D&D General Zero-Prep D&D Game?

[R_J_K75]

During the 2E/3.x eras we used to play unscheduled spur of the moment pickup games all the time. This was also a time when I read a lot of D&D books, and we played at least 3-4 times a week. Nowadays I have to prep to play but even then the players always take the game in a direction I didn't expect, so you have to react. No amount of prep can ever solve that. The longer a campaign goes on with the same players the easier it is to improvise and even run a game without prepping. I could pull it off but I don't think I could do it on a regular basis, nor do I think its fair to the other players to show up unprepared. I just started a Waterdeep campaign using Shadowdark. I've run a lot of campaigns there and I have a lot of random tables that I can use to create encounters on the fly. Using Shadowdark will probably allow me to get away with less prep than I had to do with 5E.

 

[Reynard]

I'll usually have some sense of a big threat I want them to face, and three-act-structure it into place from wherever the PC's are. One big monster (CR = PC level, +1 or 2) works best.

I am VERY surprised that you find that low of a CR for a "solo" to work for you. Do you rely on tricks, terrain, lair actions, etc? In my experience, especially with 5E, a solo of only CR=APL lasts a round, 2 max, with next to no threat posed to the PCs.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I am VERY surprised that you find that low of a CR for a "solo" to work for you. Do you rely on tricks, terrain, lair actions, etc? In my experience, especially with 5E, a solo of only CR=APL lasts a round, 2 max, with next to no threat posed to the PCs.

Usually about 3 rounds. My PC's in this group aren't really optimizers, and don't play D&D to make number go up big, so "challenge" can be defined as "one PC dropped to 0 hp!" and it's fine. They're there for narrative, and fights here are like musical numbers - moments of feelings so dramatic the party can't help but burst into song about it. They're expected to win, and they do, and they feel a little pressure in the first round or two when the monster has the edge.

Edit: Legendries are nice, too. I have also sometimes made something legendary on the fly (giving it legendary actions - typically a basic attack, a move w/o provoking and an area effect - +50% max hp, and legendary resistance)

 

[bedir than]

I'd go so far to say that it's impossible to do zero prep.
Every bit of genre fiction you encounter is prep for your next game. Even the daily news might wind up in your next game.
I could read something here (or social media) and have it in the game. Those newsletters I subscribe to? Prep. A new book from a TTRPG pub? Prep
I've got a whole fantasy world running in my head at all times. How can I not be prepped?

 

[Distracted DM]

I'd go so far to say that it's impossible to do zero prep.
Every bit of genre fiction you encounter is prep for your next game. Even the daily news might wind up in your next game.
I could read something here (or social media) and have it in the game. Those newsletters I subscribe to? Prep. A new book from a TTRPG pub? Prep
I've got a whole fantasy world running in my head at all times. How can I not be prepped?

I think your definition of prep is a lot wider than most folks', but unless @M.T. Black wants to give us a definition, it's gonna continue to be open to interpretation like that :'D
I guess even then, interpretations abound!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think your definition of prep is a lot wider than most folks', but unless @M.T. Black wants to give us a definition, it's gonna continue to be open to interpretation like that :'D

"I know it looks like I'm lying in bed, watching Netflix, but this is actually a crucial part of the writing process."

 

[M.T. Black]

Thank you for the responses - they've been most helpful.

Someone asked for a definition of "prep." To my mind, it is dedicated time spent reading material and/or preparing notes for the upcoming session. A couple of minutes in the shower thinking about tomorrow night's game is not "prep" by this definition. Sitting down at your desk for 30 minutes is prep.

When I posed this question, I could think of three possible ways you might do zero-prep D&D:

1. Pure improv, where you and the players devise scenes keep going.

2. A generative tool that creates the adventure for you as you go. Perilous Wilds is one such tool (it's for Dungeon World, but it is perfectly usable for D&D adventures).

3. A master tome that is concise enough to just consult "on the fly". Some say they used Wilderlands of High Fantasy in this way. The players move to a new hex, the DM looks up the location (at the table during play) and then plays it through.

I think all(?) of the no-preppers who have answered so far have fallen into category 1.

 

[BruceWright]

Agreed. The most important point is that a DM who wants to try winging it shouldn’t feel some kind of imperative to spend multiple hours writing up encounters, like they’re doing it wrong if they don’t.

i feel like we’re doing the idea of prep a disservice by arguing extremes. “Zero prep” vs “multiple hours writing up encounters”.

Maybe something in the middle works.

I’m more like, your game will probably benefit from some preparation. There are ways to prep more time efficiently. Absolute zero is an interesting idea, but i have no method to offer along those lines. Don’t prep? Sure. Maybe. Try it.

not saying it’s wrong. If it works, great.

To Reynard’s point,
I do agree the fear of being a new DM can cause people to stress/overprep. But for me prep allows me to relax and not stress when running.

Does a message of “hey go in without prep if you want” help a new DM? It is not the advice I would give. I wouldn’t recommend it to an experienced DM, let alone a new one considering trying DMing.

Just the same as I would advise to players “look at your character before the session. Think about their backstory and their abilities. Read up on your spells.”

Time spent thinking about the game, away from the game, i think does cause the mind to develop new creative ideas, and will enhance the game once you arrive at the table. How could it not?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think all(?) of the no-preppers who have answered so far have fallen into category 1.

The one bit of prep I didn't mention is a list of names. I am bad at names on the fly, so I now have a Google doc of names and also use RPGs that include name generators. One of the adventures I'm working on includes multiple name generators in case the PCs decide to not murderhobo their way through the adventure.

So that's my big exception to improving my way through.

 

[zakael19]

2. A generative tool that creates the adventure for you as you go. Perilous Wilds is one such tool (it's for Dungeon World, but it is perfectly usable for D&D adventures).

This is how I do mostly no-prep gaming in Stonetop (a dungeon world derivative from one of the major contributors to Perilous Wilds) - since the setting book is littered with random tables we can build stuff out on the fly together. As you note, building a dungeon / set of point-crawl style exploration sites would be easy enough to transport from DW to 5e.

I did a little low/no prep 5e running (I saw Low because it was VTT so I spent some time putting tokens/maps together to drop an encounter if required). I handled it much how @prabe and others have said: ensure the players have enumerated clear goals, work with a gazette or similar resource to center us in play, and then put obstacles in their way as they pursued said goals. I asked questions and built on their answers to figure out what was next.

Since this is basically the structure of Blades in the Dark, I'd note that when I was doing this we were also in a city - I think that a constrained environment that has a moderate amount of established "details" may be easier to run off of then a purely open. If you're familiar with Perilous Wilds it sounds like you're also familiar with DW - but the advantage of that game is the procedures and design expectations that kinda allow players to easily direct play. You can absolutely do this with pure improv in 5e, but I found it a little easier to rely on that external structure since the system design doesn't have that.