This past weekend, I held Session Zero for a group of youngsters wanting to play Dungeons & Dragons. The age range of most of my players is 11 to 15. Needless to say, it was a little like herding cats.

Session Zero is where everyone creates their characters and gets to know each other. It’s also where I, as the game master (GM), try to get a feel for their characters and how the players expect the game to go. I provided a bit of background on where I will start the campaign. I also told them what fantasy realm we’ll be inhabiting for our game (the Forgotten Realms). I encouraged everyone to read one of the novels or look into the setting before our next session—not that I expect them to look it up.

Because of parental schedules, we are limited to monthly sessions, even though the kids would love to play more often. Oh, yeah, and we have events such as weddings, funerals, vacations, and birthdays to work around. Not only are the kids getting lessons in role-playing, but they are also learning to schedule events and stick to commitments. This GM has no time for “I don’t feel like it today even though I’ve been looking forward to playing all month.”

We’ll have our first actual play session in a couple of weeks. I can’t wait to see what this imaginative group of “tweens” comes up with as they learn the game.