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<blockquote data-quote="GregoryOatmeal" data-source="post: 5664047" data-attributes="member: 6667661">I used to be a high-prep DM and found it sort of boxed me in in many cases. I'd make an intricate plot for a player and that player wouldn't show up, for example.For my own personal sanity I stopped prepping games (extensively) and catering to players. I made the dramatic switch to running modules. I didn't do this because I didn't have faith in my ability to create a game - I did it for my own sense of detachment from the plot. When I designed my own adventures I tended to design a problem and a solution. If I didn't push the players towards the solution I was at least secretly hoping they would go in that direction. I would get a bit frustrated when they solved a problem too easily or averted the situation altogether. I think that's a natural consequence of putting too much effort into a detailed plot.I switched to the pregen modules because they give a lot of content but don't flesh it out extensively (ideally - detailed entries require some time to digest). I found this can lead to a lot of improv or a situation being skipped over altogether. As a DM I'm not personally upset the situation I painstakingly plotted didn't go to waste. For example I had a really fun Castles and Crusades game playing Keep on the Borderlands recently. Despite the hack and slash nature of the module the players managed to squeeze in some significant roleplaying with the various factions in the caves. This was primarily player-driven. It occurred because I had a large world that I didn't really prep, the players had a lot of choice about where to go and I could react in the moment. The module looks god-awful on paper (no named NPCs, no real plot, just a bunch of caves to hack through) but people always seem to have fun with it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="GregoryOatmeal, post: 5664047, member: 6667661"] I used to be a high-prep DM and found it sort of boxed me in in many cases. I'd make an intricate plot for a player and that player wouldn't show up, for example. For my own personal sanity I stopped prepping games (extensively) and catering to players. I made the dramatic switch to running modules. I didn't do this because I didn't have faith in my ability to create a game - I did it for my own sense of detachment from the plot. When I designed my own adventures I tended to design a problem and a solution. If I didn't push the players towards the solution I was at least secretly hoping they would go in that direction. I would get a bit frustrated when they solved a problem too easily or averted the situation altogether. I think that's a natural consequence of putting too much effort into a detailed plot. I switched to the pregen modules because they give a lot of content but don't flesh it out extensively (ideally - detailed entries require some time to digest). I found this can lead to a lot of improv or a situation being skipped over altogether. As a DM I'm not personally upset the situation I painstakingly plotted didn't go to waste. For example I had a really fun Castles and Crusades game playing Keep on the Borderlands recently. Despite the hack and slash nature of the module the players managed to squeeze in some significant roleplaying with the various factions in the caves. This was primarily player-driven. It occurred because I had a large world that I didn't really prep, the players had a lot of choice about where to go and I could react in the moment. The module looks god-awful on paper (no named NPCs, no real plot, just a bunch of caves to hack through) but people always seem to have fun with it. [/QUOTE]

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