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Minimizing Prep Time - Forked from "DMing: from fun to work "
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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 5167335" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>Here's my method for avoiding those common pitfalls:</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Because of my "let the players lead" maxim, I never worry about players undoing some plot that I had thought of maybe 5 minutes ago. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> My usual mode of thought is "then what?" Okay, the players totally thwarted the necromancer's ritual without any of the drama I had planned. <em>Then what?</em>. Part of throwing out hooks like candy means that there's always a few dangling threads waiting in the wings to become relevant again. Players can have their victory, and the game goes on (though not with the big necromancer battle I had planned, but that's OK, the players get that victory).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> I do take inspiration from my players, but when I do, I always add an additional twist. If the PC's suspect the viceroy might be behind the assassinations, sure, the viceroy might be behind the assassinations (if it's a good idea). But what's behind the viceroy? Why might he be doing that? What can I do to keep the players on their toes? Maybe the viceroy is seduced by a succubus. Maybe he's a werewolf. Maybe he's a doppelganger. Maybe he's actually got connections to the plane of shadow and was feeding a death cult of orcus. What else can this line of thought give me?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> I don't have a plot in mind that the PC's can gradually uncover, generally, no. That doesn't mean that the details aren't significant. Generally the spontaneous ideas I have for big climaxes have to be worked toward gradually, and foreshadowed in advance. I don't know from puzzles (I dislike them myself, so I don't use them), but there's always more stories than there are adventures to explore them in. If I decide it's awesome to have a plague of deformed births, then that might foreshadow something, even if I'm not sure exactly what, or if the PC's ignore it. Or I might loose interest and it won't. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> I struggle with maps, because I don't like grid combat. But in 3e, there were always cliffs and winds and tossing waves and rain and fire and frozen seas and a million and one exotic things happening that constantly affected the terrain of the battle, even if abstractly.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Again, always having more story ideas than what is currently being explored allows a lot of that. If the PC's go to some mountain pass somewhere that I've decided has nothing to do with one story, they'll find another one. I react to what they do (and, yes, random tables are my friend).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> I love setting-hopping, so my settings tend to be tightly focused. I deal with questions of cosmology and history as matters of in-play material, rather than pre-prep. What do the characters actually know and experience? That's what I've got to know. </li> </ol><p></p><p>In general, the things that come to my mind are scenes. I work toward those scenes gradually, and I always have more scenes than I need to use in this chain of encounters. I let the players' choices decide which scenes get shown.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 5167335, member: 2067"] Here's my method for avoiding those common pitfalls: [LIST=1] [*] Because of my "let the players lead" maxim, I never worry about players undoing some plot that I had thought of maybe 5 minutes ago. ;) My usual mode of thought is "then what?" Okay, the players totally thwarted the necromancer's ritual without any of the drama I had planned. [I]Then what?[/I]. Part of throwing out hooks like candy means that there's always a few dangling threads waiting in the wings to become relevant again. Players can have their victory, and the game goes on (though not with the big necromancer battle I had planned, but that's OK, the players get that victory). [*] I do take inspiration from my players, but when I do, I always add an additional twist. If the PC's suspect the viceroy might be behind the assassinations, sure, the viceroy might be behind the assassinations (if it's a good idea). But what's behind the viceroy? Why might he be doing that? What can I do to keep the players on their toes? Maybe the viceroy is seduced by a succubus. Maybe he's a werewolf. Maybe he's a doppelganger. Maybe he's actually got connections to the plane of shadow and was feeding a death cult of orcus. What else can this line of thought give me? [*] I don't have a plot in mind that the PC's can gradually uncover, generally, no. That doesn't mean that the details aren't significant. Generally the spontaneous ideas I have for big climaxes have to be worked toward gradually, and foreshadowed in advance. I don't know from puzzles (I dislike them myself, so I don't use them), but there's always more stories than there are adventures to explore them in. If I decide it's awesome to have a plague of deformed births, then that might foreshadow something, even if I'm not sure exactly what, or if the PC's ignore it. Or I might loose interest and it won't. [*] I struggle with maps, because I don't like grid combat. But in 3e, there were always cliffs and winds and tossing waves and rain and fire and frozen seas and a million and one exotic things happening that constantly affected the terrain of the battle, even if abstractly. [*] Again, always having more story ideas than what is currently being explored allows a lot of that. If the PC's go to some mountain pass somewhere that I've decided has nothing to do with one story, they'll find another one. I react to what they do (and, yes, random tables are my friend). [*] I love setting-hopping, so my settings tend to be tightly focused. I deal with questions of cosmology and history as matters of in-play material, rather than pre-prep. What do the characters actually know and experience? That's what I've got to know. [/LIST] In general, the things that come to my mind are scenes. I work toward those scenes gradually, and I always have more scenes than I need to use in this chain of encounters. I let the players' choices decide which scenes get shown. [/QUOTE]
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