No, rest your fears - this is not about making the ultimate party-killer NPC and if that is a good or bad thing. This post - and hopefully thread - is about making the most out of your time spent on DMing, or to be more precise, about how to spend the least amount of preparation time (and money) for your campaign. This is for those among us DMs who can't spend hours upon hours on preparing each week anymore yet still demand (and have the players expect) the best of their campaign.
So, here is my take on DMing as a lazy DM:
Check what you have to do
First thing you have to do in order to be able to spend just enough time on your campaign is to take a look at what your players want and like.
If you have no one interested in dungeon crawling then you can drop all that mapping out and outfitting of the ultimate dungeon/cavern system and cancel those orders for the latest meat grinder mega adventure. If you have no player interested in puzzle solving or bypassing/disabling traps, don't spend time on thinking about puzzles and traps. If you have no one interested in intrigue and politics, don't spend hours making up a complex system of checks and balances. If no one really likes extended combat, don't prepare countless encounters.
So, take stock of what your players like, then concentrate on those points and wing the rest.
Start out small, then let it grow
I know, most will assume that buying a campaign setting is much easier than building one, but IMHO, this is not so clear. When you buy a campaign setting you have to read it, and often study it carefully to be able to run it efficiently. When you build something up from scratch odds are you know it better, which means less time spent rereading a book.
No matter if you buy a published campaign setting or build your own homebrew, start small. Concentrate on one region, and flesh it out/read it through so you know how it is supposed to work. Then look where the campaign goes, and keep adding as it is needed. Epic campaigns which are plotted out from the start require lots of work, and lots of adjustments during the campaign, in effect doubling your time spent on it. Much easier to just sketch a rough outline and then detail it as it fits.
This also goes for rules. It is much easier - and better for your mental health - if you don't allow every rule from all d20 books published. Especially if it concerns prestige classes and feats. You will have a much easier time preparing if you don't have to check up on dozens of books each time - much easier on your purse as well. A good rule is to force your players to type anything they want use down and give it to you so you have it handy. So, here as well, start the players with a small choice of extra material, and then add as you feel comfortable with.
Reduce to the essential
NPCs don't need to be statted out, especially at low levels. Odds are, no matter in what role they appear - combat, cannon fodder, services - they will never have to use all their skill points. So you can just use (level+3+X) for their "good" skills, X being stat adjustments and maybe Skill focus, and half that for average skills. During combat you can decide on the fly if your mook has power attack or dodge. To start you only need to know his weapon armor and level. Here you can cheat - if you got a name and a short description the NPC will appear much more "complete" than if it is just a detailed amount of stats and numbers.
Locations do not need to be mapped out either unless your players are compulsory explorers - just keep a basic outline in your head and steer the players to the locations you want them to visit. And if you map them out, don't fret over details - add them as needed during a game. A map only serves to make it easier to imagine the layout of a place, and sometimes to conduct combat easier. It does not have to be a piece of art.
Plots do not need to be detailed that much either - just decide who wants what, and then let the NPCs involved act and react during the campaign. This works for the Epic plot outline as well as for the thief trying to rob a party member.
Make the most of what you do
If you do spend the time on statting out an NPC or mapping out a lair, make sure you can use it as much as possible. Even if the NPC you painstakingly built with classes, feat, skill points and money spent to the last copper does not survive its first combat you can often have an evil necromancer make him into an undead, or an evil cleric raise him, and have another go at the party. Then, drop the description and background, and throw him in your NPC file - a couple levels later the one-man-threat will make a good, detailed set of stats should you need that new NPC statted out on the fly.
Same goes for maps - that one castle you mapped out can be revisited later, many times if you do it right, or can be altered a bit and reused.
Finally, reuse plots and encounters that were not used - and even some that were used, with a twist.
Also make sure you keep track of the NPCs involved in an adventure - not only is it easier to reuse an NPC than build another one from scratch, stats and background and motivation and all, but it also adds to the players' immersion if they do not fight and rescue strangers they never meet again each adventure, but may meet people they know, friends and foes alike, from time to time, sometimes in different roles. Yes, this means, make notes during the game.
Finally, if you have a detailed campaign going, keep it going. Don't restart another campaign in a totally different setting each month. Don't TPK and end it. Milk the campaign for whatever it is worth, and the payoff for any work spent on preparing the region or world will be that much greater.
Wing it when possible
Be ready to open sideplots and twists when the situation allows for it, even if you did not plan for it. If you got a solid framework of stock NPCs, plots and notes you will be able to DM such things on the fly, taking an adventure in directions you did not plan ahead for without stumbling or railroading. The players get into trouble with the watch? Look if you can use this to get them into contact with that thieves guild you had outlined a bit, or as a start up to get them on the track of the corrupt mayor plotting against the king.
Steal, borrow, copy - from others and your players
Many people think you have to do all on your own, or it is cheap, bad or both. This is not true. If you truly want to be the best lazy DM there is you will have to drop false pride and take whatever you can from others. Again, this is about efficient use of your time - if you spend an hour searching the web for a map you could have drawn yourself in 20 minutes you are doing something wrong. This works best if you just keep and open mind, and note down a link when you see something you need (or are pretty sure you will be able to use later).
One of the best sources for tactics to steal from are your players. Look what tactics they use, and what feats, and make notes - what works for them works for you. If one of your players likes to summon monster you will get an insight in the efficient use of monsters, and their capabilities. A little time spent on EN world is also a very good source of tactics - as long as you can stay away from the discussion threads about roll-playing, gender in game and Magic.
Plots and NPCs you can get from anywhere - movies, books, story hours, web files. Don't be shy to adjust, and don't fixate on fantasy. That obnoxious police inspector playing the fool can make an interesting city watch official. Even that soap opera you zapped into by mistake can offer interesting plot twists.
Cultures and traditions you can take from history and contemporary countries as well as books and movies. Just having such an image makes it easier to decide how works the culture, and having such a role model also will enable you to use a fitting name list for your NPCs.
Let others work for you
This does not mean buy stock adventures - I found those are often more trouble than they are worth to adapt to my playing group's style and preference - but mainly, let your players do their part. If you have a player playing a cleric, let him add details to the church, add an order of paladins etc. - you can adjust those as you see fit.
It also works in game. Encourage players to start their own goals and plots, and go with it. Less work for you, both in and out of game.
Keep it all together
Making notes during a game is one thing, but I found that (at least in my case) as important is reviewing those notes, and organising them after the game. When I prepare each session I go through the notes I penned for and during my last game, and write a short synopsis of the game session - adjusting the notes for the NPCs involved, adding new NPCs I made up on the fly to my files, transferring dead NPCs to the "mook stats" file and tallying up what loose ends are left, and what consequences the party faces. Often, most of my preparation is finished after I have done this - hooks and ideas for the next adventures are often already there as a result of this.
Hope this helps a DM with time constraints.
So, here is my take on DMing as a lazy DM:
Check what you have to do
First thing you have to do in order to be able to spend just enough time on your campaign is to take a look at what your players want and like.
If you have no one interested in dungeon crawling then you can drop all that mapping out and outfitting of the ultimate dungeon/cavern system and cancel those orders for the latest meat grinder mega adventure. If you have no player interested in puzzle solving or bypassing/disabling traps, don't spend time on thinking about puzzles and traps. If you have no one interested in intrigue and politics, don't spend hours making up a complex system of checks and balances. If no one really likes extended combat, don't prepare countless encounters.
So, take stock of what your players like, then concentrate on those points and wing the rest.
Start out small, then let it grow
I know, most will assume that buying a campaign setting is much easier than building one, but IMHO, this is not so clear. When you buy a campaign setting you have to read it, and often study it carefully to be able to run it efficiently. When you build something up from scratch odds are you know it better, which means less time spent rereading a book.
No matter if you buy a published campaign setting or build your own homebrew, start small. Concentrate on one region, and flesh it out/read it through so you know how it is supposed to work. Then look where the campaign goes, and keep adding as it is needed. Epic campaigns which are plotted out from the start require lots of work, and lots of adjustments during the campaign, in effect doubling your time spent on it. Much easier to just sketch a rough outline and then detail it as it fits.
This also goes for rules. It is much easier - and better for your mental health - if you don't allow every rule from all d20 books published. Especially if it concerns prestige classes and feats. You will have a much easier time preparing if you don't have to check up on dozens of books each time - much easier on your purse as well. A good rule is to force your players to type anything they want use down and give it to you so you have it handy. So, here as well, start the players with a small choice of extra material, and then add as you feel comfortable with.
Reduce to the essential
NPCs don't need to be statted out, especially at low levels. Odds are, no matter in what role they appear - combat, cannon fodder, services - they will never have to use all their skill points. So you can just use (level+3+X) for their "good" skills, X being stat adjustments and maybe Skill focus, and half that for average skills. During combat you can decide on the fly if your mook has power attack or dodge. To start you only need to know his weapon armor and level. Here you can cheat - if you got a name and a short description the NPC will appear much more "complete" than if it is just a detailed amount of stats and numbers.
Locations do not need to be mapped out either unless your players are compulsory explorers - just keep a basic outline in your head and steer the players to the locations you want them to visit. And if you map them out, don't fret over details - add them as needed during a game. A map only serves to make it easier to imagine the layout of a place, and sometimes to conduct combat easier. It does not have to be a piece of art.
Plots do not need to be detailed that much either - just decide who wants what, and then let the NPCs involved act and react during the campaign. This works for the Epic plot outline as well as for the thief trying to rob a party member.
Make the most of what you do
If you do spend the time on statting out an NPC or mapping out a lair, make sure you can use it as much as possible. Even if the NPC you painstakingly built with classes, feat, skill points and money spent to the last copper does not survive its first combat you can often have an evil necromancer make him into an undead, or an evil cleric raise him, and have another go at the party. Then, drop the description and background, and throw him in your NPC file - a couple levels later the one-man-threat will make a good, detailed set of stats should you need that new NPC statted out on the fly.
Same goes for maps - that one castle you mapped out can be revisited later, many times if you do it right, or can be altered a bit and reused.
Finally, reuse plots and encounters that were not used - and even some that were used, with a twist.
Also make sure you keep track of the NPCs involved in an adventure - not only is it easier to reuse an NPC than build another one from scratch, stats and background and motivation and all, but it also adds to the players' immersion if they do not fight and rescue strangers they never meet again each adventure, but may meet people they know, friends and foes alike, from time to time, sometimes in different roles. Yes, this means, make notes during the game.
Finally, if you have a detailed campaign going, keep it going. Don't restart another campaign in a totally different setting each month. Don't TPK and end it. Milk the campaign for whatever it is worth, and the payoff for any work spent on preparing the region or world will be that much greater.
Wing it when possible
Be ready to open sideplots and twists when the situation allows for it, even if you did not plan for it. If you got a solid framework of stock NPCs, plots and notes you will be able to DM such things on the fly, taking an adventure in directions you did not plan ahead for without stumbling or railroading. The players get into trouble with the watch? Look if you can use this to get them into contact with that thieves guild you had outlined a bit, or as a start up to get them on the track of the corrupt mayor plotting against the king.
Steal, borrow, copy - from others and your players
Many people think you have to do all on your own, or it is cheap, bad or both. This is not true. If you truly want to be the best lazy DM there is you will have to drop false pride and take whatever you can from others. Again, this is about efficient use of your time - if you spend an hour searching the web for a map you could have drawn yourself in 20 minutes you are doing something wrong. This works best if you just keep and open mind, and note down a link when you see something you need (or are pretty sure you will be able to use later).
One of the best sources for tactics to steal from are your players. Look what tactics they use, and what feats, and make notes - what works for them works for you. If one of your players likes to summon monster you will get an insight in the efficient use of monsters, and their capabilities. A little time spent on EN world is also a very good source of tactics - as long as you can stay away from the discussion threads about roll-playing, gender in game and Magic.
Plots and NPCs you can get from anywhere - movies, books, story hours, web files. Don't be shy to adjust, and don't fixate on fantasy. That obnoxious police inspector playing the fool can make an interesting city watch official. Even that soap opera you zapped into by mistake can offer interesting plot twists.
Cultures and traditions you can take from history and contemporary countries as well as books and movies. Just having such an image makes it easier to decide how works the culture, and having such a role model also will enable you to use a fitting name list for your NPCs.
Let others work for you
This does not mean buy stock adventures - I found those are often more trouble than they are worth to adapt to my playing group's style and preference - but mainly, let your players do their part. If you have a player playing a cleric, let him add details to the church, add an order of paladins etc. - you can adjust those as you see fit.
It also works in game. Encourage players to start their own goals and plots, and go with it. Less work for you, both in and out of game.
Keep it all together
Making notes during a game is one thing, but I found that (at least in my case) as important is reviewing those notes, and organising them after the game. When I prepare each session I go through the notes I penned for and during my last game, and write a short synopsis of the game session - adjusting the notes for the NPCs involved, adding new NPCs I made up on the fly to my files, transferring dead NPCs to the "mook stats" file and tallying up what loose ends are left, and what consequences the party faces. Often, most of my preparation is finished after I have done this - hooks and ideas for the next adventures are often already there as a result of this.
Hope this helps a DM with time constraints.
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