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D&D Session Zero: How to Run One That Works
A practical D&D session zero guide: what to cover, a timed agenda, safety tools, house rules and how to run it online, with a checklist you can use tonight.
A D&D session zero is a meeting held before the first adventure, where the Dungeon Master and players agree on the kind of game they are about to play, the content at the table, the rules and the characters. You run it by pitching the campaign briefly, asking every player what they want, setting boundaries and safety tools, settling house rules and logistics, and building characters that fit together. Below is a full checklist, a timed agenda and a section on running it online.
TL;DR
Session zero replaces private assumptions with shared agreements, so problems surface before anyone is invested in a character.
Cover six things: pitch and tone, content boundaries, logistics, house rules, character creation, and how you will check in later.
Keep it a conversation. Pitch in a few minutes, then ask questions and listen.
Online groups need extra items: time zones, audio setup, and a written guide to the dice and tabletop tools.
Treat it as the start of an ongoing conversation, not a one-time event.
Table of Contents
What a session zero is, and why it pays off
The session zero checklist
A timed agenda you can copy
How to run it without lecturing
Running session zero online
Using a browser-based tabletop for session zero
Perspective
A short example: three agreements that save a campaign
Common mistakes
FAQ
Sources
What a session zero is, and why it pays off
Session zero is a pre-campaign meeting where the group talks through the game before regular play begins. Sly Flourish describes it as a way to align expectations, set boundaries and often create or connect characters. The idea is simple: every person at the table arrives with a private picture of what D&D is. One expects tactical combat, another wants long in-character scenes, a third assumed the campaign would be lighthearted. Left unspoken, those pictures collide in session three.
The Dungeon Master's Workshop guide makes the same point from the DM's side: discussing the campaign before characters are rolled reduces unexpected problems because everyone knows what to expect. It matters most for groups that do not yet share history. If your players are strangers, or spread across cities, you have no unwritten agreements to lean on, so you need written or spoken ones.
You also do not need a lot of time. A first session zero can be an hour or two. What matters is that the talking happens before the characters exist, because backstories, class choices and equipment all depend on what you decide.
The session zero checklist
Use this as a menu. Short campaigns or familiar groups can skim some items. New groups and long campaigns should cover all of it.
The pitch and the premise
Give a short, concrete pitch: the setting, the opening situation, and what the characters will generally be doing. Two or three minutes is enough. Include the system and edition, the expected campaign length, and the commitment you are asking for.
The Sly Flourish checklist suggests covering the campaign world, a few defining truths about it, what drives the story forward, and the factions and patrons the party might meet. You do not need to explain a whole setting bible. Three or four sentences players can build characters around beat forty pages of lore no one reads.
Tone and play style
Ask what the table wants more of. Combat, exploration, puzzles, social scenes and character arcs are all valid answers, and a group usually wants a blend. A 2025 checklist recommends settling the balance among combat, exploration and social encounters, and asking whether anyone has played a pre-made adventure before.
Also talk about:
How serious or humorous the game will be.
How deep the roleplaying should go.
Who controls narrative details.
Whether player-versus-player action is allowed.
How lethal the game is and what happens when a character dies.
Whether retconning a decision is allowed.
The Level 1 Geek checklist covers most of these, including game rating and topics players do not want in the game.
Content boundaries and safety tools
This is the part many groups skip and later wish they had not. Give players a way to flag subjects they would rather not see. Sly Flourish suggests giving players a list of potentially disturbing subjects, discussing concerns during session zero, and agreeing that anyone can call a pause to step out of the scene without explaining why.
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