Little or No prep before a game....am I a bad DM?

[dagger]

Rarely do I prep before a game, but the other DM in the group preps all week for his game.

I lose focus when it comes to doing prep work and never get any done, don’t know why.

I’ve read in many places and in many posts how it is important for a DM to prep. What are your views on pre game prep and do you prep all that much?

I use to play 1st edition with a guy who did not prep at all and I remember those adventures the best. Also though, the guy opened ZERO books and took ZERO notes during the whole session. I never will know how he did it; he wasn’t an average DM though and could keep it consistent week after week.

I have come to the point in realizing that I will never be good at prep work. So I have decided that it would be good to not worry about this and just try to improve my DM skills in other ways. I do worry though that my DM skills might be suffering because of it.

 

[Crothian]

AS long as everyone has fun, DM prep work and style are irrelevant. I know people who prep for hours, and some that wing everything. Neither is better, DM to your strengths.

 

[NemesisPress]

Prepping has a downside too - it forces your players to follow a specific path.

I ran a campaign for a year using only the Isle of Dread module as a basis. The only prep I did was a few minutes of thinking about advancing the overall plot in light of what had happened the week before. It gave the players much more freedom of action and was actually much more creative for me.

 

[Terwox]

Well.. you could always try prepping -- really give it a shot... and see if you enjoy the gaming more or not.
Prepping isn't always good, it can lead to you railroading players, etcetc.
One thing I will suggest if you don't prep is to have a list of random names for NPCs, a quick description chart you can consult, and perhaps a fast encounter generator -- w/ some effort, npc stat generators can easily flow into your stories. You can mess with them all you want, I usually change a few feats, grant/axe a few spells, etc, depending on what I'm doing.

But, give prepping a shot. Don't say anything, but see how your players respond to your dm'ing afterwords. Or just be upfront. Whichever fits your situation better.

 

[SableWyvern]

How much prep work you do is irrelevant, unless placed into context.

Do your sessions flow smoothly?

Most importantly, does everyone (yourself included) enjoy themselves?

If you have in-game problems, lack of prep work may be a contributing factor. If you don't, it obviously isn't a problem.



In 15 years, playing mainly with the same group, one session stands out to all the participants as by far the best I have ever GMed.

My prep work for that session took all of 5 minutes, just before the game started, and consisted of about 15 words arranged into 3 or 4 sentences, as well as a hurriedly scetched map about 2" in diamter, with next to no detail.

From that, I ran a session lasting about 12 hours and which was the best RPing experience anyone there, myself included, has experienced to date.

Lack of prep work does not preclude good gaming any more than its presence guarantees quality.

 

[Numion]

I'm a lazy DM, and prepare accordingly. I just make up a few statblocks, one map and some ideas on a paper, and then wing it from there.

Maybe I need a break from GMing.

 

[arwink]

I alternate between doing a lot of prep and just winging it, depending on where we are in an adventure and how much work I feel needs to be done. I rarely use site based adventures though, so there's a certain amount of winging it required at the best of times.

I will, however, usually do a large chunk of prep work every two to three character levels. This is mostly working out the stats for a whole heap of significant NPC's I expect the players to run into for the next month or so, generic minion stats, some locations i'd like them to visit, and a number of random encounters and plot hooks I can throw in when I think the games necessary or the PC's are getting lost.

This usually gets me through about a month and a half of gaming where I'll do, at most, a quick refresher of the material.

 

[Harlock]

I am pretty prepared most times, but am not opposed to winging it. Sometimes inspiration just strikes. And, sometimes players just don't care to nibble every hook you throw at them. I prepare with the expectation that all of my work may be for nothing if the players don't want to go along with my plans or they simply don't seem to be enjoying themselves. Not preparing doesn't make you a bad DM, or even unique or different. Just means you have another style. Keep the players and yourself happy. Best advice a DM can get in my book.

 

[drowdude]

I always intend to do alot of prep... but rarely does it ever get done. I usually just manage to get a few notes down, and some stat blocks for NPCs I really cant afford to short-change.

Other than that I wing it all the way.

 

[Zappo]

I ran a campaign for a year using only the Isle of Dread module as a basis.

Weird! I did the same too (years and years ago, and only for six months)! That module lends itself well to extensive use.