Faster GM Prep for Fun and Sanity

As I had written before, I had set three personal goals for my new 4E Eberron campaign. The most important goal was to not stress over game prep. When running previous campaigns I would think myself in circles as I attempted to come up with “enough” content for the week’s session. Unfortunately, I set the bar for “enough” so high that I couldn’t possibly meet it; the resulting anxiety would send me into a downward spiral.

To prevent this, I’ve created a new system-agnostic prep routine to keep myself sane: write a mission statement, prep the narrative basics, then indulge. So far it’s working out beautifully!

Step 0: Know the System

While this isn’t a part of session prep, I felt it was important enough to include. The rules of the game will inform the kind of conflicts you’re going to prepare in step 1 and let you know what you need to improv in step 2. Taking the time to master your system’s rules is always a worthy time investment.

Step 1: Write a Mission Statement

Week after week, I would be struck with writer’s block as I sat down to prep. I would stare at a blank document while my brain ran around in circles, unable to pare away what wasn’t important. Thanks to Mouse Guard, I’ve realized that I can make my writer’s block vanish by committing to a specific mission statement.

The first thing I write is a mission statement that rarely exceeds two sentences. I clearly define what interesting conflict will happen, then I leave it the hell alone. A simple example: “The party will try to find the hidden treasure room at the bottom of a dungeon. The goblin tribe living in the dungeon will set traps and ambushes to nab a meal of overly-curious-adventure meat.” Now I know what needs to be addressed; if it doesn’t have to do with that mission statement then I don’t worry about it.

It’s amazing what creating clear boundaries will do for one’s sanity.

Step 2: Plan Only the Narrative Basics

I knew ahead of time that a big part of reducing my stress would come from trusting my own instincts and improv abilities. I’ve made an effort to spend the majority of my prep time creating a strong narrative base instead of spending time on mechanical particulars. I flesh out the personalities and motivations of my NPCs, a few possible interesting twists that may happen during the mission, and a few ways to fold in PC backgrounds.

I know I will never be able to predict all of the crazy things that my players will think of, but I can make sure that I react to my player’s plans in consistent and exciting ways by making that narrative base. For example, I would have spent 45 minutes hand crafting a very specific encounter with goblins that may not see the light of day. I’ll now spend half that time fleshing out possible goblinish traps, goblin NPC personalities, and their goblinish motivations for picking a fight. That way, no matter what crazy plan my players hatch, I’ll have the tools I need to introduce hungry goblins itching for action.

Step 3: Indulge!

I don’t mean to be too spartan, prepping for a D&D session is still a whole lot of fun! (If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have stuck with this crazy hobby.) I make sure to allow myself to indulge when I feel that the narrative base is covered. For 4E, this usually means creating custom monsters, perhaps coming up with a unique encounter environment, or coming up with a particularly excellent voice to use for a gnome NPC.

For example, I wanted to include a mid-air fight between two skycoaches in our last session. Having prepped the guts of the session, I indulged in my love for goofy arts and crafts. I spent 15 minutes drawing and cutting out paper air ships with 1″ grids on them, allowing the ships to move around the map mid-encounter. Even though using the battle mat would have worked just fine, the players appreciated the effect and I had fun making them.

Fast and Sane

Thanks to these three self-imposed rules, spending an hour or two prepping for D&D can give me enough fodder for two to three four-hour sessions. I’m learning how to set priorities and to exercise the discipline to stick to them. I can’t wait to see how the quality of my sessions increase as my stress lessens and my prep efficiency goes up.