What do you- yes you, personally- prep for a session?

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Basically this:

* Get all the rule books, dice, character sheets, and lots of spare paper together
* Go over my notes from last week
* Go over my notes for this week's scenario
* Check phone to see if anyone's not making it
* Tweak scenario to adjust for missing player

That's about it.
 
I'm about half way through stocking a dungeon for a crawl.

Thinking of that the last time I ever ran anyone through an actual grid paper dungeon was sometime in the mid eighties.

Since then I've mostly run non fantasy games which I tend to wing, or at least have done for the last 12-13 years or so.

Quite enjoying the experience of stocking a dungeon and trying to apply some kind of logic to the layout. Back in the day you'd have skeletons in one room, orcs in the next and a medusa in a temple set up next door, all getting on until the sociopath adventurers turned up to slaughter them and take their stuff.
 
First, I go over the last adventure and think about the direction the coming session will take. I try to take as many notes as I can during a session. I go over those. If I'm running a premade adventure (I'm running Age of Worms from Dungeon currently), I read over the next part of the adventure. If I'm running one of my own things, which is usually something with a loose plot within a sandbox setting, then I consider the last session and where they might go. I try to think of interesting scenarios based on possible directions ("if the party does A, it will lead to X; if they do B it leads to Y; if they do C instead, then it'll lead to X, too, but not before Z happens...")

Anyway, I then have all my books, game mats, minis and terrain, and any drinks/snacks out an ready.
 
Honestly for me most of the time it's:

Get dice, pencils, etc. out
Get rule books and references out
Get module/maps/etc. out
For the Thieves Guild game MAYBE review the player log from last session (or maybe wait until the session starts)
Start Roll20
Maybe spend some time trying to understand my cryptic notes.

Really most of the time I run on zero prep.

If the session will involve something new I might find time to seek out maps, modules, or whatever. Or sometimes unfortunately some of that happens during the session.

Actually, there can be hours of looking for an reading modules in preparation for the next adventure.

One reason I like running RuneQuest in Glorantha is I have a lot of built up knowledge and intuition about the setting and ideas for adventures that I can react with a lot less prep than some unfamiliar setting.

The current "adventure" for Thieves Guild came about from looking at the map of the region around Haven and what lies along the road they are traveling and then perusing RuneQuest to pick out a couple likely monsters to encounter as they go through the mountains. The heist they did they did just before (their trip is to go to another city to hawk the loot) they picked out a jewelry store to rob and based on a little blurb about the store, I cooked up some stuff for them to steal (rolling on the RQ gems and jewelry table).
 
It depends on the game for sure. I’m currently running Spire: The City Must Fall. I made a mind-map before we began play which had all the important factions for the district of Red Row, and kind of showed some basic connections.

As we play, I make notes on that mind-map. So after one session and before another, I’ll make any changes to the mind-map (like crossing off an NPC killed by the PCs, changing alliances based on events of play, etc.).

Then I just jot down like three bullet points of possible ideas; like things that have come up but not yet been resolved, or reactions by factions to the PCs’ actions. I’ll keep these in mind and maybe incorporate them in, or suggest them if the players are unsure of what they’d like to do.

That’s about it. Spire is low prep by nature, so it really suits my preferences in that regard. What I described above takes maybe 15 minutes or so. The vast majority of my prep is really just thinking about the game and what the players have done and how the world reacts.
 
Typically just notes in possible encounters. If I have planned encounters for a particular arc, I’ll print stats out for ease of use. If they go off the rail, I make sure I have a monster book handy and wing the rest as needed.

One thing I learned long ago was not to prepare a linear adventure, but to have “points“ that may come up. It allows me to place encoubters Where I need them at the time and not rely on the party to “go south on the path.“
 
I'm a lazy GM and do as little prep as possible.

If it's online everything is shoved into a virtual folder on the desktop. The only thing I'll go over is the scenario an hour before. I might take screenshots from the .pdf for important tables so I have them onscreen during play.

If it's face to face same thing (but I don't play F2F anymore because of where I live). Books get shoved into a bag and char sheets into an a4 binder folder. I'll look at the scenario beforehand.
 
I write an adventure outline. I create notes of what ifs. I charge my tablet, about it. My bag is almost always prepped unless I need to make a change.
 
Blades in the Dark deserves a special mention: My process for that was to wonder if I should do some prep, then turn up to the session having done literally nothing, with no idea what's going to happen, worry that it would be a terrible session, and have it just all work out.


Currently, for my ACKS game, I have been doing nothing before most sessions, thanks the pre-campaign prep I did, which has pretty much carried me through the first dozen sessions. Every 3 - 4 sessions, I have to do some kind of prep, usually fleshing out something that had the framework constructed previously. Sometimes, as the mood takes me, I'll randomly work on other world elements, like statting out some more domains or expanding the wilderness maps. As the group is currently exploring a loosely keyed wilderness, before the next session I will have to flesh out some of locations they're reasonably likely to come across, including the temple they're specifically looking for.

In general, I've come to realise that, for any games that require prep, I like to have extensive amounts done prior to the start of the campaign, to minimise what I need to do between sessions. When my games do peter out, it's almost always because the game itself has caught up to the prep, meaning that pre-session prep becomes mandatory and starts feeling like a chore.


I have been doing prep on-and-off for a Mythras Al Qadim or Mythras Dark Sun game that may take place in a few years.
 
I look up random things on the Internet until a plot clicks in my head. After that minute, I'll just daydream about some cool scenes. The day I run, I get myself excited. I never bother with rules or any of that other chump junk.

For example, I was on a 50s sci-fi horror kick and wanted something that tied into that. Knowing the enemies had to be aliens that looked like animals, I needed to work in the natural enemy of fifties America, communism. I found on the Internet a minute later that feral cats naturally form communist societies. From there, it was nothing but daydreaming scenes of youth drag races, small town sherriffs breaking up malt shop fights, housewives getting pushed too far, men doing science, and Mexican wrestlers performing their hit single in hopes of breaking in.

What about you, E E-Rocker?
 
Just about to start a game of Mythic Babylon on Sunday on Foundry. Prep involved reading not only the rule book but freshening up my knowledge of core rules. Planning out a scenario (making notes of a couple of ideas as I usually wing most of it). Putting a few maps into Foundry and adding a bunch of NPCs (mostly priests as they have things that the PCs might/could need - Divination etc). The more background reading which involved reading several history and text books plus Irving Finkel's book on Ghosts and his Mesopotamian novel. Then there's helping the players with character generation.
 
Generally, I tend to focus on evocative bits rather that mechanical bits. I can generate mechanical stuff off of the thousand and one random tables I own, but it's the theme and evocative description that I want to get right. Anyone can make an orc on the fly, but sticking to a theme is hard.
 
I'm actually using A5 notebooks so a double page spread gives me an A4-sized space.

What's always on those two pages:
_a short summary of the previous session (2-3 lines).
_what's relevant for the current session is put front and center (maps, relationship maps, etc.)
_the relevant NPCs
_a list of random names
_the PCs/players names and relevant rules informations for the game that I may need as a GM..
_a small space to record the aftermath of the session.

To thiis I add 4-6 illustrations (characters, monsters and/or places): if playing IRL I put those on index cards. Visual references do great things for my players, especially as we mostly do theater of the mind combat. It has the "campfire" effect described by the ICRPG creator.

If playing IRL a GM screen, mostly for the player-facing illustrations. I bought a ton of them, I have to use them :p

That's the core of my preparation, whatever game I'm using. It takes about one hour, sometimes less. We also have short sessions (3 hours), for longer sessions I need a bit more material but the logic remains the same.
 
Wow. It's like you've done this a time or two. You should write a game! :grin:

More seriously I think there's an important bit in Kobayashi Kobayashi 's post. The idea that it takes about an hour. If you're someone who likes doing 12 hours of prep for a 3 hour session, more power to you, but cutting down on prep time is more normally a key part of not getting burnt out, especially for those of us who seem to be forever GMs.

A caveat, I'm naturally pretty lazy and have never done more prep, time-wise, then the length of the session in question. Well, maybe when I was 12, but that was also when dinosaurs walked the earth and spending 12 hours on a Sunday making maps on graph paper was a joy not a chore.
 
Wow. It's like you've done this a time or two. You should write a game! :grin:

More seriously I think there's an important bit in Kobayashi Kobayashi 's post. The idea that it takes about an hour. If you're someone who likes doing 12 hours of prep for a 3 hour session, more power to you, but cutting down on prep time is more normally a key part of not getting burnt out, especially for those of us who seem to be forever GMs.

A caveat, I'm naturally pretty lazy and have never done more prep, time-wise, then the length of the session in question. Well, maybe when I was 12, but that was also when dinosaurs walked the earth and spending 12 hours on a Sunday making maps on graph paper was a joy not a chore.

Funny you mention this because it's this method that makes writing adventures for my own games a pain in the ass :smile: I know there's a trend, mostly in OSR circles to present adventures in a short and terse manner, sometimes boiling things down to a collection of maps, bullet points and stat lines.
I can see the appeal but I also know that "translating" a published adventure into a two-pages spread is what allows me to make the adventure's "mine" and be able to run it with a modicum of confidence. So if you already do that job for me I find the whole thing to be a little "dry" and that powerpoint mentality doesn't sit well with me.

It kinda reminds me of that old marketing story: a manufacturer was trying to sell an "instant cake" mix (it was in the 1950s) because their studies showed that women (it's the 50s, it was deliberatly aimed at women) wanted to save time on cooking. The sells were bad and the marketing guys were puzzled. They consulted a psychoanalyst that told them "women are feeling guilty for using your product, they feel like they don't contribute at all". So the marketing guys then asked, "so what do we do?", the psy answered "Just add the following on the recipe: add an egg", the sales soared right after that (I found the original story, it's been debunked by some marketers since then but that's not the subject ).

As an RPG writer, the trick is to find what is the equivalent of "add an egg" when writing an adventure for others. So basically I'm still struggling to find a way to present my own adventures in a way that satisfies me, fully knowing you can't please everyone.

Oh, I don't want to derail the thread, but your post brought back a lot of reflexions on the subject :smile:

As for the prep time, I would say that whatever times it takes you is good as long as:
_it doesn't become a chore
_it doesn't overshadow your gaming time (I've encountered plenty of GMs who enjoy long prep but stopped running games because it was too time consuming).

My thread-derailing two cents.
 
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Your post is almost precisely why I love Trophy so much. The rules are super light and whole focus is on the evocative bits. I've found it enormously refreshing as a writer. In fact, I sometimes design an adventure first as a Trophy incursion, jus so I can focus on the theme and evocative shit before the mechanics and stat blocks get in the way.
 
I'm actually using A5 notebooks so a double page spread gives me an A4-sized space.

What's always on those two pages:
_a short summary of the previous session (2-3 lines).
_what's relevant for the current session is put front and center (maps, relationship maps, etc.)
_the relevant NPCs
_a list of random names
_the PCs/players names and relevant rules informations for the game that I may need as a GM..
_a small space to record the aftermath of the session.

That's the core of my preparation, whatever game I'm using. It takes about one hour, sometimes less. We also have short sessions (3 hours), for longer sessions I need a bit more material but the logic remains the same.

Bruh. We are the same.

I use (almost exclusively) premade modules, so I abstract out the encounters I think are cool and write them down as scenes in my notebook, with the names of the relevant NPCs highlighted.

Maps and handouts are loose and on the table behind the screen. List of additional names clipped to the screen.

Funny thing is with all that I still often miss out stuff which I wrote down so I wouldn't forget. :crossed:
 
I know a wide variety of approaches exist. I'm not asking about theoretical session prep. I want to know what you- yes you, the pubgoer reading this- personally prepare when getting ready to run an rpg session.

It depends on what I am running. If it is an ongoing campaign, usually very little between sessions (I just update from what happened last week, flesh out any new NPCs or areas that might have come up, and think through how everyone is reacting to what happened). But it still depends. If the players decided to suddenly go in some crazy direction I have very little information on, then I might be doing a ton of prep. If it is more for a one-shot, or something that is more concretely an 'adventure' (like if I were planning on running a mystery adventure or a vampire hunt) then that would be filled with making the villain or monster, developing the backstory to the scenario, mapping, etc. In a way I think it is a bit like being a chef. Until you know what is being ordered, a little hard to say what the prep ought to be.

Also I think every GM goes through cycles where they get more comfortable running with less prep, then find they need more for whatever reason. I certainly do. Some of that boils down to how well I know the group. If I am very comfortable with people I am going to prep differently than I would for strangers
 
f you're someone who likes doing 12 hours of prep for a 3 hour session, more power to you, but cutting down on prep time is more normally a key part of not getting burnt out, especially for those of us who seem to be forever GMs.
But how do you, like, not prep all the time?

I'll be lying in bed trying to fall asleep and my brain would be running through next week's game...
 
Wow. It's like you've done this a time or two. You should write a game! :grin:

More seriously I think there's an important bit in Kobayashi Kobayashi 's post. The idea that it takes about an hour. If you're someone who likes doing 12 hours of prep for a 3 hour session, more power to you, but cutting down on prep time is more normally a key part of not getting burnt out, especially for those of us who seem to be forever GMs.

A caveat, I'm naturally pretty lazy and have never done more prep, time-wise, then the length of the session in question. Well, maybe when I was 12, but that was also when dinosaurs walked the earth and spending 12 hours on a Sunday making maps on graph paper was a joy not a chore.

My feeling on the 12 hours of prep for a 3 hours session is that is plenty of fun just before a campaign starts, but not how I want to be spending my time between sessions when things get going. It can be really great to have an idea brewing for months, then sit down to work on it, and run the thing. Doing that on a weekly basis can definitely burn you out
 
But how do you, like, not prep all the time?

I'll be lying in bed trying to fall asleep and my brain would be running through next week's game...

I am a fan of the roll out of bed and run a game philosophy (which I picked up mostly from my friend Bill). My view is the GM is there to enjoy themselves as well and there is something to be said for a relaxed GM who isn't particularly invested in any particular outcome. Obviously this works better for some types of adventure structures and campaigns than others. But I find I am happiest when the approach is one where neither the GM nor the players really know how things are going to play out until stuff starts happening at the table. So all you need is a little juice from what happened in a prior session to keep moving. Obviously you still need things like maps and NPcs in a typical game, but that is stuff you can prep in advance of the campaign and in bits as they are needed while you are running it.

The way to found out how little prep you need, is to run session with zero prep and work up. So just run a few games knowing they can crash and burn, and find your footing by adding prep over time. I think that gives you a much clearer answer of what is needed and it is also good for GMs to watch a failed session unfold and analyze it. You learn to relax more and I find being relaxed just makes for a better session (and if you are always worried about the session being perfect it can be very hard to relax)
 
Currently running Dungeon of the Mad Mage on Fantasy Grounds.

Usually I prep by either reading the level the characters are on and identifying the factions and what section of the dungeon they control. I try to look up the various tactics the NPCs use in and out of combat. I try to remember where we left off because for the last year is so plus I just stopped taking notes. It's bad. The PCs are better at remembering some of the details than I am. Update Fantasy Grounds early the day if the session in case theirs a long download. Update Discord. Clean off the area near my keyboard.
 
These days, I suddenly find that gaming day has somehow managed to sneak up on me, and discover myself in a momentary state of panic. I dive for my notes from last week's session and realize I didn't take any. I frantically read through the rules to refresh myself and then... I remember that my players have a much better memory and I ask them what their characters remember from the last session. I pick it up from there.

Normally I do a lot of additional prep. Maps, monsters, hooks. That's the stuff I really enjoy doing, but just haven't had the time the last couple of months.
 
It depends on the game.

Currently, I'm running Veins of the Earth (LotFP). I prepare this way:
  • Generate 1-2 random cave systems.
  • Think about the name and structure generated.
  • Write down some "rooms" and things they could find in those caves.
  • Study a couple of creatures and treasures consistent with that environment.
  • Consider events occured in past session/s to facilitate some continuity.
  • Confirm people, put the materials on the table. Go.
I try to be prepare to avoid stress, but at the same time, I leave a lot of loose ends, no metaplot, empty spaces, and a blank hex map for travel, since these rules and random tables work better in a sandbox style, with emergent story in the mixing of information chunks.
 
For session one, I have places and NPCs with agendas prepped to whatever degree you might deem necessary to the game at hand, that you are not confident you can wing in-game.

I leave a lot to be fleshed out at the game table and make copious notes. Both of things PCs do and discover, and of things I decide about the setting.

I review these notes before each session. That’s when some of my favorite creative processes kick in.
 
The current "adventure" for Thieves Guild came about from looking at the map of the region around Haven and what lies along the road they are traveling and then perusing RuneQuest to pick out a couple likely monsters to encounter as they go through the mountains. The heist they did they did just before (their trip is to go to another city to hawk the loot) they picked out a jewelry store to rob and based on a little blurb about the store, I cooked up some stuff for them to steal (rolling on the RQ gems and jewelry table).

Yay, someone's still playing TG, huzzah! (Don't mind me, TG 9 author here.)

Anyway, this is an interesting thread, because tomorrow I'm doing my first in-person GMing session since COVID hit. So essential bits of prep work have involved getting the living room back in order, doing the cleaning, shopping for groceries for the meal break, that sort of thing. I've also dug the miniatures and battle map out of cold storage, set up my essential books and materials in the living room, and got a space ready to move my computer in.

Since last session involved a large combat, prep time's concerning the denouement: what loot is on the downed bad guys, how badly wounded are the survivors, giving some names and personalities to three or four key freed slaves, that sort of thing.
 
Define and generate lists of any treasure acquired in the previous session if needed. (ongoing game only)

Read the rules repeatedly and realize nothing beyond the basics is sticking. Give up and just skim the rules.

Select or build out a story seed based on some obscure undeveloped factoid from canon. Or something else I fancy is unique.

Develop a series of ITTT contingency plans for the possibility that players won't understand or track my perfect scenario. These are broad brush strokes with only enough memory triggers to remember my ideas.

Doubt my ability to follow through and deliver an engaging experience. Half-heartedly look for an excuse to cancel.

Force myself to (commit to maintain my) schedule. I.e., don't cancel.

Get more nervous as I pack my go bag. (F2F games)

Make sure I have my favorite food and drink handy because at least that will go right.

Remind myself it's just a game, and that I'm practiced at it, and that I can run the game MY way.
 
Yay, someone's still playing TG, huzzah! (Don't mind me, TG 9 author here.)
Well, not playing the Thieves Guild system, just the setting (and some of the scenarios). Where are the TG9 scenarios set? Anywhere near Haven?

We are using my house ruled RuneQuest 1st edition for rules (I would consider running the TG rules IF they were available to the players AND there was a bit more detail on the other character classes).

Oh, and I guess that makes you Bob Traynor? What parts of TG9 did you write?
 
I memorize a few (simplified) stat blocks for likely combat encounters in the session, review any physical maps that I can't weasel out of having to use, that sort of thing. I really don't put as much effort into this as I should, especially for the heavier game systems I usually prefer to run.

The substantial part of my prep work is the "political gamestate" of the world: all of the PCs' agendas, as I currently understand them, plus all of the important NPCs and Icon/Factions involved in the game, all of their current actions and plans, and their most likely reactions to the PCs' most likely decisions over the course of the next few sessions. I pour hours and hours of intellectual labor into this, so that all of my multilayered improvisational political machinations look effortless.

I think I should start writing adventure modules like this, because my (admittedly naïve) impression of the industry is that nobody else is.
 
I pour hours and hours of intellectual labor into this, so that all of my multilayered improvisational political machinations look effortless.

Reminds me of a RR Martin quote: "I wish I were as smart as Tyrion. Well I guess I am, because I write all of his dialogue. But I'm not nearly as quick."

I really don't put as much effort into this as I should, especially for the heavier game systems I usually prefer to run.

I learned a while back to do all my crunch prep in advance, when I still enjoy it. Once the campaign is underway, I rapidly lose interest in all that stuff for some mysterious reason. I have no problem coming up with new situations and NPCs for characters to run into, but every stat block becomes tortuous.
 
Most of my actual prep is in setting up the setting, trying to understand the in game culture, and if there is a main thing the campaign is about. My preparation is to give me support for improvising, as I mainly run sandboxy games.

For a specific session, unless it is a game (or gaming style) I'm not really familiar with, I might mull some things over while walking to or from work. Maybe one of the NPCs are up to something specific, and what kind of ripple effects that might create.
 
Based on the responses I take it no one runs long prewritten campaigns like The Enemy Within, Masks of nyarlathotep, or other types of adventure paths?
 
I'm sure some people do. I have, just not in ages.
 
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