To prevent misunderstandings and upset, what are some things you think should be established during session 0?
Session 0 meaning before the game actually starts, when the players are making their characters, or deciding if they want to join the game.
For a play-by-post forum game, this would mean more what should you establish in the threads describing your game, and during the request-to-join process.

These could be things for the GM to establish, or for a player to ask.

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Some ideas...


Desired posting rate.

Is the game going to be more linear and guided by the GM? Or more open ended and guided by the players, like a sandbox?

Who is expected to determine "what next?" The players or GM?

Are players encouraged to be wacky and wild, not necessarily making the smartest decisions? Or should they be more serious and logical?
How hard will the game be? Likelihood of player death?

General tone of the game.

Whether it's fantasy or sci-fi, how grounded with reality is the game? Is it high flying anime, or more grounded?
What level or kinds of magic/science are present in the setting?

Is the game geared more towards roleplaying/acting or... gameplay?

What you want in a character write up. Sections, length of each section, etc.

Don't forget to ask your players what things they are not interested in. I don't mind sex being present in my games, but I just fade to black since I'm not here for porn. (As an example) Others might not want any sex at all. As GM you need to establish what levels you are willing to go with and be upfront in either the description or at least in the Session 0 section.

The flip side is also true. Find out what elements each player wants to see in their game. If most of them want a bit/lot of politics in the game and you're not interested in that the game will fail. If some want nothing but combat and to hell with story but you and/or the rest of the party are more interested in story, there will be trouble. Best to sort it out early.

Another thing is to establish any homebrew or optional rules you are using. For example. One game I was in had the Gm decide all trapfinding rolls were going to be Investigation. I had geared my character to being a trapfinder based on the RAW which use Perception. He sprang this on me after I had started the character. Not a good thing to do. (He also refused to allow me to change the character after finding that out but that's another discussion.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:44, Fri 09 Dec 2022.

I've never used this, but I always thought it was a good idea:
https://bankuei.wordpress.com/.../the-same-page-tool/

I've started to see session 0s just be used to figure out scheduling, assuming that everyone is onboard and on the same page. So, I'm glad to see people here talking in terms of the session 0 really being about determining compatibility in terms of game style. "Play D&D" means a lot of different things to different people.

Ask players what they’re uncomfortable with.
Personally I don’t mind some guy or gal losing her head to some eldritch horror. Though children are untouchable.
I think this includes phobias.

Yeah, you definitely need to establish boundaries and expectations in session zero.

You have to assume the GM and other players know absolutely nothing about you, and you need to assume you know nothing about them.  Telling people you have arachnaphobia days, weeks or months into an adventure where you're clearing out Shelob's lair of her kin is the wrong time.  Need to state that at the start. xD

No fucking CLOWNS!

So, I'm playing a pathfinder game, 1st edition. I know the GM, but I haven't played in any of his games before.

We are having a session 0.

Most of the players are newbies, and I'm helping them work out the mechanics since I'm the most familiar with 1e pathfinder. We have a pretty well balanced party.

The GM is very coy about the actual campaign.
We are told that initially we are going to be fairly railroady initially but that the game will open up later. Cool.
I am told that any character/backgruond will work, and I plan on making an LG cavalier/paladin chivalric knight halfling.
The Gm gives me the thumbs up. Session zero ends.

The day before the session starts, I am told that we will all be slaves working as conscripts for dark elves. I tell the GM I won't be playing via PM.

Partially because the GM sprung this on me despite the session 0, and partially I will never, play in a DND game where we start as prisoners, particularly not without going over what's acceptable and what's not acceptable. If this had brought this up in session zero I'd have told him this, flat out.

What's wrong with beginning as a prisoner?

Nothing inherently.

The problems were:

Personal (I've had so many bad experiences with games like this that I am extremely reluctant to join any game with this premise).

Character based (The honorable Paladin would have chosen death rather than work for the dark elves, and I pitched this character's concept very clearly to the GM during session 0).

The fact it was sprung on me (We had a complete session 0, this was never mentioned, and the GM sprung the premise like a day before the session 1).

That's all fair. My only experience with starting as a prisoner is in the Elder Scrolls games, and it always seems to work out for the protagonist in those. ;)

There is something to wanting to keep certain things a surprise. I would not expect anyone to have an issue with a "start as prisoners scenario." We all played elder scrolls after all.

Your fist point that's a personal issue. No different than if you didn't like an intrigue based game or something. That's just your choice.

The second. Cool not in friendly chat. Is you being a shit head. "Your character would choose death" is not a real excuse and certainly wouldn't be how you actually acted at the mid point of a game if you got captured. You don't like the premise just own it. Don't add bad player habits to the mix as "justification".

Personally, reading that the DM was being very coy and silent about main premises of the game was a clear red flag. Session 0 is there for a reason, to go over key aspects of the planned campaign to make sure everyone is on board.

Some of those key aspects are:
The setting
How the party is going to start off
Establishing backstories and links between characters (assuming players are ok sharing some or all of their backstories, some prefer to keep it secret for natural discovery or surprise factor)
etc

The 'you will all begin as slaves to drow' would be not just session 0, but part of the initial pitch of the campaign. Regardless of how long the slavery will last it is important info to have when planning out your character, backstory, campaign dynamic, etc.

It can definitely be an interesting premise for the start of a campaign. I can see many ways it could go such as:
Short length. The players are soon freed by someone else probably with the favour owed to their rescuer as the initial plot hook.
Medium length. The players learn the ropes of the environment and society they are now enslaved in and figure out how to escape on their own.
Long length. The players make the fact that they are slaves work for them to accomplish goals e.g. bringing down this drow society from within.

Regardless though you need that initial buy-in from your players. I will have a very different mindset coming to a game with that premise compared to one where say I'm expecting say a very generic start of save the village from the goblins.