What do you do to reduce DM load? Any tricks?

**Khrysaes** · 2021-11-27, 04:06 PM (ISO 8601)

So, I was thinking about this while doing homework, sorry if it is rambling.

What do people do to reduce DM load?

I have been researching to try and get better at DMing, both more efficient and less pressured.

My problem is that there always seems to be too much for me to do, not enough time to prep, or too much to remember OR reference.

My main strategy has been to play premade adventures, read them beforehand, restructure notes that I make such that they make sense to me, and keep a reference of other things I need to remember.

That said, I still want to get better, so I thought I would pick the playgrounds collective brain, and see if there were things I can blatantly steal to improve my own DMing.

**strangebloke** · 2021-11-27, 04:32 PM (ISO 8601)

The biggest way to reduce workload is simply to do less. It can feel lazy, but in many cases I see newer DMs do a lot of work that isn't really pursuant of any kind of fun at the table. Don't overdescribe your set pieces, don't necessarily detail every enemy's location on the battlemap (just saying "5 gnolls, 1 manticore" with a rough terrain diagram will do) don't even work out complex identities for the main NPCs you use. At most a name and a trait or two is all you need (its all your players will remember anyway.) Just relax, remember you're here to have fun, and that if you're having fun rather than being stressed, your players will probably have more fun too.

But for some quick "tricks."

Procedural Generation. save yourself work by creating a system that will create aspects of the game for you. Roll for loot. Roll for random encounters. Spend a few hours making a list of pre-made NPCs so that if your players choose to seize upon some random merchant or whatever, you can just pull a name from your list of NPCs and roll with it.
Deputize people. If Bart wants to buy an airship, don't grab the DMG and look up how much an airship costs, tell Suzy to do it and then switch over to doing something else with Gary or whoever. If you're not sure if a spell works the way a player says it works, ask another player to fact check them. If there's a huge number of NPC allies, give control over to a player you trust to control them quickly. Encourage your players to take good notes so that they don't have to ask you as many questions.
Side Initiative. Look it up. It's really good. I do an altered version of this personally where all the baddies share one initiative roll.
Tab your MM. stuff it full of bookmarks so you can flip between the various sets of monsters quickly.
Feel free to reuse basic monsters a lot. Ultimately large groups of guards
Get a lot of dice or a digital dice roller, and roll in batches. 20 hobgoblins? 20 rolls. Divide them by who they're targeting, then divide hits from misses, then roll damage.

But honestly such 'tricks' as these will only save you a bit of effort. For the most part, reducing your load comes down to establishing what work needs to be done, and what is best ignored. In general your load will become lighter over time as you get better at improvizing and you'll memorize more monster stat blocks and everything will get easier.

My one thing I'll say? Don't skimp on terrain. It's very important for establishing interesting tactical encounters.

**Thunderous Mojo** · 2021-11-27, 04:47 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Khrysaes

That said, I still want to get better, so I thought I would pick the playgrounds collective brain, and see if there were things I can blatantly steal to improve my own DMing.

Beg, borrowing, and stealing is a good 1st step...😉

I hate coming up with names, so I will repurpose names from other products and use them. I also have an Atlas of the Ancient Mediterranean, and love to repurpose names from it.

I also keep a DM's notebook...(actually a Google doc), that I write ideas down, create encounters in, so on and so forth.

Any Encounter you create that you don't use...save it for a later date.

How long is a typical session for you, and how many Encounters do you go through per Encounter?

If, for example, you only get through 3 Encounters per session...then you know you need to flesh out the likely 3 encounters, and can probably 'wing it' if a fourth is needed...which gives a scope to your planning.

In terms of modules, I think the best advice is don't be afraid to excise some portions of the module, and expand others. See what the players are excited at, and cater to it....the module is yours..the module serves you...not you it!

While this takes time, I use a sketch book to make customized NPC stat blocks, with check boxes for items like 2nd level spells, so I can quickly see at a glance what resources have been used and what is remaining.

Placing a Post It note or Flag on relevant rules pages, before a session is also useful. If a PC drowning is likely going to be relevant, might as well have the Suffocation rules earmarked.

DM-ing is a skill...your PB goes up!
You are also always learning as a DM....I've mostly DM'd for the last 20 years, and I still consider myself a learner...it comes with the role.🍻

**stoutstien** · 2021-11-27, 05:19 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Khrysaes

So, I was thinking about this while doing homework, sorry if it is rambling.

What do people do to reduce DM load?

I have been researching to try and get better at DMing, both more efficient and less pressured.

My problem is that there always seems to be too much for me to do, not enough time to prep, or too much to remember OR reference.

My main strategy has been to play premade adventures, read them beforehand, restructure notes that I make such that they make sense to me, and keep a reference of other things I need to remember.

That said, I still want to get better, so I thought I would pick the playgrounds collective brain, and see if there were things I can blatantly steal to improve my own DMing.

I'll let you know when I figure it out lol.

Mostly trial and error with a good mix of table time is the only real way to reduce the load because you can trim away what you personally don't need.

For example I'm horrible at coming up with names so I keep a list on hand where their personalities come to me with no effort so I don't need to waste much time prepping those past writing down a few key words to work with.

After that coming up with a way to abbreviate everything is a huge help with prep work. The fact most of my NPCs can fit on 3X5 index card in totality adds a little work to save a ton of time.

Don't be scared to reduce the scope you are working with. Reducing player options and the levels of play might seem extreme but it's a sure fire way to make your life easier.

**Pex** · 2021-11-27, 06:02 PM (ISO 8601)

Steal I mean pay homage to games you played in the past and run those adventures or at least combat scenarios. If you play a game and DM another game at the same time, ask your DM for his notes when you're done with whatever encounter.

Today's technology is a wonderful thing. I'm currently running a module and have all the notes I need available already online via the module being online through D&D Beyond. I do need to read it over a bit to know what's going on and fit it into my world, but all the busy work is done for me.

**ad_hoc** · 2021-11-27, 06:51 PM (ISO 8601)

Have a talk with the group at the beginning of the campaign.

Discuss how the game is like improv and everyone is there to boost up everyone else. Set the expectation that if you as DM are having trouble thinking of something in the moment that another player will step in and keep the flow going. You're all working together.

I also have all player related things managed and kept track of by the players. If a player needs help with something then another player should step in and help unless no one else can.

This gives me breaks to think of what to do next.

I also only play pre-published adventures. Sometimes I read the whole thing, sometimes I just read the first page of a chapter and read it as we play along. It depends on how into it I am and how much time I have.

If the game feels like work stop.

The #1 reason I kick people out of the group is when they expect me to entertain them and do all the work for them. They're just a drain at the table and make me feel like I'm in customer service or something.

**dafrca** · 2021-11-27, 07:01 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by ad_hoc

I also have all player related things managed and kept track of by the players. If a player needs help with something then another player should step in and help unless no one else can.

This right here. Trust the players to do some of the work. You, as GM, do not need to do everything. As them to help. Once they realize you want help, they will offer ideas, listen to them. You do not need to accept all of them, but it will help.

I also would strongly resist the urge to plan 100% of everything out to the nth degree. No need. Be comfortable with leaving some areas or things vague if it is not important to the core goals of the game. The local Blacksmith is Jarl, he is large and always seems happy. No need to create a three page back story for him if the players will come to him once or twice for fixes or to do some needed work.

**PhoenixPhyre** · 2021-11-27, 07:11 PM (ISO 8601)

Lean in to the crazy theories the players come up with, at least in the absence of other core plans. They're convinced that the mild-mannered store-keep (who really just doesn't have much characterization at all) has a dark secret? Great. Now he does. Doesn't mean it's main plot related, but it'll keep people entertained and/or distracted.

I second the "don't over-plan". Both in time-from-now and in depth. As you get more experience, it becomes easier to just ad lib the little parts.

One heretical notion is this--stop caring about rules and balance so much. Because really, they don't matter as long as things aren't totally out of whack. And 5e's pretty broad on that front as long as neither DM nor players are pushing the challenge frontier. Sure, if everyone is a hyper-optimizer and challenge in combat is what matters to your table, disregard this. But if the players are mostly there for the events/narrative/experience/feeling cool, don't sweat it. Sure, they'll win. That's ok. As long as there's variety, it doesn't matter if you push the adventuring day budget every day, if you run everything exactly by RAW, or if you perfectly execute those tactics. Just play. Relax, let it go, and play. You'll have more fun, your players will have more fun, and you'll be less stressed.

**J-H** · 2021-11-27, 07:27 PM (ISO 8601)

I over-prepare, a lot, for my content because I don't like improvising.

CR is a suggestion for encounter-building, don't sweat it.

I have players tell me what spells do (except new players) and try to lean on them to look things up. Varies from person to person.

**Khrysaes** · 2021-11-27, 08:33 PM (ISO 8601)

I have a lot of difficulty improvising and reading people.

Probably at least in part because of autism.

That said, here are some tricks I have been experimenting with.

I make an NPC "deck"

I generate NPC statblocks and put them on an index card. If I need an NPC I shuffle and draw it. Or I have the one needed already prepared.

I have a player track initiative instead of me. I have a board which facilitates this.

I have a different player keep track of conditions. I have condition rings for it.

One player, usually the closest is the one to move figures on the battlemaps. I labeled mine in spreadsheet form such as columns are letters and rows are numbers.

I have each player take control of an allied NPC in any combat situations the NPC's are involved in.

Ones I want to try:

I haven't done this yet, but I have been wanting to stop tracking HP, and try the "they die when it stops being fun" method for combat.

I want to have one of my players that takes the best notes also keep track of the entire party's inventory. I have been considering giving them a bag of holding for this purpose.

I have been working on these two:
Similar to NPC statblock index cards, I want encounter statblock index cards.

I also want environment index cards. Basically a card with an area or room's description, and bullet points of interest.

I have been looking into D&D solo engines to help develop some personal random generators.

**Amdy_vill** · 2021-11-27, 09:01 PM (ISO 8601)

Zee Bashew has a good video(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKQv4GC0N9Q) general I use a setting I like and consume media around. so I watch a lot of forgotten realms lore videos. I then run super minimal.

I start by picking a town. general something big that has a reasonable amount of lore on their wiki and/or youtube but is not too big as to be unreasonable to run. so I stay away from cities like Waterdeep or never winter. cities like Baldur's Gate are just on the edge of what I would pick. I would have picked it and did pick it a few times before descent into avenues and Baldur's Gate 3. Daggerford is a good example of something I would pick.

after that, I figure out a theme. anything that appears in the lore multiple times in the area that I think would be interesting. I try to get 3 ish themes. ill get together more but ill settle on three. ill write down the others for later.

after that, I look at the town's lore and pick out some interesting characters for quest givers. the bar keeps merchants and nobles. ill write down their names 2 personality traits. ill then throw some homebrew npc in. a waitress, or traveling merchant, blacksmith, the local drunk, or farmer. add a few new options. I'll write down their names 2 personality traits, their job, and race. Ill general stay away from PHB races. with the exception of dragon-born and teiflings. I feel focusing on non Typical races make the world feel more magical.

I then get a list of vague quest ideas together. thier a flock of sheep going missing, strange noise from the lack. connect them to the themes of the town. I write down 8 of them.

then I drop the party into the town. I'll have them build a backstory artificial. generally, I have them together for 3 months to a year. Generally I will ask them to tell the party everything they think they would tell people who they have been adventuring with for x time. after that ill do some random prompts for the party. you got drunk last week and told x character a secret what was it and what did x character tell you in response. I use wording like that to imply the second player should tell them something equally as secret. After a few rounds of this ill ask the party what their last job was. and have them build out some adventuring gig they did. generally, I start at level 3-5 but I do the same for level 1 parties.

after that I ask them why they have come to the Town. are they passing through to another town coming here to get a boat ride so on. I tell the players what town and world we are in and to come up with this beforehand.

I run everything from the wiki and run supper minimal, and as things go on I slowly set things in stone. so if the party latches on to an NPC they pick a quest giver they like ill work on that NCP. fleshing them out more. if they pick on x themed quests a few times and like them I move more of my quest options over to that theme. if they show disinterest and other quests ill pick up some of those other themes. I let them move town if they want. if they do ill generally take a 10-minute break and then gather more quest givers and 3 themes. I do this super quickly. I will generally pick the first few named characters or themes I see. so a lot less than I normally would. then i run some travel to the city and repeat

**Cheesegear** · 2021-11-27, 09:52 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Khrysaes

What do people do to reduce DM load?

There's a big difference between DM load 'at home', and DM load 'at the table'.

I do the vast majority of my 'work' at home, so that I don't have to do it at the table.

My problem is that there always seems to be too much for me to do, not enough time to prep, or too much to remember OR reference.

To Much To Do:
Look into running published modules/adventures. Adventurer's League also runs in 'Seasons' having over a dozen storylines available by now, and they can be customised for different sized parties and includes for what happens when the party is over- or underleveled.

If you get really stuck, and just want to take a break; Yawning Portal and Candlekeep Mysteries are just full of dungeon-like one-shots that you can just slip into any campaign or adventure.

Not Enough Time to Prep
Most groups tend to play once a week at most. I have a hard time imagining that seven days is not enough time to read over the next section in a published adventure, or to generate 6-8 encounters/challenges and string them in a line with one or two - or three - solutions to each challenge.

However, you did mention 'homework', so I imagine that you're not an adult with free time. Maybe - just maybe - someone else in your group should DM. I once played in a group where we actually had two campaigns going at the same time with each DM taking their 'turn' every other week, as they did not have enough time to prepare in only seven days, but we did want to play D&D once a week, still.
It was difficult at first. But it was only temporary and we didn't do it for long. Once the DM got their life sorted out they were back to their regular DMing of 'all the time'.*

*Hint; It was me.

Remember/Reference
Cards. Lots and lots of cards.

Figuring out a good card template might take half a day as you figure out what the font size needs to be so you can still read it, whilst still remaining portable. But standard card sizes have worked extremely well for me;
63*88mm for standard playing cards (e.g; M;tG)
3*5" palm cards
4*9" note cards

Once you have a good card template the way you want it, all's you have to do is transcribe what you want straight out of the MM or DMG and you're good to go. Like I said, making the 'master copy' is the only thing that takes time. Once you have that, you can just plug in your values and print.

**Bohandas** · 2021-11-27, 09:57 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by strangebloke

Procedural Generation. save yourself work by creating a system that will create aspects of the game for you. Roll for loot. Roll for random encounters.

Train an AI if your computer is powerful enough

**da newt** · 2021-11-27, 10:40 PM (ISO 8601)

I try to keep things simple, easy, fun.

Bad guys do average damage every time - I roll to hit only. Every goblin arrow or scimitar hit does 5 hp damage instead of 1d6+2. Much quicker, much less public math.

Index cards for my bad guys and PCs with the info/stats I need. Little paper slip with PC / bad guy name folded over DM screen for initiative order - everyone can see who is next.

I borrow building / town / dungeon maps and uncover them as we go.

I mostly ad lib/ approximate battle maps - dry erase marker, the room is as big as I happen to draw it, add some terrain features. The dungeon map might show a 45x60 room w/ 6 pillars and a 10' diameter fountain, if my drawing is 40x70, w/ 5 pillars and a 10' radius fountain who cares? It's much faster.

AOE templates - circles and cones of different sizes.

I find having a loose plan / outline and then ad libbing as I go is much easier / less stressful than planning a bunch and then trying to make sure I stick to the plan or follow a module. I tend to create chapters, or chunks of adventure, rather than try to string everything together - my chunks are loosely related which makes campaigns much simpler for me and easier to adjust on the fly as needed.

**OldTrees1** · 2021-11-27, 11:36 PM (ISO 8601)

I have 3 main techniques to reduce DM load. Although both sound like they increase load.

1) I start prep a month or more before session 0.
2) Increase Player Agency. I don't need to plan for what the party will do next if I can offload that onto the players.
3) I let the campaign world live rent free in my head. This trains my intuition to act as my co DM.

However this works because it fits me. That second technique works really well for me because I live at the 10,000 ft view and thus can derive the trees from the forest better than derive the forest from the trees. My opposite would have a carefully indexed notebook instead.

**Sparky McDibben** · 2021-11-27, 11:40 PM (ISO 8601)

1) Never predetermine outcomes.

2) Random tables to help generate ideas on the fly or as part of session prep.

3) Mostly theatre of the mind combats (no minis, no terrain to set up, etc)

4) Completely nix initiative. PCs go before monsters.

**Khrysaes** · 2021-11-28, 04:28 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Cheesegear

There's a big difference between DM load 'at home', and DM load 'at the table'.

I do the vast majority of my 'work' at home, so that I don't have to do it at the table.

To Much To Do:
Look into running published modules/adventures. Adventurer's League also runs in 'Seasons' having over a dozen storylines available by now, and they can be customised for different sized parties and includes for what happens when the party is over- or underleveled.

If you get really stuck, and just want to take a break; Yawning Portal and Candlekeep Mysteries are just full of dungeon-like one-shots that you can just slip into any campaign or adventure.

Not Enough Time to Prep
Most groups tend to play once a week at most. I have a hard time imagining that seven days is not enough time to read over the next section in a published adventure, or to generate 6-8 encounters/challenges and string them in a line with one or two - or three - solutions to each challenge.

However, you did mention 'homework', so I imagine that you're not an adult with free time. Maybe - just maybe - someone else in your group should DM. I once played in a group where we actually had two campaigns going at the same time with each DM taking their 'turn' every other week, as they did not have enough time to prepare in only seven days, but we did want to play D&D once a week, still.
It was difficult at first. But it was only temporary and we didn't do it for long. Once the DM got their life sorted out they were back to their regular DMing of 'all the time'.*

*Hint; It was me.

Remember/Reference
Cards. Lots and lots of cards.

Figuring out a good card template might take half a day as you figure out what the font size needs to be so you can still read it, whilst still remaining portable. But standard card sizes have worked extremely well for me;
63*88mm for standard playing cards (e.g; M;tG)
3*5" palm cards
4*9" note cards

Once you have a good card template the way you want it, all's you have to do is transcribe what you want straight out of the MM or DMG and you're good to go. Like I said, making the 'master copy' is the only thing that takes time. Once you have that, you can just plug in your values and print.

Ill reply to these as read through these.

I mentioned I use premade adventures in my original post, but thank you for the suggestion.

I am a Doctoral Student with a full time job. Between sleeping 7 hours a day; working 6(every day, so 42 per week); doing my schoolwork, which is essentially a second job what with the participant recruitment, statistical analyses, qualitative analyses, and writing papers; housework such as lawncare, dishes, cleaning, laundry, feeding/walking pets; and finally spending a few hours with my wife, I do feel I don't have much time. I also feel like I "lose" time eating and driving, I usually account for about 2 hours per day for these two activities. Also, clinical depression, ADHD, and autism. They don't help.

We haven't played for a while, but when we played regularly we actually had a rotating DM system. Recently I have been swamped with schoolwork, so we haven't gathered much, last time we played was Halloween, I DM'd a premade adventure, with premade characters.

If you read my second post, it does say I use cards for reference. If you have template suggestions I would love to look at them.

**Khrysaes** · 2021-11-28, 04:38 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Bohandas

Train an AI if your computer is powerful enough

I am moderately computer savvy, but not this savvy.

**Khrysaes** · 2021-11-28, 04:46 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by da newt

I try to keep things simple, easy, fun.

Bad guys do average damage every time - I roll to hit only. Every goblin arrow or scimitar hit does 5 hp damage instead of 1d6+2. Much quicker, much less public math.

Index cards for my bad guys and PCs with the info/stats I need. Little paper slip with PC / bad guy name folded over DM screen for initiative order - everyone can see who is next.

I borrow building / town / dungeon maps and uncover them as we go.

I mostly ad lib/ approximate battle maps - dry erase marker, the room is as big as I happen to draw it, add some terrain features. The dungeon map might show a 45x60 room w/ 6 pillars and a 10' diameter fountain, if my drawing is 40x70, w/ 5 pillars and a 10' radius fountain who cares? It's much faster.

AOE templates - circles and cones of different sizes.

I find having a loose plan / outline and then ad libbing as I go is much easier / less stressful than planning a bunch and then trying to make sure I stick to the plan or follow a module. I tend to create chapters, or chunks of adventure, rather than try to string everything together - my chunks are loosely related which makes campaigns much simpler for me and easier to adjust on the fly as needed.

My group got mad at me for doing average damage, because my zombie beholder one shot their character with a disintegrate beam. I rerolled it afterwards and still killed the character.

I used to do the same for index cards. Now I have a player track initiative on a magnetic board.

I have an AOE ruler guide I use, but I had been thinking about more templates.

Since I have been running premade adventures, I try to use those maps.

I try to adlib/improv, but I am not great at it. I would say that this is likely where most of my load is, that and forgetting parts, or forgetting to check references for parts I am forgetting,
What do you use/how do you make chunks? What is your process/are your tools?

**Khrysaes** · 2021-11-28, 04:51 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by OldTrees1

3) I let the campaign world live rent free in my head. This trains my intuition to act as my co DM.
.

Can you elaborate on what you mean?

**Khrysaes** · 2021-11-28, 04:57 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Sparky McDibben

1) Never predetermine outcomes.

2) Random tables to help generate ideas on the fly or as part of session prep.

3) Mostly theatre of the mind combats (no minis, no terrain to set up, etc)

4) Completely nix initiative. PCs go before monsters.

I do number 1.
2: I have been building cards instead, easier to draw one or two cards than use a table.
3: I have tried this, but theater of the mind has been more load actually, with having to visualize and keep track of things mentally.

4: This one is interesting. I may do this or just do side initiative, such that its a 50% chance to go first. Maybe, roll one initiative for opponents, then have the entire group roll to beat it, if more than half the group beats it, they go first, otherwise, they go second.

**EggKookoo** · 2021-11-28, 09:06 AM (ISO 8601)

My basic approach:

For encounters I know are coming, I pre-roll initiative for monsters.
I allow (but not require) players to use their initiative score rather roll init at the start of a fight. For most fights, this works fine.
I build spreadsheets (in Excel) for known/planned encounters, with rows for each PC and NPC, and columns for init, AC, HP, damage (I used to deduct from HP but I like having them separate), and a link to each NPCs statblock in DnDBeyond.
Oh, I use DnDBeyond, lots of homebrew. You can get away with a lot before having to pay for anything, although I do have a subscription to get content.

I sometimes cannibalize published content for the nitty gritty rooms in a particular location. But I'm doing that less and less these days. I'm a big fan of the 5-room dungeon approach, and I build my content using that pattern. You can use it for things other than dungeons. It's really a scenario pattern tool. I've used it for social engagements like parties, a kind of crossing-a-bridge trial, and you can link them together to make really big scenario chains.

I don't prep a lot of fine detail. If I have something like a shop, I'll note the kinds of things it sells and the general persona of the shopkeeper(s), but I'll invent small details on the fly while playing.

If an NPC ever has to talk, I pick a celebrity and try to copy his or her speech pattern. Ricardo Montalban, Sean Connery, Cheech Marin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Marisa Tormei... just don't try to imitate them perfectly. Use their cadence, but change the accent to avoid sounding like you're trying to do an impersonation.

**da newt** · 2021-11-28, 10:49 AM (ISO 8601)

If a group of adults gets mad at you for using average damage, they don't understand what average means. Sounds like you have plenty of math knowledge - school them up.

"I try to adlib/improv, but I am not great at it. I would say that this is likely where most of my load is, that and forgetting parts, or forgetting to check references for parts I am forgetting."

- for me I find making it up as I go along much easier because that way there is nothing to forget or check because I'm making it up as I go. I'm not trying to recall a story and tell it again, I'm creating as I go so there is nothing to forget and no pressure to remember. I try to keep my stories/plots moving forward toward new stuff so that I don't contradict something from the past. I find running a module much more work as I have to find a way to remember all of someone else's stuff and make their story work for me and my party. I have a crappy memory (especially for specifics) but a good imagination, so I only prep what I need (story outline, maps, monster stats). I find that much less stressful and efficient.

What do you use/how do you make chunks? What is your process/are your tools?

- I'm very much a KISS proponent (Keep It Simple Stupid). My Chunks are usually focused around a single quest or task/objective of some sort. They tend to be simple to grasp - rescue person X, defeat bad guy Y, recover object Z, explore PC A's backstory, solve the mystery ... SIMPLE. Then I outline some stuff that makes sense to me to accomplish along the way - some smaller obstacles, the journey, the dungeon, whatever. I prep a couple maps and encounters, outline a cogent plot to string it together, and that's about it. One chunk may last 3 sessions or 3 levels.

Once the PC's start towards the goal, they will do stuff and I'll adjust as needed. All of the small stuff, I'll make up as I go to get them to the next thing or keep them amused. Sometimes I'll offer the party choices like you can raft down the river or hike through the forest - it doesn't matter which they choose, the next encounter will still occur along the way but the terrain will change. If they are in a bar trying to gather the next clue, who ever they decide to talk to is the one who tells them what they need to know - I don't care if it's the waiter, the bar tender, the drunk, or the bard.

I can't remember names IRL or in game, so most of my NPCs are called 'the dwarf lady bartender' or 'the old drunk tiefling' unless they are major characters.

My adventures tend to have simple themes - like 6th grade level stuff, all of the cleverness and complexity and richness is in the minutia of the moment - not in the plot. I find this makes it sooo much easier for me.

**False God** · 2021-11-28, 11:43 AM (ISO 8601)

Don't be afraid to reuse material. Building layouts, dungeons, it doesn't take much to say "dungeon A" is now "cult lair b". If the party doesn't go to Random Dungeon A, there's no reason they won't know that Random Dungeon F is using the exact same materials. The party doesn't know you've crossed out "Lizardman" on the statblock and replaced it with "Cultist".

Make decisions not dice rolls! Sometimes the dice will stump you. They'll roll an extreme when it's not appropriate. They'll roll an average when you're trying to make a decision. The dice cannot decide for you, only you can do that. Decide what is appropriate, and do that. The dice exist to service the game mechanics, they're not there to tell a story or make decisions, much less good ones. Just because the random encounter table can generate an adult green dragon doesn't mean it's appropriate to have one appear. That's a decision only you can make.

Keep your work. Town F, Dungeon G, City Alpha, the specific names can be generated in a few minutes before a new game, but there's no reason not to reuse these elements in other games or with slight changes in other places. Eventually you'll build up enough resources that any time you need something you can just flip to the "towns" section of your binder and pull one out.

Not everything needs to be exciting. Sometimes a town is a town. Sometimes a forest is a forest. Sometimes nothing happens today. While you should plan for alternatives because parties often like to hook a left when you least expect it, some of those alternatives should be "you find nothing". Not having anything to find is not the same as railroading.

Don't be afraid to railroad (a little). You planned out the quests, maybe even provided several alternatives. You planned out the settings and locals and events. The fact that the party decided to ignore all that in favor of the pretty mountain you described in passing as setting window-dressing does not mean you are obligated to generate all new content related to the pretty mountain. Be direct with the party, be honest with the party, be clear with the party: the quests and adventure were over there.
-If you're running a railroad (and don't get me wrong, I think most published games are by-and-large) don't be afraid to be clear when the party has gotten off the rails, and that if they want to continue playing, they need to get back on.

The party/players don't know what they want. A lot of good advice relies on talking to the players about their expectations, their wants and desires, and so on. This IS good advice. But they are often terrible judges of what they actually want. They might tell you they want an epic Zero-to-Hero story full of quests and monsters and magical artifacts, but.... maybe hiking up the mountain with no monsters, no quests, no McGuffins, no dungeons is what they end up enjoying.

Be clear about what you're willing to run. If you don't want to run a session all about hiking up a mountain, be clear and honest about that. If the party wants to engage in human trafficking and you're uncomfortable with that, be clear and firm that you aren't going to run this. If they decide that instead of the epic Zero-to-Hero game you prepared they want to become merchants and open shops in town, you can tell them you are not interested in running such a game. The DM is a player too. You're there to have fun. If you're not having fun, if you're feeling uncomfortable, if party actions are hitting your triggers, it's OK to stop the game.

**stoutstien** · 2021-11-28, 11:47 AM (ISO 8601)

Another angle completely would be CO-DMing in some fashion.

**OldTrees1** · 2021-11-28, 11:50 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Khrysaes

3) I let the campaign world live rent free in my head. This trains my intuition to act as my co DM.

Can you elaborate on what you mean?

I take the campaign world and turn it into a single complex concept rather than a bunch of separate simple concepts coincidentally together. If done well enough, then understanding the single complex concept can derive details you forget. It also makes it easier for me to remember since I am better at remembering information as one complex concept rather than a list of details.

Then I take that concept and memorize it. I put it in my head.

Finally instead of sending it to an fridge at the end of the session, I just put it on the back burner. My mind is still thinking about it subconsciously as a background process while I do the rest of my life. Occasionally this creates flashes of insight that rise to the conscious, but other times it just trains my intuition.

Now when running a session, if I don't know the answer to the player's question, I just ask the campaign world. Surprisingly it answers. Concepts can't actually answer, what is really happening is my intuitive understanding of the campaign world is covering for the gaps in my active memory.

**Kurt Kurageous** · 2021-11-29, 12:47 PM (ISO 8601)

I know this will be lost in this thread, but I must try.

Pre-Session:
Create interesting problems for your players. Give no thought to the solutions. Innovation not anticipation. Play to find out what happens. Don't predict.
If you type out your material, make a compendium of monsters. Send me a DM. I have a pdf containing most of the monster/NPC stat blocks formatted to a half page column. This is my greatest gift to the community.
A major encounter is easy to build. Solo monsters have HP 1x (Medium) to 2x (Deadly) the total HP of party. Groups have 1x (Hard) to 1.5x 9Deadly) party HP total.

At table:
Have a preprinted sheet with 400 excel generated random d20 rolls. It's great on multiattacks and monster saves vs AoE. Its a lifesaver when someone says, "buh dis/advantage!" because you can go back and LOOK AT THE ROLLS. Can't always do that with real or virtual dice.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Have a player management sheet listing players names, classes, languages, HP, saves, skills, and attack mods. Here's an older version of the one I use: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzH...XvumapYjjI-VVQ

Have the caster-players read the spell descriptions, and you adjudicate it. If you say no, give a reason for disallowing the effect.

Always finish with an incitement at the end of a description of a scene/encounter/threat.

After session: XP is based on party level. See DMG medium encounter XP and use that as the basis for all individual XPs in encounters where resources are expended.

**Khrysaes** · 2021-11-29, 05:43 PM (ISO 8601)