The Lazy RPG Podcast - D&D and RPG News and GM Prep from Sly Flourish · [email protected]

A Tale of Two Session Zeros – Lazy RPG Talk Show

·1 hr 6 min·4 clips

Mike Shea spends the show moving between RPG news, campaign prep, and lessons from the table. He starts with a note about his appearance on Games with Dave, then shifts into two EN World articles, one about Wizards of the Coast's Forge of the Artificer product and another about EN World's most anticipated RPGs of 2026 nominations. The main conversation is a story about two session zeros. He says he had two in the same week, which he does not recommend, but the week gave him two different examples to compare. From there he talks through what he learned from each game. One discussion turns into a long look at ability score rolling and rerolling. He tells players that if they are unhappy with their scores, they can reroll. Most of the table was happy or pretty happy with what they got. A few players rolled exceptionally well. One player rolled poorly enough to have a highest ability score of 15 and a five in the mix. That five went into Strength because the character is a merchant. The result was a funny practical problem, because the character could only carry two things and was grateful for a donkey. Mike treats that as a reminder that ability scores still matter. He points out that Constitution affects hit points directly, so a bad roll can change the way a character lives at the table. He also jokes about a house rule that lets players reroll if they are unhappy, while warning that trying too many times will get you teased. After that, he returns to campaign-start thinking with part two of his starting campaigns advice. He then works through more Patreon Q&A questions. The show keeps its usual informal, talk-it-through rhythm, moving back and forth between news, lived table experience, and the real consequences of rules for play. He ends with the Sly Flourish housekeeping, including the bookstore sale running until December 17, 2025, with 20 percent off all books except City of Arches, free shipping to the US and UK, newsletter signup, Patreon support, and a reminder to get out there and play an RPG.

As heard by us

Two session zeros become a practical lesson in how campaigns really start.

This episode is a useful tabletop working session, with session zeros doing most of the heavy lifting. Mike Shea keeps pulling the discussion back to what actually happens at the table, whether that is a reroll rule, a donkey carrying a bad Strength score, or what he learned…

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Why you'd press play

You want GM prep that feels like sitting across the table from another GM.

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