Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ZaxFahrenheit200 Jun 04, 2015 10:58:25	I've been DM'ing for almost a dozen years now, since right after 3.5 was released.  I'm curious to know how other DMs out there plan for their games, even down to the split hairs.  I've been doing it all in a single subject notebook for my current game (first time DMing 5e) that I found in the basement from my college years.   Have been thinking of getting a 3 subject notebook soon, with one section for story, another for combat planning (and then initiative order and notes during combat during the session), and the third section for miscellaneous stuff (bios on notable NPCs, drafts of stuff I'll be giving to the players out of non-lined paper, and general organizational notes).   It's funny.  I started off as a very Type B DM way back when (no planning?  No problem!), but have evolved into a Type A, especially since 5e is so much simpler to RP with.  How do you all prep?  And for other DMs who find themselves prepping similarly, what advice would you give to round off any hard edges?
#2 intently Jun 04, 2015 13:09:04	I do most of my prep in roll20.net, since that's how we play. I create hand-outs to share with the players digitally. Sometimes I use a scratch pad near my computer to count stuff or remind myself of things.   I also use a google docs spreadsheet to track sessions, XP, treasure, and in-game calendar (date, weather, campaign events, astronomical events, social events, etc.).   If I we weren't using roll20 I'd probably use Evernote or something like it. Sorting, tagging, sharing, copying, etc. are so much easier digitally than on real paper. If you use Evernote, I think you can share hand-outs (maps, images, etc.) to your players on their tablets, for example. Of course, some people don't want the technology at their game table, which is totally understandable as well. It's just so awesome... I'd go crazy if I had to keep paper notes at work instead of using email, IM, Excel, etc.
#3 Imaculata Jun 04, 2015 15:12:28	For my 3.5 pirate campaign I prepare by creating many Word documents, along with a world map. I create a seperate document for all important locations, which contains a detailed description, a list of important locations (also with descriptions), a list of quests (also with very detailed descriptions), and a list of npc's. Then I create random encounter tables, a random weather table, and custom weapon and equipment lists. The latter is for my players to buy equipment from. If needed, I'll make maps of any dungeons I expect to be using too. But the number of documents for the campaign quickly grows to the size of a small book.   For my Call of Cthulhu campaign I create a very elaborate timeline, a map, detailed descriptions of all locations and npc's, and a basic outline of all the events that will occur. I write out all the clues that the players can find, and create handouts. I also create a basic summary of the links between the clues, so that I have something to fall back on in case things get confusing.   I also created some stuff for a zombie campaign that a friend of mine is working on. I created a zombiebuilder for her, which allows you to roll for zombie types based on the location, the amount of zombies, and special qualities of those zombies. I also gave her random encounter tables for indoor and outdoor locations.
#4 Barky Jun 04, 2015 17:31:38	I, too, use Roll20. Everything is on my computer, various windows.   -- a Word doc with the adventure I'm running. It is COMPLETE. Not just the room descriptions, but also the rules that can come up ("the rocks provide 50% cover which means XYZ to AC, etc." I should not have to look up a rule during the game. Easily accomplished with copy-paste. Also not just monster stat blocks but every feat/archetype abilit/spell/etc. available to a mob there with range, duration, damage, etc. Again, all in one place, no looking up in books. All copy-pasted from a master file. Not that hard, really. Every time I have to reach for a rule book I feel I am failing as a DM, so I put as much as I can into the adventure text. -- a spreadsheet listing all my players. A row for name, player name, class, level. A row for hit points. A row for AC and any special AC notes (like shield use, etc.). A row for normal melee attack stuff. A row for special melee attacks with all bonuses, features, etc. listed. A row for stats. A row for skills.  A row for ranged attack and special ranged attacks. A row for special defenses. A row for spell DCs & attack bonuses. A row for spell slots, which I'll modify as they burn through them. A row for spells as a list. -- A special doc for all the player's known spells (for clerics the ones they typically use), with all ranges, damage, saves, etc. listed. -- A Word file for each PC that is all background stuff, player interests, quest arcs, all story things. -- A rolling journal. This is my in-game shorthand running log. "Bob killed demon. Jane is poisoned. Fred nearly died, vowed he'd track the escaping assassin to end of earth. Party found treasure. -- I also have a large, overriding campaign document covering the overriding arc info for the whole thing.   It seems like a lot, but during the game I only have three tthings up: Roll20 on 2/3 of screen, Quest on1/3 of screen. Journal on top, easily shrunken if I need to go back to other two.After the game I convert the scratch-journal to real notes on the real docs, and use those to craft the next adventure or campaign thread.   I also have a wiki for players.   What makes this possible is we only play every other week.
#5 Qzoo Jun 04, 2015 18:36:01	*****RESOURCES*****   First, I collect images.  Anything and everything I think looks cool goes into folders.  People, places and things.  Been doing this for as long as I can remember.   I also collect neat articles.  I used to do this with old Dragon Magazines.  I printed every article I thought was cool, and filed them into rough categories like, treasures, NPC races/classes, world building, monsters, religion/deities, etc.  I still use this file box from time to time.   I try to put ideas on 3x5 note cards.  Each one for a single scene, NPC, magic item, organization, or whatever...you get the idea.  Save these.   I tried a 3-ring binder for a while, but it was just too neat.  I want my ideas to kind of overlap and contaminate each other.  Messy can be a good thing sometimes.  Now I use software to help me organize chunks of information.  Something like OneNote or Scrivener are vast improvements over the 3-ring binder in my opinion.  I'm also a fan of flowcharts for laying down path options.  While it is very possible that PCs will follow a new path, most of the time they will choose from only a handful of viable options.   *****PRE-CAMPAIGN*****   Then when I prepare before a campaign, I build a, "sketch," of a world guide.  Basically this is a minimalist version of a campaign guide.  I leave a lot of, "blank space," just so I can fill it in later, but I definitely produce all the broad strokes of the campaign at this time, and try to organize as best I can using the software mentioned above.    Now is the time to create the major players in the world.  Who/what they are and their motivations.  Allegiences and Emnities are assigned, and delving into politics as needed to flesh out the world.  I especially enjoy building secret organizations or guilds that juxtapose each other.  Again, these are mostly broad strokes.  Give yourself room to be flexible once the players start delving into it, but do have a solid framework of what it is you want.   If possible, consider PC backgrounds and where they will be starting from, and also their place in the world.  Is it a, "points-of-light," campaign that the PCs will have to suvive the wilds between small outposts of civilization?  What milestones define the timeline of your world civilization?  How important is religion in people's lives?  How prevalent is magic in society?  There are a lot of important questions that need to be answered at this stage if you want a complex world (which are the most enjoyable to me).   *****BLENDING w/ PCs*****   Once I have the players, but just before the game starts, I try to gauge what the players are looking for from their game.  This gets overlooked a lot IMO.  Sometimes this can be done during the campaign as well, but I prefer to blend as early as I can to let the players know that they have a real stake in the campaign, and so they know they each have personal and long-term goals of their own besides what the group goals are.   PCs should also build a small network of NPCs for themselves.  I have them submit a few interesting NPCs from their PC's lives, which I then proceed to mutilate, butcher, and recombine until I have a nice roster of interesting NPCs which I can tie back to the PCs at my whim.  The best part is combining one PCs adversary and another PCs ally into the same NPC.  It's a sort of social networking for fantasy games I suppose.   *****THE SESSION*****   I try to prep an encounter to all be on one sheet of paper.  That means every stat block on that one sheet with hit points marked a little circle for each individual HP (so I can visually measure HP at a glance).  I also make sure to have a list of names.  I'm absolutely horrible with names.  And always take notes on who interacted with important NPCs.  I try to keep dice rolling to a minimum, and try to keep the game moving at all times as much as possible.  I like a cinematic feel to the game, so any rule lookups have to be done quickly or I will improvise and push on.   I also love index cards.  I use them for name cards, I use them for initiatives, I use them for handing out inspiration, I use them for important treasure items (he who has the card has the treasure), etc.  I also use them for important NPCs so I can track their info if it isn't already on an encounter sheet.   Cities and important places usually that have their own important cast of NPCs also get a, "one-sheet," treatment as well.  Usually with plenty of room to add more info, but it is important to keep it brief and together on that one sheet.  The whole point is to have what I need about something in one place.   Whew!  I think that covers it.
(Reply to #5) Barky	Qzoo wrote:
#7 Qzoo Jun 04, 2015 20:44:33	What's creepy is when I model certain NPCs from the real world and use them in my fantasy world.  For instance, I have a high-level harper that has, "gone rogue," and is giving away certain secrets (aka. Eddie Snowden).  It works way better than it should.  I also have a bard modeled after Justin Beiber (yeah, people hate him in my world too).  I try my best to disguise this though.  My players just think I'm a genius for coming up with so much material that appears so seamless.
#8 99typhoons Jun 04, 2015 20:54:43	I create the mission in as much detail i can in Pages. mission, story, side quests, yada yada. also for anything visual or new enemies or npcs i just google search images and print them 11x17 on cardstock as visual aides. I also use photoshop and create things like unique weapons or armor. i work at a print shop so when im ready i print my mission up on nice paper that i can make notes on during the session and have sheets for the encounter and loot that they find. Then i coil bind everything up and slap a clear cover and black back on it and then im ready. ive only been playing since january so im just getting better and more efficient the more we do. its a lot of fun and i dont know why i didnt get into this sooner. ive got a stack of the mission books we have done and they like to look at them after just to see what i had planned out. lets them see i didnt change rolls or add hp to villians they steamroll through.
#9 Barky Jun 05, 2015 4:36:18	Qzoo wrote:
#10 intently Jun 05, 2015 9:01:11	I also have these always loaded in a background tab.   Kobold Fight Club, for encounter planning. http://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder   Donjon random NPC generator (names, race, profession, demeanor, etc.) http://donjon.bin.sh/5e/random/#npc   The Donjon page has a ton of useful generators.
#11 AdrastusDarke Jun 05, 2015 9:34:54	I don't really plan much. I come up with world ideas based on whatever inspires me but focus more on the feel of the world than specifics. Then I start playing and the world evolves through the pcs actions. I don't really plan where I want them to go I just decide what npcs are planning to do and resolve those according to their motivations and what is happening in the narrative. I use the fronts system from apocalypse world to resolve these mostly. I also have some random tables for when I need them but I rarely do. All of these things make planning mostly an irrelevant factor for me (which takes a lot of the pressure off) but I have a lot of respect for more prep heavy dm styles.
#12 Wuzzard Jun 05, 2015 14:58:58	I make a campaign guide using OneNote and share it from OneDrive with my players.  It has all their startup information, whatever house rules, etc, map of general location, description of places and interesting people, but zero in on starting location and have lots of details there.  The players use the OneNote doc to take notes of the games as they go, so it is a living document.  Everyone gets to add stuff.  The players paste in all the character sheet info and there is a running loot list.   Also keep a separate document with all my DM stuff & ideas, as I think of them as the game progresses (updated outside of actual play.)   You can use OneNode for free on the web, and as table/phone app.
#13 BRJN Jun 06, 2015 18:54:30	I'm DMing Rise of Tiamat, so a lot of the plot work is already done.  I plan out one big fight per session.  Each major NPC gets 3 rounds of combat actions; minor NPCs get notes like 'helps Boss to get Sneak Attack' or 'designated run-for-help guy'.  One player likes to do up large-scale paper maps so I'm going to let her know what page we'll need to work from.   I find myself rather disorganized at present (first non-convention campaign in my life) so I'll be adding to my playstyle as I go.  Hopefully I won't have to repeat myself twice for the major points of the narrative as I collect my thoughts.
#14 Whir Jun 06, 2015 21:42:30	Boy. I must be that Type B DM mentioned earlier. I generally come up with the goal of the adventure/campaign and then let the PCs lead themselves to it. I come up with almost everything on the fly, except for critical parts or encounters, based on what I know to be feasible for the location they're in and the action they're taking. I kept track of it by writing the night's exploits on our group blog as though it were a book, and one of the players would add "journal entries" written by his character to keep track of his own downtime/offscreen plans.   Right now I am trying to run them through their first 5e game and I tried to plan ahead and I find myself bored by my own adventure. I have to look up this number for this room description and it slows me down and my players get bored.   But I have played with a DM who pre-plans everything and he kept us entertained and interested no problem.   Each to his/her own, especially when behind the screen!