30 Session Zero Questions: A Checklist for Your First Session
A session zero is the conversation you have before the campaign starts — about tone, scheduling, boundaries, and what everyone wants out of the game. Here is a practical checklist of questions to work through with your table. Skip the ones that don't apply; the goal is alignment, not a quiz.
Logistics & commitment
- When and how often do we play? Pick a recurring slot (e.g. every other Sunday, 7–10pm) rather than rescheduling weekly.
- How long is a session, and how long do we expect the campaign to run? A few months? A year? Open-ended?
- What's the minimum number of players needed to run a session? Decide now so a cancellation isn't a crisis.
- In person, online, or hybrid? If online, which VTT or voice tool?
- How do we handle absences and lateness? Does an absent character get run by the GM, fade to the background, or get written out?
- Snacks, food, money? Whose house, who brings what, any shared costs.
- How do we bring in new or replacement characters? After a death, a new player joining, or someone leaving mid-campaign.
Tone, genre & expectations
- What kind of story are we telling? Heroic high fantasy, gritty survival, political intrigue, comedy, horror?
- How serious vs. silly is the table? Rule-of-cool and jokes, or immersive and in-character?
- How combat-heavy do we want it? Roughly what split of combat, exploration, and roleplay?
- How deadly is the game? Can characters die? Are there resurrection options, or is death permanent?
- How much player agency / sandbox vs. a guided plot?
- Are we okay with metagaming, and where's the line?
- How strictly do we play the rules? Rules-as-written, or rule-of-cool when it serves the story?
Characters & the party
- Why is this party together, and why do they stay together? Agree on at least one shared reason.
- Does everyone have a tie to at least one other character? A bond, a debt, a shared past — even a small one.
- What's each character's goal or what they want from the adventure?
- Are there alignment or backstory conflicts that could split the party? Catch the "my character would betray you" problem now.
- Is anyone playing a "lone wolf" or disruptive concept? Reframe it so it works with the group.
- What level do we start at, and what's allowed? Sourcebooks, homebrew, multiclassing, stat method (point buy, array, rolling).
- Is there a party leader, or do we decide by consensus? Saves the table from stalling on every group choice.
Safety & comfort
- What content is off the table entirely? These are "lines" — hard no's that won't appear in the game.
- What content can exist but should happen off-screen? These are "veils."
- Which safety tools will we use? An X-Card, Lines & Veils, Open Door, a check-in. See how each one works.
- How does someone pause or redirect a scene without it being awkward? Agree on the signal in advance.
- Is there anything you'd love to see in the game? Boundaries aren't only about no's.
Table etiquette
- Phones, side conversations, and spotlight-sharing — how do we keep everyone engaged?
- How do we resolve rules disputes mid-session? Usually: GM rules now, look it up later.
- PvP: allowed? Only with consent? Never? Decide before it happens, not after.
- How do we give feedback after a session? A quick "roses and thorns" round works well.
Tip: You don't need to answer all thirty. Run through them out loud, write down the handful your table actually cares about, and keep that list somewhere everyone can see it. Recording the answers is the part most groups skip — and it's the part that prevents arguments three months in.
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