By Jason Campbell
As a GM of weekly games, I spend an hour or two prepping for the next game session. I don’t usually use published adventures, so I’m usually creating the plot threads and locations. I look back at our group notes from the previous session and create some encounters based on my guesses of what the characters are likely to do. If the characters are in the middle of a long dungeon delve your work is pretty clear: check the map and make sure you’ve set up interesting encounters. But is filling out a map all you need to do? Let’s look at that. I’ll use my own prep from a recent week as an example.
Whatever a GM doesn’t prepare for, if it comes up in the game, will require improvisation. Improvisation skills of GMs vary a lot. The trick is to prepare enough so that you’re comfortable with what you’ll need to improvise.
Maps and Monsters
The modern Dungeons & Dragons rules made famous the idea of dividing the game into three parts; Combat, Exploration and Social Encounters. Of course “combat” could be better identified as conflict, since the characters might avoid a fight with their choices.
Prepping for a conflict is usually choosing the creature(s), and finding representative figures, artwork or avatars. To define the conflict the GM also needs to know what the creature wants. If it’s a “wandering monster”, perhaps it only wants to continue on its way. It might be hungry, or have a specific mission. If I know a creature’s motivation I can improvise how it will react to the characters’ actions. If you’re less comfortable with improvisation you might want to script at least some dialogue for likely situations.
In my prep for this week, the characters have been exploring in a dungeon, and they are about to confront the final conflict where they will need to solve a puzzle and perhaps fight enemies. The map of the area is in place and the contents of each area are already established, so this part was done.
Back to Town
Once the characters complete their quest in the dungeon, they’ll return to the town above. They’ve achieved their goal so they’ll meet with the quest giver. They’ve also uncovered another clue about a long standing mystery, so they’ll likely investigate that. There are also a couple of plot threads they might follow that would lead to other exploration. That means another location map and fleshing out encounters for exploration and conflicts.
I have the location maps and lists of encounters for a couple of plot threads they might follow. But are maps enough? Before they head off to either location, they’ll meet with the quest giver and talk to others that are involved in the mystery they uncovered. These I’d prefer to rpepare for.
Social Encounters
I’ve already established the motivations of their quest giver. Since the characters will likely be returning victorious (although a note or two about healing and death might help just in case), I’ve set up the quest giver’s reaction including rewards they give and perhaps other quests they might suggest.
If the characters decide to explore the mystery that they found a new clue for that will involve social encounters with NPCs who haven’t appeared in the game yet. I can decide now where they’ll encounter the NPC. They might be in their lair as the characters expect, but it might be more exciting if they find the NPC in a surprising location. That might mean running into them in the street, or maybe they meet the NPC while they are talking to an ally, which could reveal more information about this NPC.
For the NPC I’ll create their description (and way of speaking if I’m “doing voices”) and their motivation. Knowing what the NPC wants is important to determine how difficult things like persuasion will be. It also will determine how the characters are first received by the NPC. That’s the minimum I need, but in this case I’ll want to heighten the action rather than just a discussion. During the discussion, I’ll plan a nearby attack, or something dramatic like a lightning strike. If the NPC is afraid of another faction, then I might have a spy from that faction break into the NPC’s lair while the characters are talking to the NPC.
Conclusion
In my GM prep I try to have maps and art ready as well as stat blocks and descriptions of tricks and traps. It’s just as important for me to prepare for social encounters. Any NPCs that are likely to appear, I’ll make sure I know their names, descriptions and their motivation. I can improvise the rest. These encounters are important, so if I see that there are no social encounters imminent I’ll prepare some. This is especially important if your characters or players value social encounters over the other pillars.
For my players I know they appreciate call backs to earlier sessions of the campaign. If your campaign is longer, you can do this by reviewing your notes and instead of making the wagon drive a new random NPC, they’re a beggar the characters encountered months ago. For many players this makes the world seem more real.
What do you think? Do you have any tips for GM preparation? Let us know!
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