Tabletop RPG session zero

Coordinate your campaign's first meeting — character creation, house rules, and a recurring schedule everyone actually commits to.

A dedicated session zero for your tabletop RPG campaign (DnD, Pathfinder, Draw Steel, Blades in the Dark, or any system). Align on tone, character concepts, safety tools, and scheduling before the first die hits the table.

Group size: 4–7 people

Why this plan works

Session zero is where most campaigns succeed or quietly fail before they start. Getting 4–6 people in the same room (or on a call) to answer the same questions — what kind of game do we want? what are the boundaries? when can everyone actually play? — saves weeks of scheduling chaos and prevents the mid-campaign mismatch that kills groups. GetTogether is a natural fit: propose three date options, let everyone mark availability, and land on a first session date plus a recurring cadence without a 60-message Discord thread. Use it for a brand-new campaign, a one-shot pilot, or to relaunch a group that fell apart mid-arc.

Suggested timeline

  1. 2:00 PM — Arrival + snacks: Snacks on the table, pencils out, character sheets (or digital sheets) open. If you're playing virtually, everyone hops on the voice channel 10 minutes early to sort audio.
  2. 2:15 PM — GM pitch + campaign overview: The GM (or whoever's running) lays out the setting, the tone, and the rough premise. Keep it to 15 minutes — the goal is atmosphere, not a lore dump.
  3. 2:30 PM — Safety tools discussion: Go over your X-card, Lines & Veils, or whatever framework the group uses. Five minutes here prevents a lot of table discomfort later. Not optional.
  4. 3:00 PM — Character creation: Work through character concepts together — backgrounds, class/role choices, connections to other PCs. Doing this in the room means characters arrive with built-in relationships instead of awkward strangers.
  5. 5:00 PM — Scheduling agreement: Lock the recurring session day, start time, and rough session length. Decide on the cancellation threshold (quorum for go/no-go). This is the single most important 10 minutes of session zero.
  6. 5:30 PM — Short prologue or intro encounter (optional): Some GMs run a short intro scene to get everyone in character before wrapping. Great for energy; skip it if the group is tired and the schedule locked.

Venue ideas

  • Someone's apartment
  • Game shop with a back room
  • Library meeting room
  • Virtual (Roll20, Foundry, Discord)

Tips

  • Use GetTogether to poll three candidate recurring time slots — faster than debating cold in the room.
  • Write down the scheduling agreement (day, time, cancellation threshold) and pin it in your group chat. Memory is fallible, especially after a long session.
  • Player count matters more than system: 4 is tight, 5 is a sweet spot, 6+ gets slow. Confirm your table size before session zero, not after.
  • Hybrid (some in-person, some remote) is harder than all-in or all-virtual — establish your tech setup and test it before session one.
  • Agree on a snack rotation at session zero so the host isn't supplying everything every week.
  • One-shots and murder-mystery events can also use this format — the same availability polling and location logistics apply.

Use this plan — create your event free

Need more inspiration? Read our event planning guides for tips, checklists, and ideas.