Many of us dream of playing in a long-term campaign, or seeing our characters go from street rats at level 1 to saviors of the multiverse with the power of gods at level 20 and beyond.

But very few campaigns ever reach those lofty heights. Most campaigns are cut down long before their prime, barely making it out of tier 1 play (if they are lucky!). There are many reasons for this, from real life circumstances, to TPKs, to the dreaded scheduling conflict which has claimed more campaigns than any BBEG. So how do we give ourselves the best possible chance at going the distance in our campaigns? 

Session Zero - The Hero You Need

I've long spoken about how I firmly believe a big part of the reason I've been able to run weekly games with the same group for close to a decade now - across multiple full length campaigns, through job changes, children and international moves - is because of having robust session zeros before my campaigns, and then checking in during them. 

What Is A Session Zero?

A session zero is a chance for the game master and players to discuss the upcoming
game or campaign and make sure everyone is on the same page and understands what the game will, and won’t, be. A session zero allows everyone to align their expectations of the game and will help to prevent some common problems from popping up in the future.

There are countless ways to approach session zeros, but here are some of the ways I like to do it;

Getting The Basics Sorted

There are a few core things I think every kind of session 0 needs to cover, so let's get those out of the way first. 

Scheduling

This is, in my opinion, the most important thing you'll do when planning a campaign; organize the scheduling. 

Decide on a day and frequency that works for the group, and if possible, stick to a set day and time, such as Wednesday evenings at 7 o’clock, or the first Saturday of every month. Doing this helps establish your game as a regular fixture in people’s schedules.

You also want to discuss how long your sessions should be, where you will be playing (if
playing in-person, where will you meet? If online, what virtual tabletop platform will you use, if any).

Finally, agree under what conditions you will cancel a session. If your group is a GM and four players and two players cancel, do you still run the session?

Covering the scheduling basics up front and then sticking to them consistently will keep your campaign going longer than any other tip! 

Table Conventions

Next, you want to discuss any table rules or conventions you have or would like to introduce.

This is where you will talk about anything that isn’t specifically relating to the rules or playing of the game, but you would still like established.

Some things to talk about here might include;

• Are cell phones allowed at your table?
• Will the group be eating together, and if so who is responsible for bringing the food?
• Is alcohol permitted at the table?
• Are you going to have some dedicated non-game related hang out time before or after the session to get that social aspect? 

Establishing The Rules

Beyond just deciding on what game system you are going to run, now is the time to talk about any house rules you might want to use, as well as talk about what the process for looking up rules is going to look like if you can't find something with a quick 2-minute search. 

A good rule of thumb is that if a cursory search of the rulebook or online doesn't provide an answer, the GM makes a ruling in the moment, and then looks up the actual rule after the session so as not to slow down play too much. 

This is also a great time to talk about what your expectations are around "metagaming", characters and players sharing knowledge, and whether you and the group are OK with character vs character conflict.

Safety Tools

RPGs are only fun if everyone at the table is comfortable and enjoying themselves.

Even if you're playing with a group of people you've known your entire life, safety tools are an invaluable tool for you to be able to navigate situations that come up unexpectedly. 

Some common tools include;

• Lines & Veils, where lines are things players absolutely do not want to see or experience, and veils are things they only want to happen "off screen".
• The X Card, where a player can show a card with an X on it, or type X in chat to signal they are uncomfortable with the content of a scene and have the GM move on. 

For many games where the group are long-time friends, such "formal" systems can feel awkward at first, so adopting an "open door" policy can often be a simpler solution, where you tell the players that if they have any phobias or content types they don't want to see, they are free to get in touch and let you know and you'll accommodate that. 

But even for groups of long time friends, it's rare that we know every fear our friends have, or every single detail of their lives that the might be upset to explore through play, so asking the question is always the right call! 

For more information on safety tools, check out the TTRPG Safety Toolkit. 

Character Creation

For me, one of the most exciting elements of session zero is making a new group of characters together, and there are two main approaches I use for this. 

Solo Sessions

If you have the time and your party is going to be made up of a group of strangers coming together for the first time in their opening session, then I like to try and run solo sessions for each player before we start the campaign.

This allows us some dedicated 1:1 time to really dive into who that character is as a person, it allows the player the chance to experience the character narratively and mechanically, and also helps them to start to form their personality through play so that when they do come to the table with the rest of the group, they are a more three dimensional figure. 

Group Sessions

If we are playing a campaign where the player characters will all know each other before the first session begins, I prefer to handle character creation in a group, and will often break this down into two different sessions. 

One will be dedicated to mechanics, where the players build their characters together at the table. This prevents players from making a character off on their own and then bringing PCs who don't gel with the rest of the party to the first session. 

The second session is dedicated to the inter-personal connections of the characters, and we figure out how each of the characters in the party know one another, and what binds them. 

A lot of the game systems bake this into their character creation from the start. Powered by the Apocalypse games are well known for doing this, and the Traveller sci fi RPG has a character creation system which is a game unto itself!  

Wrapping Up

Once you've set expectations, created characters, and got everyone on the same page, make sure to give your players the chance to bring up anything you may have missed, and remind them that just because the campaign has started that doesn't mean your door is closed, and they can always bring up anything that needs to be discussed during the campaign. 

Which brings us to the secret sauce that is going to keep your games running year after year. 

The Check In

Session Zero doesn't end when the campaign begins, and if I had to identify one reason why I've been able to keep the same group of adults with their own busy lives playing week after week for the last decade it would be the campaign check in. 

Throughout the course of our campaigns, I will schedule a couple of dedicated check in sessions , usually between larger story arcs where there is some natural downtime, to et the pulse of the campaign and make sure everyone is feeling good. 

This might look like a casual conversation, or I might come armed with some prepared questions like; 

• How Does Everyone Feel About The Campaign So Far?
• Are You Happy With the Balance of Roleplay, Combat, and Exploration?
• Are You Happy With the Setting?
• Are You Happy With Your Character?
• What Has Been Your Favourite Plot/Session So Far?
• What Has Been Your Least Favourite Plot/Session So Far?
• What Plot Thread Are You Most Excited to Pursue?
• Who is Your Favourite NPC?
• What Kind of Content Do You Want to See More or Less of?
• How Do You Like to Receive Your Quests?

The exact questions I ask will depend on the vibes I'm picking up from the group at that time, but the above is a real list I used several years ago when doing my campaign check in. 

I find that not only do check ins benefit the group as a whole because they allow the players to bring up issues or things they would like to discuss, but they also really help reduce my GM anxiety because I can ask the questions that have been nagging at me. 

So that's how I approach running session zeros for my campaigns. I'd love to know if you do things differently down in the comments, so share your best session zero tips below! 

Much love
Anto