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Rethink Your Session Zero! (MD 276) episode artwork

Jan 28, 2026 1 hr 24 min

Rethink Your Session Zero! (MD 276)

from Mastering Dungeons Hosted by Mastering Dungeons

Episode 276 of Mastering Dungeons! Main topic: Rethink Your Session Zero! Shawn and Teos rethink all that a session zero is trying to do and how to approach each of the many goals to start your campaign! News: D&D Beyond’s Partner Schedule, D&D Proves AI’s Shortcomings, AI RPG Scams, Shawn is a Warlock, and more! Contents 00:00 Shawn is a Warlock! 05:59 How Should Death Saves Work? 27:10 Jean Rabe Passes 29:59 DDB Partnered Content Schedule 34:50 Hasbro's New Board Members 36:31 Demiplane Adds Campaigns 38:23 4th Player Theory of RPG Design 43:19 D&D Proves AI Shortcomings 46:10 RPG Maps Bundle AI Scam 48:45 How to Please Your Layout Designer 49:42 Rethinking the Session 0 52:03 FEYPOP's Video on What is a Session 0 55:57 Effective Safety Tools 01:01:54 Challenge Level and Behavioral Expectations 01:04:23 Theme, Tone, and Characters 01:10:01 Allowed Sources 01:12:32 Collaborative Campaign Planning 01:14:38 Character Creation 01:16:21 First Adventure? 01:19:12 As a Social Event 01:20:22 Shout-Outs 01:24:12 What Are We Gonna Do? Thank you for listening! Get the full show notes with links on Patreon. Show Search Engine: https://mdsearch.alphastream.org/ Our intro and outro music is Metropolis Fanfare, provided royalty-free by Tabletop Audio (https://tabletopaudio.com) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). MP3 file metadata populated with Online MP3 Podcast Chapter Editor, built by Dominik Peters. https://mp3chapters.github.io/ and customized for Mastering Dungeons by Vladimir Prenner from Croatia.

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Rethink Your Session Zero! (MD 276)

0:00 1:24:50

Chapters

  1. 0:00 Shawn is a Warlock!
  2. 5:59 How Should Death Saves Work?
  3. 27:10 Jean Rabe Passes
  4. 29:59 DDB Partnered Content Schedule
  5. 34:50 Hasbro's New Board Members
  6. 36:31 Demiplane Adds Campaigns
  7. 38:23 4th Player Theory of RPG Design
  8. 43:19 D&D Proves AI Shortcomings
  9. 46:10 RPG Maps Bundle AI Scam
  10. 48:45 How to Please Your Layout Designer
  11. 49:42 Rethinking the Session 0
  12. 52:03 FEYPOP's Video on What is a Session 0
  13. 55:57 Effective Safety Tools
  14. 1:01:54 Challenge Level and Behavioral Expectations
  15. 1:04:23 Theme, Tone, and Characters
  16. 1:10:01 Allowed Sources
  17. 1:12:32 Collaborative Campaign Planning
  18. 1:14:38 Character Creation
  19. 1:16:21 First Adventure?
  20. 1:19:12 As a Social Event
  21. 1:20:22 Shout-Outs
  22. 1:24:12 What Are We Gonna Do?

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This episode was published on January 28, 2026.

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