D&D 3E/3.5 GM Last Minute Prep Folder

[RealAlHazred]

Many, many moons ago (I believe 2008), gaming blogger Kenneth Newqvist wrote a now-gone post about his "Book of Almost Everything," a set of articles he photocopied (or printed out) and kept handy in a binder when he was running, so that he could pull out an NPC, a locale, a situation, or whatever else he needed mid-session, if the players did something unexpected. (Which is probably most sessions if you're doing it right, since chaos.) I saved the blog post in a folder, and developed my own collection of articles and blog posts, which seem to have disappeared into the Bit-Aether.

But, I recently found the saved blog post, and was interested to see what kind of similar collections of useful material people might have collected in the decades since 3rd edition first came out. Here's Ken's list:

Optional Rules

• “Bribes and Contacts,” from Chapter 11 of the Book of Roguish Luck by Malhavoc Press
• “Cards, Dice & Skulls,” Dungeon, April 2006
• “Swamp Dangers,” Dungeon, September 2005

People

• “Spells for Sale,” Dungeon, February 2005
• “Alert the Watch,” Dungeon, January 2005
• “Pilgrims on the Road,” Dungeon, January 2005
• “Bounty Hunters,” Dungeon, March 2005
• “Employers and Patrons,” Dungeon, April 2005
• “Unsung Heroes,” Dungeon, April 2005
• “Sages and Scholars,” Dungeon, June 2005
• “Seneschals and Majordomos,” Dungeon, August 2005
• “Specialists,” Dungeon, February 2006
• “Glimmerpane,” Dungeon, October 2005
• “Five-Second NPCS,” Dungeon, December 2004
• “Merchant Madness,” Dungeon, September 2005
• “Instant City Shopping,” Dungeon, January 2005

Locations

• “The Green Griffon Tavern,” Book of Roguish Luck web enhancement by Malhavoc Press.
• “Inns and Lodging Houses,” Dungeon, January 2006
• “Wet Your Whistle,” Dungeon, November 2005
• “Passages into Darkness,” Dungeon, October 2004

Random Encounters

• “150 Benign Urban Encounters” from RoleplayingTips.com.
• “100 Meals,” Dungeon, April 2006
• “100 Market Stalls,” Dungeon, June 2005
• “Graveyard Encounters,” Dungeon, December 2004
• “Abandoned Buildings,” Dungeon, November 2004
• “Art and Other Fancy Loot,” Dungeon, January 2005
• “One Hundred Useless Items,” Dungeon, April 2005
• “Essential Works,” Dungeon, May 2005
• “Beaker of Endless Potions,” Dungeon, August 2005
• “The Möbius Scrolls,” Dungeon, April 2006
• “Staffs of Power,” Dungeon, October 2005

To this, I would add “Fences and Dealers” and “Fifty Fairs and Markets,” both from Dungeon October 2004. Anybody have their favorite article or blog post of a similar nature to add? Most of the above articles are only a few pages, and quite concise, easy to reference at the table.

 

[Alzrius]

I always got a kick out of using the magic item generation tables in Diablo II: Diablerie. I had the results be minor artifacts, rather than "normal" magic items, in order to circumvent questions of "how can we craft this?" Likewise, they weren't major artifacts because those tended to be more powerful and have notable backstories. But for minor artifacts, which are non-unique but not "craftable" by PCs, it was perfect.

 

[Xenolith234]

It’s worth noting that Ken is still blogging here: https://www.nuketown.com/game-day-the-book-of-almost-everything/

 

[RealAlHazred]

Rereading old Dungeons and Dragons, I think a lot of the short two-page articles in the back ("Campaign Workbook" and such) fit the bill. Some of them are bland or just general DM advice, but many have NPCs or magic items you can steal, scenario seeds, or other cool bits. For example, the "Essential Works" article has several great scenario seeds in it, that just come from mundane books. "Glimmerpane" is an NPC who can spawn a whole intriguing campaign.

Also, sifting through the many One Page Dungeon entries can give you a few drop-in locations for when your players go in a direction you don't expect.