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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Trevalon Moonleirion" data-source="post: 5141968" data-attributes="member: 492">I'll throw my hat in the ring as I'm currently running a campaign after a long absence from the regular DM seat.In the past, I spent way too long prepping for adventures.  I'd actually write read-aloud text for myself and fully explain things like I was going to publish my terrible work. This is a waste of time unless you're thinking of publishing your work, but even then, it's overkill for a regular game.I'm a big fan of a campaign notebook where you store just about everything you need for your campaign.  This can be a real notebook, a box full of notecards, or something electronic--a wiki, a file or collection of files on your computer (I'm a big fan of OneNote for PCs and Curio for Macs) etc.  In your notebook, have a section for random brainstorming for future games, a section for NPCs, and a section for whatever you're running currently. (More sections are of course possible--treasure, random clippings/handouts, images you're going to use for counters, session notes--but I'm trying not to turn this post into a novel)Once you're ready for a session, it's a matter of going through your various notebook "sections" and picking out what you need, and making a note of what you'll need to make from scratch/steal from elsewhere.That long introduction finished, here's what I do.<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Look over notes I made about last session, figure out what's likely going to happen this session.  You can't plan for everthing, but you can at least give yourself a breadcrumb to start off trails to stuff you're going to make up on the fly.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Once I've got a rough idea of what things are likely to happen, I grab stats for encounters.  Some sort of an electronic generator for this is a godsend, if you're looking for slightly more variety in humanoid foes, but a quick flip through the monster manual of your choice works well for dungeon crawls or travels through the wilderness. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Maps. Either find some in something you've used before, or sketch up something quickly.  If you're running a published adventure, you've probably already got this covered.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Flowchart/diagram/outline:  I live from these for games I run.  They're a great way to quickly sketch out what you think might happen in a session, and it's easy to add notes or new additions to them. These can be as loose or as detailed as you like.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Minis/props/handouts (Optional):  If I have the time, I dig around in my collections for stuff that works.  I only print out counters from my electronic collection if NOTHING in my printed counters/minis collection matches what I have in mind and it's going to be a big "boss fight" if you'll excuse the video game parlance.</li> </ol>I'm not the greatest, but it's been working for me.  I should probably devote a bit more time to treasure, but I don't think I've been overly stingy in my current game.  I often just spend some time whenever the characters level thinking of a pool of items to give out as I feel like it for the level, and spread them out as we play.I'd honestly try to cut down on your prep time unless you really enjoy it--7.5 hours is quite a bit for a game session that might not even last that long, especially if you're running a pre-made adventure. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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