are the house rules I use, do you have any suggestions?
Critical failures are in
Bonus teamwork feats
Banned elves because they're the worst
> What sort of content are people willing to put up with?
Murder?
Torture?
Rape?
Child abuse?
Gnome bard NPC who follows you around making dad jokes?
> What books are you using, what method of making characters do you want to use?
Core and Advanced only. Roll 3d6+3 and put them where ever you like
Once you've decided all of this it's time to start making up characters! Maybe even do a test run against some goblins just to see how comfortable players are with their creations.
I don't ever remember doing a session zero. Back in 3.0 days when we didn't have all the handy internet tools we'd still all jave a good idea of what we wanted to do before the first session. We'd often write up our characters there but that was mostly for the most rule savvy to help out the least, we'd be done in no time and would begin the campaign immediately after.
Now? Email, skype, discord, google drive, dropbox, etc. make talking and sharing a breeze even if we don't really have a chance to meet in person outisde of sessions much anymore.
Granted, our groups have never really went for cohesive parties with shared backgrounds though, railroading can cover for that a lot and after a few adventures those can act as a bind themselves. Players have had no issues with me filling in blanks from their backstories to add more connections either, thus far.