D&D General To Prep or Not to Prep - A Players Perspective

[schneeland]

If we're talking D&D - or any other game, where the world is mostly controlled by the GM -, then I'll go with what Charlaquin said: I want the impression of a consistent world, at least on a surface level (I'm fine if things get a little blurry when you really dig deep, because we all have jobs and other things to do and the GM is not a computer), but how the GM arrives there is not that important to me.
I tend to say at least a minimum level of prep is required for that and extensive detail hurts more than it helps, but this might just be my personal preference for GMing.

 

[kigmatzomat]

If all you have are motivations for NPCs and No forward planned activity do they simply react to what the PCs do? How do you give the PCs things to react to without prepping that in advance?

Depends on the scenario. Is it a Romeo & Juliet? Then the only thing I know will happen is there is a ball, the kids meet & fall in love, and everyone else is gonna get mondo upset. The Capulets want Juliet married & the Montagues to burn; the Montagues want the Capulets to suck it but dont want Romeo killed in the fighting; the Prince wants the fighting to stop.

How do determine NPCs stats for opposed rolls or their capabilities in RP situations if all you have is a name, race and faction? Are they made up when the action is called for?

Resources. I generally use a gp/CR notation (using 3e group cr calcs). The Montagues and Capulets each have around 10,000gp in coin/credit, plus a total CR15 (max cr7). The Prince only has 2,000gp but has CR30 (max cr4). Juliet has 100gp in jewelry and CR1 servants, Romeo has 300gp and CR2 servants.

Most intrigue doesn't need a full combat block, and CR dictates proficiency bonus.

 

[TwoSix]

If I spend at least a solid twenty minutes thinking about the session on the drive over to play, is that extensive?

 

[Oofta]

If all you have are motivations for NPCs and No forward planned activity do they simply react to what the PCs do? How do you give the PCs things to react to without prepping that in advance?

How do determine NPCs stats for opposed rolls or their capabilities in RP situations if all you have is a name, race and faction? Are they made up when the action is called for?

What else do you need other than to understand what drives and motivates an NPC? I can't possibly anticipate every action or question of the players, so I know roughly what important NPCs know, what they want to accomplish and why. But then we go to the higher level of abstraction. I'll map out factions and organizations that pretty much everyone falls into, with the occasional conflicted NPC thrown in.

Let's say I have sessions occurring in Bleak City. I know the majority of town guards are corrupt and are looking to get ahead any way they can as long as they don't cross some important mob bosses. There are a handful of guards that want to clean things up. That's just part of my notes outlining the city, not something I did for a specific session. When the the players decide to talk to a town guard, something I hadn't anticipated, I know in general how they'll react. If I'm uncertain if this is one of the honest guards or not (I may just decide one way or another for purposes of driving the story forward) I'll roll for it. Then I'll quickly pick a name from my list o' names. Thus Isla, the female guard and one of the few honest guards, potentially becomes an important NPC and contact for the group. I'll make a note after the session and add a little bio for Isla, possibly fleshing her out a bit.

As far as stats, I'll just make that up on the spot based on the role of the NPC. I don't see why making those decisions before the game or on the fly really matter. I made up Isla on the spot. While I plan out encounter blocks ahead of time (and typically have 2-3 extra with things that would be appropriate) I don't put much into those encounter blocks other than what monsters there are and how many to hit a certain difficulty level. If they go off on a tangent I had never anticipated I'll just grab one of the encounter blocks that's close, possibly changing fluff and descriptions on the fly.

Do my general outline for the city and encounter blocks qualify as "salient" details? Heck if I know.

 

[TwoSix]

To my mind, the consistency that matters is keeping what I define mechanically as faithful to what I’m describing narratively. Whether this NPC has a 12 Dex and 13 AC because I picked those values now or I wrote them in my notebook yesterday is immaterial.

I don’t pick mechanical values out of a hat, or because I’m happy or annoyed with a player, or because I want to challenge them or take it on easy on them. They’re always created on the spot as a mechanical extrapolation of the setting fiction that is in play.

 

[cranberry]

I don't need extensive detail. However, the GM should have all of the relevant mechanics available if they intend for the PCs to go in a certain direction.

For example, two sessions ago, our GM said he expected us to travel by land to get to our next destination, but he didn't have any ideas how long it would take (in game) to do so. So he spent 1.5 hours of the game session determining the price of horses and figuring out how fast horses travel.

(Of course having rules lawyers in the group constantly talking in his ear and questioning his decisions didn't help)

Nonetheless, he should have had that info ready to go (since he expected us to travel by land)

 

[TheSword]

Depends on the scenario. Is it a Romeo & Juliet? Then the only thing I know will happen is there is a ball, the kids meet & fall in love, and everyone else is gonna get mondo upset. The Capulets want Juliet married & the Montagues to burn; the Montagues want the Capulets to suck it but dont want Romeo killed in the fighting; the Prince wants the fighting to stop.

I think you’re missing a lot of the inciting events that occur in that story. The original fight that begins the conflict, Paris’s proposal to Juliet, Tybalt slaying Mercutio. These are not reactions to player choices they are all events that the protagonists react to. I just don’t see how you can just wing these inciting events without giving them some thought in advance.

Resources. I generally use a gp/CR notation (using 3e group cr calcs). The Montagues and Capulets each have around 10,000gp in coin/credit, plus a total CR15 (max cr7). The Prince only has 2,000gp but has CR30 (max cr4). Juliet has 100gp in jewelry and CR1 servants, Romeo has 300gp and CR2 servants.

Most intrigue doesn't need a full combat block, and CR dictates proficiency bonus.

Ok but different creatures, classes etc have wildly different abilities (not to mention spells in 5e). And a creature’s ability to resist a PCs ability will vary wildly. I don’t see how you can determine that from a CR. So you’re either making it up as the party raises the action or you’re defaulting to a base figure. Do you not have NPC with interesting and unusual traits and abilities?

What else do you need other than to understand what drives and motivates an NPC? I can't possibly anticipate every action or question of the players, so I know roughly what important NPCs know, what they want to accomplish and why. But then we go to the higher level of abstraction. I'll map out factions and organizations that pretty much everyone falls into, with the occasional conflicted NPC thrown in.

You need at least a rudimentary stat block to inform their likelihood of resisting or succeeding. Unless you’re free-wheeling evening. I get the motivation and contacts bit - though this is more prep than a lot of modules go into - but what about everything else.

Let's say I have sessions occurring in Bleak City. I know the majority of town guards are corrupt and are looking to get ahead any way they can as long as they don't cross some important mob bosses. There are a handful of guards that want to clean things up. That's just part of my notes outlining the city, not something I did for a specific session. When the the players decide to talk to a town guard, something I hadn't anticipated, I know in general how they'll react. If I'm uncertain if this is one of the honest guards or not (I may just decide one way or another for purposes of driving the story forward) I'll roll for it. Then I'll quickly pick a name from my list o' names. Thus Isla, the female guard and one of the few honest guards, potentially becomes an important NPC and contact for the group. I'll make a note after the session and add a little bio for Isla, possibly fleshing her out a bit.

As far as stats, I'll just make that up on the spot based on the role of the NPC. I don't see why making those decisions before the game or on the fly really matter. I made up Isla on the spot. While I plan out encounter blocks ahead of time (and typically have 2-3 extra with things that would be appropriate) I don't put much into those encounter blocks other than what monsters there are and how many to hit a certain difficulty level. If they go off on a tangent I had never anticipated I'll just grab one of the encounter blocks that's close, possibly changing fluff and descriptions on the fly.

That’s the bit I like less as a player

Do my general outline for the city and encounter blocks qualify as "salient" details? Heck if I know.

Yes in regards to that, not in regards to stat block.

 

[LordEntrails]

Other, because everything @Charlaquin said.
I don't care how much they prep, but when I ask a question I want detail. Even if it's made up on the spot. I don't care, nor do I see a reason why I should, how much predefined info the GM has developed. As long as what they tell me on the spot is consistent with the future, all is good.

 

[el-remmen]

I've been thinking more about this and I think (as someone who is forever DM) that the level of detail I develop has a lot to do with the players' degree of engagement in collaboration. Just by knowing the kinds of questions my players tend to ask about people and places and events I can decide how much detail I need and how much I can improvise.

As a player, I love to learn about "the facts" of an adventure, person, or place - but I also love to suggest possibilities through questions and actions - esp. when they are couched in our understanding of the setting. I am not gonna ask about magic shops in a lower magic setting, for example.

But sometimes players suggest things I had not planned for that just make sense. I had a player who wanted to visit a psychic or clairvoyant in town - "Who reads people's palms and tea leaves? Every town or village usually has at least one person like that." And well, while I had not considered or detailed that, I improvised one, because whether legit, a conman, or just a misguided person, yes someone like that is usually found in most towns.

 

[FrozenNorth]

Depends on the DM.

For a DM that is flexible and open to player suggestions, I prefer minimal prep. It actively encourages flexibility and responsiveness to player suggestions.

If I know the DM has trouble (or doesn’t like) incorporating player suggestions, then a salient level of prep can help provide some depth to their world.