🧭 Session 0 Character Creation & Regional Origins – Red Tree GM Guide

In The Red Tree of Grudges, Session 0 isn’t just about stat blocks — it’s about grounding characters in a harsh world of spiritual rot, emotional legacy, and cultural tension. This session 0 checklist helps GMs facilitate impactful character creation that supports emotional storytelling and party cohesion from the start.

New to this campaign? Start with the Introduction to the Red Tree GM Guide for an overview of the setting, themes, and how the Adventure Arc system works.

🌲 Use This Session 0 Checklist to Introduce the Setting

Start by painting the emotional and geographical landscape. This checklist helps set expectations for tone and theme:

• The frontier village of Rybalka, caught between Klavekian occupation and Vikmordere tradition
• A land where spirits linger, grudges fester, and emotions manifest into danger
• A bitter, frozen wilderness where survival depends on both strength and solidarity

Let your players know this isn’t a typical dungeon crawl. Instead, it’s a campaign centered on grief, choices, and interpersonal consequences.

🧬 Character Creation and Regional Backgrounds

Players can use either DnD 2024 or 5e. However, if using the 2024 rules, they should reference the Player’s Guide to The Red Tree of Grudges or the DnD 2024 Backgrounds & Species Guide for options tied to regional lore.

As part of your dnd session 0 checklist, have each player choose a background and species that reflect their character’s place in the world. These choices are tailored to fit the tone, geography, and conflicts present in The Red Tree of Grudges, but the GM may also allow options from the Player’s Handbook if they align with the story.

🧾 Background Options

Klavekian Explorer

• Outsider from the Klavek Empire
• Educated, privileged, or military
• Often distrusted by locals

Northern Raider

• Raised in a nomadic or martial Vikmordere culture
• Taught to survive through strength and strategy
• Unapologetically direct

Rybalkan Vikmordere Artisan

• Born in Rybalka to local bloodlines
• Skilled in traditional crafts or trades
• Struggles to balance old ways with new influences

Umzear Survivalist

• Nature-bound, spiritual, and patient
• Deep respect for the wilderness and ancestral totems
• Trained to live off the land in harmony

Wo’Cla Artifact Hunter

• Mystic or scholarly seeker of ancient power
• Curious, intuitive, and wary of tradition
• Often misunderstood or distrusted

Or anything from the PHB (with GM approval)

• If it fits the tone, it fits the table. Encourage collaboration.

🧬 Species Options

Human, Klavekian

• Mainline humans from the Empire
• Logical, pragmatic, culturally dominant

Human, Vikmordere

• Spiritual and survivalist locals
• Culturally tied to ancestral magic and rites

Half-Orc (Bloodbound)

• Forged in the cold north
• Strong, determined, shaped by hardship and legacy

Orc (Northern Blooded)

• Hardy and fierce
• Viewed as dangerous by some, but culturally rich

Or anything from the PHB (with GM approval)

• Compatible species are welcome with your GM’s sign-off

These choices don’t just shape character behavior—they affect how NPCs and the world respond to them.

🧠 Build Emotional Stakes with the Session 0 Checklist

A strong session 0 checklist helps you guide players toward emotionally rich characters. Consider asking the following questions to inspire drama and character growth:

• What do you fear most losing?
• Who do you blame for a past wound?
• What connects you to this land—or what repels you from it?

These questions may seem simple, but they lay the foundation for emotional encounters, foreshadowed grudges, and powerful roleplay.

🤝 Forge Party Bonds and Character Connections

Before the game begins, use your checklist to ensure that players aren’t just creating characters in a vacuum. Let them establish relationships and shared experiences.

Ask questions such as:

• Did you all survive a harsh winter together?
• Were you part of the same failed expedition?
• Does one of you owe another a life debt?

You can also enhance this step by using d100 Reasons for Adventuring, which provides organic, roleplay-friendly connections that go beyond alignment or background.

Additionally, you might explore alternate methods from popular TTRPG blogs like Sly Flourish for more inspiration on setting expectations and tone early.

✨ Discuss Views on Magic, Spirits, and Suspicion

Another critical section of your dnd session 0 checklist should address character perspectives on supernatural and cultural themes. These perspectives will shape future choices.

Ask questions like:

• What is your opinion of spirit talkers and ghost traditions?
• How do you view the Red Tree — as a myth, curse, or prophecy?
• Do you value imperial law or Vikmordere rites more?

Knowing how characters react to spiritual elements helps build tension and character-driven plot developments.

🧭 Final Steps: Wrapping Up Session 0

After completing this checklist, your group should have:

• Defined backgrounds and regional identities
• Emotional threads and motivations
• Bonds with each other
• Opinions on magic, lore, and conflict

Once all this is in place, you’re ready to begin. The wounds of Rybalka are still fresh. Something beneath the ice stirs. And your party is about to find out why.

📚 Continue the Red Tree GM Guide

You’ve completed the Session 0 character creation checklist for The Red Tree of Grudges. Ready to continue?

👉 Introduction – What Is the Red Tree GM Guide?
👉 Session 1 – Welcome to Rybalka