DUNGEON MASTERS: How do you do your session plans!?

[Grimstead]

Hey everybody. I'm a longtime 3.5e and Pathfinder DM, and I'm trying to up my game. I find that I spend way, way too much time prepping my sessions. 4-6 hours sometimes for a 3-4 hour game. These are 100% custom adventures in a homegrown world, but still. I've been trying to figure out why this is, and I think I have a clue: The only DM notes I've ever SEEN aside from my own are the official modules, which are pretty dang verbose. And I learned to DM by emulating those.

But a lot of DMs, I understand, get by with drastically less prep work. I've been searching for examples of other DMs session plans, and I've only found one scanned page so far.

What I want? Scan a couple pages of your past notes, or copy paste if theyre electronic, and post them, so we can all benefit from seeing how other people do it! The kinds of labels and shorthand and format you use might spark ideas for others... I know I could use the help.

[Dreihaddar]

I write nothing down.
I run a homebrew world that use to have a wiki page and allsorts of stuff, and then the server HD bricked and backups got lost etc. I was really sad about the entire thing but then I decided I might as well memorize it since it's my own world after all.

I usually have a single sheet of A4 that I keep with me as I GM. On it I write down the names of NPC's the PC's meet (names I make up on the fly) as well as placenames, names of buildings, towns, location of important McGuffins etc. All to help me remember for the next session.

I wing everything aside from the overarching plot. I'll often flip through a monster manual/bestiary for ideas for opponent abilities and the like but almost never am I using something directly. There's a plot, there's a world that is moving even though the heroes aren't and I like the uncertainty and 'freshness' that comes from opponents and challenges making sense as opposed to being necessarily 'balanced'.
My players have told me that they trust no one and take nothing for granted while playing in my games...which I found hilarious actually =D. Currently I'm running a game where the PC's are playing members of an extremely militant theocracy. It's alot of fun for me and them since these guys have shown up as baddies in almost all the games I've run in this world and now we get to see things from their point of view!

Generally I'll work out what happens next session as I walk to or from work or to the store or whenever I have time I don't need to think about anything in particular.

I think the most important thing to have clear is what the purpose of the session/encounter is going to be. Is it to let the players feel powerful and fight a bunch of things? Is it to let them experience more of the world or discover more about the story? Is it to make them despise or fear a certain entity within the world?

Answering those questions for myself helps me prepare a session. Helps me know which 'voices' I need to have ready and I'll often prep a few lines of dialogue I know will come up (again, generally as I'm walking somewhere...I like walking =D).

I hope that helped. I use to write everything down but found that the way I organize and relate things in my head doesn't really translate very well to paper and often gets horribly convoluted as I try to put down all possible angles!

[Erik Ingersen]

One thing that helps me is preparing to be unprepared. What is hardest for you to improvise? Prepare that part and let the rest happen from there.

When I prepared scenarios for my home group, I had one page with a flow chart of the plot - I like to improvise and add details and twists, but if I'm stuck it's nice to have a fallback. On another page I had a list of persons, keywords on they look and behaviour and a sentence or two about their involvmnt in the plot - I prepared those just to have finished people I could throw at the players. Their position in the plot could change, but I liked haviing "finished" poeple to interact with my players.
In stead of preparing a lot, I also spent some time chronicling after each game - what new characters had the players met and what twists did I come up with?

Try it, just as a one-adventure experiment and tell your players about it before you start ;) They might like it and can give you advice onhow to improve it.

I read an inspiring article (ten years ago and in Danish, so I can't find the link) about how to improvise murder plots. The essense was that you didn't have to know the murderer before the game started, and you were fed plot ideas from your players when they start discussing the case. And if the game stalls, send someone to kick in the door and start shooting (or wanding or whatever). Let the players figure out where he came from and follow your interpretation of their ideas from there ;)

Probably not something you should do every session, but it might be a fun idea to try.

[Cranefist]

I cut down gm prep time by using a tool box. I have lists of names ready to go and I stick to settings that rely heavily on history and cliche. When I describe something or someone, the players can know where I'm coming from and the natural place our imaginations run is shared.

I run E6, so I don't spend all day writing stats and reading about spells.

My prep is basically:

Name and describe Npcs
List their goals and odd things about how they spend their time.
Generate some maps and populate them.
If there is a mystery, I write up: villain, time table of crimes, evidence, Npcs, red herrings
I make sure there are at least 3 things to do, that the clues that can be found without rolls directly lead to an answer, and that Npcs can be eliminated down to one or two by the clues.

[blue_the_wolf]

I dont use any kind of flowchart or heavy plot notes

... there are two types of preparation that I do.

the first is basically physical. I open up web pages and notes to all of the creatures that the players are likely to encounter as well as any spells or abilities they may use and special loot or other special info that is necessary. this is simply for reference purposes.

Second I give each imporant NPC a personality and desire of some sort which i keep basically in my head. it may be very simple idea of what motivates the troll under the bridge or a complex conceptual understanding of the life and desires of a dragon. but the purpose of this is not so much to memorize dialogue or plot paths but rather to have it in my head how I will react to the players guiding them to the 2 or 3 possible paths that the players can take.

Note... I believe that playing an RPG is about telling a story. you dont have to give the players unlimited freedom. you simply have to give them the illusion of unlimited freedom. to that end dont be afraid to rein in your players more random or disruptive choices, and dont be afraid to give them a left or right choice that dont actually matter. it sounds bad but what playes want at the end is to have fun. if they die because they took a left when you expected them to go right and get an important clue before going left to face the dragon... just turn it around so that they get the clue first making the BBEG fight as fun and exciting as possible.

[Gauss]

I run APs so my experience is a bit different. I go through the AP and look for holes (inconsistencies). I can do this in my spare time. Most of my prep involves writing down shorthand notes (usually in Word) and making tweaks to the creatures or treasure to match my group. My ratio is about 1hour of prep to 2hours of gaming. I could spend more time and probably do a better job but oh well. There is such a thing as being too prepared.

- Gauss

[Brambleman]

I once ran a campaign that started completely improvised. From there if i had an idea, i wrote it in a book i brought with me. I never got more than a few lines, mostly names as names are horrible to make up off the cuff.

[Odraude]

Index cards. Probably the best thing you can get as a GM. Even running high level encounters, they speed up everytihng. From writing brief stats on them to having 'Initiative Cards" that players can use to keep track of the initiative order. I always use these things and they make a hell of a difference.

[VDZ]

My players like to be led by the hand, which annoys me sometimes, but allows me to make a story that I think they will like. So for me I write down major plot twists, npc bios and mcguffin info. beyond that I have a few 3rd party books with pre generated npc enemies and a random encounter table that I update whenever the PCs level up. Keeping crs between two below and three above apl. since my sessions are all online my longest prep time is finding maps and making tokens.

[AaronOfBarbaria]

I don't write down any plans, and I don't dedicate much time to prep.

I do, however, make notes (or have a player take notes) of what happens in each session.

Basically I sit down at my spot at the table as the players are starting to arrive, look at what was going on last session, and then think of a bunch of ideas for what seems like a good next step... which means I am ready to respond to whatever actions the players decide on as response to me saying "Last time we left of at..."

For overall plot planning (i.e. the prep before beginning a new campaign) I brainstorm some ideas of the "big bad" of the campaign, and make a note as to the person/place/thing that is the opposition and what motives/desires/problems behind it all are... which I keep in mind while doing the brain storm at the beginning of each session.

Years and years ago I learned that, since no plan will survive contact with the PCs anyways, that it is better to let the players take the lead and just react in the way that seems like what they are hoping for - it leads to highly enjoyable and memorable games in which the players feel like I had everything planned... even though I frequently remind them that I plan almost nothing.

[Shaun Hocking]

I run Adventure Paths, but heavily modify them and flesh them out with extra NPCs and subplots. I spend about as long preparing each week as we do actually playing (5-6 hours).