The Concord Directive · Game Master's Laboratory

The Concord Directive

The session 0 that didn’t happen

Session 0 was supposed to happen last night. I put the group together through a local D&D Facebook group. None of us knew each other going in, but we’ve been chatting on Discord for about a month. I shared a few player primers about the campaign, and everyone seemed genuinely excited to get started.

Then the weather got involved.

The big winter storm threw a wrench into things. Even though the worst of it wasn’t expected until Saturday, one player was feeling anxious about the possibility of getting stuck in bad conditions. They let the group know they couldn’t make it and didn’t want to hold everyone else up, even offering to bow out.

Since this was Session 0, I felt it was too important for anyone to miss. I decided to push the start back two weeks. We meet every other week, and I’d rather have everyone present and comfortable than rush it. The good news is everyone was understanding, and a couple of others admitted they were also feeling anxious about the weather.

Honestly, that response made me feel even better about the group. I’ve got a strong feeling this is going to be a really good table.

I think the moral of the story for GM’s would be: take care of your players before the schedule. I think when players feel safe, heard, and included, the group becomes stronger and more connected.

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