The Lantern Hall
Painting: an ancient lexicon open on a carved lectern in a dark chapel of books, glowing runes and symbols lifting off its pages like fireflies.
TermTabletop term

Session zero

A meeting before a campaign begins in which the group agrees on tone, themes, rules, scheduling and Safety tools, and often creates characters together. It aims to prevent misunderstandings before they reach the table.

A meeting before a campaign begins in which the group agrees on tone, themes, rules, scheduling and Safety tools, and often creates characters together. It aims to prevent misunderstandings before they reach the table.

Quick answers

What does "Session zero" mean?
A meeting before a campaign begins in which the group agrees on tone, themes, rules, scheduling and Safety tools, and often creates characters together. It aims to prevent misunderstandings before they reach the table.

Nearby in the archive

Safety tools

Tabletop term2013

Techniques that help a group agree on content and stop play when something is unwelcome. Lines rule topics out, veils keep them off-screen, and the X-card lets anyone tap a card to remove content without explanation. Many groups begin with a Session zero to set expectations.

Game Master

Tabletop term

The player who runs the game: describing the world, voicing every Non-player character, adjudicating rules and deciding what the dice mean. Different games give the role different names, such as Dungeon Master in D&D, Storyteller in Vampire: The Masquerade and Keeper in Call of Cthulhu. The role descends from the neutral umpire of refereed wargames.

Player character

Tabletop term1974

A character controlled by one of the players rather than by the Game Master. The shift from commanding armies to embodying a single persistent hero, who remembers, grows and can die, is what separated the roleplaying game from the wargame.

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