Astro Artificer
- The Traditional Campaign Trap
- “But how do I know who fits… before Session Zero?”
- The “This Could’ve Been an Email” Problem
- The Pre-Session Zero Survey
- Let LLMs Do the Heavy Lifting
- How to Use a Pre-Session Zero Survey
- “That sounds amazing. Too bad it doesn’t exist…”
You sit behind your DM screen, hoping no one has noticed. But the signs are all there. Players glued to their LCD screens. Blank expressions. Fidgeting with dice. Conversations meandering anywhere but the session at hand. Then, like a creeping shadow, the realization curls up your spine:
You’ve lost them.
And the worst part?
It’s been happening for several sessions.
If your players are getting really good at making these, I would be worried.
One of the most disheartening experiences as a Dungeon Master is rallying a group of eager players (yourself included) into a new campaign, only to slowly realize no one’s truly interested.
It's not always your fault. Players aren’t always honest. They're often just desperate to find a DM.
But fair or not, it's still our job as DMs to keep the game engaging. So, how do we prevent player burnout?
Let’s talk about a buzzword that's been repeated into meaninglessness: Session Zero.
Yeah, I rolled my eyes too the first time I heard it. “Really? I’m supposed to waste time asking players what they want to play?” As a part-time table tyrant, it felt counterintuitive, especially considering how most people run Session Zero.
But that was before I learned what Session Zero is actually supposed to be.
Ask 10 different DMs or players what a Session Zero is, and you’ll get 10 different answers. Entire blogs and videos are dedicated to decoding the “holy grail” of campaign prep, but most explanations are vague at best. The general consensus? It’s a pre-campaign meeting where you talk about the game.
Helpful? Barely.
Some Session Zeros focus on scheduling. Others dive into world-building, character generation, social contracts, or even run a light in-universe session. With such a nebulous purpose, it’s no surprise many DMs fumble through their Session Zero or skip it altogether.
The real problem? Most people don’t know what problems Session Zero is supposed to solve.
So let’s start from the beginning: Where does Session Zero actually fit in?
The Traditional Campaign Trap
It usually goes like this: A passionate DM dreams up a brilliant new campaign idea, their magnum opus. Their Citizen Kane. Their Ratatouille.
They pitch it to their friends…
…and quickly realize the players want something entirely different.
Now you’re stuck. Do you:
- Sacrifice your vision to salvage the campaign?
- Or throw it all out and start over?
This is precisely what Session Zero is designed to prevent.
It happens after you decide to run a campaign, but before you decide what that campaign should be.
The goal is simple: gather the information needed to create a game that everyone (you included) says yes to.
But there’s a hard truth:
Session Zero only works if you’re willing to say no to players.
That’s the uncomfortable part of campaign creation. Not every friend is the right fit for your dream game. Most DMs either ignore this or aren’t even aware of it, until burnout hits everyone.
This is your campaign. Do yourself (and your players) a favor: make sure you’re all playing the same game.
“But how do I know who fits… before Session Zero?”
Good question.
And yes, you’re absolutely right: inviting someone to Session Zero just to figure out they’re a poor fit is a waste of time. It’s also a bit disrespectful.
So let’s fix that.
The “This Could’ve Been an Email” Problem
Picture this: You’re in a one-hour meeting at work. You grab coffee, exchange pleasantries, then sit through your boss droning on. You don’t really contribute. You’re asked for agreement, maybe a vague opinion. Then you’re assigned a follow-up task.
You mutter under your breath, “This could’ve been an email.”
Now imagine your players during a poorly-run Session Zero.
Exact. Same. Energy.
It’s actual agony to sit through hours of discussion only to realize you’re not aligned with the group’s tone, preferences, house rules, or even the campaign itself.
The Pre-Session Zero Survey
So how do you avoid that?
You send out a pre-session zero survey, an asynchronous way to gather valuable player data before bringing them to the table.
Here’s what it does:
- Skims off all the boring logistics (scheduling, house rules, etc.)
- Digs deeper with important questions:
- “What do you really enjoy about TTRPGs?”
- “What boundaries should never be crossed at the table?”
These are questions people often can’t answer honestly in front of others. But in private? You’ll get real answers.
Let LLMs Do the Heavy Lifting
Yes, you could conduct and process these surveys yourself.
But it’s time-consuming. And emotionally exhausting.
Enter Large Language Models (LLMs). They can take player responses and condense them into concise, insightful summaries, saving you hours of work, while helping you truly understand what your players want.
With this system, you no longer need to guess who fits your game.
You’ll know.
How to Use a Pre-Session Zero Survey
Here's how it works:
- Send the survey to more players than you intend to play with.
- Have them complete it on their own time and return the responses.
- Review the results, looking for:
- What kind of player they are (and what they enjoy).
- Their availability.
- Their boundaries and sensitive topics.
- Their compatibility with others.
- Select the players best aligned with the campaign you want to run.
- Develop a campaign premise based on shared interests.
- Ask for character concepts built with your setting in mind.
- Run a tight, focused Session Zero, resolving final questions and gauging party chemistry.
- Launch your campaign with confidence, knowing everyone is on the same page.
No misaligned expectations. No wasted sessions.
Just the right players for the right story.
“That sounds amazing. Too bad it doesn’t exist…”
Oh, but it does.
I built this system, and it’s completely free to use.
I’m calling this system the Session Zero Astrology, so that the fun of your game is not left up to fate.
Click this link to read the instructions and try it out for yourself!
If you want to use the Session Zero Astrology tool directly, click here!
As a DM who once ran a game featuring both an edgy Batman-Sasuke hybrid and Sir Cluck the rooster in the same party (yes, it went about as well as you'd imagine), I’ve learned the hard way how important player alignment is.
Choosing the right people makes all the difference.
So please, share this with anyone you think it could help, or give it a spin yourself.
It’s always easier to choose the ones who choose you.
Until next time,
– Astro Artificer –
