D&D General Your Top Tip(s) for Prepping a Published Adventure

[Don Durito]

Cut out at least half the combats.

Make the secret doors not secret

Cut all but one (or maybe two traps)

 

[Coroc]

I use one spread sheet for the party containing all their stats and magic items. I use this for my to hit rolls, but also to trace their silver and XP.
Per session I also do a spread sheet of the mobs. Also with their stats any special attacks legendary actions etc. For caster types I select 3 or four spells which they most likely will use. I also use this to track XP gained and money found. I also write down HP like this : 3d8+6 9-30 17. I will use 17 for that mob if it is single.
If there are four of them they will have e.g. 12, 14, 17,21 or so. When combat occurs I take another blank sheet of paper and note e.g.
12:
14:
17:
21:

I make vertical slashes to count down their HP. It helps me to track them no matter if Theatre of the mind or minis.

For the plot I do a whole reading of the purchased material, and then I note down some bullets, what is likely to happen in which order and what is not to be missed e.g. major clues NPC names etc.
Then I do a rereading to see if this matches with my take on the official stuff which for sure made me leave or add stuff.
This second reading is of utter importance, more than once I discovered logical fallacies which hi could correct but would have been embarrassing if I would not have found the m upfront.

 

[Quartz]

Have a sheet of pre-rolled d20s and cross them off as you go. Maintain lists of all the PCs' magic items. Then, when they get hit with some mass effect you can quickly check off saves for each item as you go.

 

[3catcircus]

Cut out at least half the combats.

Make the secret doors not secret

Cut all but one (or maybe two traps)

How does that help prepping? Unless you are converting prior edition modules, that won't affect how long it takes to prep - in fact - going through and changing these during your read through will increase prep time.

 

[Don Durito]

How does that help prepping? Unless you are converting prior edition modules, that won't affect how long it takes to prep - in fact - going through and changing these during your read through will increase prep time.

It's not about helping to prep. It's about prepping that helps.

 

[DEFCON 1]

My rule of thumb that has helped me out quite a bit goes along with reading the module: If you try to read the module and it becomes so boring that you stop... the module usually isn't worth running in the first place. There are plenty of adventures out there-- find the ones where the authors were so good at writing that they could make reading the adventure interesting and compelling. Because that usually means running it will be so as well.

 

[jasper]

..... Long story short the players wouldn't take the hook and ended up scrapping the module.....

Arrguaw Arrguaw PET PEEVE ALERT PET PEEVE ALERT ALL CASUALS TAKE COVER THIS IS NOT A DRILL!
I am gamist DM. If the players know I running module x and don't want to take the hook, I can always pull out Uno, or just cancel the game 20 minutes after show time.

 

[Talltomwright]

I've just finished DMing Princes of the Apocalypse and I'm really glad that Past Me took the time to make a spreadsheet of who was in which room of the megadungeon. It meant I could, at a glance, figure out who might hear a battle and come running, and it meant that if the characters took a long rest I could immediately re-deploy the cultists to retake the areas the players had cleared out. It helped it to feel like a living place, with intelligent enemies who didn't just wait in their designated room until they got slaughtered.

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

Or don't run that module.

If it takes more time to prepare a published module than to homebrew a mostly equivalent adventure, consider the latter option.

I've never in my life seen a module for which this was true, at least if you insist on the level of detail that I do (which is to say, the equivalent of a published module).

 

[R_J_K75]

Arrguaw Arrguaw PET PEEVE ALERT PET PEEVE ALERT ALL CASUALS TAKE COVER THIS IS NOT A DRILL!
I am gamist DM. If the players know I running module x and don't want to take the hook, I can always pull out Uno, or just cancel the game 20 minutes after show time.

I didnt run too many modules back then and they didnt know I was that night let alone which one. In all honesty some of their reasoning why they didnt take the bait was pretty solid. It was more my fault for trying to shoehorn in that adventure into the campaign at a random spot.