Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Isida Kep'Tukari" data-source="post: 6238505" data-attributes="member: 4441">Full disclosure, right now I'm running D&D 3.5, Forgotten Realms.I actually don't do that much prep for games.  The game I'm running now is city-based, and we've had multiple sessions played where either dice were not rolled, or only rolled for a skill check or two.  The only thing I really need is names for any NPCs that might come up, and usually I don't do even that.  I come up with them on the fly and write them down as I go.  The play is very character-driven, so where they might go in any given session can be extremely valuable.  When combat might be impending, I do a quick flip through one of my monster books, find something appropriate, and wait for the players to get to the monster/drop it in at an appropriate moment.I do a lot of "seat of the pants" DMing.  I frequently integrate ideas and off-hand comments of my players into whatever is going on.  I set up battlefields based on a vague mental map and the first handful of mostly-appropriate terrain tiles that come out of my (admittedly disorganized) bag.  I frequently run battles without minis or maps if they're small encounters, because if it takes more time to set up than it takes my players to defeat, it's not worth it.  A lot of this stems from college, when I absolute didn't have time to prep, so it was either DM by the seat of my pants... or not at all.A certain amount of this "low prep" has to do with the few times I have done elaborate prep (set up traps, made special monsters, etc.), it's mostly been in vain.  The players find the trap, they defeat the special monsters before it has a chance to use more than one of its special abilities, and basically make the prep-to-utility ratio very bad.  Rolling with the punches I find to be a more rewarding and fun gaming experience for both me and my group.At most, I might want a list of possible NPC names, tavern names, a short list of appropriate CR monsters, and maybe I'll print out a page or three from a treasure generator.  Add that to the notes from my previous session, and I'm good to go.</blockquote>

Verification