Why can't you be prepared for a game session

[Crothian]

I can't be prepared because I was abducted by aliens.

Really!

do they game Mr Magic and Action??

 

[The_Universe]

No. Interestingly enough, they're big fans of Jack Chick. These are extreme fundamentalist aliens.

 

[Crothian]

No. Interestingly enough, they're big fans of Jack Chick. These are extreme fundamentalist aliens.

You hang around with the strangest people. Did they give you copies of Dark Dungeons?

 

[The_Universe]

Give me? In a sense. That's what I was probed with. BLACKLEAF! NOOOOOOOOO!

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

It's my fault Black Leaf died.

 

[Crothian]

It's my fault Black Leaf died.

not your fault he was probed?

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

So I'm asking this general question to all you RPG players here: What eats up your time so much that prevents you from being fully ready at the game table each session? How is it that I, with two young children (that require a ton of attention), can find time to prepare for a game as a DM, but you can't find 5 minutes to update your character sheet, or 10 minutes to read a rule, or 30 minutes to paint a mini (if you want the mini painted), or 5 minutes to ensure you have everything you need for the game session?

You clearly have limited time available to you and are organized in how you spend it. You are always prepared for D&D because, like everything else in your life, you are motivated to budget the time you have. You also have D&D assigned a certain priority - kids first, D&D later. You have it fit into your busy life quite sensibly and carefully.

Not everyone leads your life as you clearly point out. Other people place different priorities on D&D; where it fits into their lives, when they spend time on it and how they spend that time is not the same as you and you really shouldn't expect it to. They are lazy about D&D because they CAN be. They come unprepared because they don't need to be and clearly don't have anything motivating them to be. By your own analysis these other players don't have anywhere near the demands on their time as you do, so if they really felt strongly about D&D don't you think they'd be MORE sure not to leave home without finding their character sheet, making sure long before game-time that it's updated, make it a point to get their miniature painted or have someone else do it for them, etc.?

As it stands now (it seems) they aren't doing anything that you aren't willing to allow them to do, rant or no.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Some of my best ideas for game sessions come when I am on the toilet. I have even tried to do game perp while I was on the toilet. I had the game books on the counter and a pad of paper and a pencil. Not much got done, but it was still fun to try.

 

[Tolen Mar]

I agree withg the OP. Ive even ranted about this kind of thing in other areas as well, most often the 'no-show' issue. (Over the course of the week, you cant find 2 minutes to call and say hey! I wont be there? Sudden occurances aside, of course.)

But here is how I handle it: Take the first 15 minutes of the session to make sure everyone is on the same page. Those who are prepared get a little catching up time (since they often are too busy to talk to each other over the course of the week), while we get everything ready. For my part, as DM, I do have everything ready and am always early. I let my players know this so if they feel they need more than the 15 minutes, they know Im usually there.

If I'm going to be late, I let people know. Sometimes I let them know 5 minutes before, life happens, but I always make a point of fulfilling my obligations.

And yes, this does suck up some of the weekly gaming time, letting us have less overall than we might have had before. However, every game I've been in has started late anyway due to players commiserating beforehand. Its one of the DM's responsibilities to get the group back on track.

If you plan for the time, you'll likely find it annoys you less than before. Once I learned to allow the time I was going to lose anyway and destress about it, my games became fun again.

 

[Tolen Mar]

I forgot to add, when people like myself say they expect players to find a bit of time to work on their sheets and such, we dont mean you have to fit a regularly scheduled time into your day. When I wonder why people cant find a few minutes over the course of a week, I mean why cant you use that 5 minutes you had between finishing project X and the start of your favorite TV show? You have to have lunch and be at class by 1:30? Fine, I doubt the two are going to perfectly mesh, there's a chance between there (Though that bit of time is usually last minute homework, I was a college kid once myself ).

The point is, there are lots of small chunks of time throughout the week that can be used for a variety of things. Use one of them, and no one will complain.