Session Zero Discussion

1. Experience:

● Earning EXP - How do players earn EXP? Does the monster/creature have to be slain? or
are your monsters obstacles that simply need to be overcome? What if the players defeat
a monster non-violently?

● Milestones - DMG p 261. Do you use them?

● Level-up - When do PCs level up? Long rest? Short rest? Once they are back in town?
only between game sessions? or the moment they gain enough exp?

2. Players, Game Behavior & DM Expectations:

● Alcohol - Can players drink at the table? Do you care if your players get drunk? What
happens when someone gets drunk? What happens when a player arrives at the session &
they are already drunk? Should there be consequences, if so, what are the consequences?

● Narcotics - Same considerations as Alcohol, but perhaps you have different rules &
consequences than with Alcohol. Though perhaps similar, I have found it best to discuss
this separately from Alcohol.

● Player Attention - What happens if a player is constantly distracted? What happens if

they are constantly delaying the game because they are NOT paying attention? Should
there be consequences for when this becomes a problem, if so, what are the
consequences?

● Disruptive topics - Are real-life topics like religion, politics, porn, or sex ok at your table?
What about sports? Are there other topics that are disruptive? Maybe it's ok to talk about
these kinds of things before the session starts, but not during the session? Many of these
topics can lead to heated discussions that can be disruptive to a game session & upsetting
to other players. While this more applies to online D&D games, it can still be an issue for
offline D&D games as well. Should players arrive an hour early so that they can do a bit
of socializing before the session?
● Unannounced dice rolls - What happens when a player makes a dice-roll without saying
anything, only then to say, "I just rolled a nat-20 on my perception check." or are only
dice-rolls allowed to me made when prompted? How are dice rolls handled? Can players
make their rolls when they think they need to?

● Dice rolls against one another - Are dice rolls allowed to be used to settle in-character
arguments? Can the Bard PC roll to persuade the Fighter PC that his course of action is
right? Or is this kind of thing not allowed at all? or Is it something that's allowed
sparingly, but only under the DMs guidance, or only when prompted by the DM? Perhaps
everyone at the table has to agree to allow such rolls first?

● Player Vs Player - Is tension between characters allowed? What about arguments

between characters? Is combat between two or more PCs allowed? What happens when
character tension finally breaks out into violence between those two characters? Is it
allowed only if the DM approves? Does the whole table have to approve the PvP? What
is your stance on PvP as a DM?

● PC Secrets - Are players allowed to keep in-game secrets from other players? Are
characters allowed to keep in-game secrets from other characters? If so, who decides
what secrets are allowed? Is this sort of thing left up to the players? Is it only the
privilege of the DM?

● Player Expectations, Types, Goals & Diversity - What happens when one player's
expectations ruin the fun of another player? Does every player at your table need to be
there for the same reasons as every other player? Is it ok that Tim is only here for the
sweet loots & EXP, while Ann is just here to 'kill shit.’ Maybe Steve has brought a
completely min/maxed PC to the table and poor Billy is just here to hang out with his
friends & have pizza. DMs you may want to discuss with each player at the table, why
they are here & what they hope to get out of the game & how you as a DM can meet
those hopes & expectations. If for some reason you can not, discuss that with the player
& offer what you can do instead. After you have, you may want to reinforce that you are
all there to have fun, but have different ideas of what fun is.
● Player Discomfort - Occasionally things may happen in-game that makes a player
uncomfortable. There may be times where everyone agrees about a particular topic in
session-0, but when it actually surfaces in-game, the player may find out that they in fact
are NOT comfortable with it. How are such things handled? Is there a time-out system?
Does the DM call a break and this becomes a table discussion? Is the player allowed to
step out on the scene & come back after it has passed? Does the DM use a RetCon to the
story?

● PC and Player Problems - What happens when a PC’s action becomes a problem within
your campaign? What if a player crosses a line or overindulges in a particular roleplay
that becomes harmful to the safe space established by your campaign? What if a player of
a Self-Righteous Paladin, Homicidal Rogue or a Lecherous Bard hides from these issues
by claiming “It's what my character would do!”? Perhaps you’d give a warning or have a
personal conversation with this player? Or maybe the table would discuss it altogether?

● Player Agency - As a DM, how do you feel about player agency? What is your stance on
it? Is it a possibility that the Warlock actually becomes possessed by his Patron? What
about when a PC becomes a Werewolf? When does that PC become a DM controlled
character? What are the ways PCs can use to unpetrify their fellow PCs from the effects
of a Basilisk?, a Medusa? Historically, D&D has not cared much about player agency,
what the DM said, is what happened but it has gotten significantly better about it as the
editions have passed, save-or-die effects kind-of linger but are gone for the most part.
Players (veteran or not) coming to play D&D though, may actually welcome & want this
kind of thing, while other players may not. DMs you may want to discuss it with your
table.

● Game Balance & Fairness - As a DM, what are your feelings about the balance of the
game you are playing? How will you as a DM handle encounter balance? Will you
constantly be throwing only Deadly encounters at the PCs? Perhaps you feel that in this
kind of sandbox campaign, players can stumble into the Ancient Red Dragons lair at level
1? OR Perhaps you feel that the game is broken, or the balance it presents is a farce, so
you will employ other means of being fair to your players?
● Rules Debates - As a DM, how do you handle rules debates? Does the game pause to
look up rules? Does the DM make a quick ruling to keep game flow & then the rule is
looked up later? Perhaps as a DM you use some combination of both?

● Spotlight Sharing - Are players allowed to have spot-light focus? or will the spot-light
only be focused on the party as a whole? Are players or characters allowed to steal
another PCs spotlight? What happens if a player or his/her character tramples over
another character's scene/spotlight? This kind of thing can ruin another player's fun, but it
is also the kind of thing that the player won't immediately voice their discomfort about.
What if the Rogue wants to pick some pockets but the Paladin halts them from doing so?
DMs you may want to try to be watchful of this.

● Session Notes - Note taking can be a difficult task and no one should expect the same
level of writing ability from everyone. We all know we're not here to study for some pop
quiz. However, note taking could help organize a party’s objectives, compile information
gained throughout the campaign, and allow the DM to smoothly run the game without
stopping every five mins to remind everyone about something they forgot. Consider
assigning one person to be the note taker or have the work be shared amongst the party in
an easily accessible file or document. This could be a separate logbook, a PDF or simply
a Discord channel dedicated for compiling such notes. Perhaps you don't care for note
taking at all and would rather leave it for everyone’s preference. Or maybe you have
alternative means of compiling information such as an audio recording, etc.

● Meta-knowledge - Do you allow it? Is it ok for players to know that swinging their
weapon at a ghost will not harm it? Are characters allowed to know that trolls don't
regenerate health when harmed with acid or fire? What about when it comes to multiple
rolls? Just because the Wizard player knows the Rogue rolled low for his check for traps,
would it make sense for the Wizard character to insist that he check as well? If some
meta-knowledge is ok, and others are not, please discuss that with your players. Though
it gets talked about like it's some sort of sin, some meta-game knowledge is ok to have at
your table as long as everyone is having fun.
● Min-Maxing - What is your stance on this as a DM? Do you welcome optimized
characters, even if the character concept/theme is ridiculous? Perhaps you simply tolerate
it, as long as it doesn't become an issue? Or perhaps you & your players decided to play a
campaign that is more about ROLL-play than Role-play? Are veterans allowed to help
newer players optimize their PCs? If optimized PCs are allowed or encouraged, you may
want to let your players know that it is also fine to play unoptimized characters as well.

● Character Party fit - That 'loner' character? Are they allowed? If so, at what limits? Is it
ok if a PC just tags along ONLY to do combat & avoid anything social? D&D is a social
based game, you may wish to encourage your players to create characters that play well
with others and that will fit with the party. On the other hand, you may want to be
mindful about players potentially bullying other players into playing races & classes they
do not want to play. Party fit should not limit class & race choice.

● Murder Hobos - What is your stance on this as a DM? Is it allowed? Is it allowed, but
there will be in-game consequences? Maybe you're playing an evil campaign, & this is
exactly what you want in this campaign. DMs understand that D&D by its nature &
history encourages this style of game-play, so be forgiving but mindful.

● Other behavior rules - Perhaps this is where you tell your players to be respectful to one
another, or be communicative, etc.

3. The DM:

● DM Style - As a DM, what is your style? Are you a RAW or RAI type DM? Do you
prefer to improvise or prepare? Do you like making rulings on the spot & looking them
up later, or would you rather pause the game & look up the rules? Do you like
home-brewing & having home-brew content, or do you prefer to minimize home-brew?
Do you prefer story over mechanics? Do you want ROLL-play or roleplay? How do you
prepare for a game-session? Share with your players your preferences as a DM.

● Player Absences - You may want to discuss with your players, how many players get to
be absent for the session before the game is canceled that night? What is the min amount
of people you will DM for in a session? What happens when too few players show up?
 Maybe the players that do show up get in some 'down-time' play that can provide minor
benefits or perhaps progresses some down-time activities that are going on? Maybe you
can do a one-shot you've been planning for? What is your backup plan; play
board-games, video-games? watch movies?

● Player Narrative Authority - Do you allow your players to have some narrative authority
in your game? How much say do you allow in your game/campaign, for each player? For
example; Can the Cleric player create the deity she follows & you as a DM allow her to
decide what her deity personality, attitudes, domain, & etc? Or does she have to select a
deity from the book? Does the Goliath have a tribe/herd? Who is the leader of his Herd?
Does the Paladin follow a specific sect or order? Maybe the Fighter is the son of a
Farmer? So now there is a whole farm in your game that, when the party arrives at, the
Fighter player now becomes an assistant DM. This can go a LONG way to allowing your
players to feel ATTACHED to the game setting.

● Pet Peeves - This is where you can discuss your own personal pet-peeves. Things about
the game that really bother you as a DM. It is ok to have them, even though you may
rather avoid them. Just remember that when discussing them, you're coming from a place
of kindness & doing so to inform them so as to avoid issues later on. (Narrative
Interruptions, etc)

4. Ethical Concerns & Topics:

(Preface - This part will cover mature topics which may or may not trigger people, it is
not my intention to do so. This is in fact here to avoid just suddenly triggering players, by
bringing these out in the session-0 discussion. They can be discussed and should be
discussed in a mature respectful manner. It's important to include a preface to this
topic-set. Be as respectful & as frank as possible but ask for forgiveness in case you
happen to fall short, these are not easy topics to discuss but should be brought up at the
table during Session-0 regardless. For these topics, it is important to address every
player at the table for their individual input & then individual consent.)

● Gender - DMs consider discussing the gender roles, if any, in your setting and the
possibilities of encountering patriarchal or matriarchal cultures & how prevalent each are
 in this setting. What can characters find as the most common 'norms' for gender roles?
Bring up any race/culture in your setting that has off-set or extremist views from the
general gender norms you described earlier. Consider discussing the topics of creatures,
deities & magic items that can change gender, if any, & how common those are.
(Succubus/Incubus come to mind.)

● Attraction & Sexual Orientation - DMs consider discussing the possibilities of attraction
or sexual orientation of both the PCs & the NPCs & the populous, in general, in your
setting/campaign. Are there cultural stigmas on select sexual orientations that span across
multiple races? or does each race/culture have different views that vary? or does each
individual make this decision for themselves? Does religion, does the government have
an effect here? Are some cultures, religions or governments that are more accepting than
others? You may want to ask if it is alright for their character to experience attraction
from others that may not match their personal views as a player. You may want to ask if
they will be unconformable as a player with seeing interactions in character that may not
align to their personal views.

● Rape, Sexual Assault - DMs what is your stance on this topic? Are characters allowed to
have had this happen in their background/past? Maybe you do just limit it to the past, but
never the present. Can it happen to NPCs but not PCs? Are characters allowed to perform
these acts? If so, is it done only 'off-camera'?

● Racism, Prejudice - Is this a fantasy setting where people are judged by their deeds &
merit, on a person by person basis? Or do Elves hate Dwarves?, if so why? Perhaps all
the demi-human races view the goblinoid races with disdain? Is it a race by race thing?
Perhaps it's all faction based? Which cultures or races are more open-minded, which ones
are hugely xenophobic, which ones feel that their culture/race is superior?

● Slavery - DMs consider discussing with your table the stance you have on this topic. Can
PCs expect to encounter enslaved NPCs? Can PCs become enslaved, or does it only
happen to NPCs? Can this be a part of the PCs background? If a PC does become
enslaved, does the PC somehow become an NPC? How is slavery viewed in your setting
by the various cultures in your game? Do only certain races seek to enslave others, or
 does every race have the potential to take slaves? Perhaps a certain race, is a slave race,
similar to house-elves in Harry Potter?

● Conclusion - After you have discussed this topic, it may be best to conclude with a
reassuring follow-up. Remind their players that these are being discussed now to avoid
player discomfort later on, so that everyone can have a fun game. Remind players that at
any time, even if it goes against what you agreed upon, or what was discussed during a
Session-0 that they feel uncomfortable, to please say something.

5. Character Creation:

● Creation Questions - DMs if you have some questions you want your players to answer
about their characters during creation, this is the place to list them. You may want to
consider things like; Why is your character an adventurer? How is your character
connected to at least one other character in the group? Who are your characters' parents,
siblings, mentors, etc?

● Creation Stats - Do you allow or restrict; the standard array, point buy, or rolling for
stats?. If PCs are allowed to roll, do you follow a house-rule set or use the one from the
PHB? Are PCs allowed to roll hit-dice for HP or do they take the average?

● Alignment - How heavily is alignment featured in your game? Is alignment perspective

or descriptive? What kind of things can cause a character to change alignment? What
happens when a character changes alignment? Is there the potential for class features to
become unusable or even lost due to alignment change? Perhaps you do not allow PCs to
have alignment, but NPCs and monsters do, just for those few game mechanics that rely
on it?

● Stat rulings - DMs if you have additional rules concerning stats, you may discuss them
here. Keep these rules only to stats that may affect character creation, there will be
another section for listing other mechanics that may affect game-play and/or characters.
Maybe you have an optional Age-trade rule where the elderly gets a +2Wis but suffers a
-1Dex & -1Con. Perhaps you have a house rule where characters with 8 or less Int, can
 not read or write. Discuss these house-rules which have an effect on attribute score
decisions.

● Other Creation Rules - If you have other rules or limitations or expansions on character
creation for your campaign, then list them here. Are you perhaps using the Renown
optional rules from the DMG here? Perhaps you allow every player to get a feat at first
level? If you restrict certain races or classes or subclasses, that is for the next topic.

6. Races & Classes:

● Races Allowed/Disallowed - Are there any races you disallow? Do you allow Flying
Races? Do you allow home-brew races? What if the home-brew race was a home-brew of
Kinder? would you allow that? Do you allow Unearthed Arcana Races? Elemental Evil
Races? Sword Coast Adventure Guide? Volo's Guide? What about the Magic The
Gathering Unearthed Arcana Races? Maybe you will allow some races with a minor
tweak to them?

● Tweaking/Reflavor Races - Can PCs make minor tweaks to a race? Can PCs re-flavor a
race to be a different race? Do you allow PCs to play races they home-brewed
themselves?

● Classes Allowed - Are there any classes you disallow? Do you allow home-brew classes
or only home-brew classes from Mat Mercer & Sterling Vermin? Do you allow
Unearthed Arcana classes/subclasses, the Unearthed Arcana Mystic? Sword Coast
Adventure Guide subclasses?

● Tweaking/Reflavor Classes - Can PCs make minor tweaks to a class or subclass, if it fits
a certain theme that you as the DM can agree with? Can PCs re-flavor a class to be a
different theme, such as a Bard re-flavored as Pro Wrestler? Do you allow PCs to play
home-brewed classes or subclasses?

7. Game-style, Character Lifestyle:

● Type of Game - Is this a sandbox game? or more of a rail-road? Perhaps it's a rail-road
that leads to a sandbox game? Perhaps a sandbox game where players can jump on & off
 the railroad only at certain points, or perhaps whenever they like? Will the campaign be
following a campaign book, & how closely will that be? Does the setting revolve around
the players? or are the players just a tiny cog in a much much larger world? What kind of
narrative will the game be? Is it something like LotR or will it involve more mystery and
conspiracy, or will it feature heavy political themes, like Game of Thrones? (Expanded
this topic thanks to contributions by /u/AeoSC)

● Campaign Length (Contributed by /u/AeoSC) - Discuss how long you think this campaign
will run for, will characters be able to reach level 9? level 14? How many sessions do you
expect the campaign to go?

● In-game Adventurers - What can PCs expect from being an adventurer? Are adventurers
all heroes? or are they perhaps members of an adventuring guild? or are they all pirates
on a pirate ship? Perhaps they are all members of a faction? Do Adventurers have 'normal
lives' during downtime? How do NPCs generally view adventurers? Is it favorable? or are
they looked down upon because they cause more trouble than good? Or perhaps because
only the desperate take up the adventuring life?

● In-game politics & factions - What are the various factions at play? Can PCs join or
already start as members of a faction? What kind of government do the PCs live under? Is
it a feudal system? A magocracy? A republic? A tribe? Will the PCs be able to choose to
change factions or move to live under a different form of government? What impact does
the 'standard adventurer' have on the political landscape? Can the PCs go beyond what
the 'standard adventurer' can do? Can the PCs effect change on the political landscape?
Can PCs become part of the government? Can PCs even overthrow the government?

● Start/Standing - Are characters starting at 1st level, or perhaps at a higher level? If they
are starting off as a higher level, are these characters members of a town? a guild? a
religion? How long have they been members? How did the character get their higher
levels? During this time, have these characters somehow earned some minor notoriety?

● Character Context - DMs you may want to consider covering the kinds of things that
character may know vs what the player may know & the distinction in-between. The
character has potentially lived 15+ years in this setting & may know things that a player
 would not. DMs, if meta-gaming is a concern for you, this is another place where you can
break it down, & how you handle it. How can a player have access to something the
character may know, should know, will know? Do they roll for this? Do they
automatically become told this knowledge by the DM when circumstances trigger it? Can
players freely ask? Perhaps you use a mix of all of the above.** (Discussed Under
Metagaming)

8. Backgrounds, Feats & Mounts:

● Backgrounds - How do backgrounds affect the character's lifestyle? Do you as a DM

limit any backgrounds? Do you use backgrounds at all? If you do, do you want final
approval of each background selection? Do you allow players to tweak or home-brew
their own backgrounds? Have you home-brewed any background for you to use in your
campaign?

● Feats - Do feats, like the Actor feat, affect backgrounds and the characters lifestyle? Do
you as a DM limit any feats? If you allow feats, do you want final approval of each feat
selection? Do you allow for the Unearthed Arcana Feats? Have you home-brewed any
Feats for use in your campaign? Have you tweaked some of the stock feats? Do you
restrict or allow the Lucky feat?

● Mounts - As a DM, do you allow mounts? How do you handle mounts? Do you employ
the 'unstated mount rule'? Can PCs eventually obtain exotic mounts? flying mounts?
Keep in mind that this ruling can devalue or raise the value of some feats & class features
of the game. For those of you wondering what the 'Unstated mount rule' is; It is an
house-rule by some DMs that; If you do not make the DM go out of his way to search the
book for mounted combat rules, then the DM will not go out of his/her way to help your
mount find an unfortunate death. Know that despite my unfavorable wording of this rule,
it is a fair rule & has been around D&D for quite a long time.
9. General Mechanic Rules:

● Ready an Action - DMs, this is confusing. It might be a good idea to cover & discuss this
mechanic with your table. Consider perhaps going as far as to break it down step-by-step
the requirements for using this feature, the cost, & risk involved.

● Bonus Actions - You may want to clarify what a bonus action is, & when it can be taken
and that wording is important. How do bonus actions work in relation to the Ready an
Action. If you use any house-rules for being able to use a Bonus action as an Action, then
list & define that here, or any other rules you have for bonus actions.

● Repeated Party Rolls - DMs, consider discussing how you handle these. Does the entire
party get to roll perception-checks to spot the hidden door & you take the highest?
Perhaps you rule as a DM that only the person that asks gets to roll & any additional PCs
can provide the Help action & that is it? Maybe you’d prefer limiting the rolls between
two players as a maximum. Perhaps you have a different system?

● Downtime/Crafting - Is there down-time for your PCs? Do you use the downtime RAW?
About how much time passes between sessions/adventures? Do you have an alternate
down-time system? What do characters do during down-time, what CAN they do during
down time? What can PCs craft? Do you use crafting RAW? or did you tweak it?

● How do you discern which Skill Check to assign a particular scenario or roll? Discerning
between skills could sometimes be difficult when each application feels valid for that
moment. Would tracking down footprints on the muddied streets of a town fall under
Survival, Investigation, or Perception? Are Athletics checks the only path to climbing a
tree or would you allow for an Acrobatics check as well?

● Additional mechanic rules - If you have additional rules that focus on general game play
that isn't covered by another topic in this article, list them here. You may want to consider
additionally discussing; what is involved in Taming creatures; how much damage you get
from Lava/Magma; the breakdown of how Dark-vision, Darkness, & Dim light work, in
addition to your other house-rules.
10. Inspiration:

● Gaining Inspiration - How do players gain inspiration? Does the DM award it? Do
players award each other? If players award each other, does the DM have 'veto' power?
Can players have multiple sources of inspiration? Can players have more than one
inspiration at a time? Perhaps you scrap the inspiration system because it's tedious &
everyone seems to forget about it?

● Tracking Inspiration - Does the player with inspiration get a special dice? a special
token? Can you keep inspiration from the end of one gaming session to the next gaming
session? Can players SHARE inspiration freely with one another?

● Spending Inspiration - How does a player spend inspiration? Does inspiration & bardic
inspiration provide some sort of super inspiration? If a player somehow has a pool of
inspiration tokens, can a player spend more than one of those on a single roll? Can a
player use Inspiration after seeing the result of the dice, or does it have to be declared
before?

11. Advantage, Disadvantage & Ability Checks:

● Stacking - As a DM, do you allow multiple sources of disadvantage/advantage stack?

Does this stacking only apply when one is used to cancel the other? Even if they stack, do
you still only roll with 1 additional advantage/disadvantage dice?

● Giving Aid - Does providing aid, provide straight advantage; or perhaps does the PC
giving aid need proficiency in the skill they are using in making the check? Are those
perception checks or the Search actions exempt from this ruling? Is there a time limit on
the kind of task that a PC can provide aid for?

● Multiple Attempts - Can a rogue make that lock picking attempt over & over & over
again? As a DM, at what point do you draw the line on multiple attempts? Perhaps as a
DM, you would raise the DC in such a case? If so, state what it is. What if the Bard gives
the Rogue his bardic inspiration, does this perhaps reset the DC to what it was? What if
the rogue took a short rest before trying again? What if the rogue instead spends his
inspiration?
12. Critical Rolls:

● Critical Hits - RAW? or do you roll & add maximized damage & then add modifiers?
Maybe you will allow your players to choose for each campaign? Maybe you have an
alternate method; if so, what is it?

● Critical Fumbles - Is this a rule in your game? Do you have a table, if so, what is on your
fumble table? The fumble-table is something every player should be able to readily
access. If you do not have a fumble table, do you instead improvise what happens on a
crit-fumble?

● Critical Success - Nat-20 on an ability check/save means what? What does it mean to the
narrative? Does rolling a Nat-20 allow a player to get what they are after, no matter the
circumstances or the ridiculousness of the roll? Would such a roll be immediately
apparent in the narrative, or would it go perhaps unnoticed?

● Critical Fail - Nat-1 on an ability check/save means what? What does it mean to the
narrative? Would such a roll be immediately apparent in the narrative, or would it go
perhaps unnoticed?

13. Sneaking:

● Stealth - Do you allow stealth movement in your game? How is it accomplished? Do you
require that the movement be immediately from one hiding spot to the next? Can stealth
be accomplished in combat, or is it only out of combat? Consider taking the time to
emphasize how Stealth/hiding in D&D is greatly different from what players may have
experienced in video-games.

● Unseen Attacker - What does it mean to be an unseen attacker? How does cover play into
effect here? How actions/things cause an unseen attack to become revealed? How does
such an attack go back to being an Unseen Attacker? Can enemies even 'target' an unseen
attacker?

● Hidden/Hide Action - What does it mean to be hidden? Can a hidden creature be a 'valid
target'? If they can, what penalties does the attacker have against the hidden creature?
 What actions/things cause a hidden creature to become unhidden? How does such a
creature go back to being Hidden? Can a hidden creature clearly attack an un-hidden
creature without penalty?

● Invisibility - What does it mean to be invisible? Can an invisible creature be a 'valid

target'? If they can, what penalties do they have? What actions/things cause an invisible
creature to become revealed or a target? How does an invisible creature go back to being
un-revealed?

● Traps - Do you as a DM use the new Unearthed Arcana rule-set for traps? Are traps a
heavy feature in your game? How often can adventurers be expected to encounter a trap?
Do overcoming/defeating traps provide EXP? If so, how much EXP can players expect?

14. NPCs/Creatures:

● Group Initiatives - As a DM, do you use them? If so, how? Do you break up large groups
into smaller ones? If you do not use Group Inits, what do you use instead?

● Vendors - Most NPCs vendors will sell items for what cost? for base-price?
base-price+10%, +20%? will most vendors haggle or only some of them? or will vendors
not haggle at all?

● Other Creature rules - List any other creature rules you may have. Creatures in particular
you may want to consider discussing are; Lycanthropes, Vampires, Intellect Devourers,
Basilisk, & Medusa. These are the creatures that potentially have the likelihood of taking
away player agency. (If there are other creatures that are 'agency thieves' that I failed to
think of, post below & I will update this list.)

15. Magic Items:

● Attunement/Identify - Does attunement reveal everything about an item, or do PCs need

to identify them to get the full list of everything an item can do? Do PCs need to identify
an item before being able to attune to it?

● Magic Resize - Do wearable items auto-magically resize to fit their wearer? If not, is
there a way to resize such items? Perhaps only Rare & above items resize while
 uncommon does not? Perhaps only if you attune to the item, will it resize? Maybe all
magical items auto-resize? Maybe it's a case by case basis?

● Other magic item rules - List any other magical items rules you may have.

16. Spells & Spell Effects:

● Additional/Customized spells - Elemental evil spells, do you allow them? Do you allow
spells from the Unearthed Arcana: That Old Black Magic? Do you allow for homebrewed
spells? Do you allow any class to make tweaks to spells, or do you limit that kind of thing
to only the Sorcerer? If spells can be tweaked, what kind of tweaks can be made?
Damage-type? Range? Duration? Etc.

● Spells Vs Environments - Do spells work differently in different environments? Do fire

spells work underwater? What about lightning spells underwater? Do ice spells work on
the Plane of Fire? Do you have guidelines or do you make judgment calls when such
circumstances happen?

● Spell Abuse - As a DM how do you handle things if a caster starts using spells abusively?
What do you consider to be spell abuse?

● Spell Casting & Juggling - Do players need to keep track of which hand carries their
components, which hand they use for somatic gestures, which hand they use for foci,
which hand holds their spell-book, & which hand they use for weapons? Or perhaps as
DM, you don't care as long as it isn't breaking the action economy? Do you strictly
enforce spell-casting rules via RAW, or do you allow some leniency?

● Material Components - Do spell casters need to keep track of what components they
have? or can they just simply deduct 50gp for that diamond they need for Chromatic
Orb? Perhaps you decided to waive all the material cost of spell components for spells
below 6th level? Consider discussing what you as a DM expect from your caster players.

● Spell Tweaks - DMs list your spell tweaks here. Perhaps the Grease spell is flammable?
Maybe you found on reddit a better version of True Strike cantrip that you would like to
use. Maybe you renamed Chill Touch so that its name is less confusing? Maybe you
 tweaked/expanded on how Charm & Illusion spells work? Perhaps if the Bard can make
his/her Vicious Mockery funny enough to make you laugh, it auto-crits?

17. Death, Resurrection, Resting:

● Death - What happens when a PC dies? What happens when there is a TPK? Does the
game end? Does it mean that time passes & events progress a certain number of years
before the players can create new PCs? Should every player have a backup character
ready to go? Make sure your players know what it means when these events happen; this
is something often forgotten about that brand new players need to know.

● Resurrection - What options, in the setting or in the game, do players have for
resurrecting fallen PCs? Is this the privy of high-level PCs & Gods, or can anyone bring
the corpse of a fallen ally to the resurrection temple & pay a huge sum of money to
resurrect a character? Do you have an alternate set of Resurrection rules? Did you pick up
the rule-set that Mat Mercer recently refined for his PC resurrections? Even if you follow
resurrection RAW, what impact does resurrection have in-game? Is this a common
occurrence in this setting? or is it something special & unique? Will characters be
expected to go get a special Mcguffin (like unicorn blood, angel tears, phoenix down)
otherwise resurrection spells will automatically fail?

● Death Rules - DMs if you have game mechanic rules for when PCs die, discuss them
here. What about Massive Damage rules; does it outright kill you? A common rule seems
to be Death Exhaustion: When a character regains 1hp from after being dropped to 0hp,
that character gains one level of exhaustion.

● Resting Rules - DMs if you have rules for rest mechanics discuss them here. A common
rule seems to be only 2 short rest before a long rest. Another common is that a Long Rest
always starts with a Short rest.