How to Run a Successful Session Zero for a New Table

By Lynn | The DM Corner — Killer Bee Press

Every great campaign begins before anyone rolls initiative.

A Session Zero gives the Dungeon Master and players a chance to decide what kind of game they want to play before the adventure begins. It establishes expectations, helps create characters that belong together, and gives everyone a shared understanding of the campaign.

Whether you are running Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, or another tabletop RPG, spending one evening getting everyone on the same page can prevent weeks of frustration later.

A successful Session Zero does not need to feel like a business meeting. Keep it conversational, cover what matters, and give your players plenty of opportunities to contribute.

Start With the Campaign Pitch

Before anyone starts building a character, explain the game you plan to run.

Players do not need twenty pages of world history. They need enough information to create characters who fit the adventure. Explain the setting, tone, starting situation, and general style of campaign you have in mind.

For example:

“You are beginning as hired adventurers protecting a frontier settlement where travelers have recently started disappearing after dark.”

That single sentence tells the players quite a bit. They know where the campaign begins, why adventurers are needed, and what kind of characters might reasonably become involved.

You can expand from there. Tell them whether they should expect political intrigue, dungeon crawling, exploration, investigation, heavy roleplaying, or frequent combat. Most importantly, give the players an opportunity to tell you what interests them.

Session Zero should be a conversation, not a sales pitch.

Establish Expectations Before They Become Problems

Every table operates differently, especially when players have come from different groups.

Talk about scheduling, attendance, phones at the table, rules disagreements, player-versus-player actions, character death, metagaming, homebrew content, and anything else that could affect the group.

You do not need rules covering every possible situation. You simply want everyone to understand how your table operates.

This is also the right time to establish boundaries. Ask whether there are subjects players do not want included in the campaign and whether some subjects are acceptable only when they remain off-screen. Establish a simple way for someone to indicate that a scene needs to move on without forcing that player to justify their discomfort to the table.

These conversations might seem unnecessary when everyone is excited about starting a campaign. They become much more valuable the first time a difficult situation appears.

Create a Party, Not Just Characters

Character creation is where Session Zero can really improve a campaign.

Five players creating characters separately can produce five great characters who have absolutely no reason to adventure together. The paladin wants to defend the innocent. The rogue wants to rob them. The wizard would rather stay in the library.

Meanwhile, someone has created the classic mysterious loner who refuses to trust anybody.

Now the DM has to invent increasingly elaborate reasons for these people to remain together.

Instead, create connections during Session Zero. Ask your players questions like:

• How does your character know another member of the party?

• Who has worked together before?

• Does anyone owe another character a favor?

• Who shares a common enemy?

• What does one character know about another character's past?

  
  

Even a few connections can transform the opening sessions. Instead of waiting for the DM to force everyone together, the players already have reasons to interact.

Explain How Your Table Works

Every DM interprets some rules differently.

If you use house rules, milestone advancement, optional rules, restrictions on character options, special critical hits, or different rules for resurrection, explain them before they become relevant.

Keep this part focused.

Your players don't need every ruling you have made over twenty years behind the screen. Tell them what they need to know to create their characters and begin playing. Explain everything else when it becomes important.

Don't Forget to Actually Play

Session Zero does not have to end when the character sheets are finished.

If time allows, run a short opening scene. Let the characters arrive at the campaign's starting location, meet an important NPC, witness something unusual, or encounter the first sign of the threat they will eventually face.

Then give them a reason to come back.

A knock sounds at the tavern door.

Someone discovers a body.

The town bells begin ringing.

Something enormous moves beneath the water.

And that's where you end the night.

From Behind the Screen

A successful Session Zero should leave everyone understanding the game they agreed to play and excited to play it.

Establish expectations. Connect the characters. Listen to what your players want. Give them a glimpse of the adventure ahead.

You cannot predict everything your players will do—and you shouldn't try. Give everyone a strong foundation and a reason to sit down at the table together.

Then, next session, roll the dice.

— Lynn, The DM Corner | Killer Bee Press