Tavern Talks

Adam: Well met weary travelers
and welcome to the cozy corner of

the multiverse we call home our
very own Tavern talks podcast.

I'm Adam and joining me at the
tavern is always the strong in

character But weak in height Zac,

Zac: Yes, indeed!

Pull up a chair, grab a tankard of
your favorite beverage, and let's

embark on a journey through the
realms of Dungeons and Dragons.

Adam: Today around our hearth.

Fire is a blaze with the
warmth of anticipation as we

gather for a special session.

Actually, our first session,
a session zero, if you will,

Zac: Ah, Session Zero.

The heart and soul of any great adventure.

Picture this.

You walk through the creaking
door of our digital tavern.

The smell of ale and the hum
of excited voices in the air.

You're about to embark on a
journey of epic proportions.

Adam: That's right, Zac.

Our tankards are raised high.

Not only to toast the beginning of a new
campaign, but to delve into the art of

crafting those crucial first moments.

In this cozy corner of the tavern, we're
talking about the magic that happens

before the first roll of the dice.

The secrets shared before the
first dragon is ever slayed.

We're talking about Session Zero.

Zac: So whether you're a seasoned dungeon
master seeking new tells or a fresh

faced adventurer about to roll your
first character, this is the place to be.

Adam: So join us, fellow patrons, as we
gather around the table, share stories,

and unravel the mysteries of crafting
that perfect start to your D& D campaign.

The hearth is warm, the ale be
flowing, and the adventure awaits.

Zac: To session zero and
the tells yet to be woven.

Welcome to Tavern Talks Podcast.

Adam: The excitement of Session Zero
that brings to new players is something

I enjoy so much, especially either
they're veteran players that played

before and they got to level 17 or 20.

May you all get to level 20 one day

Zac: Many years to come.

Adam: yes,

but at the end of it, if you start a
Session Zero, It brings such a great

foundation because they start from the
beginning, whether it be level one.

or a level five campaign,
wherever you decide to start.

Session zero is the foundation
to build upon your campaign.

This is your chance as a dungeon master
to explain to your players expectations,

how many days a week we're playing.

If it's bi weekly, weekly, monthly,
how, however works for you, you,

as the dungeon master gets to set
the example of, Hey, I'm available

this day, because without you.

The story doesn't go anywhere.

It's just stuck in the mud.

So remember as a DM, if you're out there,
you set the example and you set the times

and the foundations that work with you.

Also, within Session Zero, you get to
create characters, you get to introduce

the world to your characters, and probably
the most important thing that I think as

a veteran DM, you get to set the rules in
place for your world, because remember,

and we will emphasize this throughout
the entirety of this podcast, that you're

the Dungeon Master, You're god, you set

the example of what it is and
what works for you and what doesn't

work for you and it's your world.

You get to decide how it
sees fit, how it works.

If something that you don't agree with,
like in my personal experience, I don't

agree with how reviving works for players.

I think it's too easy.

And you can bring back anybody.

So I set the example of when
you're dead, you're dead.

Unless some celestial being comes
down and grants immunity to you.

Wish does not bring back

somebody.

I just don't agree with it.

And that's another
segment we can touch on.

Not in session zero, but
certain rules and aspects.

But, at the end of the day,
you're the dungeon master.

And that's one example that I give to you.

That sets the example.

You get to control how you see fit in
this world and how it works to your

players advantages and disadvantages
And if you're honest with them, they'll

be honest with you as a new DM Zac, you
are getting introduced to this world.

This is your first Session Zero.

How do you want Session Zero to work
as a player, because you've been a

player, but as a DM, how do you see
yourself setting up your Session Zero?

Zac: Session zero to me, I feel
like that's the opportunity

to understand your players for
them to understand you kind of.

Meeting on a common middle ground per
se yes, a lot of people want to jump

right into world building, character
building those things of nature, but

really at the end of the day, session
zero is about establishing boundaries

with each other really getting to know.

Who you are as a DM and who your
players are Or using you as an

example, you don't like how, you know,
revives used and whatnot , and other

DMs might like revivify a little bit
more, more so than the average bear.

Hey, look, you know, to each their own,

at the end of the day , it doesn't
necessarily dictate it through and

through, but it definitely gives
you an idea of where it's going.

Is this going to be a, you know, a super
Mario bros kind of world, or is this going

to be a Lord of the Rings type of world?

And I'm talking about
the hard Tolkien novel.

So it really establishes what you're
wanting . And I guess that kind of

leads into the, Next thing I kind of
want to talk about is the communication

between the players and the DM itself.

Adam: Yeah if you could expand upon that
and how you see the communication working

out for you as a new DM and what you
expect from us as players, that would be

a great example for anybody that's new out
there listening of how to go about Session

Zero and what to set expectations for new

players.

Zac: Right.

At the end of the day, , this is going
to be a fantasy world and fantasy worlds,

regardless of how happy or sad you make
them are going to have realistic elements.

They're going to have elements
that are not so easy to talk about.

So I think the thing is to have the
importance of communication between

your players and yourself as the DM.

You need to, Really get some
trust building exercises in there.

And I'm not saying this is an icebreaker
between you and your players, but you do

need to understand where their boundaries
lie, what they're comfortable with.

You know, I, I've watched
a lot of other DMs.

Some people do consent forms.

I mean, just talking about
the comfortability of

what topics are discussed.

I mean, in high fantasy realms, you
do have things as of other races are

enslaved or, you know Other races might
have, stereotypes built against them or

Adam: they're looked down on in societies

Zac: correct,

Adam: and different segments
of society may have different

classes in their own hierarchy

They

Zac: kind of have caste systems.

Adam: Mm-Hmm.

Zac: in essence.

And you wanna make sure that your
players are comfortable with that.

They, they, you know.

Even though this is something of fantasy
we're talking about, there's, you

know, also connections to real world.

And we want to make sure that our
players are comfortable, that everybody

can have a good time within this.

And, and that's not always the case.

You're not always going to have that in
every campaign, but just in, in certain

ones where you decide to go to the more
you know, Tolkien-esque , I know I

keep pilling on him, but you know, D
and D did come from when you want to

go toward a more dark fantasy element,
that's something you need to establish.

And if you want to go towards a
lighter element, you know, talk

about what you are going to do.

The boundaries you are going to set.

You know, I think that if you.

Mislead your players.

It can come to misaligned
expectations from them.

I think that you do need to establish a
world where certain things are in order.

After all, you are the dm, but you know,
at the end of the day, you also wanna

listen to your players to an extent.

It has to blend.

Adam: You've created a
world as a Dungeon Master.

You want to see it.

become alive.

You have this idea of how it works.

You've created factions, empires,
societies, hamlets, what be.

You've had created monsters inside.

You have the evil guy or evil
woman, however you see fit in the

world of the BBEG at the end of it.

You, you have that , as knowledge
already during the , session zero.

So you have to lay some ground rules
with them and if they're not comfortable

with it, this is their chance to speak
up because when you introduce elements of

slavery or enslavement in some capacity
with either goblins or hobgoblins or,

you know, , certain races are looked
down upon like tieflings and that's

just lore in Dungeons and Dragons.

So you got to explain to them if you
have those elements in the campaign

to explain to them that these are
These are backed by certain elements

in the world that you have created

With that being said if your players are
not comfortable with it This is their

opportunity to talk to you about their
not comfortable because you haven't

even started creating the characters.

You haven't even started even
introducing the world beyond.

So as a veteran DM, your initial,
Playthrough of introducing this world

as you start with a 30, 000 foot view
for them And then you kind of break it

down in the area that they're gonna be
at and what kind of environment they're

fixing to go Into that way the players
kind of know ahead of time where their

character fits into the world around.

Zac: Right?

Adam: And you don't want to go
into this bringing up something

that wasn't addressed Beforehand.

Zac: Right.

Adam: That's always a big mistake
is you get 10, 15 sessions down the

line and something pops up and the
characters are just so shocked by it.

That, Oh crap.

I missed that in the sessions here.

I should have mentioned that.

That's a moment as a DM where I've
made many mistakes that way, but how

you handle those and we'll get to that
in a later podcast episode is how to

handle those shock factors and how to.

appropriately control the table as
the dungeon master, because at the

end of the day, again, you're God,
you can decide how it goes, but in

session zero, you also need to be
listening to the players because they,

they're in your world living in it.

Zac: Right.

And, and kind of going off the, you're
God thing, even gods need prayers.

And, and essentially the players
are going to be those prayers.

We're going to be the ones explaining
to the DM, Hey, this is what, you We're

comfortable with this being a storyline.

We're not comfortable with this.

, is there any way we can
meet on a middle ground?

Is there any way we can alter this?

If you're with a, essentially a green
flag, DM not someone who's going to just

bend over backwards to do your every will,
but someone who's willing to meet in the

middle with you, who's willing to engage
with you So the sake that everybody can

have a good time, because at the end of
the day, that's what we play D& D for.

, if you can find , that
middle ground, you'll be set.

You know, a lot of times Dungeon
Masters like to, and I've been

guilty of this many a time.

We like to talk.

We like to be the ones in control,
but really session zero is going to

be the one where you let the players
control a lot of the playing field.

You're going to try to get as much
feedback rather than talk as the

quote unquote leader of this game.

And we're going to be the ones to
listen especially during session

zero, because this is where
most of our ideas are sparked.

Adam could probably tell you
about one of our recent little.

Debacles that, you know, we have a lot
of characters that were introduced in

a session zero , and kind of built the
foundation of one of our later campaigns,

you know, so it's a lot of collaboration
between both the DM and the players.

And I think that's something that
needs to be explored a little bit

more you know, , in terms of players
needing to speak up on something.

If I can reinforce anything is
that we're already playing D and D.

Anything you say is
going to be listened to.

Okay.

You can't say something so weird
that it's going to get you outcasted

.
We're all nerds here
at the end of the day.

That's, that's what we're here for.

We're here.

Adam: Ive heard it

all, folks.

Zac: We've heard literally everything.

So at the end of the day,
feel comfortable with your DM.

Your DM needs to feel
comfortable with the players.

That's going to be your biggest fit.

Adam: I think

think as a big aspect is

You got to make sure as the DM that you're
as open to the communication as possible.

I've had some DMs in the past, and I've
been doing this for 10 plus years now,

that have really just railroaded players
into things that people were uncomfortable

with, but they were afraid to speak up.

So as a DM, and as a new DM to you,
Zac, when you're introducing Session

Zero to a campaign, how You need to be
open for input from the characters and

I think I do that with y'all's this
campaign that I'm going on Off of that.

We're currently in is I talked to you
Madeline and Morgan a lot About how

the session went if everything was
okay, and that's every session that

we have good session Was it good?

This is this is what you expected and
I even do that throughout the campaign

at certain junctions just to make sure
I'm entertaining y'all because it's

an entertainment piece for y'all to
live in the world that I've created

or you're going through a book and
you've lived in the world that they've

created but it's that expectation that
you set as well as being open to from

input from the players themselves of
tweaking things of hey I want my story

to go kind of this way is that possible

And

That brings us to the next segment,
which is collaborating the world around

you is, this is probably, I think, as
a session zero, other than creating the

characters is the second most important
aspect of Dungeons and Dragons is,

yes, you as the DM that's starting out
the Has created this world around you.

You know how you want it to go.

You know how you want the storyline
to go, but what enhances the story

the most is the characters because
the characters themselves can come

up with some great backstories and
some great world building for you.

Take the advice from your characters.

They do the world building for you.

You just come up with some
of the names around it.

And it ends up working out beautifully.

You may have a pathway and you may have
a end goal for your campaign, whether

it be a one year campaign up to level 10
or a five year campaign up to level 20.

You as the DM know usually how
long those things can take.

But the best thing is the characters
themselves world build around that,

and I love that about session zero
as well as later in the sessions when

certain story aspects haven't played
out yet, but you know, they're going

to because the player itself wrote six
paragraphs worth of of lore for his

character that's lived for 40 years.

He has 40 years of story to tell, but
having that lore built into your already

campaign is just beautiful and use it.

Use it as a DM because you cannot
sit there and create everything.

You can't sit there and create every
single scenario that's going to happen.

The characters create a lot
of things and they just don't

realize it how it weaves in.

You as the dungeon master, which we're
also called game masters and story

weavers, Are the ones that weave this
world around it to make it feel real.

Zac: Yeah, and I, I think to go off of
that, I don't think Either of us have ever

read a story or watched a movie where the
main character was pretty damn boring.

I mean, honestly, the characters
make the story as much as the

world around it makes the story.

You know, and I think, Adam, where
you're going at with that is that, Using

what we've done in our campaign as an
example you know, I've given Bo six or

seven paragraphs of backstory before.

And I think because it's not.

Yes, , you have created
a story for us to follow,

but like you said, we have
pathways to take in that story.

Now, if we were to keep it John and
Jane Doe or Mellow Yellow and they

do nothing exciting their whole
lives, they just randomly appeared.

there's no excitement with that for you.

You

Adam: You never want to give a quest a
point a and then not find anything along

the way, point A and then after they
finish the quest, come back to point A.

Zac: Exactly.

Adam: You gotta leave nuggets.

Zac: want A1 steak sauce, A2
as a different path, and A3 as

Adam: You,

you're sitting there at a restaurant,

And you want a one steak sauce, and then
the waiter's like, we we're outta a one.

And then you're like, fine.

Heins 57.

And you're

like,

Crap, do

do I really want Heinz 57 on my steak?

And you think about it and you're
like, I don't want the steak anymore.

I want the pork chop.

And then with Heinz 57, that's
exactly how quests work in D& D.

Zac: Yeah, I mean, it's the same thing.

It's like, you know, ordering
a salad without any dressing.

You really don't want it
at the end of the day.

Adam: No,

No you got to have the dressing.

Zac: can't.

You gotta have something to go off of,

Adam: And you as the DM are
the salad if you didn't get

that

characters are the dressing
that makes up that salad.

Really

Zac: just.

Amplifying the flavor profile of
what you've got going on already.

Adam: I characters

just set a different perspective.

You have a world to tell.

You know, it's the story and the world
that you create, but at the same time,

you end up basically having a character
create a whole wine of, . Tragic backstory

that usually happens and you're like,
wow, that's a whole nother quest that

They

can either resolve themselves or
if they bypass it, they bypass it

And that's the thing about dnd if
they bypass a quest Don't force it

on them If that you had a legendary
item all built in at the end of it

Don't

force it on them.

They lost their opportunity
But at the same time

If

they went that that pathway and
they chose that path good for

them They went off the beaten path
and or they rolled high enough.

You're gonna have those So as you're
setting up the world building for

it explain to your characters That
you want to hear from them You want

to hear what they have to bring to
the world that you're describing?

You can describe the 30, 000 foot view
the settlements the hamlets the biggest

cities the empires how they You know,
how they're at war or they're at peace

with certain factions and how there's an
underground organization as well to it and

how there's evil afoot growing power of

some

celestial being or some underworld
or underdark character rising to

power that's been gone for centuries.

You can tell them that at
this point in session zero.

But you also want to tell them, I
want to hear what your characters have

been through, what they had to live
through, what they are building off of.

And that takes us into the next
segment, which is the aspect

of characters backstories.

You've built the world around
you, now it's time to listen to

what the characters have to say.

To say about their traumatic backstory
and how they're both their parents

died at the hands of demons or goblins
or hobgoblins or golems or whoever

because everybody in D& D is cliche.

I've seen it all

already

already as a veteran DM.

Tragic backstory.

They all turn into Batman.

They all become vigilantes.

Just, just, that's how it works.

It's fine.

I've been impressed by like six
backstories in my entire life of, as a DM.

Because their backstories were
just a little bit different than

my, both my parents are dead.

So I gotta seek injustice because they
died because of blight or whatever.

Zac: Yeah,

Adam: I'm a little salty
by that, but it's okay.

Zac: I mean it happens

.
Adam: a new DM.

I get it.

There's exciting worlds beyond.

But.

You get around me enough, you'll know
that there's a backstory where there's two

dead parents, at least in every campaign,

Zac: Oh, God, that's sad.

No you know, and kind of , to backpack
off of what you're saying, though, is

that , you know, when you're going into
D& D as a new DM, the entire process can

be and why backstory importance is so
such an advantage to the DM is like you

said prior, it writes the story for you.

You're taking 50, if not more
percent of the workout for yourself.

And not just character,
character backstory.

I think people are limited to what
they can see in a character backstory.

Oh, I don't want to know about
this guy's emotions or this girl's

emotions, what they're going
to do, where they want to go.

Character backstories also can provide
to you multiple locations in your world.

I also think in character backstories and
this is going out to DM listening, Ive

seen it happen where its done good and
I've seen it happen where its done bad.

That is one of the important things
that I always address to my campaign

compatriots and my players when they go
into a session zero starting off, they

have a general idea of what they want.

their character to be and how they came
about and where they come from and and

kind of like an overarching view but they
don't have to have everything figured

out by the end of session zero that is
a way that's where they create their

character they create like their 30, 000
foot view of the character what they've

been through the most crucial aspect is
when that player comes back to you And

says, Hey, I have another 10 pages worth
of backstory that I want to give you.

I know that we're 10 sessions in, but is
it possible for you to read this and try

to integrate it in, they, they gave you
their 30, 000 foot view, but then they

really got hooked , on their full D and D,
you know, drug that they have for D and D.

Oh, it's a drug.

Adam: And.

It ends up becoming such a beautiful
story that they have crafted, and that

not only enhances their attachment
to that character, it also enhances

the world around you, because they
wrote ten pages or six paragraphs,

something in depth for them.

I think that's important as a new DM, and
as a veteran DM, if you, if someone comes

up to you and says, Hey, I have, you know,
this backstory, I know we're into this.

, take it.

Try to weave that story in, because I'm
sure there is four or five quests within

that backstory that that character needs
to get resolved, whether it be right then

and there, whether it's convenient for
'em right then and there, or you put it

in your back pocket and burn it later

Zac: And it's true.

Kind of like how you're talking.

It, if I could encourage any new players
or new DMs to do anything, it's that,

I would encourage them to leave a
little bit of your story open, and I'm

guilty of doing this, and Adam knows
this personally, I'm guilty of writing

most of the story for my character.

I've only recently been able to kind
of be a little bit more lenient on

that and realize that I can't be the
author to every hero and vice versa.

And I do want him, it's his
story as much as it is mine.

And I think players and DMs, respectively,

need to realize that.

And they, that's why
collaboration is such , a massive.

Part of D and D and why these
backstories and connections

can be so vital to a campaign.

It needs to be a common courtesy
and a common respect between both

the DM and the actual player.

Within this, you're going to discover.

Not only character motivations throughout
the long run of the campaign, you're

also going to discover their allies,
their enemies, everything in between.

And, and part of that, you have to leave
essentially to fate, to God, whatever

you want to call your DM, you know,
daddy, whatever at the end of the day.

But you know, really when we're,
we're talking about character

backstories, another thing I
kind of want to go into is.

your hooks of the campaign itself
and what's going to kick it off.

What's going to create
excitement amongst the players.

You know, as a DM, you could do a shock
factor of throwing them right into battle.

First thing.

It's cliche.

Yes, but it's, Ultimately,
you need different ideas to

really engage your players.

Adam's one of the better
ones at doing that, this.

He's been doing it for a long
time, so I'm gonna let him kinda

take the reins on this segment.

Adam: Yeah,

I love a good hook.

You know, the truth, again,
this is harping back to how D&

D was back in the day, you know.

At the end of the day, it's the same
thing of, you know, tragic backstories

and both my parents are dead.

But, , if you start now and you don't
have a good hook, the best hook always

will end up being you meet in a tavern.

I mean, it's a common
place for people to meet.

Zac: It's our name

Adam: and

you can introduce, it
is Tavern Talks podcast.

But at the end of the day, if you
don't can't find a way to weave in

a good hook, the best hook you got
is a tavern and you slowly introduce

the characters as they walk in and
they talk to the barmaid or whatever.

Or they talk to the barkeep and
you have a voice for him and,

and you say, you look lonely
stranger, what's still on your mind?

And he comes up and sits down and,
and different things like that.

They fill the room of the tavern.

Maybe it's a magical tavern where
the music, you know, enhances their

feelings of joy, or maybe the, the
Alcohol is, you know, filled with

some kind of magical, you know,
tastings, different things like that.

You could call it a cat head and
it has a little foaming cat head

on it and it makes you feel, you
know, all warm and fuzzy inside.

Or you can have the swamp bomb and
the swamp bomb makes you feel groggy

and different aspects of that.

And that introduces some elements of
how your characters need to interact

with the elements around them.

The hooks that I like to do portray a

a more

advanced storytelling, I would say.

And that just comes from
years of experience.

Or if you, you know, really think about
how you want your story intertwined.

There's some that you wake up on slabs.

That's from Drunks and Dragons.

Or Greetings Adventures.

Now you wake up on
salves with no memories.

And your characters have no
memories of who they are, what they

did, what they did in the past.

And they gotta figure out
what happened to them.

That's always a good one.

Another one that I've found on
Reddit that I have not yet to

introduce, but I have read others
that have, is you are on a slave ship.

And you are getting carted onto a ship
as a slave and you get put down into

the galley and then you get put down
into prisons and you're shackled and

you got to figure out a way to escape.

And

then

Zac: that's a good one.

Adam: And

provides

a little bit of tension and
combat into the first session.

What I've done for your campaign is.

How fun would it be to be
level 20 at the very beginning?

And you sit there and you're like,
how many times, and you can look

back on yourself, how many times has
a player ever made it to level 20?

Not very often.

Half the time D& D sessions fall off
to the wayside because people can't

meet commitments or anything like that.

And that's no fault of you as a DM.

It's just life.

We all have life and life gets in the way.

There's people that leave
the campaign and you have all

these ideas to get to level 20.

So, I took a pause and was like, Zac,
how it feel to be level 20 starting out?

Zac: And then I made Ichabod Crane
which was I know Ichabod Morningstar,

not crane, not sleepy hollow.

It was it was a tiefling
druid character I made.

And honestly, I'd never had
a level 20 character before.

Hell, I'd barely played a spell caster
before, so I was completely new to it.

And I didn't have much of a backstory
except that, you know, Adam threw

us in this world where we're doing
quests for the king essentially.

And I was like, Oh, okay.

I'm kind of interested.

What's this going to lead into?

Turns out it ends up being the prequel
to our main campaign, and it kind

of sets the bar and standard for
what we're the world we're living

in now, which which is pretty much a
big brother George Orwell dystopian.

Order of Control Nazi Empire, so.

Adam: Exactly.

Exactly.

that.

Zac: You know?

Adam: But having you level 20 and having,
setting up the main storyline of the

quest is something that I think is Is so
funny because you, as the player, your

choices, your decisions, your impact
impacts the current story that I started.

Which

Zac: is arguably one of the highest
decisions you can make in D& D.

You're, you're literally affecting what
your next character, your next story,

your next adventure is going to be.

It.

That hadn't been done before.

I haven't seen it done often.

If any, and it really
threw us in for a loop.

So Maya Madeline and I were
really kind of bamboozled.

We were excited for it, but
we were also terrified in many

ways, which I think is the best.

Adam: And it was a couple of sessions.

I set it up as a one shot, which
if you don't know, if you're a new

DM listening, if you're a veteran,
you know what a one shot is.

I set it up as a, a probably a
two to three session conclusion.

And at that point, it became a nice
one shot and I could take what happened

during that one shot into my whole
world building and it really affected

how the world would would go about and
then they got to introduce their level

one characters after that got said

and

done, but I didn't tell him that was

their effectiveness.

so I kept it under wraps
until they finished.

I was like, okay.

All right,

Here's the world

now that you have created and they're
like, Oh my God, I can't believe I did

that because one of their characters ends
up being the Empress who has taken over

and killed the king on a celebration day

Zac: total bitch

Adam: came back from defeating
a red dragon apparently.

So it's, it's, it's fun to see that
aspect play out and now they're having to

live through their consequences of their

Zac: Essentially, yes.

Adam: And

that's just a hook example that I've
given you, but there's other ways that

I've shown you the tavern, the slave
trade in that sense, or they're just in a

city and thieves come up or they're part
of the thieves guild and they're doing

thieves cants and things of that nature.

And that starts a campaign of, Hey,
you've got to, you've got a quest.

underlying a subplot, basically.

So you can give your characters,
each of them a subplot that they need

to complete by these higher powers,
whether it be a king giving them a

quest or a thieves guild, giving them

a quest, they all

meet up in a tavern and they all
have to end up trusting each other.

But at the end of the day, it could
be ended up being that one item

that each of them needs to go find.

is the item for each of the

guilds

Zac: Right?

And, you know, going back to kind of
a comfortability with your players,

if at a session zero, you cannot get
your players to get to a comfortable

level of finding a backstory.

Do not feel bad for a cop out and saying
amnesia is applied to their character.

I know, I know it's a generic, it's a very
stereotypical thing, but amnesia happens,

it's a thing, especially in D and D.

I mean, good gracious, I could
count on 10 hands how many

times I've seen it happen, but.

Something you have to understand
is the pacing is also up to

your player, not just yourself.

So, you know, if you can't find
a story that's just going to fit

with everyone, that's not a bad
little cop out situation we have.

But that kind of goes into what you
need to have for the session itself.

All right.

Now I guess that kind of brings us back
into a little bit of Our next segment

is addressing your players concerns.

I think this is especially appropriate
because almost tying into the second

segment of what we did is, you know,
you want to establish an expectation and

you want to make sure the comfortability
of your players is addressed.

And so , and not just in terms of ethical
turmoil, I'm talking about in actual

player fluidity, , if we say so common
concerns are like, what if a character

dies too early or certain themes are
too displacing for the story itself?

Well, as a DM, especially as a new DM,
these are certain things where that

communication aspect comes back into play.

You have to make sure you have a safe and
open environment for your players to tell

you or feel comfortable enough to tell
you what they want, what they don't want.

And then you have to kind of find
that middle ground of, of saying,

okay, this does work within our
story or this is too far fetched.

Let's, let's reel it back in to,
to get to something realistic

or not even realistic, but.

To the fact that it works and
weaves in the story where it's not

going to throw every other player
that's here with us out of whack.

You know, you've probably had a little
bit more experience in doing this.

There's a positive impact
to this in terms of, of

addressing concerns

or identifying concerns.

You've done this with me multiple times
in terms of characters I've had, but

If you want to give us a little bit of
insight as to what you've done before.

Adam: before.

Yeah throughout D& D and especially
for Session Zero and throughout your

campaign, it's always important I
kind of like to throw in a about,

30 minute before a session
actually starts maybe every 10 or

so sessions down the line and I
just call it my, my check in time.

We all check into the tavern that we all
gathered at and we just make sure that

everybody is okay with their character.

One, their character development and
two, that the environment that you've

displayed the past 10 sessions, Have
effectively been good to great to

excellent and that gives you a, a real
dynamic between you and the players of

how they feel about how the campaign's
going, how the storylines being driven.

So I would suggest to any new
DM every 5 to 10 sessions,

and this is totally up to you.

It's for you to be able to
check in with your players.

So.

I call it my check in time and I call
it we're checking into the tavern.

Then this is the open forum that
I've created amongst the players and

they can come to me with any comments
concerns or Questions that they

have about the campaign as a whole,
and that lasts usually 30 minutes.

Then we'll get into the session.

I take notes myself.

So I know going forward what to
work on what to, you know, take away

what to improve upon for myself.

That way I know that I can always
learn and that I can always improve.

And if someone's uncomfortable.

And they bring it up to you
in those check in moments.

That's when you can decide if
this needs to be a, a one on one

type of conversation, or if this
needs to be addressed as a whole.

If it needs, if it's something that
affects the whole party, that of

course would be addressed as a whole
party issue, and you need to set

the rules and how the guidelines go.

Now if this one character is having issues
with another, or if you're having internal

conflicts during the sessions, That is
a time to take them away one on one.

You don't want to single them out
in front of everybody, because that

would only breed more and more anger
or distrust or misleading misnomers

that you have throughout the campaign.

And then this will just create distrust
amongst the players and you as the DM.

So go forth with addressing
your players concerns.

It builds the trust because if you're
not addressing any of the concerns that

your players have, you don't know how
they actually feel about the campaign.

You don't know if they feel
that they can be open to you.

But you, in Session Zero, need
to set that foundation and

let them know what to expect.

Out of the campaign out of what
happens when a character dies.

Are you going to have them create
a new character right then?

Are you going to tell them that already
have a character created or are you,

cause you don't want, if your character
dies in session five at the very

beginning, you don't want them to be
all alone creating another character.

You don't want them to sit there for the
next four hours twiddling their thumbs.

So you gotta bring that aspect to it and
prepare them for what's about to happen.

So always have in your back pocket an
extra session that happens within the

same realm, but it doesn't involve
their current characters, so that

way everybody can get to participate.

So that's one of my suggestions
for addressing the player's

concerns off of that.

But, As a DM and going forward, we,
this will always be our final segment

of the podcast, and these are what we
like to call the tools, the toolkit, the

DM toolkit, and with that DM toolkit.

We will be able to give you and provide
resources to you on our discord that

you can come join us and talk to us as
well as it will be linked in some Google

drive files and different websites
will be linked there of where to go,

especially overviewing session zero tools.

And templates, questionnaires,
checklists, all of that, you can

easily Google a lot of those.

And that's perfectly fine.

Googling ones that I really
like is by level one geek.

You can find them as the ultimate
D and D session zero checklist.

So just Google that in.

He goes into a lot of detail.

Of what session zero is, the different
things that you can hit on such as

team building, the schedule, table
expectations, campaign frameworks, and

house rules that you should get into.

And then he goes into further on the full
session checklist PDF that you can get.

File that you can find
on his patreon page.

I highly recommend him his name's bob
the world builder and he does a great

job at Highlighting dnd session zeros
some other resources that you can go find

would be things like reddit And under
the dnd section or dnd next or the dms

guild and you can just type in session
zero checklist and guide They certainly

have all the links and resources there.

The last set one that I want
to mention is on SlyFlourish.

com, which is kind of a funny name for
a rogue that likes to do SlyFlourish.

But he has a running session zero
little PDF file for themselves.

And that ends up be becoming a helpful
tips and tricks that quickly and Invite

a welcoming environment for the checklist
itself, and he has each one session zero

campaign one pager for a furnace salt
marsh, second morning and frostmating

campaigns already out there, and then
he has other written articles on there.

Of the return to of the lazy dungeon
master, the lazy DMS companion and the

lazy DMS workbook that I highly recommend
as a DM itself to go look at because

it gives you the vital resources that
you can go check out and see and all

of those will be linked on our discord
that you can find but that that is

just a little bit of what the tools and
resources that you can use for As a dm

that is out there that's available to
you and that is free to you to use again.

We will try to always
find some free resources.

However, understand that this community
in dnd has worked hard to bring an

open environment to everybody as well
as that they deserve praise when they

create something that is very useful.

So we will always strive to find
free resources available to you.

However, in some cases.

It may be a payable thing to

go into.

Zac: Right

Adam: and we'll let you know at that
junction, but everything that we

talked about today and the session
zero tools that we have for you

will be linked on our discord.

So go over there and find it.

It's under tavern talks podcast
and it'll be linked in our website.

Zac: And I guess that brings us
to our conclusion of this episode.

In particular we just want to
summarize basically the key takeaways

that we've kind of arranged for you.

I know we've been a little bit here and
a little bit there, but we really want

to recap the importance of laying our
groundwork or not just our groundwork.

You're soon to be groundwork for a
successful and enjoyable campaign.

Basically, we want to make sure that
you highlight on the collaborative

world, building the character
connections and the overall

effectiveness of session zero itself.

Remember that you want the comfortability
of your players to be in your ball field.

You also want to make sure to
be able to listen more so than

talk over them during this time.

You want to make sure that their
character building is . A collaboration

with your own world building because at
the end of the day, this is your story

together as both player and dungeon
master and not just one or the other.

At the end of the day Adam also kind
of shared with you where you can

find some of these resources at.

They are scattered out and
about all over the internet.

Much like legendary loot you'll
find throughout your campaigns.

But with that being said, guys.

We just wanted to say thank you for
tuning in for this Tavern Talks podcast.

Adam: There you

have it, dear patrons.

The end of another epic
session here at Tavern Talks.

We hope you've enjoyed pulling up a
chair and delving into the realms of

the dungeon mastering with me and Zac.

Zac: Absolutely.

A special thanks to y'all who've
shared this round of tales with us.

May your campaigns be filled with
critical hits, epic stories, and

maybe just a hint of chaotic fun.

Adam: Before we bid you farewell from
our humble tavern, a quick reminder,

if you've got tales to share and
questions to ask, we're going to be

a part of the ongoing conversation.

Find us at tavern talks podcast on tick
tock at tavern talks podcast on Instagram

and at at pod tavern talks on x formerly
twitter and then subscribe to our social

medias as well as download on apple
podcasts and spotify podcast, as well as

anywhere that you decide to listen to us.

The hearth is always warm at tavern talks
and our virtual door is never closed.

Zac: And for those of you who've
subscribed left a tankard raising

review or shared the tales of Tavern
Talks with your fellow adventurers,

our gratitude knows no bounds.

Until

Adam: our tankards meet again in this
wonderful tavern, fellow travelers, may

your dice rolls be ever in your favor and
your campaigns full of legendary moments.

Zac: Here's

to you and here's to the
adventures that lie ahead.

Until next time, safe travels
and may your tells be ever epic.