Hi PJ,
Two weekends ago, I DMed for the first time in about a year. It involved a lot of preparation but this is pretty much how it went.
- I have had the Banewarrens module since it came out. I've read it cover to cover several times during this period. While most adventures don't need this sort of attention, The Banewarrens is slightly different I feel.
- Plan out what you think would be the most you could get through in a game session. This will normally be twice as much as what you actually do get through but all to the good.
- By planning out, I did the following:
* Wrote all NPCs onto initiative cards using the new DMGII format. This took some work but I had to update the module to 3.5 rules anyway. Some NPC's had interesting abilities so I made sure I wrote some quick notes on these cards too. I highlighted certain things I did not want to forget that I thought might come into play.
* I then split everything up into sections, photocopying the module notes and organising and putting into three separate folders. I organised everything into three sections - as per the module. It begins (the initial combat and aftermath), The meandering passage (including the manor house) as well as the outer vaults.
* We use miniatures (several of our group have extensive collections although Eddie with over 2500 of the D&D miniatures deserves special mention - go Eddie
). I went over to his place and got miniatures for all the NPC's and organised them into boxes as per the above three sections.
* I then printed onto card the maps room by room, section by section using adobe illustrator. This saved so much time on the game day and rapidly increased the flow. Because of this, I almost got through everything I had planned. Being able to place these pieces on the battlemap and thus be able to focus on the game rather than drawing the map correctly helped keep my attention where it should be.
* I did a lot of pre-rolling for certain skill checks. I did knowledge checks for everything I could imagine characters asking about. I then wrote this down in word and boxed them, ready to be handed out where appropriate. I also pre-rolled all search and disable device checks given a standard check. In terms of reduced metagaming and encouraging party interaction, this was excellent. Normally, filling in people with such information is tedious and you can easily forget certain information when doing it on the run. Again, it allowed me to focus on what I needed to - the actual game and responding to what everyone was doing.
* The initiative cards for combat were excellent. By having all the information on the cards, I could move around and not stay glued behind the DM screen to my other notes. Knowing how certain NPC's would think allowed me to make realistic decisions for them. The pre-written notes on these initiative cards also helped. I did the same thing for the players (they each had an intiative card too). I simply asked them to roll initiative and write it in the box provided. I pre-rolled the NPC's initiative and had the cards already in order so I could just slot the PC's initiative cards in.
* With particular NPC's that they were interacting with, I had several key questions and statements for each. I did not read these out, but having them there allowed me to make sure I covered these points when roleplaying them.
And this is pretty much how I did it. I also have one of the players who likes to keep a character log - bonus xp
. Comparing the log to my notes is fascinating stuff.
I've thought of doing another Story Hour that oscillates between my normal prose and the actual DM notes that I made. You may find it interesting if I eventually get around to doing it. However, my focus has been on my other story hour which I'm trying my hardest to update first. It takes a lot of creative energy though. Too many things to do, not enough time.
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise
