Welcome, Players!

What to Expect in Your D&D Game

Wondering what your first day will be like? This handy guide has everything you need to know, including what happens in your first meeting, how to create a character, and what to do if you feel stressed or overwhelmed.

Parents, scroll down for our FAQ, term start and end dates, and other helpful info.

🧝🏾‍♀️Session Zero🧝🏼‍♂️

The first session of a D&D game is called Session Zero. It’s a planning session where you can talk about what you want to include (or not include) in your game . You’ll likely start playing before the first meeting is over, but expect to do a little bit of talking, too.

If your group is including anything from their past adventures into your current game, they’ll tell you about it in Session Zero. You’ll also figure out the details of your character and how they fit into your adventure, which brings us to the next point…

🧌Creating a Character🧙🏾

We strongly recommend creating a draft of your character before your first session. The D&D character sheet can look a little intimidating at first. If you’ve never played before, practicing with it in advance will make your first session go much more smoothly.

Most of our groups use D&D Beyond to create characters and roll virtual dice. A couple use Roll20, which lets you do both of these things, too. Check your welcome email to see what program your group is using, and then take a peek at our step-by-step guide to creating a D&D Beyond account and building your first character.

If you’ve never made a character before, you can follow along with the whole video or just jump ahead to the spot where you need some help.

Using Roll20 in your group? Check out this general tutorial on getting started with Roll20, and this character creation video to see what character building looks like for you.

You can also start thinking about your character backstory: who are they, where do they come from, what do they want? Why are they on this adventure in the first place? Check out this blog post from DM Jaclyn for inspiration.

🧞‍♀️About Our Players🧞

Most of our groups are a mix of old and new players. We find the mix is helpful: newbies learn the game faster, and they breathe new life into an existing game. These groups are super welcoming, and folks will be excited to meet you. Nobody will expect you to be a D&D expert on your first day.

Our players come from all different walks of life and they live all over the place. One of the best parts of the game (in our opinion) is meeting people online that you’d never get the chance to meet in “real life.” We embrace and accept all types of people here!

⚔️Foiled Plans?🥷🏼

There are a million rules in D&D. Don’t panic! Nobody knows them all, and you don’t need to. If you’re ever feeling lost, just explain to your DM what you’d like your character to do. They’ll tell you what to roll for or what spell you can use to achieve your goal.

Feeling overwhelmed? You are always welcome to step away from the game—no permission needed. Turn off your camera or mic, get some water, take a break. We’ll be here when you get back, and we’ll make sure nothing happens to your character in the meantime.

Frequently Asked Questions for Parents✨

  • All sessions are 90 minutes long.

  • Here are all start and end dates for 2026:

    Winter: Monday January 5th-Sunday March 29th
    Spring: Monday April 6th-Sunday June 28th
    Summer: Monday July 6th-Sunday-Sunday August 16th (half term)
    Fall: Monday September 14th-Sunday December 13th

  • Your child needs a strong internet connection, a computer with a webcam and audio (a laptop is fine), and a relatively private place to play. That’s it!

    If your child has dice they’d like to use they’re welcome to bring them, but they’re not required.

  • If you think your child might get anxious frustrated as they’re figuing out how to play online, we recommend staying nearby (out of the camera frame but within earshot) for the first few sessions. That way, your child still gets to feel independent, but you’re close by to support if need be.

  • You’ll get a weekly email reminder before each session. These reminders also include a link to a Google calendar you can subscribe to which includes all meeting dates and time off.

  • Life happens! If your child needs to miss a session, you can always email your DM directly to give them a heads up. They’ll make sure to update your child on what they missed and make sure no harm befalls their character while they’re away 😊. Because our games are sold as a package, we cannot refund for missed sessions.

  • If a DM is sick and can’t attend their session, we’ll do our best to have one of our other faciltators sub in. We’ll let you know if this is the case, and your child can expect to go on a self-contained adventure separate from their ongoing story during that session. If we cannot find a substitute, we will cancel the session and offer a make up session at no additional cost.

  • We need a minimum of 2 players in attendance to run a D&D game. In the unlikely event that there are fewer than 2 players in attendance by the 20-minute mark and the facilitator has not heard from any other players, they may elect to cancel the session. If there was a single player in attendance, they’ll be refunded for that session.

  • For last-minute issues (illness, technical difficulties) or gameplay stuff (character ideas, questions about the storyline) email your child’s DM directly. For more general information about the program, email our founder, Katie, at hello@youngdragonslayers.com. You can always reach out to her with questions or concerns, too.

📚Terms & Conditions🧾

If you ever want to review the Terms & Conditions from your registration, you can access them here.

Terms & Conditions

📒Yearly Schedule📆

Planning ahead? Here are all our term dates for 2025:

Winter: January 6-March 30th

Spring: Monday April 7-Sunday June 29th

Summer: Monday July 14-Sunday August 24th

Fall: Monday September 22nd-Sunday December 21st

Winter, Spring, and Fall terms typically meet 10 times in a 12 week period. Summer games meet 5 times in a 6 week period.

👩🏻‍🎓Extra Credit👨🏽‍🎓

We promise that nobody’s going to expect you to be a D&D expert on day one. But if you really want to read up before you start, we’ve got you covered. There is a whole lot of content for you to explore on our Learn D&D Blog. Here are the top articles we recommend for beginners:

Thanks for Joining the Party.

We can’t wait to adventure with you soon!

Sincerely,
Katie, Zack, Sergio, Jaclyn, Olivia, & Jesse 🐉