So I’ve recently gotten into Stars Without Numbers and joined a West Marches server as well as planning to run it for this upcoming year at NoDDSoc. While preparing, I did a bit of research trying to work out what content is actually available and found a few lists that were out of date. So with a bit of spare time, I worked through Sine Nomine’s DrivethruRPG page to collate the following lists which should have everything. When I have a bit more time, while go through and link through to the correct pages but wanted to share it now.

Explanation

This guide initially appeared as a part of the NoDDSoc GM University Programme.

So I am writing up this as a bit of advice for holding retrospectives for your ongoing campaigns. I wrote these questions to get feedback from the players in my Pathfinder game, where we are playing through the Hell’s Rebels AP and just finished the first book.

Post-session feedback is often raw and useful for catching pain points, but often turns into a quick ‘thank you and it was fine’ as people depart, which isn’t as helpful. A retrospective has a more significant time commitment where you dedicate more time or even the entire session to focused question to see how everyone is going.

Implementation Advice

A couple of key points here, this is designed to be GM-directed but player-led. You want to find out what they are thinking about how it is going. Hence the targeted questions looking for specifics. When you ask a question, you want to be recording everything your players say, and listening actively. If they say something that isn’t clear or asks for clarification, feel free to add additional comments, but you want their sincere thoughts. If you start offering comments or points when they are speaking, to explain your justifications, you may cause them to shut down and withdraw from the conversation.

I ran these questions, in a group setting, asking the players each question in turn, randomising which player went first each time. I let them each have an opportunity to speak then let the players discuss their thoughts around each other’s answers before explaining my thought process. It took approximately 3.5 hours with my four players to go through all the questions.

You could also run this one-on-one with your players. Some of the questions, especially 10 and 11, may be harder for some shyer players to feel like they can contribute. That being said, I felt like as a group we all got a lot out of getting to hear each other reactions around the table. In a couple of instances, it allowed people to realise they missed things in their answers they wanted to add.

It may also be possible to use a google form to get responses anonymously, but it does make it harder to go back for clarifications if you need more details to be able to implement meaningful changes.

Final Comments

I used the numbered questions during my usage of the framework, but have added the lettered ones after the retrospective I ran, using what worked well for my players. If you have any suggestions for additional questions, let me know in the comments below.

Now all of these questions will be for nought if they don’t result in any changes. In the end, you are all players on the same table; if they aren’t having fun, it makes it hard to have fun yourself. After you finish with each question, try to ensure you have something actionable to improve on. It would be good to tell your players about these, but in some cases, you may want to withhold the info, for story reasons.

Finally, it is worth stressing that just because this is called a mid-campaign retrospective; it doesn’t have to happen in the middle or even just once. It is a good idea to regularly check in with your players and see how they are doing.

Questions

1. What is something your character particularly happy about achieving?
   1. Anything in the recent few sessions, that in-game, your character cares about.
2. What is something you as a player particularly pleased about achieving?
   1. Have you achieved any personal goals or victories?
   2. Are there any themes or story beats you have particularly enjoyed?
3. What is something that your character is unhappy about?
   1. What story beats, are current drivers and motivation for your characters.
4. Are there elements of play you think are used too much? Not often enough?
   1. The core elements of play, (in my opinion, feel free to add more), are mechanical combat, social combat, intra-party RP, RP with NPCs.
5. Are there points where you feel yourself losing interest or takes you out of the moment? When is this usually?
   1. Stuff you want to look for here are; are their mechanics that bog stuff down, or do people not like a specific thing that comes up (squicks).
6. What is something your character wants to do?
   1. Look for a short-term, medium-term and long-term goal. 1-3 Sessions for short, Within 10 sessions for medium-term and long-term references goals for the end of the campaign.
   2. Note those values are calibrating off playing between once a week or fortnight. With longer session games, you will likely want to compress the numbers.
7. What is something you as a player want to do/achieve?
   1. Examples could be improving the skill at talking in character or getting faster at deciding actions in combat.
8. Do you feel your character is over/under-powered?
   1. You want to have your players consider their characters holistically. That is to say as a whole. Let them explain where they are experiencing pain points.
9. Do you think encounters are challenging enough?
   1. Encounters here refers to straight fights, puzzles, and traps — any kind of conflict you raise as a part of the story.
10. Where do you see other characters’ strengths & weaknesses?
    1. This question may be harder for shyer players to say in a group setting, consider a side-bar? You will need to evaluate on a group by group basis.
11. Do you think every one is getting equal time in the spotlight?
    1. This question may be harder for shyer players to say in a group setting, consider a side-bar? You will need to evaluate on a group by group basis.
12. Anything else, you think we haven’t covered?
    1. They should be warmed up that if there is anything that has been missed, you should hear about it here.

Review

A final thing, Dave Thaumavore of YouTube fame has done a review of the guide.

Nathan creates an incredible resources for gaming groups with this guide, empowering GMs and players to formally iron out any problems while there’s still time, rather than at the end of a session when it’s too late.

– Dave Thaumavore

Explanation

This guide initially appeared as a part of the NoDDSoc GM University Programme.

Session 0s are vital for the best chance to run a successful campaign. If you don’t believe me, Matt Mercer mentioned here how important it is to have one.

So what is a session 0 and why exactly do you need to run one? Before the campaign starts you and your players get to sit down to discuss goals, themes and various topics of the campaign. You are looking to ensure everyone is on the same page before starting.

That covers what a Session 0 is, so onto why it is important. Bruce Tuckman wrote about 4 stages of group-formation which is aimed towards the working world but is broadly applicable to your gaming group. When embarking on a campaign, you want to have the Forming stage at the offset to align on personal goals and campaign themes so people understand what to expect. Everyone is going to be at different stages, some will be pumped to start whilst others will be more apprehensive; so ensuring everyone is on the same page allows for people to feel comfortable and temper expectations.  Making sure they understand what content warnings may come up or understand the specifics of how stuff is going to work is vital for a fun-filled campaign. Session 0s offer to complete this first stage easily, so you can continue in the group development process during actual play.

GM’s Prep

Given everything written so far, there is a decent portion of prep work that you need to put in before holding your session 0. Work through the list below, making sure you have a good idea of what kind of game you want to run. You want to be able to come to the table having considered the following:

1. Ruleset
   1. Are you playing 5e, Call of Cthulhu, Mekton or Coriolis? What ruleset is the game based in?
2. House Rules
   1. Are there any changes or additions to the rule system you are going to use?
   2. Homebrew or 3rd party material?
   3. Lore changes if an established setting (Forgotten Realms, Golarion, Night City)
3. Table Rules
   1. Policy on drinking
   2. Cellphones & digital devices
   3. Player attention
   4. Real-life events
      1. World events will always affect people’s mental state. Are you ok with people discussing real-live events?
4. Campaign Details
   1. Length (number of sessions)
   2. Time & Location of sessions
      1. Cancellation Notice (Emergencies Excepted)
      2. Pre-planned Cancellations
      3. Make-up Sessions & Sessions during Holidays and Exam Periods
   3. Tone
      1. Genre warnings are helpful. If someone is looking for an epic fantasy, then joining a slow-burn mystery game is going to cause problems.
      2. Examples are; Epic fantasy, Mystery, Slice of life, horror, Sci-fi.
   4. Content warnings
      1. What is likely to come up; gore, violence, slavery and racism are often common themes that may trigger flashbacks. You should have a list ready of what you expect to come up to warn your players in advance. Your players will update you with any triggers or squicks that may affect them during the actual session.
   5. GMing style
      1. What is your style like? Do you like setting up complex mysteries or getting into the nitty-gritty of tactical combat?
      2. Do you like maps or prefer the theatre of the mind?
   6. Character Creation
      1. Do you intend for this to happen during session 0, or will the players have brought homemade characters? How are you doing stats? I personally prefer making characters as a part of session 0, but that’s your call entirely. It allows for everyone to gauge other players and find the right niche for themselves. It also helps to identify any possible personality conflicts and avoids creating characters that are copies of each other
   7. Player’s Guide
      1. This is a summary document for the world. It should contain main factions, basic info on the Gods (Clerics), prominent enemy types (rangers), level of magic/technology, laws & taboos, starting location and significant history.
   8. Player Expectations
      1. Note-taking
      2. Backstory Length
      3. What to bring to a session?
         1. Dice & character sheet are obvious
         2. Dice trays, laptops, clipboards etc.
      4. Blue-booking?
         1. Between session journaling? I personally enjoy doing it but I know many consider it homework.
      5. Inter-session reading material
         1. This can be in-game handouts or discussions over the next course of action.

Questions for the Players

With your prep work complete, it is time to gather your players and align. You want to ensure that you do this when & where you want to actually run games. Print off a copy of the list above and work through it with your players. You want to let them know how playing at the table is going to be, so let them know your answers.

When you are going through that list, the following questions will also be good to get as information for you to help run.

1. Player triggers & squicks
   1. What affects them. This can be extremely varied and should be treated with absolute caution and respect. Here is a link to the trigger section of my uni society’s Player’s Etiquette guide.
   2. If you are using the card system, this is a good time to introduce it and make sure your players are aware of it. I cannot recommend this system enough since it can be very difficult to explain verbally when you have triggered any of your players, and this allows you to quickly get yourself to a safer place.
   3. Do not forget yourself here. You are a player as well in this game.
2. Player roles
   1. Is there someone who loves talking to NPCs? Someone who loves combat, what do people want to see?
   2. If there are any rules lawyers, this is a good time to co-opt them into ensuring the rules are followed. If you can have someone be the expert on the rules, it frees up your attention on the table to focus on everything else. It is especially important to be clear with your players about any house rules you intend to use and how lenient you will be with them.
3. Player Questions
   1. What are the goals that the players have for themselves? Stuff like getting better at RPing, achieving system mastery. Just chilling out and having fun is a perfectly good answer.
   2. Table etiquette
      1. Pronouns & Preferred names
      2. Policy on breaks & snacks
      3. Spotlight Sharing
      4. PVP Content
         1. Combat
         2. Secrets
         3. Intra-party dice rolls (Using skills against other players)
      5. Dice rolling
         1. Crooked dice or off the table
         2. Unannounced rolls
4. Character Questions
   1. What are short & long-term goals that your characters have? Maybe it is to recover the ancestral sword or get enough money to pay off the debt so the family can keep the farm.
   2. What are the reasons the party has to stick together?
      1. Not every system requires a unified party, but most do (hence why this question is here). Everyone should have a reason why they are adventuring with the group.
   3. This questionnaire is great for helping players develop their character by considering various aspects. I recommend having people pick 5-10 questions and trying to answer them. https://www.roleplayingtips.com/characters/character-questionnaires/
5. Finish any remaining character creation and answer any unmentioned questions a player might have.

Final Comments

It can be tempting to jump into play right after all this. There is a mixed response on whether this is a good idea. I have found a short 30-40 minute scene where all the characters meet in a bar works great to let them try out getting into character. A great example of this would be a small combat scene with an aggressive patron. Another idea would be to have the players on a long journey via boat or caravan where bandits or animals attack. Your mileage will vary and it will depend on your campaign.

If you have any suggestions for additional questions, let me know in the comments below.

I want to finish by reminding you that ensuring you remain aligned on goals is important. You should consider running a regular retrospective feedback session to see what is working and what needs to improve. I have written a guide you can find here. https://nathansraj.com/mid-campaign-retrospective-guide/

Review

A final thing, Dave Thaumavore of YouTube fame has done a review of the guide.

I love Nathan’s methodical approach to a Session Zero. He leaves no stone unturned, and his guide gives game groups the chance to start a campaign at full speed in the exact right direction.

– Dave Thaumavore

Credit

Many thanks to Oscar H, Becca, Autumn, Pip & Rob O’B for their comments on the NoDDSoc Discord for ideas when I was writing this resource.

Additionally massive thanks to Callum G, Jack, Mim, Richards C and Shim for help with proofreading and further comments to support the creation of this resource.

I also used the following guides to write this:

https://rpg.stackexchange.com/a/105431

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/601awb/session0_topic_checklist_and_guide/

https://bankuei.wordpress.com/2010/03/27/the-same-page-tool/

https://www.dropbox.com/s/81emclqt7k4fmmf/Session%20Zero%20Checklist.pdf?dl=0

I thoroughly recommend giving them a read as they are excellent tools.