D&D 5E Down to six pages of prep work

[GameOgre]

A while back I posted about decreasing my DM prep work with the goal of making it one page worth of notes ect along with 30-1 hour of time.

I'm down to about 2 hours of time and 6 pages of notes so much better than it used to be but I'm still not there.

1 page are maps, 1 page is lists of encounters/monsters along with page numbers ect..for them,1 page is for treasure with unique treasure described, 2 pages are unique monsters and npc's and the last page is for ideas and alternate adventure ideas or riddles/songs/jokes things about backgrounds ect..

How are you guys doing?

 

[S'mon]

My 5e D&D & Classic D&D campaign sandboxes, necessary prep is a few minutes per session, though I may do some more stuff for fun, eg reading over the Karameikos Gazetteer for obscure tidbits. My 4e game is typically an hour or so on monster stat blocks for the 3-hour fight. My Pathfinder AP game I take an hour or so of reading - it's never adequate, but then I never feel properly prepped for running the AP no matter how long I take on it.

 

[Talmek]

A while back I posted about decreasing my DM prep work with the goal of making it one page worth of notes ect along with 30-1 hour of time.

I'm down to about 2 hours of time and 6 pages of notes so much better than it used to be but I'm still not there.

1 page are maps, 1 page is lists of encounters/monsters along with page numbers ect..for them,1 page is for treasure with unique treasure described, 2 pages are unique monsters and npc's and the last page is for ideas and alternate adventure ideas or riddles/songs/jokes things about backgrounds ect..

How are you guys doing?

I really, REALLY wish I knew how you managed that.

I spend around 10 hours per session building encounter matrices, writing miscellaneous notes about each encounter (to prevent referring back to the adventure constantly and help keep the flow of the session rolling), and detailing treasure and XP for each encounter. This doesn't even count maps or other work I could/should be doing.

I must ask - how did you manage to whittle it down so much?

 

[pming]

Hiya.

I really, REALLY wish I knew how you managed that.

I spend around 10 hours per session building encounter matrices, writing miscellaneous notes about each encounter (to prevent referring back to the adventure constantly and help keep the flow of the session rolling), and detailing treasure and XP for each encounter. This doesn't even count maps or other work I could/should be doing.

I must ask - how did you manage to whittle it down so much?

The big question is... do you enjoy doing 10 hours of prep for your game? If the answer is "Yes!", then keep on keeping on. If the answer is "No!", then you need to cut down on the stuff you don't 'need' to have at your fingertips.

If you are writing all your own material, I use a "point form" method. I don't write out whole encounter settings, I'll just give it a descriptive name, then a few point form words to help me ad-lib it when the PC's get there. So...

• Midnight Kobold Ambush
• Swamp, fireflies, spooky sounds, ground mist
• Big, moss covered log cover; hollow, see through holes, treasure inside
• 5 Kobolds; javalins first, then attack
• Crypt Key, 24cp, dead rat, dried chicken feet

That's all I need. I don't need to write down DC's for anything, or the effects of various environmental things like obscurement and ground cover. I don't need all the "extra" words (e.g. "The kobolds treasure is hidden inside the hollow log they were hiding behind."... I can get away with "log, hollow, treasure").

Just writing the name of the creature with the book/page is all you need ("Kobolds x5, MM195") is good enough.

Basically, you don't need to have all the information written down in front of you. The 5e D&D books are for reference, so use them that way. One thing I have on my custom made DM screen is a small little section with page numbers in the DMG of where to find various things that may come up every now and then (like NPC's, Environments, Treasure Hoard tables, etc).

If there's one thing I learned playing this game for the last 34+ years (since '80), it's that the more you reference something, the less you'll have to reference it in the future. Back in my 1e DM'ing peak I could tell you the page number in the DMG for just about anything...Combat Tables...pg 74; Saving Throw Tables...pg 79; Hiring NPC's to cast spells...pg 103; Sage Information...pg 31. The list goes on and on. By using the "reference page method" you will reinforce your ability to recall rules, numbers and all that other stuff, or at least blurt out "Hey, Curtis...flip to the Feat section in the PHB for me, page 165"...and then continue running the game with the player who isn't waiting for his turn or whatever.

I think the core thing is... those of us who "prep with little pages", only prep by "roughing out" stuff, leaving the actual details to happen naturally, during play. For an example of a nigh-perfect example of this, check out Dyson Logos's Dyson's Delve adventure PDF (free). It's a pure dungeon crawl of 11 dungeon levels (https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/maps/dysons-delve/ ). It's room layout/description is the perfect mix of info and vagaries. I ran a game (using 1e AD&D) just last year or so with this. Campaign lasted about 8 months with this puppy...and they only got down to level 7 or 8 I think! Ton's of fun, lots of RP'ing (nearby town, gathering information, encounters with another NPC adventuring group, a bandit group lead by a witch looking to use the caves as a base of operations, etc...), all with an underlying quest I tossed in; find and retrieve (hopefully alive) a young 8 year old boy named Willem who ventured into the caves to spite his parents. Good times...good times...

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[GMMichael]

1 page are maps, 1 page is lists of encounters/monsters along with page numbers ect..for them,1 page is for treasure with unique treasure described, 2 pages are unique monsters and npc's and the last page is for ideas and alternate adventure ideas or riddles/songs/jokes things about backgrounds ect..

How are you guys doing?

I'm at 20-30 minutes. Not bad for a 2-3 hour game. Here are some things to try:

1) O.G.R.E. There are lots of treasure generators on OGRE, so if you have a laptop or iComputer, you can instantly generate treasure without really having to think about it or dedicate paper space to it. If you're feeling brave, you could also try the Random Dungeon Room Generator that I posted there.
2) Recycle. Your maps and flavor text probably don't need to be written up, brand-new, each session. But this reminds me of an old excellent post...
3) Put the PCs to work. They're playing one character, you're playing 50. So give them each an assignment that lightens your load, in the "ideas and alternate adventure ideas or riddles/songs/jokes things about backgrounds ect" area.
4) Play a different game. Your encounters, unique monsters, and NPCs don't need to take up 3 pages (and references to MORE pages) if you're not playing a bulky game.

 

[GameOgre]

Ways I shaved off a lot of time(or a little that added up).

Wrote down only differences in monsters verse normal monster of that type(like hit points) otherwise just listed a page number, also used post it notes to mark each page in the book, stopped with fancy cool looking dungeons that nobody but me would ever see(my maps now look like arrows and squares with numbers on them or letters in secret door or trapped ect) Instead of tons of background info and descriptions of people places and things now I write short blunt to the point things to jar my memory

#22a Sick Torture room, partial corpses everywhere, 1/2 orc cult fanatic(remember to play him cheerful and kind speaking while covered in blood)#345 Treasure- he has 11 gold in his pockets but in his desk there are valuable odds and ends (mementos) 160 gold worth. Will bargain for life, knows this level and the one above.

Before That encounter might have taken up a page full of maps and stat blocks and notes.

Also if the night is going very well for the party and they are much faster than normal I might reuse encounters but with different flavor text.

Use #22a but it's the head Lord's Butler for his personal rooms(mementos are now things the butler stole from guests) Servants Quarters.

 

[Nebulous]

I really, REALLY wish I knew how you managed that.

I spend around 10 hours per session building encounter matrices, writing miscellaneous notes about each encounter (to prevent referring back to the adventure constantly and help keep the flow of the session rolling), and detailing treasure and XP for each encounter. This doesn't even count maps or other work I could/should be doing.

I must ask - how did you manage to whittle it down so much?

What is an encounter matrice? I jot down stuff I'd like to see happen, and stuff I anticipate the PCs might do. It's often wrong but it gives me some kind of guidance. I don't calculate XP or treasure at all, so i don't worry about that, and i pull stats from the MM or adventure as needed. Now that i'm starting to run PotA, I'm finding the main time suck initially is just reading the damn thing and figuring out who knows who and who knows what. There are many plot hooks that can just be ignored.

 

[TwoSix]

What is an encounter matrice? I jot down stuff I'd like to see happen, and stuff I anticipate the PCs might do. It's often wrong but it gives me some kind of guidance. I don't calculate XP or treasure at all, so i don't worry about that, and i pull stats from the MM or adventure as needed. Now that i'm starting to run PotA, I'm finding the main time suck initially is just reading the damn thing and figuring out who knows who and who knows what. There are many plot hooks that can just be ignored.

Encounter matrix (plural of matrix is matrices). I'm assuming that's a big encounter table type thing?

I divide my prep work into three distinct phases: in the car, in the shower, and on the john. Sometimes, if I'm feeling ambitious, I'll copy and paste monster stats into a Word document, maybe add some special abilities. But honestly, that's my DM equivalent of turning on some Barry White and wearing some special lingerie; it's really only for special occasions.

 

[Talmek]

Encounter matrix (plural of matrix is matrices). I'm assuming that's a big encounter table type thing?

I divide my prep work into three distinct phases: in the car, in the shower, and on the john. Sometimes, if I'm feeling ambitious, I'll copy and paste monster stats into a Word document, maybe add some special abilities. But honestly, that's my DM equivalent of turning on some Barry White and wearing some special lingerie; it's really only for special occasions.

An encounter matrix (or matrices look something like this. Imagine 4 PCs taking on 4 kobolds, 1 cultist and 2 guards (random encounter from HotDQ) - the encounter matrix would be written as such:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

PC1
PC2
PC3
PC4
K1
K2
K3
K4
C1
G1
G2

As each PC and monster take a turn you mark complete (check mark, H for Hit, M for miss - customize how you want). Using it to track initiative (write on the margin to the left of each #1, #2, etc) and monster HP remaining/status (right margin) you can basically keep track of the details and keep things moving a bit faster.

I've considered using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or other electronic tools for this simply because keeping everything in a spiral notebook, while a one-stop shop, also forces a lot of work!

 

[GX.Sigma]

An encounter matrix (or matrices look something like this. Imagine 4 PCs taking on 4 kobolds, 1 cultist and 2 guards (random encounter from HotDQ) - the encounter matrix would be written as such:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

PC1
PC2
PC3
PC4
K1
K2
K3
K4
C1
G1
G2

As each PC and monster take a turn you mark complete (check mark, H for Hit, M for miss - customize how you want). Using it to track initiative (write on the margin to the left of each #1, #2, etc) and monster HP remaining/status (right margin) you can basically keep track of the details and keep things moving a bit faster.

I've considered using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or other electronic tools for this simply because keeping everything in a spiral notebook, while a one-stop shop, also forces a lot of work!

I don't understand. What is the reason for doing this?