I am in something of a unique position given the nature of my work I am away from home for 4 weeks and then home for 4. During my time away I have plenty of time to prepare for our upcoming games, and was wondering how other prepare the adventure paths.
I am running rise of the runelords and so far I have spent my time analysing the encounters and taking a few notes of information I think critical, as well as meaning out how I'm going to play some of the NPC'S at the table.
What preparations do you make for running one of the adventure paths?
I am pretty good at memorizing things, but I have learned which things I am likely to not remember when actually playing so I take notes on certain story elements. I also read the module again the day before we play, mostly because I don't like to flip pages when I am GM'ing.
For certain NPC I go ahead and write some of their stats down ahead of time such as hit points, saves, and any important skills. If something comes up that I did not write down I will check the book. I also write down buffed and prebuffed stats. Lastly I roll for bluff checks ahead of time so the players never know if the NPC is bluffing or not.
If it is a boss fight I normally plan out tactics ahead of time. Of course sometimes the unexpected happens and all of that planning goes out of the window.
