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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 5550388" data-attributes="member: 8835">My methodology shifts, depending on if it's the first adventure, a continuation adventure, or instigating new adventure.In any case, I plan for about 4-6 hours of gaming.  That way, if what I have isn't working or is "too railroady" I'm not over committed and can adapt the next session to closer to what the party wants to do.For a first adventure, I look at what I have for a party, their motivations, and any known goals.  Oft times, the players don't have a feel for their PCs and goals anyway, so I try to setup a situation that brings the party together against a common short term problem.  I might start them all in the same town festival when trouble strikes (thus giving them a pre-combat chance to RP, then a sudden threat and shared goal to not die).  If I'm clever, I'll make sure the source of the threat has enough interesting threads that the players will likely want to investigate or pursue.  Thus giving me meat for more encounters to plan on as they try to solve the bigger problem (because most players don't get don't fending off an attack, and then go back to eating).For subsequent adventures, if there's business to be continued, namely the PCs are in the middle of pursuing a goal, I write up the material I'd need to cover avenues they're likely to explore in pursuit of that goal.At the end of each game, I find out what the PCs want to do next, their plan of attack.  if their plan is to head south on horse, then I'll be writing material to support a trip south and the destination.If the PCs have mostly wrapped things up (no big urgent goal because they beat the BBEG), I'll likely have some time elapse, and the game intro will mention how time went buy, and the PCs are doing well, until word of a new problem arises, or a new opportunity.  This usually spurs them to action, and the elapsed time isn't meant to screw their PC.For writing supporting material.  I look at the places I'll need (goblin cave, bad guy forest base), and draw them up or generate them randomly with online tools.  I'll usually use stock monsters or randomly generated NPCs (roll me up a level 5 human fighter).If I need clues or information to get the PCs there, I'll plan those out, as well as any instigating encounters to hook the PCs into the material (you can't seek out the man who killed your father if nobody's heard of him, and you don't encounter anybody who has info or was sent by him to silence you).without stat blocks or maps, my adventure notes are 1-3 pages long.</blockquote>

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