by Michael Shea
Tweaking and modifying monsters to add fun powers and powers that match synergies between monsters and improve the enjoyment of the game for the PCs helps a lot. Tracy had no experience running modules previous to 4th edition so paying special attention to encounter design helped considerably. Tracy drew maps a the table and is pretty good at improvising NPCs with little preparation needed.
What D&D game preparation activities have the least positive effect on the game?
Like many DMs, Tracy found that preparing a game well in advance had little improvement to the game later. She would find herself modifying an adventure idea right before running it. She found that thinking about an adventure hard for a while, then forgetting about it, and then returning to it added a lot of creative impact.
Thinking back on your most memorable and enjoyable D&D moments at the table, how often were they pre-planned? How often were they spontaneous?
It is a mix. There’s an advantage in building an interesting story between sessions that has an impact based on the spontaneous events near the end of the previous session. Sometimes the most interesting and memorable stories happened from refining and moving forward an improvised origin.
Thinking back on a D&D game that went poorly, how much of the outcome was due to a lack of preparation? What could have you prepared to avoid the poor outcome?
Lack of module preparation led to the least successful games. Modules require a good bit of reading and understanding before they’re used at the table. When the goals of the game between the DM and the players break down, it leads to a bad game. For example, if a DM is very story-focused but the players want a more combat-focused game, the game won’t be enjoyable to either group. Running a game over the internet also makes it very hard to gauge how invested the players are.
If you had only 30 minutes to prepare for a D&D game, how would you prepare?
Choose some monsters, build a story around those monsters to put them in the game, build environments on the fly that fit the capabilities of the PCs and interests of the players.
Where do you come up with your ideas for your game? What influences you as you prepare to run a D&D game?
Everywhere. CSI works well for investigative games. My Little Pony works for building an RPG for children.
What are your most useful tips, tricks, and tools when preparing for your D&D game?
Use the Monster Builder and a random encounter chart to choose which monsters might fit in your adventure. D&D isn’t always about fights. Listen to the players, they will tell you what they want to do.
Matt James
Matt is a freelance author for Wizards of the Coast, having co-authored the Monster Vault, Threats to the Nentir Vale as well as numerous D&D Insider articles. Matt’s been running D&D games since 1987.
What D&D game preparation activities have the most positive effect on your game?
When I prepare for my games, I find that it is important to outline what I think will transpire during the session and how that will interact with the overall campaign. I rarely run a linear campaign, regardless of size, and prefer to have the players influence how things will transpire. That being said, preparing very, very wide rails for them to play around in is important. More specifically, I will jot down some key points on how I see the story developing. After mulling over the points and refining them, I will then transfer them to colored index cards for organizational purposes: red for combat, yellow for political intrigue, blue for long-term (or campaign-wide) plot, and green for side treks. For me, organizing this way helps me to visualize my story in a way that is more spacial. In the end it helps save me time (you shouldn’t spend time creating walls of text), and helps to organize how my players traverse through my story.
What D&D game preparation activities have the least positive effect on the game?
For me, when I detail every bit of information into a document, I find that the players ultimately mess up anything that I have prepared. I find that the more I tighten the rails of the story, the players wiggle their way out. This can be an incredible waste of time if you’re like me and prefer to allow the story more room to breath. It is also important to key in on what you’re players want to do with their characters and focus on their desires when possible. Even the greatest DMs in the world sometimes create content that just doesn’t interest their players. If you spend an exorbitant amount of time preparing something the players just won’t enjoy, you might find that it has a very negative effect on your game, and your time.
Thinking back on your most memorable and enjoyable D&D moments at the table, how often were they pre-planned? How often were they spontaneous?
I think there needs to be a balance. As I explained earlier, you should aim for very wide rails for your game. You want to provide guidance, but not force your players into predetermined pathways. You need to craft your story in a way that both satisfies your enjoyment as much as the player’s interest. Remember this: The best DMs make their players think it was their idea all along.
Thinking back on a D&D game that went poorly, how much of the outcome was due to a lack of preparation? What could have you prepared to avoid the poor outcome?
Lack of preparation can be mitigated with some experience as a DM. Unfortunately, this skill comes mostly with time. I have been playing D&D since 1987 and started DMing in the mid 90s. To this day, I still get bit when I inadequately prepare. You’re players will know when you are not prepared, and it will cause your campaign to suffer as a result. By refining what works best for you, and molding that into a process that is simple and not time consuming, you will start to prevent any poor outcome from coming up. Be warned, however. It is a perishable skill. Keep working at it, and you’ll improve in no time. But always remember to keep it up.
If you had only 30 minutes to prepare for a D&D game, how would you prepare?
I always keep possible plots in my head and in a journal. There are basic tropes and situations that all gamers are instinctively familiar with. The more that you run, the more easily it will be to improve at the table. If you only have 30 minutes to prepare, do as I suggested earlier and draft out a bulleted list of key points. Also, if you are more visual (like I am), you can draw bubbles and fill in the plot points, Have them connected via lines based on how you want to see it play out.
Michael Mallen
Michael Mallen runs the Id DM website and twitter feed. He’s both a dungeon master and practicing psychologist who authored some exellent analyses of Dungeons and Dragons including the Penny Arcade Combat Encounter Analysis and I am the Entertainer and I Know Just Where I Stand. Michael was first exposed to D&D in the 80s and has been running a weekly campaign since 2009.
What D&D game preparation activities have the most positive effect on your game?
I need to first mention the wonderful tool that is Masterplan. The software, which can be obtained online for free, assists me with creating adventures. In the software, I can organize many plot points and possible avenues the party could take in future sessions. I can store NPCs and monsters the party may encounter and the software also has features to run encounters more smoothly at the table. It really is a lifesaver for me since it keeps all of my notes about the campaign in one place that can be easily accessed while at the gaming table. If you are a DM of 4th Edition and have not tried to use Masterplan, then you owe it to yourself to download the software and experiment with it to determine if it can help your preparation.
As for specific activities, our group has the rare benefit of having many sets of Dwarven Forge terrain. While this is a luxury, preparing to use terrain and props ahead of time can result in the party being railroaded into an encounter because the DM already built it. As the DM, I spent time creating the terrain and preparing for the encounter, so I’m more likely to steer the players in that direction. It is wonderful to prepare an elaborate map with terrain and allow players to take advantage of it, but there is a potential drawback of taking away the player’s choice of where
they want to take the adventure.
I have found that one area I struggle with is improvisation. To remedy this, I prepare possible lines of dialogue for important NPCs for the next gaming session. I shy away from reading this dialogue at the table, but it gives me a foundation to work from instead of relying on my ability to come up with snappy language for each character every session. I also write flavor text ahead of time for locations and even monster powers. I find combat can get stale and turn into a litany of attack and damage rolls; I enjoy elaborating the monsters’ actions and powers with descriptive language. When I do not prepare flavor text ahead of time, it can get lost in the shuffle of running the session.
Overall, I believe my preparation activities related to specific flavor text including dialogue aimed at bringing the world to life for the players is the most effective use of my time. Combat encounters can be quickly thrown together (Masterplan helps in this regard) but the players need specific details on locations and characters to make decisions and CARE about the world.
What D&D game preparation activities have the least positive effect on the game?
The first thought that comes to mind is the mistake I have made in the past about planning too far in advance. For example, before a session takes place, I will consider where the party is likely to go not only in the next session but also in the coming weeks and months. In my mind, I have planned out a super adventure with various plot twists, locations and NPCs. While preparing for this long game is helpful to give me a sense of scope, it does little to make the NEXT session run well.
The players have not spent the same amount of time “living in the world” as I do between sessions. Most of them time, they need detailed summaries about what happened during the past session, so expecting them to focus on long-term goals and issues in the world is not realistic or productive. I have certainly made mistakes inserting too many long-running story lines that have developed over many levels and even *gasp* Tiers of play in 4th Edition. Learn from this error and focus as much as possible on the next session. Where are the players starting? What are their options? Who might they meet?
Even if I plan the plot out many sessions in advance, the players will certainly throw me a curve anyway and the story will develop in a way I never anticipated. Working on what MIGHT happen months down the road in the campaign is not a good use of my time because it does not do anything specific to make the next session more engaging and interesting for the players.
Thinking back on your most memorable and enjoyable D&D moments at the table, how often were they pre-planned? How often were they spontaneous?
I hope there are memorable moments that are generated from pre-planned and spontaneous situations. One example of a pre-planned moment was I asked a player who has a penchant for roleplaying to create a ghost story to tell around a fire to the party. I knew they would be in the wilderness and needing to rest during the next session and it was a game that was played during the week of Halloween; I figured it would give him a chance to shine and be something different for the party to experience.
He really hammed it up and told a spooky tale about a witch and a rather nasty bowl of soup. The other players were guffawing a bit as they were ready to move on with the adventure - there were some good-natured moans and groans as the story was told in the deliberate fashion! It is a situation that is still talked about by the group. They joke about the story and the player who told the tale threatens to regale the party again with his exploits.
It has taken practice, but learning when and how to use “set piece” combat encounters can take a session to another level. I used a combination of Dwarven Forge terrain and a large portal prop for the concluding battle with a major villain to end the Heroic Tier of our campaign. Laying out the terrain and the environmental effects of the portal were great to grab the players’ collective attention. During the path to the set piece, the players were presented with a variety of roleplaying opportunities to learn about the history of the villain; she became somewhat of a tragic figure and the Cleric went so far to attempt to save her corrupted soul.
It was not a set of encounter that I could have created “on the fly” and it led to good results. But there have been many moments when unexpected things happen at the table that add to the enjoyment of everyone - roleplaying moments by characters, style points in combat, decisions that change the track of an adventure - really too many to count. I once introduced a potion vendor along a street side that sold potions; this turned into a 45 minute battering session with the players as they sought out potions, poisons and antidotes. I used another free program, Power2ool, to sort through items and the players happily spent their well-earned gold to stock up their supplies.
The important thing is that the DM rewards players for engaging in spontaneous and creative actions. I personally give players +1 tokens for creative actions and entertaining roleplaying. Over the past two years of running games, I’ve learned to embrace the spontaneity more often and allow it to take over instead of getting “back on track.”
Thinking back on a D&D game that went poorly, how much of the outcome was due to a lack of preparation? What could have you prepared to avoid the poor outcome?
Ironically, the worst session I have ever run was one of the sessions I felt most prepared to run. Before the session, I realized there were too many dangling plot lines and the players were losing track of their goals and motives for completing their current quests. I wanted to ensure that the session contained enough exposition to realign the party with their goals and empower them to make informed decisions.
To this end, I prepared dialogue for a variety of NPCs to clear up points of confusion with the storyline including a “Bond villain” speech by a major bad guy that the party would meet while they were undercover infiltrating a criminal organization. In addition, I planned out two encounters thinking the party could respond the information in one or two ways. I created an elaborate Dwarven Forge room that could be used for either encounter (another trick I have learned with the pieces) and figured I was well-prepared for the session.
Wrong.
The players did gain a clearer understanding of the plot connections of different quests in the campaign, but they still felt uncertain how to act. In retrospect, they did not have a trusted NPC to consult even though they learned exactly what the villain was planning. And while I planned for two possible outcomes for the evening, the players managed to find a third and fourth option I never anticipated. The session was a disaster!
Learning from this, I think one thing I should have prepared was a NPC the party could trust to consult and provide guidance about “what to do next.” Even though I thought I laid out the options very clearly - again, the players are not spending the same amount of time thinking about the campaign world and how all the characters connect.
The final lesson from the poor session is to avoid thinking that every possible angle is covered. Having this false sense of security can completely throw off a session when the party does not zig or zag but zegs, zogs or zugs! Even when you think everything is as prepared as it could possibly be allow for the reality of blank stares and uncertainty from the players. One can never prepare for every possible outcome before a session.
And that is okay.
If you had only 30 minutes to prepare for a D&D game, how would you prepare?
I would focus on the first encounter of the session. I would reflect on where the adventure ended last session and consider how to either continue the momentum from the previous session or jumpstart the adventure once again early in the next session. If the players need a combat encounter to get the session started, then I would spend time creating the specifics. If the players need a new quest, then I would spend time creating different NPCs to populate a location nearby to the players. I would do all of this in Masterplan, which allows me to detail potential encounters, NPCs and plot points to be used in the event that they are engaged by the party.
I would rely on publi
shed adventures, which is something I’ve done more of in recent months. There is no need for me to work to create home-brewed adventures all the time when there are so many readily available in manuals and modules. Save yourself the time and peruse those resources to find quests and characters that are intriguing and fit with the type of campaign you want to run. Lately, I have used a combination of The Shadowfell box set with the Tomb of Horrors super adventure. I have taken bits and pieces from the published settings and infused them into my home brew world.
Where do you come up with your ideas for your game? What influences you as you prepare to run a D&D game?
My ideas are generation from a combination of sheer panic and fear that my players will realize I’m overmatched and don’t belong behind the screen!
I take ideas from everywhere - television shows, movies, blogs, published adventures, real-life news stories and video games. Much of my inspiration for how to structure the campaign and how the players interact with the world is from video games. I create a variety of NPCs that act as “mission hubs” similar to games like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. The players learn about the specific NPC, the campaign world and can anticipate the type of quest they will undertake if they meet with a certain individual. This approach was very useful early in the campaign when I wanted to keep the scale of the adventures small. The players knew they could meet with any of the following:
Dorwin Farringwray - the sneaky dwarven rogue who promised great rewards but with high risks
Brother Laurence - the pious human cleric who served as a mentor for the party and offered missions to help the local citizens
Hornan Dawntracker - the disgruntled human fighter who is captain of the guard and seeks to protect the city from external and internal threats
“Silver” - the gregarious dragonborn pirate who is always found enjoying the seedier aspects of nightlife down by the docks and offers questionable tasks for the party
