How long do you spend preparing a game?

[StreamOfTheSky]

I voted for 6, but it heavily varies. For a "good" session, the prep work can easily go 8+ hours, especially if I'm statting out NPCs. I can handle the basics pretty fast (I'm actually scared at how I can look at the class and on the spot think up ballpark ability score figures that seem good and have it match the game's point buy), but I'm a total powergamer as a player, and I can't help but twink the out of my NPCs in a similar manner.

That said, I also do a lot of "no prep" or as I call them, bs sessions. Those I spend 0-1 hour on, pull out interesting-looking monsters from the manual with no major moderations, and secretly map out the dungeon layout as I tell the PCs which ways they can go. Shockingly, no matter which routes they pick, they'll encounter the same exact things, and the on-the-spot mapping is mostly just to make sure i don't write myself into a circle and let them catch on that I'm making it up as I go along.

 

[Abraxas]

We are playing 3.5 w/ pathfinder beta thrown in and the PCs are up to 19th level now. I find I spend 3-4 hours for a 5-6 hour session. At PC levels 10 - 15, I probably spent 2 - 3 hours for a session and below PC level 10, 1 - 2 hours with the exception of the first session or two of the campaign start where I usually spend a weekend or two laying things out and talking with the players about creating characters.

 

[Hussar]

My 3.5 prep time is about 1:1, give or take.

There's a reason I'm finally moving out of 3.5.

 

[Mythmere1]

About a half hour to 45 minutes, although I didn't count noodling time - that's time spent with pencil and paper.

Maybe another 15 minutes afterwards taking notes; my prep time is low because I do a lot of ad libbing. When you do a lot of ad libbing you need to take notes afterwards to remind yourself of what you made up on the fly.

This is with Swords & Wizardry (0e). With 3.5 it was about 2-3 hours for a 4 hour session (I found I couldn't DM 3e on the fly, so prep time was almost triple). Haven't ever DMed 4e. 1e ran maybe 1-2 hours.

 

[EricNoah]

I still noodle over plot in the shower and while falling asleep, but I'm not sure that counts as actual prep.

See, I do count that as actual prep as this is the part that gives me the biggest headache. I can crank out stat blocks like nobody's business (and I find that part fun and enjoyable, particularly tweaking monsters and adding spells and feats from non-core sources), and if that's all it were it would be maybe 1 hour of prep for 4 hours of play. Everybody's got different strengths, and my weakness is amongst my weaknesses are such diverse elements as fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and almost fanatical dedication to the Pope a) getting the PCs to the party in an organic way, b) getting the PCs to care about the mission/quest or even getting them to realize what the mission/quest is, c) crafting NPC motivations and personalities, d) patching over plot holes (why doesn't the BBEG do obvious things like x, Y or Z). So this is the sort of thing that I spend the majority of my prep time on.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

My reply (five to six hours) includes general background work, amortized over the length of the campaign. It's definitely shorter for week-to-week prep. I run Pathfinder, BTW.

BTW, I think the poll idea is interesting, but I think it would have been more useful if the options were expressed as ratios, prep time : session time.

 

[catsclaw227]

I chose 3-4 hours, but that's a mix of making things pretty, understanding the campaign arc and planning the individual session.

I like nice battlemaps and I also like to compile my information into OneNote, even if that's just a screen grab from the Compendium.

I am running Scales of War, so I like to be about 1-2 modules in front of the players, yet still quite familiar with the existing module, especially the upcoming encounters.

 

[drothgery]

I chose 1-2 hours, but that's really based on the one time I was running a tabletop game (that normally ran 3-4 hours a session) instead of a PBP game, and was counting the time I was actively planning (picking out monsters, setting up scenarios, writing NPC dialogue) not when I was randomly thinking about what to do.

 

[Qwillion]

Instant campaign builder.

I spend little to no time except a number of extra hours before I launch a campaign because I use the:

INSTANT CAMPAIGN BUILDER

I would have paid a good amount for the advice in this book, and its a free pdf!

thanks dungeonmastering.com

 

[AllisterH]

Interesting question...

It really depends though on how many encounters (be it a combat encounter or a social encounter or even a simple exploration challenge) that I think the party might go through during the game night.

It also depends heavily on the level.

4e for example, at levels 1-5, if I'm taking more than 5 minutes for a combat encounter I'm doing something really funky. On the other hand, a non-combat encounter at levels 25-30 where PCs get rituals, magic items and more powers? Definitely more than 15 minutes as I try to factor in what the PCs can do

This of course doesn't factor general world building time which strikes me whenever I get inpired.