session zero
Pre-adventure planning meeting
Session zero is a preliminary meeting before a tabletop roleplaying game campaign begins, where players and the game master establish expectations, create characters, and discuss boundaries.
The term comes from it occurring before "session one"—the first actual play session.
We used session zero to agree on tone and set some ground rules.
- character creationBuilding a playable persona
- backstoryCharacter's past narrative
- campaignOrganized effort toward goal
- dungeon masterTabletop RPG narrator
- expectationsBeliefs about future outcomes
social contract · worldbuilding · party · party dynamics · collaboration · boundaries · homebrew · roleplay · tabletop · dice · introduction · ground rules · prologue · narrative · consent · player characters · setting · tone
- roleplayroleplay, acting, character, cosplay, D&D
- GMingworld building, campaign planning, pacing, rulings, fudging
- RPG designgame balance, player agency, worldbuilding, house rules, homebrew
- tabletop RPGsD&D, sourcebook, dungeon master, game master, DM