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

[kigmatzomat]

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.

No one knows whats going to happen when the players are present. Did the players stop the fights? Maybe they kill Tybalt themselves. Or Paris. Or Romeo.

Are the players here because one of them is Paris and had no idea anyone was planning on marrying him off? Is there a player who likes the idea of marrying into a wealthy family?

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?

I use as much CR as I feel in the moment until I exhaust the budget. Kind of like how A5e uses resources.

Is Tybalt a fighter? Rogue? Bard? Warlock of Bast? Depends on what I think at the moment. He can't be more than 7th level Though.

You need at least a rudimentary stat block to inform their likelihood of resisting or succeeding.

Not really. Cr sets proficiency bonus. So if I spent CR 5+ I get PB +3, less gets pb +2. Take the generic guard or whatever statblocks in MM and boost as needed.

I get the motivation and contacts bit - though this is more prep than a lot of modules go into - but what about everything else.

This fits on one page. Haven't seen many 1 page modules. Now, by the end it will be a couple of pages as I track NPCs and make game notes on what happened.

Whatever else I need I can do on the fly. If I can't wing a rational floorplan for a manor house, I should give away my GM screen. This assumes I don't have access to a library of premade maps and floorplans. I mean there's a thread on enworld with like 700 maps, some are entire cities.

 

[zakael19]

You know what's fun? Prepping with the players. Then you get to work together to figure out what NPCs actually matter and why, how they fit into the play space, what their key characteristics are, and have something actionable to pressure.

So often as a player I've seen GMs either bemoan later "I prepped all this stuff and you never did it" or "ooop, haven't gotten around to jotting stuff down for there, lets end the session here ok?" The most remarkable sessions I've sat in on or played through were ones where the GM was doing 0 prep at all - just flowing "story now" fashion by providing obstacles and narrative moments. (thanks @Manbearcat ).

So for me, the less prep the DM feels the need to do the better; because that means they're likely relying on system mechanics to logically generate next steps with minimal friction.

 

[Oofta]

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.

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?

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.


That’s the bit I like less as a player

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

Do I need predefined stat blocks for everyone the players might interact with? Because most NPCs don't have great saving throws, or ability scores that deviate much from 10. Depending on how I envision the NPC I'll just make a reasonable modifier based on what approximate level I would view them if they had a character class if I think the NPC would be proficient. Just like I do for DCs when they want to climb a wall, jump over a chasm, search for a secret door. But most NPCs that they come across are not going to be particularly exceptional. Once in a blue moon I'll look up some equivalent in the MM.

I don't think it matters if I make up the numbers for a stat block a week, a day or 3 seconds before it matters. As long as I'm consistent and reasonable, that's all that matters. I've overheard players in the past comment to another player about things I was totally making up on the fly with something along the lines of "How did he know to prep that?" The important thing to me is that the world is consistent and logical, even if the players don't know all the details of what's going on in the background. I don't need a lot of detail, at least not written down, in order to do that.

 

[TheSword]

Do I need predefined stat blocks for everyone the players might interact with? Because most NPCs don't have great saving throws, or ability scores that deviate much from 10. Depending on how I envision the NPC I'll just make a reasonable modifier based on what approximate level I would view them if they had a character class if I think the NPC would be proficient. Just like I do for DCs when they want to climb a wall, jump over a chasm, search for a secret door. But most NPCs that they come across are not going to be particularly exceptional. Once in a blue moon I'll look up some equivalent in the MM.

I don't think it matters if I make up the numbers for a stat block a week, a day or 3 seconds before it matters. As long as I'm consistent and reasonable, that's all that matters. I've overheard players in the past comment to another player about things I was totally making up on the fly with something along the lines of "How did he know to prep that?" The important thing to me is that the world is consistent and logical, even if the players don't know all the details of what's going on in the background. I don't need a lot of detail, at least not written down, in order to do that.

For many it won’t matter. The random fortune teller you didn’t see coming or ye olde city watch sure.

But there will be key NPCs and monsters where it is more important.

 

[TheSword]

No one knows whats going to happen when the players are present. Did the players stop the fights? Maybe they kill Tybalt themselves. Or Paris. Or Romeo.

Are the players here because one of them is Paris and had no idea anyone was planning on marrying him off? Is there a player who likes the idea of marrying into a wealthy family?



I use as much CR as I feel in the moment until I exhaust the budget. Kind of like how A5e uses resources.

Is Tybalt a fighter? Rogue? Bard? Warlock of Bast? Depends on what I think at the moment. He can't be more than 7th level Though.




Not really. Cr sets proficiency bonus. So if I spent CR 5+ I get PB +3, less gets pb +2. Take the generic guard or whatever statblocks in MM and boost as needed.



This fits on one page. Haven't seen many 1 page modules. Now, by the end it will be a couple of pages as I track NPCs and make game notes on what happened.

Whatever else I need I can do on the fly. If I can't wing a rational floorplan for a manor house, I should give away my GM screen. This assumes I don't have access to a library of premade maps and floorplans. I mean there's a thread on enworld with like 700 maps, some are entire cities.

It’s all sounds very generic.

For me meaningful information and details generate equally detailed engagement and creativity in the players. There are probably some players where you can put a blank piece of paper in front of them and they will come up with amazing ideas. I’m not one of them. And most players I’ve seen will respond better to a framework than they will a blank slate.

 

[Manbearcat]

You know what's fun? Prepping with the players. Then you get to work together to figure out what NPCs actually matter and why, how they fit into the play space, what their key characteristics are, and have something actionable to pressure.

So often as a player I've seen GMs either bemoan later "I prepped all this stuff and you never did it" or "ooop, haven't gotten around to jotting stuff down for there, lets end the session here ok?" The most remarkable sessions I've sat in on or played through were ones where the GM was doing 0 prep at all - just flowing "story now" fashion by providing obstacles and narrative moments. (thanks @Manbearcat ).

So for me, the less prep the DM feels the need to do the better; because that means they're likely relying on system mechanics to logically generate next steps with minimal friction.

Another angle is that increased prep-load reduces the total number of feasible games you can GM at once. Presently, I’m GMing 2 x PBP games, 2 x weekly online games, and 2 x meatspace games roughly every other week.

Imagine if my prep for those games was even 1 hour per session? I mean…that would be sufficient time allocated where I could actually be running another 2 additional games…or I could be doing any number of other desirable things with that time (rather than spending it on something I consider both a burden on bandwidth and a potential anchor for play).

Now there is inevitably going to be time spent on play outside of the session that is unavoidable. For instance, mapping/keying for a Long Adventure in Torchbearer is unavoidable, building a roster of conflict-rife Situation/NPCs in Dogs and Agon is fundamental, sorting out post-session AW (or similar like The Between or 1KA) Threat Map stuff, doing your Faction/Setting Clocks in Blades during Downtime phase, etc. But these things are either (a) brief and non-burdensome (neither bandwidth-wise nor do they threaten to dictate play trajectory and outcome before actual play has even begun), or (b) exceptions (most TB Adventures are Short to Medium).

 

[Theory of Games]

I like how Vincent Baker wrote it:

"Once you've got your group together, start the game with character creation. Before that, though, you have some prep to do. Read through the first part of this book - the basics, the playbooks, character creation, the MC, and the first session - and skim the rest, to get a handle on your job as the MC."

I also enjoy Baker's concept of Threat Maps and how to prep them for an adventure:

"List the players’ characters in the center circle. As you name NPCs, place them on the map around the PCs, according to what direction and how far away they are.

The inner circle is for the PCs and their resources. The “closer” ring is for threats in the PCs’ close surroundings. The “farther” ring is for threats at or over the PCs’ horizons. The “notional” outer ring is for threats that exist as rumors or ideas, maybe real and maybe not real at all.

Threats in the “in” section can be threats within the local or surrounding landscape or population, like a disease, a cult, or a species of parasite. Threats in the “out” section can be truly alien, originating in the world’s psychic maelstrom or even elsewhere."

While Baker acknowledges prep is important for AW, other ttrpgs may be less prep-dependent and that's not a bad thing.

 

[Distracted DM]

I want to know the salient details of the game are determined so I’m interacting with something tangible and not a nebulous concept. I want my decisions and the outcomes of what I do to matter. A game which is entirely reactive to my character gives me nothing to get my teeth into.

I don't see those as mutually exclusive
Different experiences, I suppose!

 

[Scott Christian]

I am between salient and extensive. I feel the best campaigns I have been a part of had the DM complete "extensive detail" on their campaign setting, be it area, region, or world. Then used salient detail to prep for the actual adventure. With this mixture, improv times become more adhesive to the world, and the DM knew what to focus on. Whereas the planned play, could draw from the extensive prep of the region/world information.