Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Coredump00 Jan 22, 2015 7:48:26	So there has been plenty of talk about Session Zero, and finding ways to get the PCs to work together and have ties to each other.   IIRC, Iserith often uses Dungeon World mechanics for this. (Which sound pretty good.)   I just saw something last night that might also work really well.  It is a deck from a Kickstarter from last year that 'should' be getting ready to ship soon.  Basically, you make a short list or grid of a few people/place/event/etc.  Then a player draws a card and fills in the blanks with info from the grid.  This way the players end up being intertwined by their relationships with each other and with certain NPCs and events etc.   It looked interesting, and thought foks might be interested. The kickstarter offered a .pdf version, don't know if that is still available or not.   https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2068026266/backstory-cards   http://brooklynindiegames.com/backstory-cards/   Full disclocure, I have seen these, but never actually used them. I have no connection with the company or anyone affiliated with it. Just thought the cards were kinda cool.
#2 Ranthalan Jan 22, 2015 11:52:04	I communicate with the players by email for weeks before the first session.  Together we build a backstory for their character.  They always have the option to say no to any of my ideas.  The entire process I'm creating hooks to get them where I need them to be for the beginning of the campaign.  When the adventure starts, I put them into a situation where they have to work together.  The players and I have already worked out their PC's goals/ motivations/ whatever and I come up with situations that keep those goals headed in the same direction and even work it, if possible, for some goals to merge.  It generally doesn't take too long for the party to gel.
#3 Archon007 Jan 22, 2015 16:34:54	Tomorrow I'm starting a new 5e campaign and the group are getting together to make their characters. What I'm doing is the standard background bond, but also a campaign bond that ties them to the story, and 2-3 party bonds. The party bonds are just statements of how one character knows another charcter (Dungeon World has some good ideas).
#4 BohoMojambo Mar 17, 2015 9:12:40	I'm going with:   The PC's are veterans from "the great war" reuniting after some years apart. They get to build ties with each other through whatever they experienced during the war, but can still have independent backgrounds based off of what they've been doing since the war ended.
#5 akaddk Mar 17, 2015 15:53:02	The thing about session zero concepts is that most people have lives. Even discussing on the internet somewhere can be time-consuming and not really viable for the length of time necessary to really integrate histories. It's all fine and well if you're all on the dole, independently wealthy or a student, but most people simply don't have the time to commit outside of gaming hours to homework.   So I tend to just ask my players for a sentence or two on basic things about the character. Personality, background, a mentor/trainer, etc. and work from those snippets to tie everyone together. It's not ideal, but then again this is a game not a life-style choice.
(Reply to #5) CCS	akaddk wrote:
#7 Touc Mar 18, 2015 11:50:10	In my last two campaigns, including the current one, I have used "free form" role play (no dice) as part of the first session to let the players create a destination story, wherein we know where the campaign starts, now how'd we arrive there?   From Kingmaker (Pathfinder), players began by choosing a preset background trait that would provide an impetus for heading to the frontier (e.g. bastard nobility looking to make a name, a frontier loner, etc.) We started the game with a standard "you're on the trail to the frontier with your charter to explore the Stolen Lands, but you met 6 months ago for the first time at the wedding of X and Y."  We then backtracked 6 months and I prompted the players, using their backgrounds, to create the story: why were they at the wedding, who invited them, etc. One guy declared his mercenary company was invited. Another was a friend of the bride. Another was taking an odd job as a server to make ends meet.  The goal was to let the players explain how they ended up linking up and convincing the ruling faction in these lands to grant them a charter to explore the frontier versus another. I provided political players, an assassination attempt, and let them create the story. Worked amazingly well.    The current campaign, set in the Realms, took place on a ship. "You all end up in Phlan, but how do you get there and decide you should risk your lives together?"  One player began by declaring he was taking a ship after a friend sent him a leaflet about retaking the city. The story built from there, including chit chat on the boat.  Less involved than the wedding, but plausible. When one player discovered another was headed to find the fate of his father, he made it a point to pledge his support.  Bonds created purely through letting them play it out.
#8 DigitalEccentric Mar 18, 2015 13:00:50	For my campaign, I worked with my players individually to come up with a reason for going to the main location for the campaign.   Sure, they all started within the same caravan going north, but one was there because he was a hired mercenary, one was there because they were returning home, another was there because they were following a Dragon they'd seen come this way, one was on the run, and so on...   I then through a series of quick fire scenarios that they ended up taking on together as a party, which formed a rough bond which drove them to seek out further adventures together. Its a dangerous land, the Silver Marches, and its best to stick together...
#9 akaddk Mar 24, 2015 16:27:28	CCS wrote:
#10 iserith Mar 24, 2015 16:39:17	Yeah. In addition to getting on the same page with regard to expectations so that there are no problems during the campaign, it helps weed out those who aren't truly committed. If a player can't show up for Session Zero, then they just aren't getting into my game.
#11 Rhenny Mar 24, 2015 17:03:48	One of the DMs in the last WoTC live stream had a great way to build bonds/ties between pcs.  He asked his players to assume that they all worked together on a prior adventure.  Then he asked the group to tell the story about what happened on that adventure.  He gave the players a chance to define their own relationships and shared experiences.  This seems like a great way to get up and running.  Some groups might enjoy the shared storytelling so they'll spend more time developing the story  Other groups may only spend 10 minutes setting up the shared experience. Either way, it serves as a springboard for roleplaying the new adventure.
(Reply to #9) AaronOfBarbaria	akaddk wrote:
#13 Barky Mar 24, 2015 18:07:22	akaddk wrote:
#14 Barky Mar 24, 2015 18:09:53	AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
#15 Finieous Mar 26, 2015 7:39:48	I've gone through phases over the years, but currently I'm not very interested in Session Zeros, required pre-game character bonds or relationships, or even detailed character backgrounds. I prefer to let it emerge in play. "You're adventurers" works for me as a campaign concept. The other adventurers you meet and decide to join up with are usually strangers, both conflicts and bonds will emerge in play, and that's just fine. There's no need to try to constrain or script anything out ahead of time.
#16 Coredump00 Mar 26, 2015 10:15:27	Session 0 is not some 6 hour cram session...     Assuming everyone is on the same page, the 'what type of adventure' discussion should take maybe 10-15 minutes. If everyone is *not* on the same page, any time used is very worthwhile to get everyone on the same page.    The backstory and intraparty relationships... this is not a detailed autobiography.  My current concept is each PC says one thing everyone knows about him, one thing people probably suspect but are not sure.  Once they have all done that, each PC tells of one experience they had with another PC. Entire process should take, 15 maybe 30 minutes if the players want to embellish a bit more.   If the entire session 0 takes more than 1 hour, its either because something is really wrong, or the players are really into it.
(Reply to #9) CCS	akaddk wrote:
(Reply to #10) Touc	iserith wrote: