What goes into your prep?

[Nilhgualcm Leahcim]

Here's a question for all of you GMs out there; What do you do to prepare for a canned game? If you are running a canned adventure, what sort of things do you prep for? I have only really ever run a lot of homebrew games; I know what I need for these things. But one of my players has recently handed me a module for a birthday present and really wants me to run it. What do you, oh seasoned ENworlders, do to prep a premade game? Please help.

The adventure is the first of the 3.0 adventure path from WOTC. I've read it before I've come here, but ...? :\ Thanks for all of your suggestions in advance!

 

[Rl'Halsinor]

Right off the top, I make sure I take my time and read it to familirize myself wth the contents. Will it fit my campaign and if so where? What modifications do I need to do, if any? Can my current players handle the task in hand? There are a myriad of things to consider, but I must also add that "canned" modules can be loads of fun if DM'd right.

The thing with homebrew settings is that it is first created in your mind and transfered to paper. With a prepared module the information is reversed, from someone elses mind to print to your mind. I always found this to take more preparation.

 

[haiiro]

On my first read-through, I take notes as I go. These fall into two categories: general stuff (ideas, concerns, etc.), and things relating to the group I'm going to run it for -- i.e., "this will never interest them," or "make these clues more subtle," and the like.

I don't run many modules (except for CoC), so that's the best suggestion I can come up with at the moment.

 

[Nilhgualcm Leahcim]

Right off the top, I make sure I take my time and read it to familirize myself wth the contents. Will it fit my campaign and if so where? What modifications do I need to do, if any? Can my current players handle the task in hand? There are a myriad of things to consider, but I must also add that "canned" modules can be loads of fun if DM'd right.

The thing with homebrew settings is that it is first created in your mind and transfered to paper. With a prepared module the information is reversed, from someone elses mind to print to your mind. I always found this to take more preparation.

The nice thing is that they want me to start a new campaign and run them through all of the Adventure Path from start to finish. Has anyone out here done that, and if so, what should I do to make it a lot more fun for all envolved?

 

[Psikonetic]

What do you, oh seasoned ENworlders, do to prep a premade game? Please help.

First I'd read the adventure again, then once that's done, read it again, followed by reading it again. Really the key is getting to know the adventure, where it's going at any given time, what places player's may go off the beaten (or written) path and how to get them back onto the right one, etc. You don't have to memorize every boxed paragraph, per se, but having a good understanding of the overall goals of the adventure and key points in the plot is extremely helpful.
I also like to go thorugh each encounter and jot notes down on either Index Cards or some paper, things like hp for various monsters (to keep a tally on scrap rather than in the book), special things to look out for, areas where I want to elaborate details, places to insert music (I put key parts of the module to music, this only works for some groups). By prepping modifiable things on paper ahead of time, it beats the mad scramble to dig up Intiative modifiers, AC, and hit points of creatures during tense combat on the fly, as well as making sure you noted important parts of the encounter so you don't pass over them during the session.
As stated before, there's actually more prep in a premade than something homebrew, you can modify homebrew on the fly and not worry about screwing up something that appears later since it's your world, premades don't always give you that luxury.

Oh, the other biggest thing to prep for, know that your players will not follow the adventure to the T and any point where they can go the wrong way, they will. It's part of the Collective Player's Associates (CPA) rule on frustrating DMs, you'll get used to it though

~Me

 

[Gizzard]

I do two major things:

1) Look where the party is likely to go in the next session. Break out the stats of the NPCs who will be in that area into a stat block to be put in a binder for quick reference. I rebalance the NPCs, especially spellcasters, at this time by a) upgrading their ability scores if underpowered for my high point-buy game, b) tinkering or min/maxing their spell lists, or c) upgrading to 3.5E if necessary. Rejiggle magic items and treasure as desired.

2) Add custom work to the module. If some sub-plot, trap, NPC or whatever doesn't make sense to me or doesn't seem cool I'll tinker with it. I do some of this up front, but I also try to tinker a bit between sessions. This allows me to adjust on the fly to the players suddenly becoming more or less interested in particular facets of the module.

-edit-

The adventure is the first of the 3.0 adventure path from WOTC

Ah, yes, that's a good one. There are some really good discussions archived on this board; searching for one will give you specific DM tips which are quite valuable.

Also, don't forget to search for the word "Meepo". ;-)

 

[pogre]

Read it one more time and use those margins - write notes directly into the module. Make a few index cards with major NPCs. Don't worry about "screwing something up" as a homebrewer, you are accustomed to improvisation - just consider any mistakes as personalizing the module.

 

[Fenes]

I would read it through, summarize the plot for me, then break it down, cut out 90% of the combats, add a ton of tie-ins from my on going campaign, customize what is left of the module for my campaign, then copy the maps. Then I would check if I need the module book anymore, or just can run it from my notes and the maps. Would probably use the modul as a sourcebook for the adventure, to check on some things during play.

But that is just me. Though, speaking from experience, if a DM does not do this in my campaigns things tend to end ugly... you don't just run an adventure published for your western europe medieval fantasy world in an egypt-styled campaign without adjusting NPC names, monsters and enviroment.

 

[MerakSpielman]

I stumble over my own feet when running a module. I think it's becuase, since I didn't design it myself, it never feels like it entirely makes sense to me. When a player does something that deviates from the script, I have to fumble for a few moments figuring out if they're really off-script, or if I'm just forgetting what is supposed to happen.

When I design something myself, I know where the borders of my notes are (they're usually no more than a map with scribbled notes in the margins) and I can ad-lib on the fly. Generally nobody even notices.

 

[Kalendraf]

Read. then reread. Know the encounters, the foes and any of their special tricks. That is the easy part...

Since I'm overly concerned about wealth issues, I verify that the amount of exp expected from the fights stays in line with the amount of treasure to be found. Some companies are extremely good about keeping things in check, but others allow their authors a very wide range. Let me demonstrate the process...

My main party is 9th level and consists of 6 PCs. I tally up all the encounters in a dungeon/whatever and figure out how much exp those encounters as a whole will be worth when divided across the 6 characters. Seems like a lot of up front work, but one advantage is the numbers are all there and ready for later on when the party is awarded that exp. Adjustments can be done easily on the fly if necessary. Now let's say the exp per character for the next large section of the module is going to be around 12K. That enough to reach 10th level and exceed it by 25%.

From that, I index the recommended wealth table and determine what characters should see in terms of a change in their wealth from 9th to approximately a quarter of the way past 10th level. Multiply that number by 6 characters and use the overall number as a baseline to target for the stuff awarded.

Next I add up all the loot, and consider coins, jewelry and gems as full value, and also items the party is likely to keep as full value. But items they are like to sell only count half since that's how much they are going to get for selling them. I add up all this stuff and compare to the baseline number for exp.

A well-written module might be within +/- 30% of the target and require very few changes. On the other hand, some "monty haul" adventures may be off by a factor of 4 to 5 times the recommended dose of treasure. Let's just say 450K worth of treasure for those encounters mentioned above. In a case like this, I need to do some major overhauls.

How to adjust it is more of an artform than anything. I usually start by axing big-ticket items or ones that don't make sense for the campaign. I often have to adjust some items downward as well (make a +3 ring into a +2 instead, etc). It's much easier to adjust upward, but that is less commonly needed.

One of my campaigns uses non-standard wealth, approximately 70% of the recommended, so in nearly all cases, I still have to do some adjusting like this. Depending on the severity of the wealth issues, the process can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours to properly balance things for the campaign. The reward is worth it though - keeping the party balanced regarding wealth has lots of benefits.

Note - I'm kind of anal about this whole thing because I've seen a prior campaign get out of control due to too much treasure getting awarded which led to a number of related problems which eventually killed the campaign.