By Eric Weiss
A few months back, we recorded a fun little sketch in which a beleaguered DM is suddenly reminded that he hasn’t done any prep for that evening’s D&D session.
We’ve been thinking about this sketch ever since we recorded it. It's a real problem for a lot of real-world DMs (us included). How do you make your campaign memorable when you just don’t have time to prep?
There are a handful of daredevil GMs who like to improvise. We even went this route with a 100% improvised actual play livestream for Free RPG Day last year. But most of us like at least a bit of prep time so we can be confident when we come to the table. The problem is that good prep takes a lot of time, and it’s one of the first things to go when work, family, and other obligations get in the way.
With that in mind, here are four DM tips for mastering last-minute session prep!
DM tip #1: Start with a prompt
We weren’t kidding when we made that sketch. A prompting system like Deck of Worlds really can get you up and running with a setting and story hook in minutes. Even if you don’t use every card you draw, the process jumpstarts your imagination so you can turn a basic prompt into something entirely your own.
If you’re short on time, try using prompts to speed up your creative process. If you want more DM tips for using prompts - or if you want to try them for yourself - you can head to a participating retailer to pick up a free 35-card demo of Deck of Worlds for Free RPG Day on June 21!
DM tip #2: Try Collaborative Worldbuilding
This is good advice even if you’ve done your prep. D&D is a collaborative medium. Sometimes, your players will tell you where the story is headed, and that can make your job easier as the DM.
You can do this by starting the session with a collaborative worldbuilding exercise, where you create a setting and session hook with your players. You can also read our recent blog on collaborative worldbuilding for DM tips that will make the process easy for you and fun for your players.
No matter what you do, make sure you pay attention to what interests your players during a session. Gauge the party’s reaction whenever you introduce new story elements. Once you see what catches their attention, focus on expanding that part of the world in between sessions. Doing so will help you use your limited time more efficiently, and ensure that your campaign is resonating with the players!
DM tip #3: Names have power
D&D is ultimately a game of imagination. Even if you’re using maps or minis, the best DM tips take into account that the real action takes place in the player’s mind.
As the DM, that means you don’t need to know every little detail. You just need to provide enough of a hook to get your players to dream up something fantastic – and a name is a great way to generate that effect!
The Namesake cards in Deck of Worlds can be a huge help. An evocative name raises a lot of questions about where that name comes from. A few rapid-fire answers will give you the broad details you need for a compelling story outline (just look at what our DM from the sketch did with the Temple of Glass in a few short seconds).
If prep time is limited, focusing on names is an easy way to get more bang for your buck. A cool name hints at something bigger, and from there your players will run with it and see the epic setting (and epic characters) they want to see in their heads.
DM tip #4: Connect to your existing story
You don’t need to build everything from scratch every time you sit down to prep. In fact, you probably shouldn’t. Your party will be more invested in your world if you can tie the different parts of it together. That can be a huge time-saver for last-minute GMs, since you should have plenty of fodder to draw on once the story is in motion.
You can even see this tip in practice in our original video, when the DM draws the prompt for an eccentric leader. He immediately identifies the leader as the NPC that gave the party their most recent quest, giving that NPC a much bigger stake in everything that’s happening.
That kind of callback is a great ‘aha’ moment, and makes it seems like the whole story has been thought out in advance. We referred to this technique as "retroactive foreshadowing" in one of our YouTube videos. As far as the party is concerned, important story details are being hidden in plain sight, and everything you’ve created could be potential foreshadowing for something that comes next!
If you want to try Deck of Worlds, we’ve printed a 35-card demo pack for Free RPG Day on June 21. You can grab one for yourself from any participating retailer! Check the Free RPG Day website to find a store near you. Alternatively, you can sign up for our newsletter below for 10% off your first order of Deck of Worlds or a printable PDF deck.