Session Zero & Campaign Covenant — Notion Template

📜 SESSION ZERO IN 30 MINUTES — AND AN AGREEMENT THAT LASTS ALL CAMPAIGN

This is a Notion template, not a printable. You get a one-page PDF with your template link inside it; you click Duplicate and the whole covenant copies into your own free Notion account, ready to share with your table.

Most tables have the session zero conversation once and never write it down. Three months later nobody remembers what was agreed, the house rules have quietly drifted, and a new player joins with no idea how your table works. This is a living campaign covenant: you set it up in about half an hour, then amend it as the table decides things, and every change keeps its date.

🗺️ WHAT'S INSIDE — A DASHBOARD + 5 LINKED DATABASES

• 📜 Covenant Dashboard — tone dials, the campaign pitch, your schedule, and when the covenant was last amended, all on one page

• 🎭 Table Expectations — pillar balance, attendance, phones, PvP, what happens when a character dies, each with a status so you can see what is agreed and what is still being debated

• 🛡️ Safety and Consent — lines and veils, each with who raised it, the date, and whether it is still in force

• 🤝 Party Bonds — why each character travels with the group, how they are tied to each other, and which NPC or faction they are connected to

• ⚖️ House Rules — every ruling you have made, which official rule it sits on top of, and whether it is on trial, adopted, or retired

• 📌 Covenant Log — a dated record of every amendment, what changed, and who agreed to it

♻️ WHY IT KEEPS WORKING AFTER SESSION ONE

Consent changes and house rules evolve, and the covenant is built to change with them. Lift a veil in session twelve and the record shows it was lifted, when, and by agreement — so nobody has to rely on memory. A hard line stays a hard line: those are not up for renegotiation, and the template treats them that way.

🧭 HOW IT WORKS

1. Buy → download the PDF with your template link straight from this page

2. Open the link → click Duplicate → it copies into your Notion

3. Run session zero straight from the dashboard: tone dials first, then safety, then bonds

4. Share the link with your players so they can add their own lines and bonds, and amend it whenever the table decides something new

A fully filled sample campaign ("Emberhold") is included, with entries already amended and retired, so you can see how a covenant evolves. Then clear it and make it yours.

BUILT ON D&D 5E VOCABULARY, AND YOURS TO RENAME — nothing here is locked to a rules system; every field is plain text you can rename for Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, or your own game.

💬 Questions? Leave a comment below — happy to help you get set up.

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This template was designed by the shop owner with AI assistance used as a drafting tool. All layouts, databases and written content were reviewed and finalised by a person. Requires a free Notion account (notion.so). Personal use at your table — please do not resell or redistribute. Not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or Notion Labs.