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Is the DM the most important person at the table
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<blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 7926465" data-attributes="member: 6785785"><p>I can offer a bit of an example for this, I think. I’ve just prepped for my 5E game tomorrow night. This is an ongoing campaign, the PCs are level 13, and the setting is the greater D&D multiverse. In this case, they’re in the City of Sigil, and specifically headed toward an asylum called Harbinger House, which is in the Lower Ward of the city. The reason they’re going there is that they are looking for people who have information they need, and one of those people, they’ve learned, is in the asylum. We left off our last session with them arriving at Harbinger House.</p><p></p><p>So my prep for this coming session consists of a handful of bullet points. I’ve listed a few relevant NPCs- a short blurb on how they behave and how they appear. I’ll embellish these during play. A couple need stat blocks, so I’ve made note of which ones to use and page numbers. Indexing the stat blocks was probably the most time intensive element of my prep. </p><p></p><p>I’ve made a short list of details about the location itself....the look and feel of the place, and different rooms or subsections. I haven’t mapled it out in detail. There’s also an important artifact that keeps those within the asylum from running rampant, so I’ve noted that here. </p><p></p><p>There’s a situation going on there that I’ve thought up, and I’ve created a list if clues to mention that help indicate to the PCs that something’s not right here. </p><p></p><p>Finally, I’ve bullet pointed the situation currently going on in Harbinger House. Just what’s going on, why, what it means, and how to stop it. </p><p></p><p>Most of what I expect to go on in the session is in my head. What I’ve written down is essentially 4 lists of bullet points, each with a header. It all fits on one page. I’ve probably spent about a twenty minutes to a half hour typing it all out and organizing my thoughts. </p><p></p><p>My lists help me present everything. Exactly what the PCs will do and how things will go during play is entirely up to them. There’s no one way for them to engage this scenario. Anything that comes up in play that’s not in my notes will either be something I can make up on the spot (what are the doors made of? Iron!) or that I can base on the results of a check (what do I hear down the corridor? Make a Perception check!) </p><p></p><p>I expect that Harbinger House will take up the bulk, if not all, of our session. If it doesn’t, then I have a very loose idea of what may happen next, but that will largely depend on what the players do. If they come up with some clever way to navigate the danger of Harbinger House and get the information they need quickly, then that’s awesome! I’ll wing it based on what they’ve done. I’ll feel less like my prep is wasted if I don’t spend tons of time on it. </p><p></p><p>I’m sure the above may be quite different from what [USER=16814]@Ovinomancer[/USER] has in mind. But different things work for different folks, and that’s good.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="hawkeyefan, post: 7926465, member: 6785785"] I can offer a bit of an example for this, I think. I’ve just prepped for my 5E game tomorrow night. This is an ongoing campaign, the PCs are level 13, and the setting is the greater D&D multiverse. In this case, they’re in the City of Sigil, and specifically headed toward an asylum called Harbinger House, which is in the Lower Ward of the city. The reason they’re going there is that they are looking for people who have information they need, and one of those people, they’ve learned, is in the asylum. We left off our last session with them arriving at Harbinger House. So my prep for this coming session consists of a handful of bullet points. I’ve listed a few relevant NPCs- a short blurb on how they behave and how they appear. I’ll embellish these during play. A couple need stat blocks, so I’ve made note of which ones to use and page numbers. Indexing the stat blocks was probably the most time intensive element of my prep. I’ve made a short list of details about the location itself....the look and feel of the place, and different rooms or subsections. I haven’t mapled it out in detail. There’s also an important artifact that keeps those within the asylum from running rampant, so I’ve noted that here. There’s a situation going on there that I’ve thought up, and I’ve created a list if clues to mention that help indicate to the PCs that something’s not right here. Finally, I’ve bullet pointed the situation currently going on in Harbinger House. Just what’s going on, why, what it means, and how to stop it. Most of what I expect to go on in the session is in my head. What I’ve written down is essentially 4 lists of bullet points, each with a header. It all fits on one page. I’ve probably spent about a twenty minutes to a half hour typing it all out and organizing my thoughts. My lists help me present everything. Exactly what the PCs will do and how things will go during play is entirely up to them. There’s no one way for them to engage this scenario. Anything that comes up in play that’s not in my notes will either be something I can make up on the spot (what are the doors made of? Iron!) or that I can base on the results of a check (what do I hear down the corridor? Make a Perception check!) I expect that Harbinger House will take up the bulk, if not all, of our session. If it doesn’t, then I have a very loose idea of what may happen next, but that will largely depend on what the players do. If they come up with some clever way to navigate the danger of Harbinger House and get the information they need quickly, then that’s awesome! I’ll wing it based on what they’ve done. I’ll feel less like my prep is wasted if I don’t spend tons of time on it. I’m sure the above may be quite different from what [USER=16814]@Ovinomancer[/USER] has in mind. But different things work for different folks, and that’s good. [/QUOTE]
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