Session Zero Topics

Summary

My GM style is loosey-goosey (as described by Mike Shea from Sly Flourish), or as others might call it, "rulings over rules." This means that I will follow the rules as closely as possible, but I am flexible enough to come up with rulings on the spot rather than stop the session to flip through a rulebook.

I also try to accommodate new players as best as possible—and even experienced players—when trying to understand how things work, what happened in the last session, and what the PCs already know about the situation at hand. For reference, watch this episode of Dungeons and Drag Queens and the way Brennan Lee Mulligan helps the players; that's the good stuff.

In the following sections, I describe my approach to several aspects of the game.

Safety Tools

Lines and Veils

"Lines & Veils" is a tabletop role-playing game safety tool designed to establish boundaries and ensure player comfort. "Lines" are absolute limits, representing topics or themes that players do not want included in the game at all, such as graphic violence or sexual assault. "Veils" are elements that players are okay with including but prefer to handle off-screen or fade to black, such as romantic encounters or intense gore. By openly discussing and agreeing upon these boundaries before gameplay, "Lines & Veils" promotes a safer, more inclusive gaming environment where all participants feel respected and comfortable.

For more information, click here.

X-Card

The X-Card is a technique for moderating content while playing tabletop role-playing games, also known as a safety tool. Gameplay pauses when a player touches a card marked with an X, enabling the group to remove any uncomfortable material from the narrative and/or address players' mental and emotional wellbeing.

For more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Card

Dice Rolls

I like to use the GM screen for most of my dice rolls but might roll them in the open depending on the occasion, especially if I want to favour suspense over surprise on the scene.

Also, I sometimes will reveal the Armour Class of a foe or the Difficulty Class of a check. Even though some might argue that it breaks the immersion, it also serves as another way to favour suspense and create tension.

Advantage from Background & Tools

Backgrounds and toolkit proficiencies can provide advantage if the player describes their influence over the thing they're trying to achieve. Proficiencies in certain skills, however, already have their proficiency bonus applied, let's not stack them. 😉

Cinematic Advantage (Rule of Cool)

Want to have an advantage on an attack roll? Try adding some flourish to it!

When a player describes their attack and movement with cinematic flourish, I might ask for an associated skill check (like Acrobatics or Athletics). A successful check will then grant advantage on the attack roll. Some examples:

• The fighter leaps from the balcony, swings from the chandelier, and lands on the back of the ogre, plunging their sword onto the creature's back.
• The rogue steps onto a chair, then the table, and bounces off the wall, stabbing the thug with their daggers.

Passive Scores Matter

The three passive scores (Perception, Investigation, and Insight) will be used not only in passive checks but also as a floor for active ones. Even though the 2014 D&D rules don't state it plainly, Jeremy Crawford has spoken about this and stated that this is the intended use of these scores.

This means that if a PC has a Passive Perception of 16, any active Perception rolls that are lower than that are discarded, and the passive score is used.

For more on this, check this article out.

Hidden Doors and Traps

When trying to detect hidden things, I will ask for a Wisdom (Perception) check, which will show the thing in some way. In order to analyze it, I will ask for an Intelligence (Investigation) check. For example:

A Wisdom (Perception) check reveals a secret door. An Intelligence (Investigation) check might then determine how its locking mechanism works. From there, you might need a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to pick the lock or an Intelligence (Arcana) check to dispel a magical ward on it.

The same applies to traps: Perception will reveal them, Investigation to understand how they work and how to disarm them.

An important note: If there's no time pressure or risk involved, there's no need to make a check to find a trap or hidden door; you just find it after some time has passed.

Fail Forward over Fumbles

Critical fumbles have been a staple of TTRPGs for a while now, but even though they can be fun and create some memorable moments, several Nat 1s in the same session can bring the morale down.

To address this, I tend to favor failing forward over fumbles. This means to actually stay in the fiction: the PCs are adventurers with proficiency in several skills, and sometimes it doesn't make sense for them to fail miserably.

A good example was given by Matt Colville:

The barbarian leaps over a chasm but fails. Instead of dropping to their certain death, they manage to grab onto the chasm wall, but they're not safe yet.

They spot a root dangling from the ledge above. They try to reach it, but fail again. This time, they grab the root, but it was not firmly rooted, and it starts to pull loose from the wall.

The barbarian now tries to climb faster than the root is detaching, and they fail again! This means that they scramble to the top of the ledge, only to realize that they dropped their shield in the process.

Tactical vs Theatre of the Mind Combat

Combat is one of the foundations of D&D since the first edition, and so are battle maps. I suppose everyone comes to the table thinking of using miniatures and a gridded map, which is fair. I also enjoy it and have several digital resources for it (and a few physical).

But I'm also open to using Theatre of the Mind or Zone Based combats in smaller encounters. They are faster to set up and to run, and also foster the group's collective imagination.

Alternatives to Heroic Inspiration

In my experience, the Heroic Inspiration mechanic has never really worked. Either I would forget to award it or my players would forget they have it and would never use it. There are a few alternatives from other 5e systems that I would like to try:

Tales of the Valiant's Luck System:

• Every time a character misses an attack roll or fails a saving throw, they gain one luck point.
• They can only hold up to five luck points. If they gain a sixth luck point, they roll 1d4, and that's how many luck points they have now.
• They can spend one luck point to get +1 to a d20 roll after they roll, but before the outcome is determined.
• They can spend three luck points to re-roll a d20 roll (this includes ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws).

Bob Worldbuilder's Hero Coins:

• Give every player 1 Hero Coin at the beginning of the session.
• Players can earn more Hero Coins by doing epic things, like helping their allies.
• Any player can spend Hero Coins to re-roll an attack, ability check, or saving throw. They must use the new roll.
• Players can exchange 5 Hero Coins for 1 Big Coin.
• Players can exchange 1 Big Coin for an automatic success.
• Players can exchange 5 Hero Coins for 1 GM re-roll.
• Players must spend all Hero Coins by the end of the session, or lose them.

Character Death

I am not an adversarial DM; I root for the player characters and I want the group to succeed. However, that doesn't mean I keep the training wheels on, not at all. I believe the best way to make the game fun is to properly challenge the party, and that means death is a real possibility.

That being said, I know the impact a character's death can have on a player, so I also try to be mindful about it. I will communicate with the group if they are entering a particularly high-stakes or deadly situation to set expectations.

The Quantum Proficiencies

TBD

Character at the table vs. on the sheet

I don't care about what's on your character sheet; I do care about how you play your character.

Alignment, personality traits, bonds, etc. I won't hold you accountable to any of those; what matters are your PC's actions.

I will, however, reach out to players if they start to "deviate" too much from their character sheet, just to make sure that they're aware of the fact and maybe they want to update the character sheet to reflect how their character actually behaves.