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Orannis
2010-06-30, 05:20 PM
How do you, as DM, prep for an upcoming game? One of mine would stat out every monster, plan every "random" encounter, divide up every treasure, and calculate everyone's XP like 2 weeks before we even got there while a different one would not stat anything except for the occasional NPC that we needed to fight, always just winged it when it came to encounters, and more than once forgot to give XP and loot from the aforementioned encounters. Both were really difficult to play with as the first just couldn't handle anything that wasn't in his prepared script and the other had so little form that your successes and failures were based more on random chance than any real skill. I keep trying to strike a balance between the two personally but I tend to lean more towards over preparation than under. What are some of the tricks you use when getting ready to DM?

Sc00by
2010-06-30, 05:33 PM
I prep everything, but am prepared to throw stuff away if the PCs come up with an alternate way of dealing with the situation.

I'm hopeless at making stuff up on the fly (*looks at pile of dead PCs mournfully) but I'm slowly getting better. Practice and all that!

PId6
2010-06-30, 05:37 PM
Prepare more, and prepare to improvise.

You should definitely prepare as much as you can before a session, since that lets the session go more smoothly and keeps you from having to reference rules/stat monsters/make stuff up on the fly nearly as much. Statting monsters, making NPCs, building the dungeon, and coming up with important events that will happen should always be done before the game. Rolling up random encounters before the game is also a fairly good habit, since it allows you to make them more interesting, avoids nonsensical results, and keeps them from taking up too much time during the actual game.

Still, as they say, no plan survives contact with the PCs. While you should have the monsters statted and have the plot in the back of your mind, you should always be ready for something going wrong. One thing that helps is knowing the details of your world and your enemies so that you can figure out what they'd do in the case of the unexpected. If the PCs decide not to go into the dungeon and try to starve the BBEG out instead, it helps to know that the dungeon uses underground fungi as its food source. You should also plan for everything they might do and at least have a general idea of what will happen for each situation. That way, you'll rarely be completely flabbergasted by what they do (though occasionally, they'll still do something so completely stupid and/or brilliant that you didn't even think of it).

Finally, a useful trick is to have some extra things planned out or written down that you don't intend to use. Some random NPC names in a list, for example, will be helpful whenever the PCs feel like they need to find expert X or ruler Y and expect you to have them planned. Some random monster stats are good as well, since if all else fails and they do something that ruined most of your plans, you can just throw a few "random" encounters at them to fill the session and rewrite the plot afterward. :smallwink:

valadil
2010-06-30, 05:42 PM
One of my favorite topics :-)

I write an outline of each event I expect to happen. These outlines keep me on track and make sure I mention all the little details that need mentioning. I don't usually set an order to these events. They happen as needed.

NPCs have agendas instead of scripts. They're all ambitious and have things they'd like to make happen. They'll try to achieve these with or without the PCs intervention. These NPC agendas count as events. I also have an index card for each NPC. They're sorted by plot and region. They also have descriptions and mannerism notes. Before each session I pull out the NPCs I expect to use so I have them handy.

I don't write out a lot of speech. Outlines work better for me. If I write up quotations I find myself reading from those and not really roleplaying. The players can tell I'm reading, so they sit back and listen. An outline makes for a more interactive conversation.

I do write out descriptions though. As a speaker I'm not very descriptive. I have vivid images in my head, but they stop at my mouth. So if I want to ensure that the new city looks different from the old one I have to write up the description in advance. Otherwise it never comes out.

Combat gets planned in advance. I like writing right on the monster, so I need a copy of it that's not my MM. In 3.5 I wrote up stat blocks. 4th ed powers take up too much space though, so I copy out the enemies and print them up in my own format. (I also roll initiative in advance - saves time.) Some combat sheets have optional parts. For instance, I recently printed up 4 varieties of town guard and their mounts. Depending on the kind of trouble the PCs get in I'll deploy these guys as I see fit. But they still have to be printed in advance.

When planning I try to take note of what plot applies to whom. Some notes are directed at certain players. Other plots aren't relevant for everyone. Ideally I'll come up with personal bits for everyone, but not all my games are ideal. If someone looks bored I look for their name and run that section of the game next.

I don't like mapping. Most of the time the results don't matter. If the players are heading north I can tell them they have to choose from a mountain and a swamp just as easily as they can read it from a map. Bottom line is maps take me a while to deal with and don't add enough to the game to justify their use.

Dungeons are no exception. I write up a list of encounters, traps, hazards, and puzzles. Corridors and paths are improvised. I pick events off this list as I see fit as the players go through the dungeon. I found that back when I did dungeons on grid paper, the decisions were all arbitrary. I'd go to great lengths to copy over the dungeon exactly, but the length of the corridor never mattered that much to begin with.

I have recently begun mapping encounter spaces though. I didn't do this for 3.5. But terrain matters more in 4th. My players have told me they like battles where the terrain is interesting. They like their push and pull abilities and they want those abilities to matter, rather than forcing an enemy to shift next turn. I also use construx to build 3d encounters, and that's just a little too slow to do in advance.

I also look up rules in advance. For instance I'm planning on running an ambush in the group's inn room. They won't have armor and the enemies will use their weapons. So I have to look up rules for donning armor and disarming weapons. We haven't used those rules yet, but it's obvious they'll be coming up. At the very least I should have their page bookmarked.

Finally (and this is a new one for me) if I see an NPC being in the spotlight for the upcoming session, I pretend that that NPC is my DMPC for the week beforehand. Hopefully this will get me into the NPC's head a little more so I can play him better. Can't say for sure if this actually works yet.

Gorgondantess
2010-06-30, 05:48 PM
I tend to pretty much wing all of my games, myself... but that's because any plot I can possibly plan out will not happen. I'm not sure if it's me or them... but one time when I planned out about 5 plots, no brainer hooks that played into the player's personalities, and several contingencies on everything (all of which took several weeks), halfway through the first scene the game essentially turned into an epic PvP game. And, actually, it really was epic- I'd have to say it was one of the most rewarding games I've ever played. Human Necromancer/Cleric/True Necromancer vs. halfling rogue/shadowdancer/assassin and half orc monk/drunken master. Despite all 3 of them starting off with equal stats and levels, well... even a crappy caster like a true necromancer did pretty damn well against those two. He lost, in the end, in an epic showdown in the middle of a village he turned into zombies, but it was pretty much down to one attack roll.

Il_Vec
2010-06-30, 05:54 PM
I tend to make a map of the place they are in, with little notes about possible encounters and interactions. After that, I expand the map to places they might want to go, other cities, dungeons, etc, and proceed to make more little notes about encounters and interactions in those new areas. And then I wing it from there.

Ranos
2010-06-30, 05:56 PM
I DM houses of the blooded right now. Game's a mess, editing is ****ed up, but goddamn if it doesn't practically play itself.
Prep time usually takes 5 minutes or so.

Ormur
2010-06-30, 07:30 PM
I find that it's generally not so hard to determine what the players will do next session. I hint at some plot hook or an encounter and they begin planning for it. The problem is I'm never prepared for how they resolve said encounter.

I just stat up anyone the PC's might be likely to beat up and I have a few spare generic characters for other encounters. Then I draw maps, and think of what significant NPC's would do in response to last session's events or if the PC's don't do anything concerning them.

More preparation is better and ideally you want to present the PC's with more than one obvious plot hooks.


I DM houses of the blooded right now. Game's a mess, editing is ****ed up, but goddamn if it doesn't practically play itself.
Prep time usually takes 5 minutes or so.

That's a game where it's hopeless for the DM to plan anything. I played one session and it took 6 players two hours to make up such a complicated web of relations and events it would have taken a whole soap opera series to convey it. "This man is secretly my uncle" one would say if the DM introduced a new NPC "...and he murdered my sister" the next player would say.

Lord Vampyre
2010-06-30, 08:04 PM
Honestly, most of the time I steal a lot of material from a written adventure. Sometimes, I'll actually run the adventure, but most of the time I just modify to fit my needs. I'm too busy with work to do too much more than that.

I've fully done my own adventures a few times, but it takes me forever to prepare for. I tend to have everything planned out. I try to plan every contingency. Most of the time my players tend to just follow the carrot on the stick. I've tried to give them wiggle room, they just don't take it most of the time. And its rare that they'll throw me a curve ball that I wasn't expecting.

I'm working on a new campaign, but it'll be awhile before its ready. Till then I'll stick to modifying canned material.

PairO'Dice Lost
2010-06-30, 08:52 PM
Generally, I walk into a session with no preparation except knowing where I want the plot to go and a list of significant names (because I have a psychological block that won't let me use random names, they have to mean something). I have bunches of stat blocks on hand because I tend to stat things when I'm bored, but they're not usually prepared specifically for the session; also, I'm the kind of DM who can stat up half-celestial great wyrm red dragons of legend on the fly by memory, spells and items and all, so I don't need too much mechanical preparation.

The first and only time I'm going to make maps ahead of time as opposed to just scribbling on a whiteboard is for my upcoming dungeon crawl in September, and for that I have 23 dungeon levels mapped and prepared with several more on the way.

AslanCross
2010-06-30, 10:54 PM
I prepare obsessively. I'd spend an entire afternoon in a coffee shop preparing encounters way in advance. I don't prepare everything, though.

Things Aslan Prepares
1. Encounters: Monster combinations, statblocks, terrain. Even randomly-rolled encounters are planned, so that they look like they're part of the story and not just randomly inserted. If times permits, playtest.

2. Treasure. I don't like randomly rolling on the spot only to give my players vendor trash, so I usually give them things they will actually find useful, even if the utility isn't that high.

3. Randomly-rolled things, such as the weather.

4. Narrative descriptions. Since I envision the appearance of the areas while preparing anyway, I write down the descriptions so I don't forget.

5. Maps and battle grids. It takes time to draw, so might as well.

Things Aslan Doesn't Prepare
1. Dialogue. Sometimes the gist of what the NPC says I'll prepare, but the actual wordings I improvise.

2. Experience points: I prefer to keep XP rewards already precalculated, but more often than not I just keep the LegionofGeeks Encounter Caluclator (http://legionofgeeks.com/encounter_calc.php) open.

This is mostly why I'm going on a long hiatus from DMing for now. I've just changed jobs. My new job has a more demanding schedule, so I don't have as much time to prepare as I used to. Hopefully I'll still get around to playing so I don't get rusty.

Umael
2010-06-30, 11:12 PM
1. Draw the circle in chalk.
2. Double-check my calculations.
3. Set the candles in their designed locations, but do not light them yet.
4. Procure a virgin - probably the most difficult step.
5. Make absolutely sure I can pronounce the name right.

Before I got proficient, I used to have rehearsals, where I had all the acolytes wear shirts that said "Mook #1" or "Guard #13", but that's really not necessary. Nerves, I guess.

Thajocoth
2010-06-30, 11:36 PM
I pre-make encounters and when they'll receive loot. The loot itself is from the parcels in the DMG. When it says "Magic item of level X", I instead leave them a Level X Magic Bauble. The bauble is round and gives off a faint magical glow. Pressing one's hand through it, it squishes like jelly. You simply imagine something you want, reach your hand through the bauble, and pull the item out. When the PC pulls an item out of the bauble, it pulls the bauble inside out, but there is no inside, so it ceases to exist, leaving the magic item behind. If the PC tries to pull out an item three or more levels above the bauble, they will be unable to find it with their hand, and therefore unable to pull anything out.

If the item is the bauble's level or lower, there are no complications. If the item is above the bauble's level, but only by a level or two, the item will work as intended, but also have some sort of curse. I'll have a page of item curses. Two levels above gains the more severe curses, while one level gains a more minor curse. The curse can be removed with a ritual. The cost to remove the curse it the price difference between an item of the bauble's level and the item they pulled out of the bauble.

I don't plan too far ahead. That way lies ruin (at least for me). This way, I can adapt things in later sessions. Short mission style games... Nothing too complex. And I only run if no one else will. I'd rather play.

Moofaa
2010-07-01, 02:30 AM
First I think of other things I could do instead that are more fun. Assuming I am trapped into DMing and can't find an excuse out I commence with Phase 2: Moaning and Groaning. When that inevitably fails I engage Plan C: Spend-So-Much-Time-Faking-Preparation-Hopefully-They-Forget-About-The-Game.

After all that fails I bust out my laptop which contains a few rough plot ideas...typed in notepad .txt documents and load up character sheets/PDFs/OpenRPG (I only run games online). I then spend 20 minutes or so trying to remember what happened last session before telling the players the OpenRPG room is up. After typing a paragraph or two to recap (and inevitably being corrected) the game commences for a 2-8 hour session (have had sessions go past 12 hours before).

Sometimes, if I really want to get out of GMing I will auto-level up the PCs. This usually causes people to lose interest since they actually have to do some tedious reading and thinking about powers (my players have a tendency to be really lazy about character generation). This is usually my chance to load up Dungeons&Dragons Online, Bad Company 2, or whatever my current game of the month is and forget to alt+tab back out to the chat.

Assuming I don't manage to weasel my way out of actually running a full session, then I usually end up spending free time at work typing up some plot ideas in notepad. (I like notepad because its quick to start/close and its great for...well for taking notes).

Lately I have taken to making an Encounter Sheet for every campaign setting I create (I only run homebrew stuff these days) that include basic stats for things the PCs are likely to run into like Guards, Bandits, Orcs, Etc. I never roll up encounters and just wing them on the fly (you see you are being followed by a band of.....20 dirty and poorly armed men on horseback while traveling). If I under-estimate the party's abilties and they trounce said 20 bandits then the next encounter will get harder. I seldom over-estimate their abilties because whenever dealing with new characters or players I always start off with easy encounters to feel them out so eventually it balances.

Its not that I dislike DMing, mind you, its that over the years it seems no matter the campaign setting and no matter the plot my players always seem to end up just being a mercenary group that does odd jobs for whomever wants to pay them. I'm more tired of the players that seem to LIKE being railroaded and even EXPECT it, despite all efforts on my part to present them options.

In fact running games with them is a lot like playing an MMO. I should make their next mission to be collecting 100 boar spleens...except not every boar will have a spleen so they will have to kill at least 300 of them.

Orannis
2010-07-01, 04:13 AM
QUOTE:Moofaa
Its not that I dislike DMing, mind you, its that over the years it seems no matter the campaign setting and no matter the plot my players always seem to end up just being a mercenary group that does odd jobs for whomever wants to pay them. I'm more tired of the players that seem to LIKE being railroaded and even EXPECT it, despite all efforts on my part to present them options.

In fact running games with them is a lot like playing an MMO. I should make their next mission to be collecting 100 boar spleens...except not every boar will have a spleen so they will have to kill at least 300 of them.[/QUOTE]

Man, isn't that the truth. No matter how much I try to encourage them to get into the story it either ends with them just trying to avoid any semblance of a plot other than "kill x to get y" or they all but flat out refuse to take any initiative and want the NPCs to do the work for them. The really sad part is that it's THE SAME GROUP. I never know what I should be prepared for. Inevitably the day I spend hours preparing is the day they all decide to just ignore it and kill random people an the day I didn't get anything done they start acting like they are writing a book on the subject of every NPC, every monster, and every blade of grass. I seriously think that they are trying to make me question my sanity :smallsigh:

Delta
2010-07-01, 04:23 AM
How do you, as DM, prep for an upcoming game?

Really depends on the game. Sometimes, I prepare everything the day before (hardly ever earlier than that), what I almost always do is spend some time preparing a music playlist for the game.

But sometimes, I'm lazy enough just to skip through the part of the adventure a couple hours before the game and then try to stay a page or two ahead of the players, winging most of the adventure on the fly :smallbiggrin:

Earthwalker
2010-07-01, 06:14 AM
It all depends on the system I am running.
For Shadowrun I spend an hour building a simple run for the players. First session I get them to make characters then give them the simple run.
After the session its about 10 hours of making an over riding plot arc, making NPCs, matching up the players contacts and backgrounds to my plot arc to keep the players involved. Then every session I spend 2 hours designing what I need for this weeks run, also fitting it into the plot arc. Usually have 12 “scripted runs” before the players start making their own. Then its less planning and more winging it, just keeping track of what my NPCs are doing and if their plans work.

For Runequest its a lot less work. I do about half an hour before each session to work over what plots I have going and what NPCs are up to, then about 30 mins after the session to make sure all is correct. Most of the time in play I am winging it and letting the players lead.

For DnD Its a lot more work up front a lot of it a bit dull. I have the usual NPC tracking and plot management but also I try to work out encounters and treasure and xp up front to speed things up. I also seem to have a lot more “powers” to keep track of. Of course this is probably because I arent as familiar with the system. All in all its like 2 hours instead of the 30 mins I spend on Runequest.

I have developed a style where I now set up NPC with motivations and let them loose this is a lot less planning for plot. I have found plotting out too much just means I throw a lot of work away as players never ever do what you think.

Kol Korran
2010-07-01, 06:44 AM
my prep time could be divided to stages sort to speak:
1) prepare the campaign: this takes place soem time before the actual gaming starts, and is quite importent. this is a time consumer, but i find it worth it. this is the framework for everything later on:
- major NPCs, major villains (i use the Giant's tips for planning both villains and major NPCs. the "Resources" part is the most time consuming). i tend to go into quite a detail with these, since they are so importent. however, i do keep in mind that they might change. i try to estimate the PCs strength upon meeting the major villains, and playtest them/ ask other DMs for glaring weaknesses (which i either fix, or keep in a lessened version)
- decides on major chapters/ adventures/ acts: these are usually defined by goals to reach, or a new development/ action of the villain. determine the estimated range of levels the PCs should go through in each chapter.
- major locations, places of import. this is mainly doen for scrying or other divinations sakes, and that i could have an idea of what happens if the PCs get there sooner than expected. i give out the general layout and inhabitants of the places. this doesn't mean "there's an ogre in room 2B" but it does mean "there's a tribe of about 30 ogres, 12 young there, led by an ogre mage and an Annis hag advisor, also- 6 bears guards".
- next is plans: what would happen if the PCs weren't there (including time schedule. try and be percise but with some "time off" for the villains as well), what would happen if the PCs did expected stuff (the "usuall" route of the adventure), what happens in extreme cases of PC success/ cleverness (this step can be quite importent. PCs will usually do unexpected things).
- usually my campaign have a "rank and file" type of opponents that may repeat many times, and can also easely be used for random encounters. i try to stat these out if i have the time, but this part is of less urgency.
- cities and major settlements/ PCs interaction points: i try and give a broad descirpiton and some detailing to any of these. this includes general fluff, special buildings/ people (minor NPCs that don't need full fleshing out yet), and points of interest.
-a major point: PC's "hot spots": once all of the above have been done, i look over at the PCs and players (if i know them) and then i go over each of the above and try and "Adjust" it to somehow be more importent, more personal to the PCs and players. with villains and NPCs it's understandable. major locations can have some secret importent to the NPCs, or it's inhabitants could be changed a bit to be more importent and so on. the rank and file might have some elite forces that a PC recognize, or that can specifically combat a player's favorite tactics, and so on. this is an importent stage, that can improve the campaign IMMENSLY. don't forgo it.

this entire stage is time consuming, and is accomplished through out several weeks, when i have time from RL. though it is time consuming, thinking about the campaign allows me to feel more confidnet, and surprisingly- to improvise much more convincingly. more over- it saves A LOT of time later on. this is the framework, and as such is quite open to changes. sometime i get back to it later in the game and alter things.

2) prepare the chapter/ adventure/ act: different DMs call it differently, but usually a campaign could be seperated into acts, that are usually defiend by a specific goal (or set of goals) the party needs to accomplish before carrying on, or before the villain makes it's next move. you know what i mean. about 2-3 weeks before i get to a new part, i start preparing. where the previous stage was a framework, this is where you get down to details:
- decide what range of XP/ levels you want the XP to finish the hcapter with. there should be a sense of accomplishment and progress.
- allocate XP for certain accomplishments. this include accomplishments that will almost certainly the party will try to achieve, and a few optional ones or ones of great success (i do XP differently. ask if you want, another discussion). this should give a minimum to maximum amount of XP for the chapter, and it's parts. this is the basis of the following preperations.
- estimate the most straight forward course of action the PCs might, and calculate the XP to that based on the former claculations. now assign challanges through the CR system or whatever fashion you may want. add hoc works best for experienced DMs. note: you may need to vary quite considerably from what you planned in the campaign planning stage. extra challanges (for more XP nad wealth), may require more monsters/ traps, or different conditions (achieve something befroe a time limit. leave no marks of passage. protect as many villagers you can from the raid, and so on..)
most challanges i plan are quite dynamic- plan situations, not encounters is my general motto. it helps keep the game flexible, interesting, and responsive to player's plans. note that the XP for an accomplishement stays the same, whether the PCs slaughtered all their enemies to do it, or succeeded in some other clever way. this encourages smart thinking and ingenuity.
- relying on the XP, calculate the awarded GP value of wealth the party gains in the chapter. since there's a minimum and maximum, some of the treasure should depend upon the character's success. allocate treasure for the minimum. if the party is more succesful, then their patron gives them more treasure, or they find a magical location, or find extra loot in the chapter's villain's chest and so on.
i find allocating about 1/2-2/3 of the chapter welath to major challanges is fine, the rest divided between reward and minor rewards from lesser challanges.
about 1/2-2/3 of the treasure as items that can specifically be used by the characters (the bastard sword the warblade sought, a spell book for the wiz, and so on). the rest is divided between general items (amulet of health, wand of lesser vigor, bag of holding), gold and gems and stuff.
- details: hardness of things, lighting, any special terrain that has rules for it, any NPCs that need fleshing out more., spees of travel from place to place and so on.
- and again: keep the players and PCs in mind: after doing all of the above (well, actually i usually do it at the same time), make sure you got something interesting for each player somewhere in the adventure. not all challanges have to be directed at the players, and the level of specifity varies. you know your players and PCs (hopefully), so you know what you should use.

this stage, due to the short time before beginning the part is quite intense. but if you've done the framework part well, than it's not that time consuming. the actual time depends on your skills at preperation as a DM. the aim is that you could easely used what you prepared to play straight. and to focus your mind on the adventure at hand
i usually find this stage to take me about 16-24 hours prep time. this replaces preparing before meetings almost entirely.

3) preparing for meetings: if you've done the above, there is almost nothing left for you to do. if i have the time (not always), i like to prepare by going through the following (1/4- 1 hour):
- going over what is most likely for the PCs to encounter in this meeting.
- estimating how their plans (we talk by emails between sessions) might work. if the plan is decent, then i let it work, but i try to add an unexpected element/ challange (to keep things interesting) though not a disabling one.
- little touches: mostly trying to think of things the players would like- a name, a voice, a description, a catchphrase and so on.

again, there had been times i couldn't fully do this stage. if you've done stages 1 and 2, you're set. the adventure is in your mind.

tl;dr
anyway, this is how i do things. hope this helped. i know it's not for everyone, but for me- preperation is quite a bit of fun as well, and most importently- it gets you more involved, more focused, and more knoweldgable about the game you're giving. a good prepration allows for greater flexibility (unless you're stuck on yourself), and allows you to improvise with great believability and elequence.

Grifthin
2010-07-01, 08:43 AM
Read Through Module/materials
Stat out monsters
Think of how players can screw things up

Wait for the players to go off on a random tangent and try and fit my original idea into it so they can all have fun.

mobdrazhar
2010-07-01, 04:32 PM
I usually draw up the first map that i need for the session, print off monster stats that i need (easier than having all the books there) and get out the minis i need. i usually do this a day or 2 before.

when dealing the with campaign as a whole before i run the campaign i will sit there with a mate that is also a DM and do a massive brainstorming session of places i want the action to occur and the like.

Kylarra
2010-07-01, 04:41 PM
Mostly I stat what needs to be statted, figure out a few points of interest in case the players can't think of anything to do. Set up a dozen different plothooks and come up with goals for my NPCs to accomplish while they aren't being killed encountered by the players.

Swordgleam
2010-07-01, 10:06 PM
If Chaotic Shiny had a motto, it would be, "Planning ahead, so you don't have to." I bring this up because nearly all of the original generators on the site were created because I needed them.

I suck at coming up with diverse taverns on the fly. Solution? Tavern generator. I'm awful at NPC names. Solution? Name generator. Etc.

So now I plan to improvise. I have generators for things like names and taverns, and a vague idea of how I will improvise other things if they come up - this area has hyenas, this other one has goblins, so I know what kind of random encounters to give the party no matter which way they go, even if I don't have one statted up.