GM's What do you do to prepare for a game?

[Ed Cha]

I try to think of great dialogue lines and try to anticipate what the PCs might say or do.

I write down several quotes of an NPC based on how he or she (or it) might introduce itself or react to the questions posed by or actions made by the PCs. I try to use quirky methods of speech (not just an accent, but things like hiccuping or stammering or speaking loudly or slowly or accentuating certain words) for each one to differentiate my NPCs from one another.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Lets seee....

1) Think about the game all week, but put off all the prep work til the day before the game.
2) Get all the other stuff done for the day, figuring that I'll work better if it's my only thing to think about.
3) Figure that an hour of tv can't hurt....
4) Spend way too much time fiddling with minutae the players might not even encounter.
5) Figure that I'm just too tired to concentrate and will get up early to finish.
6) Overlseep.
7) Rush around like mad, not getting done half of what I wanted to get done. Throw together my hasty notes and get myself to the game barely on time, and winging half the stuff I wanted to prep for.
8) Run the game. It goes fine, even if I have to make stuff up.
9) Resolve to plan better next week.
10) Repeat next week.

Ditto that, but add that the players get bogged down on something and don't make it through half of what I wrote yet did something so totally off the wall that the rest of what I wrote won't work next session.

 

[Christoph the Magus]

I keep a gaming website (on schtuff.com) and I either read/update the website before the game to remind myself of what's going on and/or to update the PCs with new developments and to set up new adventures.

Then I get the villains ready to go using etools and MS word. I know what the overall story of the campaign is, so I run through my head the motivations of the NPCs before we play. If I'm using a new rule/spell/etc I'll make sure that I double check how it works.

Then I send out an email reminding everyone about game night and we're off to the races, so to speak.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Lets seee....

1) Think about the game all week, but put off all the prep work til the day before the game.
2) Get all the other stuff done for the day, figuring that I'll work better if it's my only thing to think about.
3) Figure that an hour of tv can't hurt....
4) Spend way too much time fiddling with minutae the players might not even encounter.
5) Figure that I'm just too tired to concentrate and will get up early to finish.
6) Overlseep.
7) Rush around like mad, not getting done half of what I wanted to get done. Throw together my hasty notes and get myself to the game barely on time, and winging half the stuff I wanted to prep for.
8) Run the game. It goes fine, even if I have to make stuff up.
9) Resolve to plan better next week.
10) Repeat next week.

Were we separated at birth? **shakes head** This is exactly how I do it, and my players love my games.

 

[maggot]

Lets seee....

1) Think about the game all week, but put off all the prep work til the day before the game.
2) Get all the other stuff done for the day, figuring that I'll work better if it's my only thing to think about.
3) Figure that an hour of tv can't hurt....
4) Spend way too much time fiddling with minutae the players might not even encounter.
5) Figure that I'm just too tired to concentrate and will get up early to finish.
6) Overlseep.
7) Rush around like mad, not getting done half of what I wanted to get done. Throw together my hasty notes and get myself to the game barely on time, and winging half the stuff I wanted to prep for.
8) Run the game. It goes fine, even if I have to make stuff up.
9) Resolve to plan better next week.
10) Repeat next week.

My 12-step programs is:
1) Think about planning for two weeks.
2) Whenever I have free time to plan, surf EnWorld instead.
3) The night before resolve to do some actual planning.
4) Watch TV or go out instead.
5) Resolve to get up early.
6) Oversleep.
7) Resolve to leave work early (we game on weeknights).
8) Work late.
9) Show up at game at my house with several players already waiting.
10) Clear off kitchen table while players talk about last game.
11) Search for game books while someone grabs the miniatures and sets up the battlemat.
12) Start gaming! Panic leads to improvisation leads to inspiration!

Works every time. Like I planned it that way.

 

[Ktulu]

It depends on whether I'm starting a new game, or if I'm running a continuing session.

New game:

1. Sit down with the players and create characters, histories, and kickers. Kickers are little hooks that the player gives me that starts the session. I.e. Bob finds his neighbor hung up in a shower, skinned. or Sara just learned that the bartender knows a guy with a big tatoo of an otter on his face. The same tattoo'd man that killed her mother.

2. Spend the next week creating a tree that connects various kickers to plot ideas I have. Create 3-5 encounters of varying difficulty.

3. Erase everything I had previously come up with, and start again.

4. The first night of the game I set everything up that I'll need, and run through a game-opener.

Continuing sessions:

1. After each game, we have a few questions that we go over. Stuff like, did you like this? What was funny, interesting, unique? I take all of that, and use it to fine tweak the next session. For example, one session dealt with a couple hazards like swimming, smoke dangers, and climbing. A player said that didn't feel very enjoyable to spend 20 minutes of rolling and failing checks repeatedly to cross a 20ft river. I now try to limit the amount of "natural" rolls made in a session.

2. The next few days I usually look at things my players missed in the last session, and what, if anything, can be tied into an over all plot. More often than not, it's my player's mistakes that create the larger story lines.

3. I spend no more than a few hours looking over encounter creatures. I do this for two reasons. One, because I know most of the statistics of any monster in the MM, and two, I really only need the CR, and general info about a creature to setup the beginnings of an encounter.

4. The day before the game, is when most work gets done. I have this day off, so I often gather books needed, print out monster stat sheets (I have a really nifty one I got from somewhere), and draw any necessary visuals out on graph paper, to be quickly transferred to the battle mat later.

5. We game.

Ktulu

 

[Oryan77]

I put on stretchy biker shorts and a muscle shirt. Then I do groin stretches infront of my full body mirror. After I'm relaxed, I roleplay my NPCs infront of the mirror yelling out all of the up-coming phrases for the next session, "You think you can steal my pantaloons and escape my fortress! HA-HA, you foolish insects, prepare to meet your doom...say hello to my little friend!"

To really get into character, I usually like to eat a can of sardines and wash it down with vinegar. You'll be amazed at how much your players believe you are the dreaded evil Lich when your breath smells like undead.

I usually make notes the night before on index cards. Things like, "remind Tom he sucks at roleplaying", and "be sure to eat most of the Randy's Doritos so I don't have to buy dinner after the game".

For fun I like to predraw the dungeon rooms on the battlemat and label things like, "Colossal Red Dragon" and "Lolth's throne" in various places. When the players see this, I act surprised and quickly erase the writing and I tell them, "Oops, pay no attention to that, I didn't mean to leave that written on there. Remember, your characters don't know RL information that you as players might know". Then I run an entire city based session and they never even go into a dungeon that game.

Finally, right before everyone shows up, I make sure to tell Mother to stay in her room until I tell her everyone has left. I mean seriously, I'm a grown man and I don't need her embarassing me when my friends are over.

 

[boredgremlin]

gotta agree with the little planning people. I read fantasy books and plot campaign ideas while i am on the shitter. But when it comes to actual planning i stat out a few monsters right before the game and just work on the fly.

I set up a timeline for campaigns with each major power group and what they are up to. That way whatever players choose to do i have a pretty good idea what the reactions should be. I have been doing this for the last few years and everyone seems to have a lot more fun, they dont feel locked into my plots and the world is well thought out enough ahead of time to feel alive around the players. 80% of my planning happens pre-campaign, before the first session even begins. After that its all figuring out how players crazy actions affect the main story timeline.

I find its a great system if you have qood memory and can quickly adapt on the fly to players ideas. I love just letting players loose in my world. I spin rumors, news stories, political intrigue and brutal non-human wars and battles. Its up to the players where they fit in and what they do. They just hear about the rest in taverns, unless of course it affects the world. Which it often does. I like setting campaigns in times of political upheaval, that way there is tons of chaos and whatever the players do affects the world, even when they choose to do nothing. This makes the players feel like movers and shakers without being rediculously high level and therefore immune to fear of body gaurds, evil goblins and the like. I allways found common heroes, ones who arent that great but try thier damndest to do what needs to be done as the most heroic of all. And everyone identifies with the underdog, its a human trait.

Let the players choose that underdog with a well thought out campaign world and they do so almost every time. I gives you a warm rosy glow when players actually pass up easy riches or power to do the right thing because your campaign story is well thought out enough to entice them to do good.

 

[JoeGKushner]

1. Reread whatever I'm running to verify I understand it correctly.

2. Check the maps to make sure that the maps and the material line up correctly.

3. Bookmark any important stats, alternative rules, etc... that I'll be using.

4. check miniatures to see if I have what's needed or not.

5. Time permitting, buy some miniatures and paint according to taste. (For example, in Shackled City, I've just went out and bought some hobgoblins and goblins.)

6. Make adjustments, apply templates, change treasures, etc...