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Message: <blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 6045416" data-attributes="member: 3192">1st session is campaign discussion and character creation, but I like to bring a starter campaign sort of in my back pocket as default if the players just want to quick jump in and start gaming. If no gaming happens this session, then I do campaign creation for the first campaign session. That is a bit more I think than any other prep at any other time, but not as much as one might think. A lot of it has to do with having game modules on hand that can be altered to the player's design preferences as given and are what I'd call Campaign Starter modules. The creation process works from a ground up process with the sort of top down preferences preset by the players. I generate the world until I have enough for play for the length of the next session, probably 4-6 hours, and take care of any details afterwards. By details I mean illustrations, handouts, sound bits, models to show, and so on. Plus I want to have the layout of the room and my DM's station fine tuned for quick play on my part. I find this is best learned through play, but I do at least one practice run of the players PCs through the starting adventure to playtest and shake the rust off my game running skills, if necessary.After a normal session, basically the first actual play session and every thereafter, I go through a number of steps to prep for the next. 1. The first step is to go through my session notes and clean them up trying hard to remember anything I might have missed. I don't mind contacting players for this, but I try not to have to. Truly, the best time to do this is immediately after a game session. It is very important and my memory certainly deteriorates quickly, so I find it best.2. The next step is to integrate all changes into the the current campaign design. This includes any new elements the players added, so those are set up like the original campaign designing I do above, but for areas not already determined of course. Any time I need more material that isn't brought up by players I just use adventure modules I've already converted to the system, but haven't yet integrated. More on that later.3. The biggest thing and probably the most fun prep I do is generating the next session's Scenario. This is basically playing the game timeline forward and rewriting the calendar map of the campaign notes for future play. This results in all kinds of play content I wouldn't have imagined on my own, but come about because of the game system I'm using. 4. Next is playtesting just like before. I run the players PCs through the created scenario looking for any design flaws just like any editor. It's not just rules mistakes, but also missing integrations I forgot to add. I also look at what challenges the players are most likely to face and try and think for myself of at least a number of options I could think of if I were in there place, you know, knowing only what they do from the game that was explored so far.5. Last is simply pre-game time prepping. I reread my notes, go over any details I wanted myself to remember, set up the table and the room to be focused on gaming, get myself awake and ready to go, and so on. Basically I want to be awake, well fed, mentally flexible, and just ready to go wherever the players lead me.What's not on that list are a few of things I do that aren't related to DMing a particular campaign, but part of staying a good DM.1. I look at the rules I'm using and keep abreast of any other new innovations in gaming to make sure I'm using the best rules I know of for the game. This changes depending upon the game, but no one expects a DM to run every kind of game imaginable on a moment's notice either.2. I read and convert modules and campaign setting material, a good bit from the players, but mostly from published sources that work within the system I'm running.3. This doesn't have to be done, but I like to write my own setting and module material as well. Of course, this I design within the rubric of my game system, so I don't have to convert it. However, I do try and playtest these quite a bit more than the ones I convert from commercial or fan-created sources - if only to take pride in my own work here. Not that I don't have well designed conversions. I probably just spend more time on my own because I want them to not be lacking when compared to the great adventure books I didn't write.</blockquote>

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