Session Zero Template: What to Cover

A session zero template is just a checklist of everything worth agreeing on before a campaign starts, in a sensible order. New to the idea? Start with what a session zero is and how to run one. Below is a template you can read straight down — copy it, fill in your table's answers, and keep the result somewhere everyone can see.

1. Logistics

• Schedule: day, time, and frequency (e.g. every other Sunday, 7–10pm).
• Format: in person, online (which VTT / voice tool), or hybrid.
• Length & horizon: session length, and roughly how long the campaign should run.
• Quorum: the minimum number of players needed to run a session.
• Absences: how a missing character is handled.

2. Tone & genre

• The premise and setting in a sentence or two.
• Genre and tone: heroic, gritty, comedic, horror, intrigue.
• The rough split of combat / exploration / roleplay.
• Lethality: can characters die, and what happens when they do?
• Sandbox vs. guided plot, and how much player agency to expect.

3. Characters & party

• Starting level and what's allowed (sources, homebrew, stat method).
• Why the party is together — and why they stay together.
• At least one tie between each character and another PC.
• Each character's goal or what they want from the story.
• Any backstory or alignment conflicts to resolve now.

4. Safety & comfort

• Lines — content that won't appear at all.
• Veils — content that stays off-screen.
• Tools in use — X-Card, Lines & Veils, Open Door, check-ins. How each works.
• The agreed signal for pausing or rewinding a scene.

5. Table etiquette

• Phones, side chat, and sharing the spotlight.
• Resolving rules disputes (usually: GM decides now, check later).
• PvP: allowed, consent-only, or never.
• How you'll give feedback after sessions.

6. Write down the result

This is the step that makes the rest worth doing. Capture the decisions — schedule, safety tools, table expectations, and the party roster — in one place everyone can reference. If it only lives in memory, it's gone by week six and you're relitigating it mid-session.