Session Zero, Character Creation, and Pandemics

I'm a nerd... an absolute geek. I spend my man-chore time listening, not to music, but to podcasts about D&D, Wheel of Time, and being a better DM (okay so also D&D).

I discovered Dragon Talk, the official D&D podcast in March, and the first episode that I listened to had Maude Garrett on as a guest. LIFE CHANGING. Okay, so I use hyperbole like punctuation, but this was the very first thing I applied to D&D with kids. Maude Garrett is the creator of Geek Bomb and Fungeons & Flagons (a D&D inspired improv show that is not for kids). Her approach to character creation is absolutely inspired! I borrowed (stole) directly from this in my session zero for my first group. I actually made the questions into a Google Form and posted it on Discord (not ideal, but we were all in quarantine). Ideally, I would interview each kid as a part of my "session zero" (actually a combination of mini sessions -- more on this later) Here are the questions I asked:

My Character Creation Questions

Questions About your Character (All of these apply to your character, not you.)

1. What is your Name?
   
2. What is your quest (your goal in life)?
3. How do you deal with obstacles and challenges that come your way (multiple choice -see below)?
4. I would describe myself as... (again, multiple choice - human / dwarf / elf / etc.)
5. I grew up... (this is a question of background, again multiple choice)
6. Describe your one strength... something you're just almost supernaturally good at. You're a hero, so it follows that you're almost a prodigy at something. Tell me about it.
7. Describe your greatest weakness. If there one thing that trips you up every darn time it's...
8. Tell us about someone who has influenced you before this. This could be a friend, mentor, parent, mortal enemy, evil twin, etc. Get creative! 
9. Describe your weapon (or some treasured item you use in your adventures). 

These were the core questions... I asked some follow up questions in certain circumstances, but these are the big questions. I helped my kids fill them out, so it didn't feel so much like school work, and the other parents did as well. 

My notes on the character questions

Forgive me while I ramble on about my notes / thoughts on some of these questions. Many require no expansion / explanation, while others may benefit from some context of what I was getting at and how I got there. 

What is your Name?

• I try my best to have kids (well players, actually) come up with their own names. It's more fun, clever, and EASY TO PRONOUNCE. 
• If a player is struggling to get a name, might I suggest the following name generators:
• Reedsy Character Name Generator
• Masterpiece Generator - Character Name Generator

What is your Quest?

Maybe this isn't the best wording for a question that's really looking for the character's main goal in life or a description one ideal that drives the character, but I couldn't resist following up "What is your name?" with "What is your Quest?" Sometimes you just put stuff in for the parents... Anyway, follow up questions for this one include:

• What are the principles that you will never betray? 
• What would prompt you to make sacrifices? 
• What drives you to act and guides your goals and ambitions? 
• What is the single most important thing you strive for?

How do you deal with obstacles and challenges that come your way?

This was the character class question. I wanted to get at what kind of hero they wanted to play before offering the confusing array of classes to them. Again, follow up questions will help narrow things down after this. I said this was multiple choice, but I did allow them to check as many as applied. 

• I want to kill things with cool weapons and look awesome and heroic doing it!
  
• I want to be sneaky, skilled, and suave...
• I want to blow things up with magic!
• I want to support, inspire and lead my team through holiness and devotion.
• I want to punch, kick, and grapple my way through anything...
• I'm a lover... and performer, not a fighter!

At this point the rest are pretty self explanatory, but I did expand on question / prompt 9.

Describe your weapon (or some treasured item you use in your adventures). 

I explain that this does not to be anything spectacular, like Excalibur, handed to you by the lady in the lake, etc... In fact, it's better if it isn't. This is something of unique value to you. For example, Indiana Jones might describe his Whip or his Fedora here... Rand Al' Thor had his father's sword; Bruenor, the Dwarf has his one horned helmet... this is your signature calling card piece of equipment. If you could draw your character, you would never draw them without this.

Multiple Session Zeroes

Even if you aren't dealing with a pandemic quarantine, it's helpful to break up session zero with kids. Conduct the questions above one-on-one or in small groups, then help them roll up characters. The have a small session zero where everyone introduces their character briefly to each other, which can be as simple as, "My character is Chimalis, a Tabaxi Barbarian." Kids aren't likely to give their whole character's backstory. Be happy with whatever they want to / feel comfortable sharing. If you're meeting for the first time on something like Discord, try to facilitate some conversation and ask some simple questions about what they really want to do in the game. If you can meet in person, send the kiddos off to play with the dog or play video games or whatever they feel most comfortable doing to get to know each other (particularly if they haven't hugh out before), and talk to any other adults who will be in the game. I was lucky enough in both of my games to have another parent who also wanted to play. In my one game I also have another adult with an education and D&D background who is playing as well. 

Go with it!

If a kid blurts something random out that doesn't classically fit in character creation, GO WITH IT! One of the greatest joys in my Dragon Heist game on Wednesday nights is my friend's daughter who decided that her Moon Elf Ranger was also an artist, heavily influenced by Bob Ross. I have had great fun making the Bob Ross of the Sword Coast cannon. I love working in his relationship with Volo and Mirt, and having his paintings show up at random places. As soon as she said it, she tried to dismiss it and take it back, but luckily her dad was like, "I'm writing it down!" 

Skipping Character Creation

Note: There is a good argument for not overwhelming kids with Character creation. The D&D Starter set comes with pre-generated characters, as doe the Pathfinder Beginner Box (what I started with when introducing my kids to role playing). My Wednesday night "Dragon Heist" group is running characters of their own creation that we came up with using the process outlined above. My Sunday "Dragon of Icespire Peak" group is using pre-generated characters from the official WoTC D&D site.

Resources

So, every time I write one of these posts, I'll try to end with some resources to the end to help you in setting up your games in general as well as running games for kids. 

• Behind the Screens article on Dungeon Mastering for Kids

All the basic rules for free!!!

• DnD Beyond Basic Rules
• Download Page on the D&D website for the PDF of the Basic Rules.

Character Name generators:

• Reedsy Character Name Generator
• Masterpiece Generator - Character Name Generator

Character Sheet Tools

• DnD Beyond Character Builder is far and above the Best!
• Dungeon Master's Vault has a character builder that lets you add custom races and such without buying stuff. Yay for free stuff!
• Pre-generated characters from the official WoTC D&D site.

Helpful stuff to share with your players on Character Creation.

• Unleash your imagination on DnD Beyond
• Races in Forgotten Realms
• Classes in Forgotten Realms