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<blockquote data-quote="SweeneyTodd" data-source="post: 1486142" data-attributes="member: 9391">I think you should use the process that works best for you.Personally, I find that when I prepare extensively in terms of what the PCs will do then I'm overworked, and I have to avoid the tendency to railroad a wee bit to make sure my work isn't wasted. Not railroading in the &quot;No, you have to go do this&quot; way, but the All Roads Lead To Rome type where I manage to get my prepared setpieces in no matter where the PCs end up.Now, on the other hand, when I spend my time preparing how the major players (NPCs) will continue their plans, and possible responses to the PC's actions, that's different. It's less work in terms of stat block creation and mapping, but it still requires thought. Based on how I run games, the latter works best for me. And yes, it does involve a lot of &quot;winging it&quot; and then going over my notes after the fact to see how things tie together.I think &quot;winging it&quot; is only Lazy DMing if you don't put in the time to prime your imagination. How much prep you need to do that depends only on you. I like for my sessions to be spontaneous but not totally ad hoc, so a few hours before a session (much of it spent just thinking about things, rather than crunching numbers) works for me.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="SweeneyTodd, post: 1486142, member: 9391"] I think you should use the process that works best for you. Personally, I find that when I prepare extensively [B]in terms of what the PCs will do[/B] then I'm overworked, and I have to avoid the tendency to railroad a wee bit to make sure my work isn't wasted. Not railroading in the "No, you have to go do this" way, but the All Roads Lead To Rome type where I manage to get my prepared setpieces in no matter where the PCs end up. Now, on the other hand, when I spend my time preparing [B]how the major players (NPCs) will continue their plans, and possible responses to the PC's actions[/B], that's different. It's less work in terms of stat block creation and mapping, but it still requires thought. Based on how I run games, the latter works best for me. And yes, it does involve a lot of "winging it" and then going over my notes after the fact to see how things tie together. I think "winging it" is only Lazy DMing if you don't put in the time to prime your imagination. How much prep you need to do that depends only on you. I like for my sessions to be spontaneous but not totally ad hoc, so a few hours before a session (much of it spent just thinking about things, rather than crunching numbers) works for me. [/QUOTE]

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