Minimizing Prep Time - Forked from "DMing: from fun to work "

[I'm A Banana]

"How do you learn what to ignore from what you read on EnWorld?" Because each amazing tip takes time. I make NPCs with a single memorable trait now, off a list -- so that adds a minute to every (scarred, glamorous, or solipsist) NPC I build. Then I give them a motivation so I can improv their plans and dialogue. But now I'm cutting into the time for all the other awesome tips -- making three clues for every revelation in the plot, adding interesting terrain to a combat, making sure to plan for failure in a skill challenge.

I follow what I call the "Gygax Guideline."

When in doubt, consult a random table.

Something gone over in The Paradox of Choice is that needing to make decisions and weigh options generally makes you less happy with what you choose than if someone gave you a much more narrow set of options.

So let the dice narrow those options for you.

3e had me rolling for random towns, random NPC traits, random dungeon trimmings, random encounters, random magic items...all of this was super for me. 1e has even more, and most of those tables are still good some decades later. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Encounter-Dungeons-Dragons-Fantasy-Roleplaying/dp/1931275548"]Add some friggin' tables[/ame].

Un-think.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Ok, maybe I should do your statblocks and maps and you should prep NPCs and dialog.

If I were currently running a game, you could consider it a deal!

 

[Garthanos]

I follow what I call the "Gygax Guideline."

When in doubt, consult a random table.

Un-think.

So you like having a sense of powerless-ness and being able to blame the devil.. (ie the dice)

Just teasing... ;-p ... its actually connected to my dont be too picky principle... not my technique for achieving it... but if you control the table and when to use the dice as well as gygaxian over-rides principles you are still making choices... just hiding them.

 

[Lanefan]

... 3) practice dialog while you're [walk]ing to work.

Ayup.

Thus explaining why everyone looks at me funny when I'm walking to-from work...I *knew* there was a reason!

Lanefan

 

[Noumenon]

My friend cuts prep time this way: instead of detailing each NPC with a secret, "I just make three free-floating secrets I can give to any NPC as needed." This gave me the idea of assigning an NPC an importance level before starting the design. If this is a "minor" NPC, then no matter how cool I think I can make a gnomish pawnbroker, he doesn't get anything but a name, a look, and access to the random pool of secrets and stats if needed.

 

[S'mon]

I usually use published adventures, and I improvise/wing it. Only twice in the past 9-10 years of running 3e & 4e have I spent more time prepping than running, one was last session (late March 2010), where I got my 2 year old to help me put dungeon tiles together for an adventure I created myself; creating the maps took us an evening. The other time was a single-session adventure I created as my return to gaming in July 2008 after a year off due to the birth of my son; writing and mapping 'The Wicked Ruins of Cursed Castle Kaladrac' took about as long as the 4-hour play session. But that included creating a new campaign setting to go with it that formed the basis of a long-term campaign.

I find it amazing that anyone routinely spends 5+ hours prepping for a 5- hour session.

 

[S'mon]

Oh, my typical prep time is ca 20 minutes reading the adventure on the train, on the way to the pub where I run the game.

 

[Doug McCrae]

I think the best technique might be simply to set yourself a tight time limit such as, "I will spend no more than two hours prepping for each session". You can then decide what priorities work best for you, what to keep and what to ditch. You might decide you don't really need NPC dialog prepared for example. Or rather, that spending time on it is less productive than spending time on stats and maps, or whatever. Or that you can get away with prepping fewer NPCs and locations.

 

[Derulbaskul]

Maybe I need to play more and DM less so I know what a salad actually tastes like. Especially some homebrew -- reading all these modules must be like going to the salad bar at Le Bernardin to learn how to make a lettuce and tomato thing.

I haven't played since 1985 and before that I played only a few times: it's fair to say I always DM.

But I realised that my DMing hasn't improved so this weekend I am going to play for the first time in, basically, 25 years. I'm signed up for four LFR sessions (including the Paladins' Plague battle interactive) and one of my main goals is actually seeing what it is like to play again so that I can improve my DMing... which will ideally result in a more efficient use of my prep time.

One of the key things for me with my prep time is finding the right art. I cannot draw a picture (or a map) to save my life but I find that a good piece of art can inspire an adventure or encounter in such a way that it actually becomes the majority of my preparation.

Once I have that piece of art I know roughly the map I am looking for, what NPCs and monsters will be involved and what the hooks and objectives are.

 

[Jhaelen]

Prep time before a session tends to be relatively short for me. I've typically already prepared all the time-consuming stuff weeks (and sometimes months) in advance.

Sometimes, if the players actions lead them in a completely different direction from what I anticipated, I have to make some additional preparations, though. But that's rare since I tend to also prep a surplus of 'random' encounters that I can use whenever they do the unexpected.

I try to get a good night's sleep before one of our (extra-long) sessions, however...