So Saturday saw my first session zero as a DM.

The players had before hand been given the one sheet about the campaign, albeit digitally (my post about it is here).

I’d created a cheat sheet for creating a character in D&D 5e. Which I had printed out earlier in the week. Sadly when I was printing out that, I should have also printed out blank character sheets. Something I didn’t think about until I was on my way to the session zero. Luckily Jonathan was able to save the day on that front.

Why did I want to go “old school” instead of using something like D&D Beyond which does all the heavy lifting for you?

I don’t mind tools like that, that make life easier. But before you start using one of them I think you need to at least create one character the traditional way. I think it gives a better understanding of the character sheet and how the various stats, modifiers etc on the character sheet are related to each other.

Also a benefit of doing it this way doesn’t rely on everyone having a laptop,tablet or smart phone to access their character. Or everyone has that stuff, or is comfortable using it. Plus a mobile is not the ideal device to use.

I did have to poo poo a couple of character choices. No goblin characters, and there was something to do with a ranger, that was detailed online (I think the person was looking at D&D Beyond). I had to remind them of the line from the one sheet that pointed to what was valid for our campaign. If it wasn’t in one of the books listed, they couldn’t have it.

There are a couple of reasons for this. Financial overhead for players. I know eventually I’ll pick up Volo’s Guide to Monsters and Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. And if I listed them as also valid some may feel they would have to purchase them as well. That’s a pressure that I didn’t want the players to have. And this goes double for D&D Beyond. I know there is a free part to it. But access to the majority of stuff costs.

Another reason is simplicity. The Players Guide can seem overwhelming as it is. I know I added in the Swordcoast too for players to use if they wished. But that added a little more to consider. But not a big overhead. Juggling between these two will be bad enough I think for new players, adding in more books would just be too confusing I think.

I really should have looked up advice on running a session zero. I was there giving advice when needed. Early on I tried to get people to talk about their character, so at least they had an idea what others were going for. That might have influenced their decision on what to play. I wasn’t going to say “oh you need a healer, fighter, etc”. If at the end of this they all had decided to play bards then that’s the decision we would have lived with, and I’d adjust the campaign to cater for that. Which makes it sound like I have it all planned out. I don’t. I’m working on the initial dungeon, and that is the extent of the planning so far.

But I feel I could have run the session better.

I think the cheat sheets helped.

I should have supported the usual suspect better in creating his character. I should have noticed earlier that he was struggling. Which is a major failing on my behalf. I did keep checking in during the session, and each time I was told they were fine.

At the end I took photos of the character sheets. So there are copies if things get lost between now and our first session. Plus I can pull off the info I need for my session prep.

So my first session zero I think I’d grade could do better.