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Session Zero: Choosing Your Flavour
Before dice start flying everywhere and your bards start seducing literally everyone, your table has to answer the most important question: What kind of story are we telling? This is where tone and genre elbow their way into the room. Ignore them at your peril. What is Tone? Tone is your vibe, your mood, your emotional flavour. Is it hopeful? Gritty? Grim? Goofy? On a scale from epic poetry to internet memes, where do you want to land? Examples: Tone is how everything feels. It shows up in how NPCs speak, how players act, and how the GM reacts to an unexpected seduction attempt involving a basilisk and a lute.…
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Introducing Session Zero: the What and the Why
Session Zero is one of those topics where you can ask me one question, and I will rant and monologue for hours. I am extremely passionate about session zero, I don’t understand why someone would not want to do one, and I vehemently argue that every GM should conduct a session zero, even if they think everyone already knows what they are getting into. Since I am incapable of making this a short post, it will be a series! That’s right, you’ll have the option to pick and choose what parts of a session zero you want to hear about, and I’ll get to pretend you’re absorbing every single thing…
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The Comfy Manifesto
Or: Why Safety Matters in Tabletop Role-Playing Games When people hear the phrase “comfy games,” they often picture a table where nothing bad ever happens—no monsters, no conflict, no risk greater than a lukewarm cup of tea. Perhaps they imagine every adventure ending in a communal nap, every character a small woodland creature with a penchant for embroidery. And while I’d happily play that game (twice, even), that’s not quite what I mean. “Comfy” was a deliberate choice—a word less aesthetic than “cozy,” less embroidered with lace, and more rooted in something essential: comfort. Not the absence of narrative tension, but the presence of emotional safety. It’s about creating a…
