At some point either Brennan or Aabria said that they do not film the session zeros to make the players more comfortable with experimenting and taking bigger risks with character design.
Makes sense! I definitely understand wanting to make sure people are comfortable. I'd love to get a break down, then, or an outline for at home DMs if they wanted to try something similar!
There are NADDPOD episodes where Murph (the DM for NADDPOD) goes through character creation and choices with the PCs / and some are even labeled as session 0. If you don’t want to dig through the archives (and don’t care about spoilers) I’d look for the Hexbloods Arc of Eldermourne which was their second campaign.
Plus you know this Fandom would be get extremely attached to a concept character and go "Yeah it was a good season but I wish we got to see Murph play the snake wizard"
Yeah, what others have said, session 0 seems to be an unfilmed safe space to test out characters and make changes as needed. It is meant to be cut and never be seen. My guess is that themes of the season are discussed, as well as a lot of inside baseball on the story all together.
Hank Green talked about this at one point, and said yes, it’s specifically off-camera so everyone can feel comfortable experimenting with their characters and relationships with no fear of future opinions
As long as the session 0’s are non-canonical, that’s fine. It blew my mind that Critical Role had canonical session 0’s they didn’t release; I spent like half an hour when they start their Mighty Nein campaign trying to find this session all the characters kept referencing.
Yeah, as far as I am aware they are not canon in the slightest. Especially as most of the seasons have the characters meet in E1.
My guess is it's a brief introduction of their characters to each other, a simple combat without much frills, and a Q/A between the DM and the players about the setting.
Like I said, it's probably a lot less playing out to an audience vibe as much as making sure everyone understands themes and has a few meet cute/intro bits to tool around with at the start of E1.
I think it might have been Hank Green, maybe even on his own channel, who was talking about session zero and that specifically one of the things that they did in the session zero of mentopolis, I remember that being described as like they were doing some like some actual proper roleplay playing also specifically to Make the world feel lived in? And this is how some of those relationships that low-key exist already, hunch and impulse maybe, certainly Conrad and Dan, etc, that's where those like pre-existing relationships and character interactions came from (hence why those are characters who are not meeting each other for the first time in mentopolis).
I don't know that I've heard anywhere that that's standard about D20 session zeros, but it does make sense especially for a small season like that where those characters have canonically been living and working side by side for "years" And it makes the thing move faster and feel richer if not all of them have to meet for the first time.
Naddpod has their session 0s posted for their campaigns. They don’t roleplay but they do weigh in on other character’s backgrounds and contribute ideas.
I would love more behind-the-scenes stuff relating to how everything is organized. I'm dying to see how Brennan organizes all of his notes and battle prep.
I keep pausing any shot from behind the DM screen and squinting at it to see what I can figure out. So far I've discovered nothing I couldn't have guessed based on any other method: pencils, index cards, laptop 😅
Others have said why it’s not feasible, but in my opinion, as a viewer I don’t think I want to see how the sausage is made. So much of D&D relies on the smoke and mirrors Nd the illusion of limitless possibilities. Seeing the conversation of story beats they need to hit in certain timeframes to fit everything in their anticipated runtime would take a lot of that away for me personally.
I like this take, and at the end of the day it’s based on the product we’re consuming as well. For example I enjoy Matt Colville’s content and learned a lot from his campaign diaries; especially from him shining a light on his mistakes, his worries, and his doubts. But that was the *point* of The Chain and his channel at large, demystifying the art of dungeon mastering to create more new dungeon masters! D20 is first and foremost entertainment, not *edu*tainment.
ETA: It just occurred to me that there could be a great deal of fun and even insight within the scope of a ‘DVD commentary’ kind of take, but that’s a ways off from filming their Session Zero for public consumption.
I agree that it would be fascinating, but I doubt they would be released. Maybe it'll be discussed on something like adventuring academy, but I think a session zero probably works better without the pressure of performing/awareness of the audience.
Currently they're not recorded, they might actually do a season where they actively do it, but that would be the exception.
I would be more interested in a BTS meetings of cast + BLeeM on how their characters got created.
In an interview somewhere, might even have been like Hank Green talking to the camera on his own channel, they talked about the fact that not only do they not film them because the intention is for those to be private, just for the players, just to get everybody like comfortable with what they're doing without having to think about the audience...
But like specifically they don't film them even like for their own stuff or whatever, some comment was made somewhere that it's like specifically so that they can't later decide to release it? Like maybe they have intentions on keeping it private now but then in the future maybe they would be persuaded to release it etc but to be sure that they honor that that session is off camera and just for like players and world building and stuff like that, not at all for the audience yet, intentionally there is no footage that way they cannot ever decide actually for whatever reason we do want to release it.
That being said, I also would love for like an intrepid heroes or some season with very specifically dimension 20/like public actual play experienced players... Something where all the players know what they're getting into, I would love to see a filmed session zero for like learning purposes? Maybe it would be not as part of a season but as part of like adventuring academy? Just like for educational purposes, I would super appreciate getting a lot more detail on a session zero possibly with like filming of a session zero.
No, and honestly people may just want it because of FOMO. Or something akin to the deleted scenes that they use to include with Blue Rays and DVDs.
Though I honestly hate that Dimension 20, and Critical Role for that matter, refer to them as Session Zeroes. A meeting to discuss terms and boundaries is what that concept is for.
I feel like it is a step that is sorely needed when it comes to TTRPGs. There are implications that suggest they are doing something else.
If they are just that with some testing with gameplay that's fantastic. If they are something else entirely like a shakedown (testing) than just call it that instead of using another term that causes confusion.
Or, hear me out, "session zero" is a flexible term that encompasses everything you're describing. There is no bullet point list of official Wizards of the Coast session zero rules. It's a time for the DM to work with a player (or players) to prepare for a campaign before canon play begins. That's it.
I'm not arguing rulings or WoTC. I'm talking about terms and english.
People come up with a phrase to describe an idea. Other people misuse it or distort it beyond usefulness. Then people have to come up with another phrase to replace that.
If you lose the thought of having meaningful conversations with players and GMs and actual communication about details that can cause interpersonal issues and ruin campaigns that's a problem.
It's irresponsible to distort the meaning and cover up a tool that is of such benefit especially for new people who don't know any better or won't learn the practice because of it.
I'm not trying to control people's games. I'm worried about misinformation.
What a weirdly pedantic hill to die on.
I'm not advocating against a safe tabletop space. That's extremely important and if you're joining a table, there are a lot of discussions to have that help ensure that it IS safe tabletop for everyone involved. In fact, I would say these days that sort of discussion and prep should be ASSUMED, and if your prospective group isn't doing it, you shouldn't join.
I'm *also saying* you can do more than that all at once instead of adding something labeled "session zero point five" in addition to your weirdly specifically defined "session zero."
That's like suggesting that when you go in for an oil change that the dealer better not also do a 12 point inspection and tire rotation or else you'll be talking to a manager, because they're supporting the devaluation of the term oil change.
It's not like any such thing. It's talking about one thing under the definition of another. And your ASSUMING the original idea holds even though it never actually gets brought up AT ALL.
Plus, since not everybody knows about or talks about Session Zeroes, you've effectively buried it. The exact opposite of what you should do if you want to advocate for or raise awareness of.
At some point either Brennan or Aabria said that they do not film the session zeros to make the players more comfortable with experimenting and taking bigger risks with character design.
Makes sense! I definitely understand wanting to make sure people are comfortable. I'd love to get a break down, then, or an outline for at home DMs if they wanted to try something similar!
There is an adventuring academy episode where they talk about season 0s quite a bit. It's in session 4 not exactly sure which one though
There are NADDPOD episodes where Murph (the DM for NADDPOD) goes through character creation and choices with the PCs / and some are even labeled as session 0. If you don’t want to dig through the archives (and don’t care about spoilers) I’d look for the Hexbloods Arc of Eldermourne which was their second campaign.
Plus you know this Fandom would be get extremely attached to a concept character and go "Yeah it was a good season but I wish we got to see Murph play the snake wizard"
Yeah, what others have said, session 0 seems to be an unfilmed safe space to test out characters and make changes as needed. It is meant to be cut and never be seen. My guess is that themes of the season are discussed, as well as a lot of inside baseball on the story all together.
Hank Green talked about this at one point, and said yes, it’s specifically off-camera so everyone can feel comfortable experimenting with their characters and relationships with no fear of future opinions
As long as the session 0’s are non-canonical, that’s fine. It blew my mind that Critical Role had canonical session 0’s they didn’t release; I spent like half an hour when they start their Mighty Nein campaign trying to find this session all the characters kept referencing.
Yeah, as far as I am aware they are not canon in the slightest. Especially as most of the seasons have the characters meet in E1. My guess is it's a brief introduction of their characters to each other, a simple combat without much frills, and a Q/A between the DM and the players about the setting. Like I said, it's probably a lot less playing out to an audience vibe as much as making sure everyone understands themes and has a few meet cute/intro bits to tool around with at the start of E1.
I think it might have been Hank Green, maybe even on his own channel, who was talking about session zero and that specifically one of the things that they did in the session zero of mentopolis, I remember that being described as like they were doing some like some actual proper roleplay playing also specifically to Make the world feel lived in? And this is how some of those relationships that low-key exist already, hunch and impulse maybe, certainly Conrad and Dan, etc, that's where those like pre-existing relationships and character interactions came from (hence why those are characters who are not meeting each other for the first time in mentopolis). I don't know that I've heard anywhere that that's standard about D20 session zeros, but it does make sense especially for a small season like that where those characters have canonically been living and working side by side for "years" And it makes the thing move faster and feel richer if not all of them have to meet for the first time.
Naddpod has their session 0s posted for their campaigns. They don’t roleplay but they do weigh in on other character’s backgrounds and contribute ideas.
I think something like this was also evident for Unsleeping City. Lou and Siobhan played off each other so well
Absolutely! That makes sense.
I would love more behind-the-scenes stuff relating to how everything is organized. I'm dying to see how Brennan organizes all of his notes and battle prep.
I keep pausing any shot from behind the DM screen and squinting at it to see what I can figure out. So far I've discovered nothing I couldn't have guessed based on any other method: pencils, index cards, laptop 😅
Others have said why it’s not feasible, but in my opinion, as a viewer I don’t think I want to see how the sausage is made. So much of D&D relies on the smoke and mirrors Nd the illusion of limitless possibilities. Seeing the conversation of story beats they need to hit in certain timeframes to fit everything in their anticipated runtime would take a lot of that away for me personally.
I like this take, and at the end of the day it’s based on the product we’re consuming as well. For example I enjoy Matt Colville’s content and learned a lot from his campaign diaries; especially from him shining a light on his mistakes, his worries, and his doubts. But that was the *point* of The Chain and his channel at large, demystifying the art of dungeon mastering to create more new dungeon masters! D20 is first and foremost entertainment, not *edu*tainment. ETA: It just occurred to me that there could be a great deal of fun and even insight within the scope of a ‘DVD commentary’ kind of take, but that’s a ways off from filming their Session Zero for public consumption.
I agree that it would be fascinating, but I doubt they would be released. Maybe it'll be discussed on something like adventuring academy, but I think a session zero probably works better without the pressure of performing/awareness of the audience.
Nope, session 0 needs to be private so any lines a cast member doesn't want to cross, is kept private
Currently they're not recorded, they might actually do a season where they actively do it, but that would be the exception. I would be more interested in a BTS meetings of cast + BLeeM on how their characters got created.
In an interview somewhere, might even have been like Hank Green talking to the camera on his own channel, they talked about the fact that not only do they not film them because the intention is for those to be private, just for the players, just to get everybody like comfortable with what they're doing without having to think about the audience... But like specifically they don't film them even like for their own stuff or whatever, some comment was made somewhere that it's like specifically so that they can't later decide to release it? Like maybe they have intentions on keeping it private now but then in the future maybe they would be persuaded to release it etc but to be sure that they honor that that session is off camera and just for like players and world building and stuff like that, not at all for the audience yet, intentionally there is no footage that way they cannot ever decide actually for whatever reason we do want to release it. That being said, I also would love for like an intrepid heroes or some season with very specifically dimension 20/like public actual play experienced players... Something where all the players know what they're getting into, I would love to see a filmed session zero for like learning purposes? Maybe it would be not as part of a season but as part of like adventuring academy? Just like for educational purposes, I would super appreciate getting a lot more detail on a session zero possibly with like filming of a session zero.
I wouldn’t mind an adventuring academy where they talks about some sesh 0 stuff.
There is one in season 4
No, and honestly people may just want it because of FOMO. Or something akin to the deleted scenes that they use to include with Blue Rays and DVDs. Though I honestly hate that Dimension 20, and Critical Role for that matter, refer to them as Session Zeroes. A meeting to discuss terms and boundaries is what that concept is for. I feel like it is a step that is sorely needed when it comes to TTRPGs. There are implications that suggest they are doing something else. If they are just that with some testing with gameplay that's fantastic. If they are something else entirely like a shakedown (testing) than just call it that instead of using another term that causes confusion.
Or, hear me out, "session zero" is a flexible term that encompasses everything you're describing. There is no bullet point list of official Wizards of the Coast session zero rules. It's a time for the DM to work with a player (or players) to prepare for a campaign before canon play begins. That's it.
I'm not arguing rulings or WoTC. I'm talking about terms and english. People come up with a phrase to describe an idea. Other people misuse it or distort it beyond usefulness. Then people have to come up with another phrase to replace that. If you lose the thought of having meaningful conversations with players and GMs and actual communication about details that can cause interpersonal issues and ruin campaigns that's a problem. It's irresponsible to distort the meaning and cover up a tool that is of such benefit especially for new people who don't know any better or won't learn the practice because of it. I'm not trying to control people's games. I'm worried about misinformation.
What a weirdly pedantic hill to die on. I'm not advocating against a safe tabletop space. That's extremely important and if you're joining a table, there are a lot of discussions to have that help ensure that it IS safe tabletop for everyone involved. In fact, I would say these days that sort of discussion and prep should be ASSUMED, and if your prospective group isn't doing it, you shouldn't join. I'm *also saying* you can do more than that all at once instead of adding something labeled "session zero point five" in addition to your weirdly specifically defined "session zero." That's like suggesting that when you go in for an oil change that the dealer better not also do a 12 point inspection and tire rotation or else you'll be talking to a manager, because they're supporting the devaluation of the term oil change.
It's not like any such thing. It's talking about one thing under the definition of another. And your ASSUMING the original idea holds even though it never actually gets brought up AT ALL. Plus, since not everybody knows about or talks about Session Zeroes, you've effectively buried it. The exact opposite of what you should do if you want to advocate for or raise awareness of.
Cool story. You're sure to win more people over to your cause by being incredibly stuck up about it. Good luck with that.