I Don't Run Session Zero

‘Session 0’ is the pre-game evening to talk about the game, without having the game. I don’t see any reason for five people to lose an evening, planning future evenings.

The notion of a session 0 has become so ubiquitous that blogs and vlogs seem to assume it. They say ‘during your session zero’, not ‘if you have a session zero’.

Why Bother?

I can’t find a single good reason in favour of spending this non-event.

People should know what they’re getting into.

They should, but they’ll learn more about what they’re getting into with session 1 than session 0.

Session zero is where you set expectations on acceptable behaviour.

This line gives me a foreboding feeling, as it inevitably comes with some horrifying story about a problem-player pitching up at a gaming table, and saying their character gropes other characters. Session zero then comes to the rescue, as the meeting which could have been an email, because apparently ‘sexual assault is bad, guys’ takes four hours to say.

Adults shouldn’t have to hear this, but just for completeness, I’m going to spell it out:

• Do you know the people at your table?
  • No? Best avoid the topic. If seduction comes up, make a roll, and fade-to-black.
  • Yes? Best ignore everyone on the internet trying to give you advice - they don’t know your table.

Now here’s the ‘session zero’ assumption, spelled out in full:

Session zero is where you set expectations on acceptable behaviour. If someone says they’re up for sex-related content in the game, and everyone agrees, that means everyone’s okay with it.

This is obvious nonsense. A lot of people will not be into it, but they won’t say anything, because they don’t want to cause a fuss. Telling socially inept people to ask others about including sex in games night is awful advice.

People need time to make their characters

People should make characters in session 1, and if nobody can make a character and start the game within this time-frame, then the GM has a serious problem on their hands. If the system demands two hours to make a character, but you only plan on two-hour sessions, then your system’s design will sap at your group’s limited time. If your game needs short sessions, then it also needs fast, easy rules.

Session Zero lays out the game’s genre and tone, and the kinds of content everyone wants to see.

We don’t need 20 minutes per player to analyse a game which hasn’t happened. Here’s my last campaign’s description:

          Fenestra has a dark fantasy feel, and the
          campaign structure encourages exploration.

Done.

The best laid plans of dice and men will definitely go awry anyway. You’ll know the campaign’s themes and genre two sessions before it ends.

What if players want to say what themes they want? High vs low fantasy? Social intrigue vs combat.

Most DMs have a good chunk of their material written out beforehand, so things aren’t always that flexible. But if someone really is a great improviser, the Campaign’s direction can - once again - change shape as it progresses.

Players need to know what each others’ triggers are.

The RPG community have displayed a disturbingly fetishistic focus on trauma triggers, quite disproportional to their prevalence, and with bizarre solutions which could never find adoption in normal social settings. Most of humanity live life, discuss breaking news, watch films, and read books, without a lengthy introduction about content. If your solution for other people’s trauma doesn’t work anywhere else, it’s not going to work at a gaming table.

Any time I’ve encountered people with a traumatic background that needs addressed, they mention it in private, not around a table in the open. If I ever get locked in a tiny box full of snakes, I won’t start talking about it to a full table of people; especially not during a would-be games night. I certainly wouldn’t appreciate being asked about it publicly.

Players should take their time crafting backstories, and showing how they tie in together.

Boring! Nobody at the table writes for a living - in the best-case scenario they’ve written Twilight fan-fiction (and I say this with sincere acknowledgement that anyone who spends time writing fan-fiction probably writes more interesting stories than I do). The game derives interest from seeing an emergent narrative unfold from puzzles, decisions, and randomness. A session-zero with monologued backstories replaces the game with a creative writing workshop. And I guess that’s something you might do, but it’s not my cup of tea, and definitely not something anyone should demand as a standard opening to a completely different activity.

Open Tables

Session zero setups create a barrier-to-entry for new players, closing off the table. If players need a full session to create characters, then the new player will need a session alone, while you explain how to make a character. If you explain the rules in session zero, then you need a new session zero for this player, or you need to find a new way to explain the rules.

I’ll take an open table over a barrier-to-entry any day.

And So

The first session is session 1. For decades people have managed to actually start a game in session 1, including making characters, setting tone and theme, and without trying to poke into players’ personal business.

Here’s my session one.