Preparing Sessions: How do?

[Niiohontesha]

I spent a lot of time preparing my first session, the party plowed through it and I just barely had enough to entertain them.

My second session the party went way off track and I only got through one of the scenarios I had planned I had to make everything else up. (It's no problem for me to make things up and I understand it's a big part of tabletop)

How do you guys usually plan for your sessions? Do you have a master list of events that could happen depending on where the party is? I'm writing down events in a chronological order as to what I think will happen next like...

- Fight big boss save little kid

- Little kid asks to be taken home

- Little kids father is an archeologist and wishes for you to help him on a quest to some ancient ruins.

[Nifft]

PCs go off the rails. It will happen more & bigger as they get higher in level / power / resources.

Here's what I do to mitigate that sort of thing:

- Figure out what would happen if the PCs did nothing. Generally, several plots will be in motion.

- Figure out what the NPCs motivations are. Write that down for a lot of NPCs.

- Make sure your plots are interesting if they succeed, and interesting if they are foiled (by the PCs or by another NPC). This is why I prefer to avoid "the universe is in danger!" plots: they're not interesting if they succeed.



PS: You may want to report your post and ask a moderator to move it to the right forum -- this Homebrew forum is probably not the right place for this discussion.

[nikkoli]

Looking at planning is weird. I drew 4 circles, then a stick figure in circle 1, circle 2 around circle 1, circle 3 around circle 2, then cthulhu inside circle 3 reaching into circle 1, then a bunch of scribbles outside of circle 3 over to where circle 4 is. Then I decided what was going to be happening around the time the players are starting to exist as pc's. Past session 3 or so I just had a list of "this is happening at this time on this day at this place. Now how much planning I do is dependant on if the party finished whatever they were doing or not. If yes get more ideas, if no make a few more things that are standing in their way.
Also my world is very sandbox. If you're running something premade I would just read it over and make sure you have the stuff to fill in between the encounters th it gives you.

I keep a list of who what when where and why to fill out places.

[GalacticAxekick]

I spent a lot of time preparing my first session, the party plowed through it and I just barely had enough to entertain them.

My second session the party went way off track and I only got through one of the scenarios I had planned I had to make everything else up. (It's no problem for me to make things up and I understand it's a big part of tabletop)

How do you guys usually plan for your sessions? Do you have a master list of events that could happen depending on where the party is? I'm writing down events in a chronological order as to what I think will happen next like...

- Fight big boss save little kid

- Little kid asks to be taken home

- Little kids father is an archeologist and wishes for you to help him on a quest to some ancient ruins.

My campaigns always start with a common cause. "The Big Bad stole the Macguffin and town is accepting volunteers to retrieve it". The party only exists because they at least ostensibly share this cause—not because they met in a tavern or whathaveyou—which is my insurance that every player stays on task.

"On task" is loose. If the party has to retrieve the Macguffin, they might begin by looking for the Big Bad's hideout, or by trying to see what the Macguffin would be used for. I'll sew hints and challenges whatever direction they plan to take, but they plan to take it. They can't fly off the rails if there are no rails.

Looking up monster stats and spells is fast on a computer, and improvising traps/hazards is faster. As long as I understand the setting I created (which I should) it never takes long to produce an appropriate challenge for the party.

"Planning a session" for me just means creating a little more setting ahead of the players, in case they move that far. Ecology and society come first, because they're difficult to improvise. Specific locations and characters come second.

[FreddyNoNose]

I spent a lot of time preparing my first session, the party plowed through it and I just barely had enough to entertain them.

My second session the party went way off track and I only got through one of the scenarios I had planned I had to make everything else up. (It's no problem for me to make things up and I understand it's a big part of tabletop)

How do you guys usually plan for your sessions? Do you have a master list of events that could happen depending on where the party is? I'm writing down events in a chronological order as to what I think will happen next like...

- Fight big boss save little kid

- Little kid asks to be taken home

- Little kids father is an archeologist and wishes for you to help him on a quest to some ancient ruins.
I am able to run a campaign off the top of my head if I need to. Keep the characters/players challenged. Pay attention to what they are doing as it can often lead to impromptu adventure. For example, characters get back to town after a dungeon, let them tell you what they are going to do as a group and individually, then those who are doing individual (or pairs) things get to role play it out. That thief might rob someone or refuse to join the local thieves guild.