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I am revisiting this thread again to talk about progress and how my GM prep has changed in the past four years or so. As of this point in my life, I am a 5 star / 5 nova GM, and so I've run a lot of OrgPlay tables. Prepping a brand new scenario takes 5-7 hours worth of work -- primarily because I really like to make handouts and gear cards. Gear cards are especially important in Starfinder, because there is so much crazy different gear and players can't use it if they don't understand or remember what they got three rooms ago.
1) Complete first read of the scenario, underlining skill checks in red and highlighting key information (like treasure drops) in yellow.
1a) Glance at PFS GM Prep / Reviews / GM Forums if anything in ambiguous or confusing.
2) Figure out maps, and draw any that need drawing, or rejoice if there are flip-mats that I already own.
2a) If there is a dungeon or other structure with lots of little rooms, make sure to number the rooms on the battle map so that I don't have to flip back and forth in the scenario to figure out what room the PCs are in. Numbers are simple, and they make the flow easier.
3) Figure out minis, and look at all monster special abilities. Check to see if there is anything in the local environment that benefits or hampers the monsters' special abilities and make note of that. Sometimes for a scenario where there are multiple cool monster NPCs that are new to Starfinder I will draw up my own paper pawns -- but I only do that for special occasions.
4) Second full read through, pulling the story together, deciding pronunciations of NPC names, figuring out story flow. Identify anything confusing that will slow the pacing down, or any place where I can bring in extra lore to make the setting and characters pop. If I decide that an NPC has a cool accent, practice it.
5) Build handouts for mechanics that don't come up very often like underwater combat or vehicle chases. Make lists of NPCs, or anything else that might be hard for the PCs to track. Write up gear cards, if any.
5a) If i created a useful handout, share it on the GM thread or on PFS Prep.
6) Print Chronicle Sheets if I am running in person, or pre-fill as much as I can if I am running online.
7) Relax when I run and just have fun with it all. I still run on Goodreader, having two copies of the scenario on my iPad so that I can bounce back and forth between statblocks and the scenario proper.
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Read the first post in this thread and realize that we all start somewhere. Learning and growth is a continual process. I'm still learning, and still improving. I can't wait to see what I post on this thread in another few years.
Yours,
Hmm
PS Tell me about your prep -- I love to learn from others!
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Sure, I'll contribute :) My prep process goes something like this:
1) Read the scenario, figure out the general shape of it. Skim statblocks and other in-depth sections like Influence encounters, just focus on the story and the different scenes.
2) Go through it again and make notes of the following things I need in a text document:
- Miniatures/monster images
- Images to pull for player reference (Enemies, NPCs, other art). This includes NPCs without names (e.g. I'll write "male dwarf swordsman" and try to find matching art)
- Handouts, both those included in the scenario and treasure slips
- Maps Needed
- Any other misc. tasks
3) Divide those tasks up into smaller tasks and do them over the course of my prep time (so one day I'll assemble my paper minis, the next I'll collect treasure, etc)
4) Print the scenario and chronicles. Make any notes if necessary but honestly I don't do a lot of highlighting or anything unless it's super necessary. Look up any special abilities/spells that I don't innately understand and make a note.
5) Run the scenario!
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Venture-Lieutenant, Maryland—Hagerstown
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My prep, somewhat the same, but different order.
In-person and real time VTT
1) Step one print scenario, keeping stat block separate. Print additional copies of handouts, art, sign in sheet and chronicle. sorry trees, maybe Santa can bring me a fancy tablet this year
2) Look at the Primary and Secondary Success Condition and reporting notes (if applicable). Read the scenario (story part) and figure out where the former fit into scenario, making sure to note it in the margins.
3) Re-read the scenario, with highlighter in hand, looking for DCs, TBs, or any subsystems being used.
a) Look up an specific subsystem being used.
4) Finally look at stat-block, making note of any special abilities. Also note moral conditions or tactics used from story section.
a) Locate appropriate pawns and bases.
5) Locate appropriate maps. If they are custom, grumble, draw them out and expose my players to my bad art work.
6) Take extra chronicle and fill out with game information. Make six (6) copies. Or if I already GM'd and not a repeatable, five(5) copies.
7) Day/Night before, I read through of entire scenario again, including stat-blocks and any additional rules used in game.
8) Play game. Try to relax and remember, like pizza, the cheesier the better.
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Contributor
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- Images to pull for player reference (Enemies, NPCs, other art). This includes NPCs without names (e.g. I'll write "male dwarf swordsman" and try to find matching art)
I do that one too when I have time! It really helps people visualize NPCs!
2) Look at the Primary and Secondary Success Condition and reporting notes (if applicable). Read the scenario (story part) and figure out where the former fit into scenario, making sure to note it in the margins.
^ This one is ESSENTIAL. Thanks for pointing that out. Knowing what the players need to make their Success Conditions and then highlighting or marking it in the appropriate locations means that you don't forget to give them a chance to earn what they need to succeed.
8) Play game. Try to relax and remember, like pizza, the cheesier the better.
Yeah, I have a lot of cheesy NPCs! Being lactose intolerant, it's the only place I can enjoy my cheese now! The handouts are a tremendous help, especially if you want to run in a tight time frame. Closing time comes at ten PM at Dreamers, so we need to run our games in about 3.5 hours. The easier it is for the players to grok the rules, the faster and smoother your run can be.
Thank you both for sharing!
Hmm
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Lactase pills can also be purchased in bulk at Costco and other warehouse stores.
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I've been experimenting with putting art on a background for more impact. I pull a picture from a royalty free site such as pixabay and put the character PNGs in the foreground.
Sometimes I end up losing the transparency on the PNG and have to remove the background (or sometimes I need to remove the background from a photo). Surprisingly, I've found Microsoft Powerpoint to be really good at it. One click to enter remove background mode and usually 3-4 more clicks to teach the AI what's background and not background.
I think HMM was lurking in my 2-18 run, I put the cover leshy on a bunch of backdrops.
Also I slipped in the Knights Who Say Ni. But I don't think anyone noticed them.