D&D 4E A Satisfactory game of 4E

[D'karr]

Yeah my first game was pretty incompetent rules wise, little role playing and my funny voices were bad.

Still everyone had fun and wanted to do it again so who cares?

You know what is really interesting about this game is that we've been given 6 pre-generated characters, about 6 pages of very simple rules, and a very sketchy view of a game mechanic (skill challenges). With a few enterprising "scoop-hounds" finding more monsters, people are playing this game and enjoying it.

We haven't even been given any advancement mechanics or higher level powers and people are having fun with this.

Talk about rules lite. I really wish that wizards would follow this approach with the basic game. Something that gets you playing in 20 minutes tops, and is expandable to a few levels to provide depth.

 

[That One Guy]

Props to you. Let us know how your next game goes, alright?

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

That's interesting...I find your ratio of prep time to game time to be spot on. Do others find this to be true? What's your experience?

I spend at least 1/2 hour prep per 2 hour play.... but this is just counting focused prep time and not skimming the module or thinking about how things will pan out between sessions. I also try to maintain a PBEM piece inbetween sessions, mainly to keep the game 'alive' in the month between sessions.

 

[neceros]

Tell me: What the hell do you guys prep?

I begin to prep before a game and end up just plotting stories in my head. Nothing actually comes out on paper, or actually becomes prepped. Mind you, my games run as fine as I can think of a game running.

So, what do you guys actually do to prep?

 

[Wiman]

My prep tends to be maps and how NPC's and monsters will react to about 10 situations that may come up from players...everytime for every creature I like to think up 10 different situations...thus if the players do to the farmer what I was thinking they would do to a kobold (kill and take stuff....not a good example I know) I can instantly react without giving them the "blank - you did what stare" before reacting a couple of seconds later. Everything else is pretty much off the top of the head <the drive back from work comment from Majoru comes to mind as pretty much what I do>.

Lots of prep before (3rd) although it got a lot faster with practice was making monsters less predictable, strong supporter of making kobolds bad ass <like how 4th edition made them a feasible encounter without any work>. From what we have seen I believe this will be cut down....at first because monster entries will be quite a bit different from 3.5 and later as it seems easier (for me) to change a monsters levels and abilities in this edition.

 

[That One Guy]

Tell me: What the hell do you guys prep?

I begin to prep before a game and end up just plotting stories in my head. Nothing actually comes out on paper, or actually becomes prepped. Mind you, my games run as fine as I can think of a game running.

So, what do you guys actually do to prep?

Depends on what the game is going for. In my 3rd edition games I would prep depending on how the plot was formed. If it was more free form (There are a number of evil things and interesting things in the world) I would try and get a feel for who in the party wanted to go where. Then I'd try to map out those locations and figure out what was interesting there. If I knew there'd be plot NPCs, I'd jot down a phrase or two... key info they have to give and maybe a description of them. If there might be a fight I'd copy down a shorthand stat block and a general outline of skill checks/saves/combat strategy. Basically, if I thought of totally brilliant crunch or fluff, I'd write it down and notes to myself so things would play out correctly and I wouldn't accidentally make huge plot holes.

If the game was more strictly story oriented, I would only prep the info the PCs were given, and names of plot important NPCs, and what terrible things those NPCs were doing. Those games tended to be a bit different than most D&D.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Tell me: What the hell do you guys prep?

Primarily its (re)learning the combat capabilities of the NPCs/Bad guys so I don't forget a key ability mid fight or have to interupt game play to look up something. In doing so, I tend to write up 3x5 cards for each encounter/critter with the stuff I expect to use in play.

My goal is to avoid sticking my nose in a book or using the 'search' function on the SRD.

The story line and how I think it will pan out is already pretty solid in my head. For instance, this Friday the group goes to a watch tower and encouters some bad guys that have a wide variety of powers... Swordmage type + Cleric + critter + mooks. Three spell casting types that I have to figure out what the spells do and if I want to modify them.
I am looking forward to 4e and its very simple NPC stat blocks!

3x definately impacted how much prep time I felt I needed to achieve my goal. I would like to get back to picking the right props and coming up with flavorful fluff to go along with the story.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

In 3E:
1) The bare minimum of a plot is written down. Most of the stuff is actually in my head and done before I go to sleep, on my bicycle ride to work or back home, or my time in the shower. Not all of this time is used for that, but a lot of my adventure ideas come from this time.
2) Then, I need several hours of writing down my NPC stat blocks, and reworking them. Often, my adventures take more than one session and also more then one level for the PCs, which often ends up with me reworking the stats again.
3) Then, I need a few hours to draw maps I want to use.
4) With the maps and the NPCs I can stage the encounters.
There is alot of hence-and-forth between 2-4, and sometimes also 1 is expanded or changed so that 2-4 change with it.
2 is definitely the largest part.

For my 4E light preperation, I cut out part 2. I had all the stat blocks I needed. It would have been different in 3E, since I definitely would have needed to create a few Kobold varieties. A single Kobold Warrior just doesn't cut it for me to give the feeling of a Kobold Lair.
I could also have left out a lot of part 4. In the end, I winged a lot of the encounters compositions and mixed and matched as I liked, and even added a extra encounter since I found that I didn't use that part of he Kobolds lair well.
And furthermore, the players didn't even get to the later part in the adventure with the Goblins and the Dragon!

 

[Spinachcat]

Tell me: What the hell do you guys prep?

I prep much hell for my players.

My prep is different if it is a convention one-shot vs. a home session for a campaign. I do much more focussed prep on the three act structure of the storyline for the convention one-shot because there is no "see you next Saturday" option and you must take the event from start to finish in 4 hours. My prep is even deeper for tournaments because I want to make sure as much competitive fairness is built into the event since prizes and bragging rights are involved.

For home campaign games, I focus mostly on two things. First, what cool spotlight can I give each of the heroes for this session? Let's say my players have a Fighter, Mage and Thief. I will want each one to get a scene where their character shines and they get to be center stage for a moment. Not the focus of the whole adventure at the detriment of the other players, but just a moment where they get to be cool and show off.

Second, I think about the game world and the various major players. What are they doing? What do they know about the heroes and their incessant meddling? How will they respond? Which of their plans are passing through the perception of the PCs? What complications may have arisen? The more my world lives and breathes, the more fun the players have exploring and the easier it is for me to do stuff "on the fly"

 

[neceros]

Well, my PCs are level 5 right now. I'm starting to see I need to prep a little bit more. At first, all I had to do was pick a few different variants in types of monsters (Goblin Warrior, goblin sneaky, and a mage), then adjust BAB and abilities slightly. It was fairly easy to do quick hand.

Now, PrCs are involved, etc. It'll be fun once I get it down.


Something that has really helped me learn to DM is setting scenes. Before, I would let them do whatever and just make up stuff when needed. Now, I think it's better to have a scene play out: Start, middle and End. I've been reading the DMG II.