What Is a Session Zero — and How to Run One

A session zero is a short planning meeting your group holds before the campaign's first real session. You make characters together, agree on tone and scheduling, set boundaries, and get everyone on the same page. It's the single cheapest thing you can do to make a tabletop campaign go well.

Why it's called "session zero"

It happens before session one — the first time you actually play. Instead of showing up with finished characters and diving into the story, the table spends an hour or two aligning on what the game is going to be. Think of it as the difference between a group of strangers assigned a project versus a team that agreed on a plan first.

Why bother?

Most campaigns that fall apart don't fail because of bad dice or bad rules. They fail because of mismatched expectations: one player wanted gritty political drama, another wanted a comedy dungeon crawl; nobody could agree on a regular time; or a scene went somewhere that made someone uncomfortable and there was no graceful way out. A session zero surfaces all of that before anyone is emotionally invested in a character.

• Fewer dropouts. A clear schedule and commitment level filters out mismatches early.
• A party that actually works together. Linked backstories and a shared reason to adventure beat six lone wolves.
• Safer, more comfortable play. Agreeing on boundaries and tools up front means nobody has to police a scene in the moment.
• Less GM whiplash. The GM learns what the players actually want to do, so prep lands.

How to run a session zero, step by step

1. Pitch the campaign (GM, 5–10 min). Describe the setting, the genre, the rough premise, and the tone. Be honest about how deadly and how serious it'll be.
2. Sort out logistics. Agree on a recurring time, session length, where you play, the minimum players to run, and how absences are handled.
3. Set boundaries and pick safety tools. Talk about content that's off the table (lines) and content that happens off-screen (veils), and choose a tool like the X-Card or Open Door. Here's how each one works.
4. Make characters together. Building characters in the same room means you can link backstories, avoid four people picking the same role, and find reasons the party stays together.
5. Tie the party together. Give every character at least one relationship with another PC, and agree on why the group sticks together.
6. Agree on table etiquette. Phones, spotlight-sharing, rules disputes, PvP, and how you'll give feedback.
7. Write it down. Capture the schedule, the safety tools, the expectations, and the roster somewhere everyone can see. This is the step most groups skip — and the one that prevents arguments later.

Common mistakes

• Treating it as optional. "We'll figure it out as we go" is how mismatches become quit notices.
• The GM doing all the talking. It's a conversation, not a briefing — players should shape the game too.
• Not recording anything. If the agreement only lives in everyone's memory, it effectively doesn't exist by week six.
• Skipping safety because "we're all friends." Friends still have boundaries; tools make them easy to respect without an awkward conversation mid-scene.