The Ultimate Session Zero Checklist for New D&D Groups

You've got a group. You've got dice. You're ready to play — but are you really?

Session zero is the conversation that happens before the campaign starts. It's not glamorous, and it doesn't involve any dungeon delving. But skip it, and your campaign will hit avoidable walls within the first month. Run it well, and you'll spend the next year at a table where everyone is having the time of their lives.

This checklist covers everything you need to align on before your first real session.

1. Establish the Tone and Genre

Not everyone has the same D&D in mind. One player wants grimdark tragedy. Another wants whimsical adventure with talking animals. A third is here for tactical combat puzzles.

Ask these questions out loud:

• How serious do we want the campaign to be? (Scale of 1–10, with 1 being Monty Python and 10 being Game of Thrones)
• What genres excite us? (Horror, epic fantasy, political intrigue, heist, exploration)
• Are we playing a long campaign or a series of shorter arcs?

There's no wrong answer — but you need to know what table you're sitting down at before you start building characters.

2. Set Content Boundaries Together

This is the most important part of session zero, and the part most groups skip.

D&D can go to dark places. Violence, manipulation, loss, body horror, trauma — the game doesn't restrict itself. But your table should. Content lines protect everyone and make bolder storytelling possible, because players trust that the DM won't blindside them.

Use a simple two-column system:

| Lines (Hard No) | Veils (Fade to Black) | |---|---| | Topics/content you won't include at all | Topics you'll handle off-screen |

Common lines include: real-world slurs used in-character, sexual content involving minors, graphic torture of player characters. Common veils include: sexual content (acknowledged but not described), animal death, addiction.

Go around the table. Be honest. No one needs to justify their lines.

Also establish an X-Card or pause system: a signal anyone can use mid-session to redirect the story without explanation. Knowing it exists means it almost never gets used.

3. Discuss Character Creation Boundaries

Before anyone rolls stats or picks a subclass, agree on:

• Which sourcebooks are allowed? (Core only, or anything official, or third-party too?)
• Point buy, standard array, or rolled stats? (Rolled is fun but can create power imbalances)
• Starting level? (Level 1 is traditional; level 3 means everyone has their subclass immediately)
• Are evil or morally grey characters okay? (One chaotic evil character can derail a group that isn't ready for it)
• Do characters know each other? (Pre-existing relationships reduce the "why would we work together?" problem)

If you're new to the game, consider starting with the 5 tips for new dungeon masters before finalizing house rules — there are a few rookie traps worth avoiding.

4. Talk About Scheduling and Commitment

Campaigns die from scheduling problems more than any other cause. Be ruthlessly honest here.

• How often will you play? (Weekly, biweekly, monthly?)
• What happens when someone can't make it? (Cancel? Play with a smaller group? NPC the missing character?)
• What's the minimum attendance to run a session?
• Is there a session cap? (Some groups commit to 12 sessions, then reassess)

If someone can only commit to one session a month, that's fine — but everyone needs to know it going in.

5. Define the DM's Role and Table Expectations

Being a DM is a lot of work. It's also collaborative, not adversarial. Clarify:

• Is the DM's ruling final mid-session? (Most tables say yes, look it up after)
• How much improvisation vs. prepared content? (Some DMs prep 20-page documents; others wing it entirely)
• What's the note-taking policy? (Shared doc? Individual notes? The DM keeps records?)
• Are players expected to engage with downtime and between-session content?

Also: tell the DM what you want to see. Seriously. If you want your backstory to matter, say so. If you're hoping for a romance subplot, mention it. If you hate puzzles, let them know now.

6. World and Character Integration

If the DM has a prepared setting (like a frozen north campaign world with its own lore and factions), this is the time to integrate your characters into it.

Questions to answer:

• Where is your character from in this world?
• How did your character meet the others?
• What does your character want? What do they fear?
• Is your character aware of the main threat or conflict, or are they pulled into it?

Work through character backgrounds together. The best backstories aren't written in isolation — they're written in conversation with the DM and other players.

7. Agree on Metagaming Rules

"Metagaming" — using out-of-character knowledge in-character — is fine up to a point and annoying beyond it. Talk about where your table sits.

• Can players tell each other what their characters are planning out loud?
• Is it okay to look up monster stat blocks mid-combat?
• How much do characters know about common D&D tropes? (Does your elf character know that beholders are vulnerable to antimagic fields?)

There's no universally correct answer. Just have the conversation.

8. End With Collaborative Character Questions

Close session zero with something generative. Each player answers:

1. What's one thing your character is proud of?
2. What's one thing your character regrets?
3. What's one secret your character is keeping from the group?
4. What does your character want by the end of this campaign?

These answers give the DM a roadmap. They also start to create the inter-character dynamics that make groups memorable.

The Session Zero One-Pager

If you want to capture everything in writing, create a simple shared doc with:

• Tone/genre summary
• Content lines and veils list
• Character creation rules
• Scheduling agreement
• House rules

Review it when disputes come up. Update it if the campaign evolves.

Session zero takes two to three hours. It's the best investment you can make in a campaign that could last years. And once you're aligned? The only thing left to do is play.

Want to keep building toward your first session? Join our Discord community to swap session zero tips with other DMs and players, or sign up for our newsletter for weekly D&D guides straight to your inbox.