More fun to plan or play?

[Christian Walker]

Sometimes it's just more fun to prepare for a session than to actually play. A GM labors over the plot, setting, back-story, meta-story, and every kind of story in between, only to have the PCs muck it all up. The characters either tear though everything in their path like wolverines on PCP, or the players sit in their chairs, as if catatonic, unwilling to role-play or nibble at the hooks. I'm not saying that every session is a nightmare of let down and "morning after" regret (how on earth did this ugly person get into my bed and why is that llama wearing my pants?), but sometimes...I wonder if it's more fun to imagine how a scenario "might be" than to see what happens when the PCs sink their lil' fangs into it.

 

[Ashrum the Black]

Hmmm. Interesting question. I've been DMing on and off for the last .....counts on fingers and toes..... something like 15 years. I've had sessions that went the way you're talking about. Lots of really "cool" little bits and pieces all over andf then the PC's treat my wonderful bit of story telling like a Hack and Slash dungeon crawl and totally mis read everything.

But in the last few years I think I've finally started to get "it". "It" being that magical little bit that says "hey, the characters don't have to get my story, as long as we HAVE a story." Let me expound a little on this. I've had dwarf in my campaign that the characters hate with an utmost passion. This little guy has never been fought in combat, and only been talked to three times. But he is the focal point of all their ire. He never started out this way. He was only supposed to be a bit player. But as the characters went off the deep end over his "betrayal". He grew. The players made their nemesis, not me. They've be looking to get him and working torwads it for some time. (Grin) This Friday they may just come to regret all their hard work.

I've shifted my focus from trying to have all these wonderful little points and NPC's for them to discover. To discovering them with the players and then fleshing them out and making them mine later. This way we all get to have fun creating the world around us.

Come to think of it, the most fun I've had is when the antagonist from the last two adventures started flirting with one of the PC's(long storu), another of the Pc's who was sweet on the first PC had a big case of the green eyed moster . No mosters killed there, but lots of fun. This wasn't somthing I so much planned to do so much as a thought that it could be cool and I left it in the back of my mind and let it simmer. When the time was right I brought it out. If the time had never been right I wouldn't have. So by letting things flow together a little more naturally instead of trying to hold the players to my expectations of how they should operate, I was able to get around that road block to my having as much fun as I should when I DM.

End rambling transmission.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Salutations,

It is definitly more fun to play through the scenario.

I don't actually care for dm'ng, but I am the most willing and capable.

The planning is just time consuming.

If it was not for the fun of running the adventure, then I would not do it all.

FD

 

[Numion]

I like to spend time stealing ideas from EN World and other places, but actual adventure writing I don't like. Usually I just write a couple of stat-blocks and 'scenes' for the evenings play, and wing most of it. I also like to have a map ready, but usually don't bother writing complete descriptions.

I favor playing vs. planning, to put it short.

 

[Schmoe]

It's the most fun to play through something I've planned and see how the play deviates from my expectations.

When I plan a session, I create likely scenarios, and I obviously draw further scenarios from expectations about how the players will react. But the real fun comes when I find out just how they react and where they go. After all, if I just wanted to make everything up, I'd just write a story and give it to them to read. That's what NPC backgrounds and campaign history are for, writing stories.

 

[Uller]

I think the most fun is when the players come up with cool ways to solve the challenges I place before them in ways that I didn't expect.

I enjoy planning for a session, but I've learned two very important things about DMing over the years:

1) Don't get some grand idea in your head about how the game _should_ go. Just set up the obstacles and let the PCs figure out how to get around them.

2) 4 or 5 heads are better than one. Assuming you have a typically sized group and assuming they take an active interest in your game, they will be much more familiar with their characters than you and by working together, they will come up with ways to beat your NPCs that you never even considered. This is a good thing. Don't resist it. Encourage it. If you put something in their way that you hoped they'd have a real challenge facing and they come up with some easy way to get through or around it that is reasonable, give them a good chance of succeeding and let them know what would have happened had they just blindly followed the path you laid before them.

 

[Desdichado]

The solution is: don't plan the plot. That's your first assumption on your list, and IMO, it's a mistake. Plan NPCs, a few scenarios you can throw the PCs in and see what they do and where they go. That's what's fun about D&D, not planning your epic story.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

The solution is: don't plan the plot. That's your first assumption on your list, and IMO, it's a mistake. Plan NPCs, a few scenarios you can throw the PCs in and see what they do and where they go. That's what's fun about D&D, not planning your epic story.

If you have players who take initiative and are willing to push the adventure.

Not every dm is so blessed.

heh.

FD

 

[bwgwl]

i find worldbuilding and plotting much more enjoyable than "game day management."

i have happily spent months worldbuilding without even knowing if i'd ever get the chance to play the world in an actual campaign. it's just a hobby.

the only reason why i DM at all is to finally make use of all the stuff i've invented. i really enjoy playing more than DMing.

 

[Nightfall]

I admit, I have an overall IDEA of what I'd like to happen, but usually I try to keep it flexible enough so that people don't feel that contrived and/or mess me up.