The advice shouldn’t be “don’t over-prepare” it should be “don’t over-rely on your preperation. Be prepared to improvise”

@QuantemDeconstructor

Жыл бұрын

My first campaign I tried to run I knew my table played it slow so I prepped wide instead of deep, they really enjoyed it, ended because a party member couldn't keep going and we didn't want to continue without her, planning has its value

@iliketopunchthings9353

Жыл бұрын

This is an amazing advice for newer DMs because “over preparing” means nothing really and you should prepare however you see fit for your campaign but “over-relying” on your preparation can lead to a lot of confusion and the story begins to slow down a lot. You should always have some form of prep but always be ready to improvise, this is D&D after all, not a novel.

@martinsilva6679

Жыл бұрын

My strategy is to prepare the scenarios, the npc, the conflicts, certain millestones but not too much in the script of "how the story should progress", instead I let the story to develope naturally, and improvise en how to engage the elements I prepare with the unexpected choices the players made. getting to strict to a script is risky because players always made at least a few choices in directions I haven't considered. Improvisation is the best tool to cover the unexpected, but you need to have clarity on what are the NPC doing and what will happened if the players doesn't show up

@jakobbraun5180

Жыл бұрын

exactly - prepare improvisation material and not things that probably won‘t be played anyways. A list of names, memorable character quirks, locations and rumors should do the trick.

@Lambeaux0

Жыл бұрын

Yep. Make the plan for the present wide, not long.

I agree soooo much about the preparing for history and a world, as those are important things that the players WILL notice the inconsistencies and holes in. and yes, absolutely prepare problems, not solutions. the players will figure the latter out and often times surprise you!

@Etheriell

2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely agree with that last point. I run three games in the same shared universe, and each of the groups know of the other ones existence but haven't run into each other. All three of them have learned about this universe threat that is approaching that I call the Titans. Basically biomechanical kaiju. They are aware they couldn't fight it straight up. They also are aware that each of these things is piloted by a crew, and it's biggest weakness would be getting inside of it and being able to stop the crew. They also know that the creators of these things knew that too, so they put measures in place to make it very difficult for people who don't have authorization to get inside. I didn't come up with a solution for this problem LOL. I have let them come up with it. And between the three groups, they've come up with probably two to three dozen different ideas, and I'd let at least half of them be perfectly reasonable solutions. I think you get the most fun and interesting problem solutions when you let your players come up with a solutions, as long as you're not just shooting down every solution they come up with. Give them the rules of the problem, or give them the ability to find the rules of the problem, the limitations, and just sit back and let them do their thing.

@finntroll01

2 жыл бұрын

I do not agree with the problem part. Of course, if they find a solution that you didn't think of, just go with it. BUT, if you as a GM comes up with a problem, that you cant find a solution for yourself, how do you expect your players to be able to ? I don't want to railroad my players, but i don't want them to be stuck either. Btw, love your FF14 and D&D videos ^^

@KairoStark

2 жыл бұрын

You're commenting everywhere... and that's great! we miss you, Jocat

@kirbwarriork3371

2 жыл бұрын

"Prepare problems, not solutions." is beautiful advice. Every problem has a solution and most have a multitude of them. If I've learned anything from my players, it's that there is no such thing as an unsolvable problem, but rather the fun comes from finding a solution the character would come up with and be okay with.

@kirbwarriork3371

2 жыл бұрын

@@finntroll01 There's a significant difference between focusing on preparing problems and not being able to come up with solutions. If you can't come up with ANY solution, then you likely have to work on the problem more.

"Don't waste prep" was the big one for me. When I started I had a huge overpreperation problem, and the issue was wasting time on stuff that would never come up. One early session, for example, I prepared 5 full Dungeons, and the party didn't end up going to any of them. The phrase that spoke to me (which seems like basically the same place you landed here) was Brennan Lee Mulligan saying "You should prepare as much or as little as you need to feel comfortable improvising the rest."

@havable

2 жыл бұрын

Wow. I've never heard of anyone over prepping that much. On the upside, you had five full dungeons that you could use later on in another game.

@doomkingraye7692

Жыл бұрын

me starting a oneshot as DM without even knowing what I want to do

@KajHard

Жыл бұрын

I know exactly what you mean. At least the work is not entirely wasted, as you can reskin these full dungeons later and reuse them.

@Volvandese

Жыл бұрын

@@havable Honestly yeah, I'd frequently get into a hyper-fixation mode and go way overboard. You're right, though; that it gave me tons of spare parts to use later.

@rich63113

Жыл бұрын

@@havable That's the sort of prep that a lot of people recommend to newbie DMs. They tell them to think about every thing the players could do, and have an answer for that. It leads to burnout. "Don't overprepare" is about focusing on things you know will be useful, and things you can be flexible with.

I always saw “overpreparing” as “don’t put all your eggs in the same basket”. It’s not necessarily talking about prep time and effort but moreso expectations. The more you plan for things to go a certain way the more disappointed you’ll be when they don’t, and that can lead to everyone not having a good time if it’s clear everyone went into it expecting something different. They’re essentially expressing that being able to adlib and improv is a much more useful ability to make sure things go smoothly than something you spent a week rehearsing

@DMofDMs

2 жыл бұрын

Sure. It's just that "don't overprepare" doesn't actually, literally mean that. I think this is a huge issue in the community; it's so hard to pin down exactly what we're talking about and why that we end up falling back on vague concepts that are so broad they border on useless. Absolutely be careful with your expectations. 100% agree. But...people who say "don't overprepare" meaning something other than the words they're using...should choose their words more carefully. I mean, this is all some branch of storytelling. So word choice is something we should all be paying close attention to, anyway.

@TheOriginalDogLP

2 жыл бұрын

@@DMofDMs I think "overprepare" is a valid word for "prep too much specific stuff and expect player to follow that". Why do you automatically assume "over" is time-related?

@DMofDMs

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheOriginalDogLP I'm not. "Over" means "more than is necessary". "Prepare" means "to make something ready for use or consideration, or to deal with something". It's the "...and expect players to follow that" that loses me. That's got nothing to do with preparation itself; it's a whole separate thing. That's what I'm talking about. This need for precision is so high because the hobby involves so many processes within itself. If you're not precise, things get muddy really fast. Which is, I think, the reason that so many people have been able to make a career out of it. Laying everything out, nice and clear. Because it's actually pretty hard to do.

@TheOriginalDogLP

2 жыл бұрын

@@DMofDMs Tbf normally there is more context and information to this advice. I think the word is good enough if you further explain your reasoning. We are not writing a thesis after all. Also there are not so many people making a career out of this. You can much more easily make a career out of other stuff. Otherwise I agree, being precise is hard work. Another reason to not expect it from hobbyists.

@DMofDMs

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheOriginalDogLP The moment that you add context and explain your reasoning, that's the moment you stop talking about preparing and move on to the actual heart of the matter. As long as you get somewhere useful, awesome. It's just when we try to refer to those concepts in shorthand like this that we run into trouble. Look at the term "railroading"; it is just absolutely LOADED with emotional baggage. I've seen hundreds (if not thousands) of posts debating on what exactly the term is referring to. The more we can boil things down and get to the root of the subject, the more streamlined the conversations become and the more time we can spend on the real meat of it and actually improve at this. Of course no one's obligated or required to do so. But most of us are pretty time-poor, so for me at least, I want to be efficient and take meaningful steps forward as quickly as I can before I run out of time. And of course it's easier to make a career out of something else. That's obvious. I wasn't somehow suggesting that it's as common as working in food service or medicine or something silly like that. But if someone has told me even ten years ago that making KZread videos or writing a blog or whatever about D&D could be a legit profession for more than half a dozen people, I'd have been very much surprised. My point was only this: if there are people making money off of it, there must be a need for it. If there's a need for it, then it must not be something easily obtained.

Take it from Eisenhower: Plans are useless, but planning is everything.

@Starwolves57

2 жыл бұрын

This.

@mbr5742

2 жыл бұрын

Wasn't he the guy who put all problems in four groups from the must be done NOW (Deal with Montgomery and his Ego), the should be done soon (Deal with deGaule and his ego), the can be delegatet (deal with Patton and his ego) and minor stuff (beat Adolf)

@wanderinghistorian

2 жыл бұрын

Love me some Ike. You can do a lot worse than following the advice of the man who lead the Allies to victory in WW2. Oh he was also a US president later. :P

@MonkeyJedi99

2 жыл бұрын

@@wanderinghistorian And the US interstate highway system!

@templarw20

2 жыл бұрын

@@mbr5742 I mean... the fact that he had those four things and managed to succeed says a lot... I suppose the only good thing for him is that he didn't have to deal with MacArthur and HIS EGO.

I think there is a third thing that "don't overprepare" usually means. "Don't let perfect get in the way of good enough" Your first game will never be perfect and trying to prepare for a perfect first session can lead to DM burnout before you ever run a session. Just give it a go and learn from your mistakes. Most players will be understanding and any existing DMs playing in your game will be there for you - we have all been there.

@victorholmes7075

2 жыл бұрын

This 100% That's always been my interpretation but considering I'm a relative novice to TTRPGS I respect her interpretation of the advice trying to prevent railroading.

@sitnamkrad

2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely agree. I've seen so many GMs ask help creating for example a complete pantheon of gods without even having a good purpose for these gods in their game. And while trying to perfect this, they are not playing the game. There are 3 key principles that go into creating almost everything. 80-20 rule. 80% of the content is created by 20% of your time. Details and perfection takes time. so the last 20% of the content takes up the remaining 80% of the time YAGNI : You ain't gonna need it. Do not create something unless you know its purpose and that it's going to be required. Otherwise you will create something that's not going to be required, and even if it's required, your creation will not be exactly what you needed. KISS : Keep it simple stupid. The less details you use in your creations, the easier it is to keep track of it all and more importantly, repurpose them if they inevitable don't end up being used. (Yes, YAGNI is supposed to avoid that, but just because there's a principle for it doesn't mean it's not gonna happen). And one thing that I often keep at hand for TTRPG specifically. Your information can be wrong or delayed, when presented correctly. Just like the real world, people in your fictional world are not all knowing or infallible. Allow your NPCs to make mistakes, lie just to cover up their own ignorance, disagree on facts, or just simply not know. You can also delay information. Like when a player asks for details, give them enough information to continue the adventure, save the rest for later. This also helps to keep the game moving and prevents people from getting bored if only one player happens to care about that specific part of your world.

@TheOriginalDogLP

2 жыл бұрын

I actually think that is what most people mean when they say this. But I agree with Ginny that without more context and explanation the advice is not good.

@htspencer9084

2 жыл бұрын

This for sure is what I take it as. Anxiety, stress and DM burnout is such a dangerous yet avoidable issue! Be kind to yourself!

@zigedelic3909

2 жыл бұрын

This is my interpretation as well. I've always used it as a DM burnout prevention mantra, since that's been my biggest problem as a DM.

i personally always saw the quote as: "dont try to cover every single base, prepare enough that you feel comfortable playing and dont exhaust yourself for the sake of a game meant for fun."

@fierybookworm

2 жыл бұрын

eyyyy 4:18 :)

One thing that I've found incredibly useful for my Extremely ADHD DM brain is realizing that certain kinds of prep done early can relieve a lot of pressure/necessity for other prep later. When inspiration hits, I can pour a lot of time and enthusiasm into putting together maps and locations and NPCs and possible treasure and hints and plot hooks and who knows what else, not in a linear fashion but just in a 'fun learning about this world' fashion, because I'm _excited_ and I want to play with my world. Inevitably, the first time or two that we venture into that location, the party will encounter SOME aspect of it all, but there's always a ton of things they don't go near -- which means that for the NEXT week, I rarely have to do more than refine one or two things in the back of my head while I'm doing laundry. I also generally keep prepared lists like "names common to this region", "moon phase calendar", or monster manual stat block page numbers. That's the kind of prep that took a little work at the start (again, while I was feeling VERY EXCITED about playing in this world and wanted something to play with between sessions), but now is just _there_ whenever I need it, helping me improvise. The biggest thing about overpreparation that I've run into, aside from the real risk of railroading, is that if you spend too much time and energy and thought on your prep, it's possible to get bored of a scenario before it even happens in game. Stop while it's still fun and you're still excited. That's really key.

@abeklein7815

2 жыл бұрын

That's been my life lately as I deal with my own ADHD brain in preparation for a game starting in August!

@Anna-dd1tb

Жыл бұрын

Currently trying to prep for my first ever game, as a DM but also ever, with an ADHD brain, this sounds like an awesome advice, thank you !

@Rinouka

Жыл бұрын

i can't find a way to privately reply as i don't youtube comment much, but I'd like to rack ya brain as I have ADHD myself and want to get into dming but prepping is my biggest enemy atm xD so picking at ya brain would be wonderful

@vapx0075

4 ай бұрын

OMG perfect! I'm not ADHD or autistic to any large extent but the stuff you guys give out is almost always incisive and helpful. Thank you.

This! This is good advice, better to over-prepare and then learn to dial it back to your comfort level, nothing is wasted if you learn something from it.

@SandEngineer

2 жыл бұрын

And the more you know about your characters, world and plots the better you get at improvising when (not if) it goes off the rails!

@Dyundu

2 жыл бұрын

And those extra notes, dungeons, world building, etc you had prepped but never used? Scratch out the proper nouns and repurpose them for your next session/campaign/whatever.

I think the only point of "over" preparing that really matters is when the DM is putting more pressure/stress on themselves than the amount of fun they're having actually playing the game.

@3nertia

2 жыл бұрын

I think that gets at the heart of why the advice is so popular; kudos!

@wingedyera

2 жыл бұрын

This was me. That's why don't over prepare actually really worked for me. I could only start enjoying dming when I relied more on my improvisation skills. I was sooo stressed trying to work out the mechanics of combat and letting them experience the roleplay. having lists of npc s including character treats and voice notes, having a thing prepped what ever way they went ready... etc. I am far better at improvising. and my games were better when I let go and didn't clung to the stuff I put on paper. and I didn't die out of stress... so I'm sorry Ginny I disagree with you here.

Honestly this was such a relief to hear as a new DM. I am a preparer by nature so when everyone told me to "not over-prepare" my first campaign, I felt like I was already a bad DM. I'm loving your videos! Thanks for all the ideas!

@Warwipf

8 ай бұрын

This is already one year old, so you're probably over the beginner phase, but to everyone who feels like they are a bad DM for this or any other reason outside of the table: If your players are having fun in your game then you are not a bad DM. You can break literally every single rule you find on the internet and still be a good DM. It's your game and success and failure is entirely dictated by whether you and your players like it or not.

Longtime player, 1st time DM: just ran 1st session, I prepared waaaaay to many contingencies on "but what if my players do this??" I nearly fell into the trap of implementing countermeasures for creative thinking because it vaguely reminded me of a cheese strat I'd lost sleep building a countermeasure for. I think maybe this is what they mean?

@donalddickerson206

Жыл бұрын

It's exactly what is meant. Don't overprepare means knowing that you only need to prepare what you will reasonably use, and that you don't need to use all of your preparation. In fact, expect the players to circumvent your preparation. As you get more experienced, you will do what the old DMs do--have a folder full of random pregens, characters, encounters, etc. Then, when something comes up you aren't prepared for, just pull one of those. And mind, most of those pregens, etc., come from unused preparation in the past or from pre-made books of random things. You won't prep them, you won't even look at them until you pull it from the folder. And that's because if you waste too much time preparing things, you will be upset when the things you did prepare go unused or get circumvented. Plan in that you will have to improvise some, and let that lead where the prep goes. For example: improvising the goal of the BBEG in the dungeon is not smart; their goal/motivation and specific method to achieve it determine the entire structure and context of the dungeon to tell you how to make everything else (even what sorts of monsters and traps could be encountered). But....you probably don't need to detail every lowly servant of his in the nearby 15 miles radius. Know at least vaguely what type and how many minions he has in the adventuring area as well as how he contacts them, write-up the really important ones (second in command, wizard, etc.), then give generic stat blocks (HP, AC, weapon) to the ones that probably will just be cannon fodder. If the cannon fodder ever become important, you can improvise all the details about them. But you don't need to waste time keeping track of the hopes and dreams of Jojo the 1 HD kobold who stands slightly to the right and 5 kobolds up from the lieutenant (unless Jojo is designed to be a useable and important turncoat separable from the other 50 kobolds). A lot of DMing is just thinking in the moment "what would a creature like x do right now" and rolling dice to let them decide what will happen.

The comfort level advice is not just good advice, it's very well explained, particularly for something I've tried and failed to impart to other DMs in the past. Nicely done, Ginny!

@Shadowassassin908

2 жыл бұрын

Your comment says 1d ago and yet the video is only 4 hours old, gotta hide yourself better time traveler

@Sleeper_6875

2 жыл бұрын

Not good?

@glenndallas7171

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sleeper_6875 I said "not just good advice, it's very well-explained," meaning it's both good advice AND very well-explained.

@sorcdk2880

2 жыл бұрын

Prepare to comfort level is good advise for GMs with some experiance, but it is not particularly good for brand new GMs. The problem is that new GMs tend to be very nervouse about their preparation, and as such they end up thinking they need to prepare much more than what would work reasonable for them. This is then chained together with the real reason why this advice is given to new GMs, which is that they do not know how to prepare in a useful style, such that it is flexible, usefull, not railroady and so on. This means that it is relatively easy for them to prepare in a way that sets them up to become much more railroady than intended, and this has much higher chance of happening when they do more preparations. Another way to put it, new GMs are much more likely to hit the problems with their prepartation style if they prepare a lot, and therefore the point at which they overprepare is much earlier than for other GMs. Since their comfort level likely requires a ton of prep and therefore likely to lead them into these situations, then I would say this advice might actually be harmful to them, as they would end up in that problematic situation. I would therefore instead put it that "As a new GM, be careful not to overprepare, once you learn how to prepare well then adding more prepearation is fine".

@Sleeper_6875

2 жыл бұрын

@@glenndallas7171 oh ty!! I read it wrong

While I can't guarentee this for everyone, in my experience the worst sessions I've ever run were games that I prepped last minute. And when I say worst, I mean WORST. Be flexible with your preparation, but be sure to HAVE preparation.

@reaprcussion5703

2 жыл бұрын

Weirdly enough, I find that my improv sessions tend to be pretty good, even though I'm sweating the whole time lol

@jacoosacoon118

2 жыл бұрын

@@reaprcussion5703 dont forget to factor your well being into how well the session runs. You can run the greatest sessions known to man, but that matters little if its unsustainable for you to stress so much in session that you are sweating bullets to survive it. IF it is sustainable for you, then thats amazing! HOWEVER; that's a superpower most people can't claim.

@cruciblegaminggroup5471

2 жыл бұрын

I have the opposite issue. The more I prep the worse the game feels. It plays well but it feels wrong. Last minute prep is almost as bad. I need a middle level of prep :) Every GM needs to find the right amount for them.

"I'm here to explain myself and add a solution, like a god damn contributing member of this community" You have long earned my respect, but this is a great example of why you maintain it.

That stuff about "if players avoid an encounter you've prepared, just reskin it and throw it at them later" is perfect.

I'm literally always prepping. 30min lunch break: "I wonder what bbeg is up to", 5 min between meetings: "X player is going to love this item", hours before the session: " I should double check that i have all the stat blocks ready"

@TopTierKnees

2 жыл бұрын

I do the same - just daydreaming about what's going on in the world and what the players might do during the day. I find I'm comfortable with improv because I'm so familiar with the world and characters already.

@nightfall89z62

2 жыл бұрын

This sounds very familiar.... I think if d&d stuff randomly all the time, well I used to anyway, hasn't happened lately but meh. As for improv, I'm actually pretty good at basic improv, where I have the most trouble with being unprepared is when it comes to stat blocks for enemies. I rarely used the creatures straight out of the books, most of them are not adequate challenges for my pcs or they feel shallow and cliche. I do use them sometimes, my players don't seem to mind but it isn't interesting to me to just use the basic creatures, so they generally wind up being used only for random encounters that have little or no impact on the adventure by themself(if I need it to have impact on the adventure I adjust their equipment and give them stuff relevant to the adventure that can be found as loot, clues to the story in some fashion). The problem is it is very hard for me to have stats planned out for every "unique" encounter(encounters can be reskinned and relocated as ginny said), so I frequently end up not having every such encounter built. I haven't found d the balance their yet unfortunately and I'm not comfortable with building every creature and npc in the world. I generally use random generators and make tweaks for this but I haven't really found a generator I like, none of them include every supplement I have and allow access to, and none of them have every creature that exists in the supplements I have available.

@3nertia

2 жыл бұрын

I think I love you ...

@3nertia

2 жыл бұрын

@@nightfall89z62 Have you tried creating a simplified table? What I'm doing (newb advice so take with a grain of salt, please) is, I know the environments in my realm so I've compiled lists of creatures likely to be found in each biome and the transitions between them. Then, for random encounters, I just roll on the appropriate table for a "random" (but not *too* random) encounter ...

@nightfall89z62

2 жыл бұрын

@@3nertia yes actually. I haven't finished making my lists though. That's an extremely good example of forward thinking. I didn't think to make a table like that until I had been dmming for 2 or 3 years.

There's two other meanings to "don't over-prep", besides "don't railroad" and "don't waste prep" imo. The first is "don't stress out": lots of new DMs tend to stress about whether or not they have enough material yet, to the point where they never feel ready to actually start running a game. DMing shouldn't be stressful, or intimidating to the point where it turns people away from doing it! The second meaning is "don't burn out". Lots of new DMs are in a sort of honeymoon period where they spend every waking hour thinking about their next game, to the point where after a couple of months, they burn themselves out. If you pace yourself out, DMing can be much more sustainable as a hobby to do besides your job, school, or whatever else you've got going on. Definitely agree with the conclusion of the video though. Both of those extra issues are about finding what your sweetspot for prep lies.

@ddis29

2 жыл бұрын

+

@Michael.42

2 жыл бұрын

After watching this video which I thought was good advise and helpful and came to the comment section to basically write exactly this. The goal of that advise is don't railroad on one extreme and let's the complexities of world build be a barrier to ever attempting to DM. I think the later being more the point of the advise. Don't let the daunting work of pep prevent you from trying out running a game. Just like playing DnD it's a lot a first but gets easier with experience. After running a couple game you'll see where your lack of prep failed you and know better how to prep next time. After this happens a few times you'll fall into the system that work for you and your table.

@Nionivek

2 жыл бұрын

I still don't get this advice given that.... I still stress out running games regardless of the prep I do. Too much, too little, I just want to do it right.

@davidgantenbein9362

2 жыл бұрын

I think it’s also an age thing. In my youth I had endless time to read rules and write down stuff for the game. Nowadays I simply don’t have the time and hence either learn to prepare with less work or I will exhaust myself and better not run a game. If I look at running a campaign, the thought „oh, I would have to be prepare soo much … let’s just not run a game and better stay a player“ pops up and basically makes an entire campaign not happen. To learn what kind of preparation I don’t need is hence essential to me running campaigns, not just to feel better.

@darksoul103

2 жыл бұрын

@@Nionivek But you're still DMing, right? the advice it more for DM's that are just getting off the ground or those that spend so much time trying to prepare they psych themselves out and lose interest in DMing altogether. being a DM will always come with some amount of stress, you just handle it better with practice.

I was told "don't overprepare", but while preparing, I eventually realized that I do still need to prepare a lot, especially if I want to avoid railroading. If anything, I overprepared by looking up DM tip videos, like Matt Coville's video series, and read through the 3 base books (which I actually enjoyed overall. Lots of ideas). Like Ginni said, even if something you plan doesn't happen, you can still use it later. If the party goes off the path I planned, I like having ideas for side quests they might run into. My friend ran Strahd and one session was literally just us getting drunk in a bar. Nothing he planned happened, but we all had fun talking with the random NPCs he'd make up. Still everyone's favorite session.

The version of this advice that I took to heart was "never force yourself to prepare more than you must." It hold a lot more nuance than "don't overprepare," despite echoing a similar sentiment. It's a caution against World Builder's Disease, which can be a massive trap for new DMs. But it's more open, too. You can let yourself go wild thinking about the world and the intricacies, but if you find yourself trying to force things, chances are you need to take a step back.

My group introduced a routine a couple of years ago: at the end of each session we tell the DM where we plan to go next time. Essentially, if they give us two or three plot hooks we'll tell them which one we'd like to follow, and if we're already following a side quest etc. we'll tell them what our character's motivation is so they know how to keep it relevant/engaging. This means the DM knows how to plan the start of the session at the very least. Plus it gives us players some responsibility to keep the story going and not just wait for the DM to do all the prep for us. It's worked really well so far!

@coldnova

2 жыл бұрын

I get my players to do the same thing! I find it creates a healthy engagement from players and they end up invested in where they're going a lot more.

@JenamDrag0n

2 жыл бұрын

Ooh, I like that idea!

@kelackey

2 жыл бұрын

Sweet Jesus, I practically beg my players to do this and it's like pulling teeth. It's such an obvious and easy solution to a really overbearing problem.

@hamishmartin9699

2 жыл бұрын

A hundred million times this! I run a very open world and there are times where the players could spiral off in 10 different directions. I always (although not always successfully) get them to at least say roughly where they are going, and explain if they do that it saves me a HUGE amount of prep time, but also increases the quality as I'm not spending all my time trying to cover 10 different bases, and can instead focus on one thing. And then probably throw a chunk of that prep away when they do something I completely and totally didn't expect lol

@alexayres6812

2 жыл бұрын

@@kelackey Genuinely don't understand the resistance and/or pride some players take in deliberately going against what the DM has planned. Surely it's better for everyone to follow the plot hooks the DM has clearly thought out?? Obviously there's room for improv and it's not always obvious what route you're supposed to take, and some of my best DnD moments have come from players taking a direction that no one expected - but in my experience DnD always works best if you think of it as a collaboration between everyone at the table, and not some weird competition to try and outwit the DM.

"Prepare what benefits your game" - How to tell what prepping the right amount looks/feels like. Advice from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master, it's a great book by Mike Shea/The Lazy DM where he breaks down prep into tangible steps to follow, highly recommend!

@davidholmes3728

2 жыл бұрын

Yo any idea where I could grab that book for my gf

@Flaraen

2 жыл бұрын

@@davidholmes3728 Drivethrurpg and Amazon both have it, first thing that comes up if you search return of the Lazy Dungeon Master :) Mike Shea/Sly Flourish/the Lazy DM also has a KZread channel where he talks about what's in the book and other DM tips, well worth a watch!

@johnmickey5017

2 жыл бұрын

@@davidholmes3728 Start with Return of the Lazy DM, it is a lot better than the original Lazy DM. If you have questions about the Secrets/Clues part, Mike has really good videos that explain it in different ways

A few years ago, my daughter wanted me to run a campaign for her and her friends. What I did for her made her incredibly happy. She has read old story notes and completed chapters about a character I still use to this day, but she didn't know the early history of him. I took her and her party from Oerth to Kalar and stranded them there. The time period I sent her to was this character's earlier years. She played it very well, because she actually had personal knowledge of future events, but kept them all to herself. The reason this worked is because she was a tertiary character, meaning her presence or absence was not going to affect the time line, at all, and in a couple of instances, her presence explained a few events, but moreover, it gave her a chance to observe, first-hand, the rise, and fall of Mordaine, prior to his becoming a Lycan (essentially a werewolf elf. They are more able to control the lunar changes than humans). It even gave her the opportunity to see him in the eyes of one who might have seen him as less of a protagonist, and more of an antihero. She was a magic-user, whose powers failed when she entered Kalar. Mordaine instructed her how to use magic properly in Kalar. There was a lot of personal interaction here, something she was not used to in Dungeons and Dragons. Kalar is a very dangerous place, with many similar places to, say, Mos Eisley or Mordor exist. My first interactions with all the characters was indeed, interesting, because the gods of Oerth were not the same beings as the ones from Kalar. Though the language was similar, meaning Kalarian common v. Oerthian common were like the differences between British English v. Southern American English, the language of magicks were very different. What helped me with this is, how was I going to make this happen, what was going to happen to make this believable, and how far was I willing to take this. I ran this concurrent with events I already knew the outcome of in a parallel timeline, and I was pretty well-prepared on how to NOT add an irritant to the timeline. It took about 5 sessions for her to figure out, she was not the primary character in this time line. She was here to observe events of Kalar, not write them, though she would be writing out her own sequences of events, and even becoming associated with all those who aided and ultimately a couple who betrayed him. After what I wanted her to see was concluded, her party would have the option to attempt to return to Oerth, or stay on Kalar and write their own adventures outside the time line of Kalar. None of them wanted to leave Kalar. They are in the process of traveling south to the Ice Fortress of ancient wyrms to recover a holy sword for one of them because that character took on the mantle of Paladinhood. Maybe they will run into Mordaine again, one day. That will depend on where they go, and when. My advice is, at least have some idea what you want to see the party do. I know, I've heard it a thousand times, "let the players decide their destiny", but what you end up with is a bunch of players that constantly play in the sandbox, because they lack any form of direction. You have to offer the players REAL choices, not chores. Ok, chores have their place, but that is often not what the party signs up for. Careful being too ambitious, or handing out magic items too readily, especially if they were not earned.

I love this discussion. I'll be brief and suggest two inputs: First I have the players fill out a very detailed survey before even rolling up their characters. This is reviewed as part of my checklist for making sub-adventures in my campaign - the survey is not a "one and done" to be quickly forgotten, but one of my tools for making each adventure session. Second, I write a quick paragraph on what the adventure will be, with a short list of "to do" items like a stat block for the boss, sourcing (not making) a map, etc. Then it's much easier to focus on the story, and work the details when you have time. Helps link an ongoing, coherent and player-centric story into your campaign.

i always took "don't over prepare" more as a reminder that there is no perfect amount of preparation so you shouldn't put to much pressure onto yourself to prep every single detail that is probably not even needed. What I tend to say to the new DMs I help with their first session is: it is hard to prepare for the actions that you dont' know yet(the actions of the player) but you it is much easier to prepare for the actions that you do know (the actions of and reactions of the world around the player). Of course I elaborate on it and explain what I mean.

Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master by Mike Shea/Sly Flourish is a great whole book that goes into detail on how to prep flexibly and just the amount you personally need to feel prepared, including a full customizable system. Definitely recommend! It's also got a bundle of holding right now to get it and other for just $6, though only for the next 8 hours.

@tinymushroom6977

2 жыл бұрын

This book was a gamechanger for my style of preparation toward creating a slew of tools that could be used regardless of what the PC's decide to do without wasting any effort in the long run :)

@ftkinney

2 жыл бұрын

I agree it’s a good book.

I like to tell new DMs “Prepare as much as you feel comfortable with, but remember that what is said at the table is canon, and improved moments are equally as canon as pre-planned material”

@QuantemDeconstructor

Жыл бұрын

Great advice, my plans went as deep as knowing what set encounters are, whether randoms are possible, and what to do if the party flubs things (in dungeons) then just what kind of people are in town and what sidequests are available

@toddtuttle5526

4 ай бұрын

improvised*?

Getting comfortable with your own DMing style is particularly good advice, every DM has a different flavor. In my group every player is also a DM, we rotate between several campaigns with each of us running a different one. The other members of my group have a very loud and dynamic style (voices, sound effects, etc.), whereas I have a much more reserved style because I just can't do those things. It takes me out of my comfort zone and for a long time I felt like I wasn't "DMing right". However, one session when I expressed this concern the group actually said they love my style and that the matter of fact way I describe my world lends it its own kind of weight. An amusing description one person said was it's like Rod Sterling presents D&D, which lead to a joke where my group says they picture me in a suit smoking while walking around the party during my opening and closing narrations. "Imagine if you will, a world of high adventure..."

@thomasvontom

Жыл бұрын

It's nice the more dms playing. They understand more then just a player does. To to look for a reason to bite the plot hook. That doesn't mean they can't play there character. But they will through a bone sometimes just to keep things moving forward. Also they understand a little bit more. If they can't do something they normally could do. There is likely a reason why. Not that players can't have this trait. But having the experience of both sides of the screen does help.

Honestly, the prep is my favorite part of DMing. I find encounter constructing and world-building to be incredibly satisfying. I also do my prep in two tiers: Long term, which is very broad and flexible, and immediate, where I am prepping a single session or adventure in greater detail, often taking elements of my long term prepwork and defining and refining it into something more specific.

@matthewadavid

2 жыл бұрын

OK, that is great advice: two tiers of prep!! Fully agree

@KGray24666

2 жыл бұрын

Yup, I do things pretty much like that. I have some long-term Ideas that are in a 'living document' that I update after each session. As well as prepping for each session in much greater detail. I enjoy the World-building, for me, it's the best thing. Over the years I've found that by building my world I'm more prepared, I know how the 'World' will respond. So I don't have to worry so much about what the PCs might do.

@johnmickey5017

2 жыл бұрын

I would hate if this advice guilted a new DM away from a kind of prep they would actually enjoy, like it described.

Ginny Di Fans: "Ginny is the purest, most wholesome and innocent being in all creation." Comment Section Ginny: (reads from Urban Dictionary, complete with hand gestures, 90% of content bleeped out) Ginny Di Fans: "So pure. So innocent."

"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." Eisenhower

I clicked into this because this sounded really close to my #1 rule I teach new DMs. "Don't over-create; When you spend a lot of time creating something, you fall in love with it. Never put anything you love in front of a player. Assume anything you put in front of them will be killed, stolen, and/or set on fire."

I would like to add a third interpretation of the "Don't overprepare" advice. Start learning how to DM by taking things 1 session at a time. You will most probably not be able to create a world and campaign like Matt Mercer, Matthew Colvile, Jason Carl, etc. If you're comfortable in running a single session, create a mini-campaign, then a full campaign, then a 10 year spanning epic. You want to try politics, experiment with it. Build the tools that you need from the ground up, taking managable steps one session at a time. Don't be paralised by endless worldbuilding and just start. Prepare what you need for that session (no matter how much that may be).

"Don't overprepare" feels like something seasoned DMs learned for themselves after getting comfortable with prep and settling into a looser, more improvisational DM style, not something that should be suggested to total newbies. Literally more than a year and a half into DMing for the first time, I STILL don't feel ready for a session if I don't overdo my prep. Planning isn't the enemy if you're enjoying putting the work in.

@AMatiukas

2 жыл бұрын

Part of the reason a bunch of us more seasoned GMs suggest against over doing it is high workload means burn out happens faster. We are often trying to mitigate a problem more experienced people regularly face rather than what newbies need to be worrying about.

@3nertia

2 жыл бұрын

@@AMatiukas Good point!

@hugofontes5708

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, it took me ages to be able to let go of planning a lot of things beforehand and being cool with it. Much less tiring now. As Ginny said, your comfort is important and you should plan around the important things of the session. I add "what your players can't perceive doesn't exist" - you can get away with very simple mental models of A LOT of things: personalities, organizations, places, impending doom events, etc. You just need like three things to anchor each in game entity with and you can pretty much deduce how it will behave in the relevant contexts without having to spend hours obsessing over every little detail. D&D encounter planning is a problem in and of itself, I'm not touching that. BUT you can still spend hours planning minute details. Your fun and resources, your choices.

@rebeccajanvrin1228

2 жыл бұрын

@@hugofontes5708 oh for sure! I have experimented with doing less prep and instead relying on improv for more of my session - I found that I _could_ do it, I just didn't like it as much as being over-prepared. *shrug* it's the style that suits me. I enjoy my DM homework, and if there is ever risk of burnout, I feel very comfortable asking for a break - I have wonderful and understanding players. I like knowing I have more than I'll need for the session - it gives me a headstart on planning later, but also gives me a buffer in case the PCs _do_ get through more than I anticipated. I've also gotten really good at recycling my prep - the players never have to know that I technically prepped this (insert thing) ages ago for a different city. 😊

You made a lot of excellent points, Ginny. When I say "don't overprepare" I mean don't kill yourself trying to prepare for every eventuality. If you prep until you're too stressed to think straight, it can be just as damaging as going into a session stressed about your lack of preparation. I think the advice should be, "Don't stress, you've got this!" I think it's good to look at prep a little like studying: it works way better in segmented intervals rather than one big cram session. As long as you realize as the DM that you only make half the story, (the players making the other half) things will go great!

There's nothing wrong with just asking for a minute or two to think. This is advice that everybody needs to hear, in or out of D&D.

“Don’t overprepare” is the worst advice, I have THE WORST memory and there are times when I’m either great at improv or need 5 minutes to think for every interaction😅 Plus I like to prep to make sure all players get their time to shine whether through rp, backstory callback, or quests/mini quests.

@TheOriginalDogLP

2 жыл бұрын

But is preparing much not even worse if you have bad memory? The bigger the preperation is, the more you need to remember. I also have quite a bad memory, that is exactly the reason why I don't prepare too much and rely on improvisation more.

@minimalistmindset3020

2 жыл бұрын

There's a practical solution to poor memory. Write your notes down. Notes written down are committed to memory with less effort, but you also have those notes to fall back on if you still forget. From there, use improv for the things you didn't think to write down, or the unexpected things your players do. Because your things are written down, you free up more mental energy to spend on game management and improv.

@amybun1194

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheOriginalDogLP I have a grand document of stuff I prep for that has been organized. Such as with characters that are significant to the player's backstory, how they're important, and places where they can possibly meet up with them (just an example but one of the characters is called Mordecai, he is significant to our half drow sorceress, Eve because they fought side by side to save a village that her father attacked. Mordecai is a retired seafarer. So I've prepared probable places of interactions for them, a side quest as well as a reason why they should take up that quest, etc. I don't leave it all to memory, I always have my documents with me (especially more recently. I was in an accident that gave me this horrible haze or brain fog and I've been more forgetful, like even single-word notes confuse me ("^-^) There were a couple of times when I forgot what the players were doing while in the middle of an interaction.) So I view my form of overprep as a sort of cushion. That's so cool how you do more improv though!! Honestly wish I could

@amybun1194

2 жыл бұрын

@@minimalistmindset3020 Believe me I do and one of the players is a note taker as well, plus we spend the first couple of minutes recapping what happened (I'm not the only one with bad memory). And I never said I didn't ever improvise, I think it's improbable to go through a campaign without improvising. Known my friends for 10+ years and some of the things they say and do still catch me off guard haha. No, like I've said in my original comment, I "overprepare" only certain things to make sure all players get their chance in the limelight. No script, no specific time or place for characters to show up or events to happen, just details about those characters and how they tie in with the players.

@TheOriginalDogLP

2 жыл бұрын

@@amybun1194 if you prepare so much arent your documents too full? I dislike more than 1-2 pages of notes per session, because than I cant find fast the stuff I need. But if it works for you, it works. Every DM has different needs and you need to find what is working for you. If you wish to improv, you kinda have too force it though. You only get better at improv if you do it, thats the truth. But for me at least it helped my GMing quality. Its kinda like when you hold a presentation: Its always better to have only loose bulletpoints notes and talk freely than read everything from the paper. The approach is similar with improv IMO. To a certain degree its better to improv and adapt quickly to the running session than have to rigid preperation. At least for me. Again, its a matter of taste and style, so dont understand me wrong, I dont want do devalidate your style, just giving some inputs :)

When I first gave DMing a try for a one shot I remember hearing that advice a lot. Thankfully I still prepared to my comfort level (or as much as I could ) since like you I feel anxious when not prepared and not confident if I went in with too little. Which just doesn't make an enjoyable time for me, and just because I was the dm doesn't mean my fun doesn't matter. I think another thing a lot of people mean when they give that advice is to "not overprepare and burn yourself out". I think moderation is important. Prepare all you want, just don't sacrifice your health and energy too much. Because at the end of the day dnd is a game that is meant to be fun and enjoyable for everyone.

@GinnyDi

2 жыл бұрын

That's a good point! I would hope that everybody would only play a game to the point where it's fun for them - but I feel like I say "remember, it's a game! only do it if it's fun!" in nearly every video, haha.

@nightfall89z62

2 жыл бұрын

@@GinnyDi just about, but its okay, it's an excellent point to bring up dm burnout is very real sometimes, as a dm, you really do need a break. I know from experience...

For me, "don't overprepare", an advice that I was given and I still give, means a few things: Don't let anxiety get to you - no game is perfect no matter how much time you put into it. Don't spend too much time building content that may never be used. There are things etched in stone, yeah, but if the players find a completely unexpected solution that entirely bypasses your carefully designed three-stages boss encounter, well, tough luck. Flexibility and enough room for improv is key. Don't stress yourself. DMing is hard work, it takes time, it takes a toil of mental energy, sanity, a little bit of soul. If you go 200% every game, you will burn yourself out before the third session. Pace yourself and learn to rely on other people to add to the game. Players - at least my players - are constantly brainstorming and throwing ideas and theories about the game, the system, the encounters, the characters, the story. There's a surprising wealth of ideas ready to use there, with a little refinement.

I don't know how its taken me so long to find your channel, but after binging around 8 hours of lore your channel was recommended. I immediately subscribed because your explanations are soo well grounded, well thought out and chill to digest. EVERY new or aspiring DM should WATCH THIS!!!

I've always read "Don't Overprepare" as advice for new DMs as "Don't let the specter of prep scare you away from trying to DM", as in you don't need every corner of your world done and dusted, every plot thread ready, every NPC, every bit of intrigue ready day 1; a tavern, a kidnapped farmer's daughter and some goblins may be cliche, but it's enough to see if you even enjoy doing this thing. Finding your prep comfort level is important though, for both your sanity and fun, especially as levels begin to creep up and the possibilities of what trouble your players can stir up grows exponentially.

@EdsonR13

2 жыл бұрын

The farmers daughter

@danielcrafter9349

2 жыл бұрын

^ that

When I started DMing a few years back, I used to "prepare" by writing down a few sentences at most, and maybe prepping combat encounters. My games felt superficial and frustrating, and I felt like my players were never having fun. I stopped DMing after that campaign was over. A few weeks ago I started a new campaign, going full out on preparation. Fleshed out an entire map with a political system, several play areas, multiple factions and competing agendas. I will spend multiple evenings pouring out notes in preparation for a session. The result? My players are happy and they seem to enjoy it a lot more. And the prep never feels like a chore, because I genuinely enjoy the creative process and I REVEL in the thought of how much my players are going to love what I prepare for them. Bottom line: prepping is not "bad" and there is not a "right amount" of it. Just experiment until you find what works for you

@mathmusicandlooks

2 жыл бұрын

Your words are a comfort to me. I’ve just finished running session 0 with my players for the first campaign I’m running, currently prepping for session 1…. But I’ve already got nearly 60 pages of notes on each country on the continent, the PCs and their backstories, potential encounters and side quests, plot points for the overarching campaign, a large list of NPCs they might meet, various other groups and factions, etc. Why? 1. It’s fun to build a world, 2. I get to share that world, and 3. I want my friends to have fun and *feel* a sense of immersion into the world.

2:01 "Go north, but not too far north" is going to be some instructions that my PCs have to follow.

I appreciate your videos so so much Ginny, they're helpful, insightful, and a good length for including enough information on the topics but not being too long.

Thank you! I’m a new DM & I went to Reddit for some advice about balancing an encounter I’d prepared just in case the party ended up in a fight with a certain NPC during a heist & rather than getting advice about the encounter, I was hounded with, “You’re over preparing!”, “This sounds scripted!”, “I’d not want to play in your game”, which was really disheartening. It took me a few days to disregard all that nonsense in my mind & just run the game I set out to run. I’ve not reached the specific encounter yet, but my group has played two sessions (& hoo boy - the heist is off to a terrible start, with a knocked-out butler, smashed windows & doors, a bed on fire, 3 alerted guards & a scared maid locked in a bathroom!) since I fretted about this encounter & they’ve really enjoyed themselves & I’ve been thankful to have my “over prepared” notes to look at in case of emergency. I’m not an actor, I’m not a theatre nerd, nothing - this isn’t a script I’ve got, this is just information I need to know to keep the world flowing in my mind & not hold up the game & I’ve never had to put a pause on a session. I’m a minute into this video but I’ve liked it already - more new DMs need to hear this. You don’t need a world history for every continent - heck, you don’t even have to have anything planned outside the city you’re in right now & heck, you don’t even need more than a couple buildings & businesses, but the “don’t over prepare” advice is levied at everyone & can come with even worse advice & weird attitudes tacked on. Prepare as much as you want, when you get into the game & start playing, you’ll find out for yourself what you need to prepare & what you don’t - just start! If you’re playing with friends, the nerves will fade away & so long as you’re all having fun, every NPC can be named fucking Mark in the end. If you want to have a custom stat block for a nobleman whose manor the party is raiding, just in case - fucking do it & don’t ask anyone else for advice, just balance around the parties level & roll with it. Prepare as much as you want, you’ll find your balance in time. You’ve just got to start playing, that’s the main thing, I was nervous, but that’s gone now & with two sessions banked, I know how much I need in the way of notes, what directions the party might head that I can flesh out further, etc.

@ernesthakey3396

2 жыл бұрын

F'ing Mark is everywhere, man! :)

@nightfall89z62

2 жыл бұрын

I don't know, a town where every npc has the same first name might be fun. Call the town jimstown. Maybe the real Jim is a powerful wizard who runs the place from a tower on the outskirts and all the people in the town are his clones... sounds like a great story arc to me...

@HeavensOfMetal

2 жыл бұрын

@@nightfall89z62 One of my players is a Warforged & in my setting, Warforged were weapons of the human empire who were dismantled centuries ago when there was massive public outcry about the souls of dead soldiers being re-captured & bound to these metal bodies - a lot of metal men walking into towns, screaming for their families which died decades ago as their memories finally return, etc. but first session something came up & I had to make up an NPC inventor who deals with old empire weapons & I was like, "Fuck it, his name is Smith Wesson, I'm just docking the and, he's got two last names", but he's like, an important character & I have to roll with it now because I hadn't planned a name. Whenever I don't have a name, I just use a normal-ass human name, the actual characters I prep who're important have names with actual meanings & shit, but if you want to walk into a map shop which doesn't exist & talk to a woman who doesn't exist - Shania will do, second name? Twain. Best thing about being a DM is the perogitive to make up anyone.

This advice sounds like the "practice more" advice you get when asking how to draw better because they never elaborate on what to practice or even how

So I know this is a 4 month old post at this point, and was skeptical when you started but it was spot on. As a DM for 25 years, saying don't over prep is easy for me to understand. On the other hand for new DMs this was a great and informational video. Much better than a lot I have seen. So much good advices like many of your other videos. It was especially how to prepare, but be flexible. Great Job!

Love your take on this. One thing I want to add is, if you ever prepare something your party goes in the opposite direction of (like NPCs, or that ship and its crew), you can always adjust it slightly and re-use it later. I find I often end up recycling unused prep later on down the line, and when I do, it's always nicer for me than having to improvise for those situations!

@affsteak3530

Жыл бұрын

I call this the Lego approach. You can pick up and put down the bricks as needed.

@JoshDrakePendora

Жыл бұрын

That’s a good thing to do, as it keeps everything still roughly together, though I do think some things have to be hard set, also the fact some people seem to forget is as DM, if the party does start to get a little to off track, you can always ask them to roll and insight or other related stat roll, to pretty much tell them yeah you guys aren’t where you’re supposed to be, not saying that should be done every time, but definitely should if stuff does indeed start to veer off a good bit

The better advice is Sly Flourish's advice to prepare what benefits your game, and discard the rest. Try things out and don't be afraid to discard advice that you find with experience doesn't add to your game. Your time is limited and is best spent on things that you find make your game better or more fun for you.

@lietz13

2 жыл бұрын

His Return of Lazy DM book is great, gotten more use than the DMG for me. "Don't overprepare" is the inelegant "You cannot prepare everything you want, so be mindful of what you're spending your limited time and mental capacity on".

@ricstubbs6802

2 жыл бұрын

Sure, but that advice only works if you already know what benefits your game. It is best understood after you've prepared for a bunch of sessions and see what he's talking about.

@ThorneMD

2 жыл бұрын

Great minds 😎

@Darth_Insidious

2 жыл бұрын

@@ricstubbs6802 You are correct to say that without experience this piece of advice doesn't do much. It's more long term advice that gives you a heads up that a good way to get better at prep is to stay aware of how your prep ends up impacting your game. On the short term the best advice to give is that it's okay to try different things out, there is no set in stone process for running s long as you do so sustainability so as to avoid burnout.

@zedgathegreat9122

2 жыл бұрын

I read this in his voice...

The best advice i can give you is this: Never, ever kill one of your players in a DND Session. It is not fun, it doesnt help the game, its just extremely wrong. It doesnt matter what they do. Roll poorly, crit fail a important dangerous scene, attack the BBEG without the others,.... never ever kill your players! You should only ever kill their characters!

@RobertBarry1969

2 жыл бұрын

I disag.... oh wait. I see what you did there.

@RobertBarry1969

2 жыл бұрын

What if they are *really* metagaming and argumentative. Like have the monster manual open during the session level of metagaming. Even then?

@Dalipsingh111111

2 жыл бұрын

@@RobertBarry1969 Even then, killing the players is not the appropriate solution! Be more like: "Oh, you wanna use fire against that spider? Well sadly its a Lava Arachnarok Queen and you just made it a lot stronger!" And then melt their chars in Lava.^^ or "You wanna take out the local guards since they are only CR1/4 and raid the Town? Sure! But since this place has become so dangerous lately they all wear Full Plate Armor of Health Regeneration and have Halberds of Fireballs +3." And then.... watch. :)

@LeSyd1984

2 жыл бұрын

@@RobertBarry1969 Hahaha, Who hasn't had this friend who identifies random encounters by the sound of rolling dices for damage? "Oh, that sounds like 3D4... Must be Gargoyles!"

@davidholmes3728

2 жыл бұрын

I dunno what if they hit my kid

ginny, i think this might be one of the best videos you ever made. Thank you so much this made me more confident in my ability to dm

i know this was posted a year ago and i don't even know if you check notifications on old posts.. but seriously thank you. im a fledgeling DM with a big heart for world building. You're channel has been so incredibly helpful and I'm glad to hear you say "don't overprepare" is bad advice... because i definitely prepare a LOT. I have a calender that i keep for the campaign with major events happening (a town gets raided, an assassination attempt, etc.) and it all happens either in or out of the spotlight depending how my PCs play... and their actions always affect the global events... i lke to keep it thorough but fluid, holding everything with an open hand. Anyways you're easily my favorite online DM to learn from. thank you!

That last part is how I would phrase it: Don't over- or underprepare. Experiment and find out how much or how little preparation works best for you.

I use "return of the lazy dungeon master" by Sly Flourish to prepare for my sessions. Works for me like a charm.

As someone who has thought about dming, but gets really anxious when I don't feel prepared, I think this advice is super helpful. I agree too that when you give advice it is only helpful if you explain what you actually mean. Examples are really important. Great video.

Just ran my first session as DM last week. LOVE this advice. Your videos have been great at putting me at ease as I prep for future sessions.

I think another thing that people mean when they say "don't over prepare" is that you don't have to prepare and create everything, and certainly not all by yourself. When my boyfriend started DMing he tried to prepare absolutely everything he could including maps, props, npcs, character portraits, all the town layouts, world history, storyline, item pricing, printing minis, music, etc etc. He obviously got very overwhelmed and stressed out about DMing, especially as a uni student! I told him that it was okay to find/buy maps, use town and npc generators, take storylines from popular media, etc. I think that really helped him and he looks forward to our sessions now instead of dreading them :) Though I do agree that "don't overprepare" is too simplified, it does have some truth to it! It just requires more nuance and people should consider that every dm is different and has a different level of prep preference, as well as time availability

@Agell

2 жыл бұрын

This. It's such a common new DM thing to go bananas and think they need to define every location, person, family tree, economic treaty, and blade of grass within a 4000 mile radius of the starting town.

I always heard “Don’t overprepare” as meant to be interpreted by the receiver. I have an idea what my own tendencies are and what my overpreparation would be. I think it’s just meant to allow a DM to let themselves stop when they feel “prepared” and not feel the need to know everything ahead of time that they could possibly imagine knowing.

@Crazael

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah. I have two regular GMs, one of them will often have whole campaigns planned out from the beginning to end. The other, will mostly just do "and here's what you're running into this session" and have only vague plans for where things will go.

@theintrovertedarcanist984

2 жыл бұрын

The problem is when you don’t recognize that, because it’s so vague.

@grimjudgment6527

2 жыл бұрын

@@Crazael The most impressive DMs are the ones that make it hard to realize which one of those GM types they are. I still have questions to this day my players ask about old campaigns that were left mysteries. Frankly, I don't even know the answers to some of them because there was never an answer.

@krampusklaws2238

2 жыл бұрын

When someone is asking for advice it is kinda shitty to give vague "advice" that can be interpreted in many ways such as "Don't over prepare" If they mean Don't over prepare one thing to the point you feel out of control if the players do something else" then say THAT. If you are not going to elaborate of the advice other than a few words that have a ton of interpretations then don't give advice. That is worse than giving no advice at all.

@Kleehv

2 жыл бұрын

@@krampusklaws2238 Which source is not elaborating on the one sentence though? Even if you find one there are plenty of resources that elaborate what it means enough to pick up the spirit of it rather intuitively. If you still struggle with the vagueness of it, you may have a personality profile that makes it challenging to DM to begin with so you may need some niche advice. Which might be this channel come to think of it.

This's probably some of the most helpful advice I've gotten thus far. Thank you!

THANK YOU, I'm glad someone said it, and you're absolutely right about it being specific to each individual's level of comfort. There's so much trepidation around DMing that there's an understandable motivation to reassure newcomers. It feels like over time that morphed from "Anyone can DM, don't let the rules scare you off!" to "DMing is SUPER easy and CHILL and you don't need to know or do ANYTHING beforehand" which just feels like a lie (however well-meaning).

As a DM who prepares by basically re-reading the entire adventure module before every game this video makes me feel both validated and called out. O.o

Maybe if we were to replace "Don't overprepare" with what we actually mean, it would be "Prepare to improvise."

“But not too far north!” this is my life. ❤️ you so much. Thank you for your time and the video.

This is a great take on this. I think something important as well is that some people just really love doing the prep and encounter building because it is fun, not because they feel the need to for the game. That's personally not my style but I have friends who make full databases for their campaigns and they spend hours fleshing out things even though the players scratch the surface. Great video as usual! ✨

Godsdammit, Francis! Excellent breakdown of a topic many take for granted, Ginny. As usual, good advice.

@garethnapier2253

2 жыл бұрын

I agree. As a first time DM (Since 2nd edition adnd, ouch) Thanks for laying it out. Prepare, and have the ability to improvise

First time DM, can confirm, this is useful. I def have “over prepared”, I made a bunch of NPCs and gave them names, jobs, races, and if they give a quest or not. I also have more that I didn’t do that for. I like to have as much info as possible. It’s nice to be able to go to a list and just see all the info I need for something

@nightfall89z62

2 жыл бұрын

The only thing unnecessary with that in my opinion is the job said npcs have. Have you ever had a player that ever cared what Joe Bloe the human commoner from the town of Roxhaven who has recently had a valuable heirloom stolen from him did for work?(forgive the general name, it was the first thing that came to mind so I rolled with it). If you like you are more than welcome to steal that basic npc outline.

@raineecho4005

2 жыл бұрын

@@nightfall89z62 it’s more like, most of these NPCs are shopkeepers that my players could theoretically go to so I need to know what shop they run/what they sell.

@nightfall89z62

2 жыл бұрын

@@raineecho4005 fair. It is definitely good to know some info about your shopkeepers....

I love your channel and your advice is top tier. Thanks for your hard work, Ginny!!!!

I am soooo happy I found your channel! This is helping me so much!

My way of balancing prep and player motivation is by creating what I call modules: key moments in the story as little islands. I create these, but leave the pathways between them open to the players. That way, based on the decisions they make, I can slot each module into their path as opportunities arise to include lore, introduce NPCs, stage important sequences, and tell the story in an organic way.

@theravenousrabbit3671

2 жыл бұрын

This is exactly how you should plan a campaign. Know the overarching story beats and reactions the world will have to certain things.

@glenndallas7171

2 жыл бұрын

@@theravenousrabbit3671 *nods* Absolutely. The players should ALWAYS feel like their actions and choices matter, even if they're still following the breadcrumb trail you've established to your pre-determined goals. Best of both worlds.

I once heard a variation on this that I really liked: figure out what the villain would do without the PCs and how they respond to the PCs interfering? (Do they have a rigid plan they'll obsessively try and stick to, a goal and very flexible plans, or something else?)

@satunbreeze

2 жыл бұрын

Ooh that's amazing advice :o

@Micsma

2 жыл бұрын

That has turned into a mechanic for Dungeon World, called Fronts. It's explained in more detail on their free SRD.

You're doing great work with this channel, Ginny Di.

Just finding this channel, love the way you edit videos by responding to yourself from the "comment section"!

Its interesting that this is one of the few videos youve made i disagree on. I certainly agree its oversimplified and that is a problem, but i think we have to take into context who this is most often given this advice: new dms. Over preparation can lead to not only delaying the playing of the game ( basically saying give me X amount of time before I have nailed out every detail), but also not having as clear an idea of what your players want out of a game. Most new Dms first sessions are going to be flawed and i think most players are reasonable enough to understand this. By saying don't overprepare to a new dm your basically telling them to work a little bit as they go rather than front loading all the work. I often addendum this advice with plan maybe a 1-3 session plot line and plan the rest afterward once you got the hang of it. New Dm's don't necessarily know the level of planning they need to be comfortable and by telling them to take it easy for at least the early portion of their campaign they can learn and become accustom to what sort of things they should prepare. I don't even think it means don't waste prep. It means don't worry about the minute details early on, not becuase it will lead to wasted time and railroading, but because you don't know what you need to even be prepared. New DM's face paralysis by choice and this sentiment is supposed get them to be become accustom to what they want from experience rather than be paralyzed. So when you say don't over prepare your saying just do the minimum for you to be ready to run sessions and build up from there. That's why its oversimplified. You do not prepare OVER what you feel you need to be able to run a session. I think it goes without saying as you go on you will find your level of comfort, but I think its improbable that people will know this from the start.

@nightfall89z62

2 жыл бұрын

That's what ginny said near the middle/end of the video. Besides that though, the fact is even this explanation here in your comment is not given with the initial topic of discussion. If your description of overpreparedness was given to new dms it would be more helpful.

@insertname5371

2 жыл бұрын

@@nightfall89z62 heres the problem she does say this but don't over prepare is this. I think it is in most cases given like this. Nobody ends with just don't overprepare guys and ends the convo. They say you will probably need x,x, and x, but not a whole lot more. By saying don't worrying about over preparing it can encourage the choice paralysis as you may never feel truley ready or building so much without any feedback. that's what im saying.

@nightfall89z62

2 жыл бұрын

@@insertname5371 you're not wrong, but I have seen several people who say don't over prepare without giving any other context with it. After that they move on to some other topic.

I never feel like my preparations are wasted. Even if they didn't go that way, what I prepared will be used in some way.

@hugofontes5708

2 жыл бұрын

Heck yeah, it might still exist or get scraped and recycled

I wish I had more than just a thumbs up button. This may be the best video you've done yet, and is one of the best videos for any DM advice I've seen from anyone. Beautifully-worded, thank you for this!

This reminds me of some advice I got during my final year project at uni which went: "don't ask too many questions." The implication being that any amount of questions could constitute too many and consequentially, I barely communicated with my supervisor at all which was extremely counterproductive. Looking back on it, what they meant was "don't rely on your supervisor to do everything for you and if you do, it will count against you."

I've always played GM in a "seat of my pants" style. I have a lot of things prepared - tons of NPCs, tons of towns, tons of small encounters, etc. I have a lot of time put into prepping them and how the players can get to them. However, my players will always catch me off guard, so I just save a lot of it for later or for one shots down the road. I never feel /over/ prepared, I just feel ... prepared. Ezpz.

better advice would be “don’t overthink your preparation.” as in, make sure you plan an adequate adventure but like … relax. it’ll be fine. picking something and moving on is almost always better than stressing over an insignificant lore detail for two hours.

@Tiyev

2 жыл бұрын

I feel a little bit ... 'hit close to home' or something like that. But yeah, although it is easier said than done. I'd be so lucky to only spend 2 hours on certain lore details. I still don't know how subterranean dark elves get enough food to survive... (I usually just move on after a while of being stumped coming up with some good logistics or any solution to how they create or find enough food to survive.)

@kansascity9058

2 жыл бұрын

@@Tiyev remember, you can always just say “shut up, it’s magic” and there is a 110% chance your players will go “oh, okay lol” and move on

@johnlee7164

2 жыл бұрын

@@Tiyev They pray to their dark gods and the dark gods give them sustenance. or they eat worms.

Thank you so much for this video! It’s the most coherent and informative video I’ve seen about this topic

This is amazing advice. Thank you soo much for making this video. I've been a DM for years and have always encouraged my players to try writing their own games. I do my best to explain how I plan but you have done such an amazing job here. Tank you tank you GinnyDi

I'm just so very impressed with how far You've come. When I first started following you you were my favorite Jester. Now as a GM with more than 35 years of experience I enjoy and find something I can use in your Talks about Running the Game.

Finally, someone is brave enough to say this and of course it was Ginny (and also those other people as well I GUESS). And a solid twitter dig? That's edutainment folks.

Been watching your videos for a while yet. I always liked your take on the game, its so fresh. But I found this particular one being the most interesting and useful ever. I think my next campaign will be much more fun for everyone

This is hands down my favorite new channel for gaming. You seem like a fantastic DM

As someone who really wants to start DMing, thank you for this.

This is great advice! I have a tendency to prepare a lot myself, but what I always take from "Don't overprepare!" isn't actually about preparation, but rather about player agency. It's great to have a ton of stuff prepared, it's just crucial that players are still influencing and driving the story with their characters and their choices.

I’m in my first real full length homebrew campaign as a DM. You exclusively make me feel safe to learn. Other channels make me feel incompetent or like I’m not in the club. Over the last few months since the campaign started, I watch one or two of your videos on session day to remind myself that players aren’t expecting Lord of the Rings level lore or new languages or huge world maps they won’t ever have time to see all of. You make me feel like I’m doing something right. Thank you.

This may be the best D&D/RPG related channel I have found in a long time!

My advice on prep: "Write a session script." "Write a script for everything that will locally happen during the session as if the players were to do nothing." As the GM, if you understand your Key-NPCs' "Who, what, where, when, why and how" you'll have an easier time role-playing with your players and adapting to their actions.

@TheOriginalDogLP

2 жыл бұрын

I prefer a more flexible approach like Sly Flourish Lazy Preparing instead of a fixed linear script, but jeah, having the "w-questions" for your NPCs, Villains, Factions etc. prepared is IMO the most important part of prep. Cool Maps, handouts, music etc. all comes after this, this is the first thing I prep, always. The rest is bonus.

@mark_sturzbecher

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheOriginalDogLP totally agree. Plot should always be thoroughly understood by the GM. ... which makes it all the more frustrating when players don't even know their own character that well (but that's another issue) lol

I'd submit a third interpretation of the advice: don't prepare to the point where the preparing isn't fun anymore for you (the DM).

@nightfall89z62

2 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately, for me the preparing is rarely enjoyable, but some still has to be done. I have a tendency to have big ideas for npcs at high level but nothing in the way of getting to high level and as such have to build the high level character and scale down to an appropriate level this is extremely time consuming for me and somewhat stressful, but its the only way I know how to do it as all my low level characters seem boring otherwise. This is one of the reasons I try to find random generators...

Such a good video! DM prep is soo different for every person, and the 'don't over prep' advice definitely confused me when I was starting out. I will say though, my favorite piece of DM advice has got to be from Matt Colville, when he talked about knowing would happen _without_ your players there (where NPCs are, what actions they'd take) and then reacting accordingly when your players decide to change one thing or another; definitely suits how I like to run my games :)

Thank you for this. I'm about to dm my first ever campaign and this has given me more confidence in my planning.

The worst directions all end with, "You can't miss it."

@hugofontes5708

2 жыл бұрын

It's almost like a challenge

I'm pretty sure I'm guilty of giving out the no context "don't overprepare" advice. This way of explaining it, in terms of just not railroading and being prepared to evaluate how useful your preparation was seems like a much, much more useful way to give that advice. I will change how I talk to new DMs in this regard.

@LeSyd1984

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah... "don't railroad" is in the same ballpark as "don't over prepare" but is much more insightful. Will have to keep this one!

This is really helpful advice! I’m a new player/first time DM, which is a bad combination, but I’m trying my best. As such, I’ve been stressing myself out over the world and first meeting. I really needed this!

@0421pyro

Жыл бұрын

When I first started DM'ing I was still learning a lot of the rules. If something comes up and you aren't sure how to rule it you can always say something to the effect of "I'm going to rule it this way for now and I'll look more into it later". It has helped me a lot. I would then just let everyone know the new ruling going forward at the next session. A friend shared this advice for me years ago so now I like to share it with every new DM I come across.

This is the Francis content we deserve!

@altrus2k

Жыл бұрын

A+ product placement; masterful

I learned early in my DM career that "don't overprepare" was bullshit and everyone has different levels of how much and what they need to prepare. Great video

As a DM that's been running for a couple years now, I'm still figuring out what the perfect amount of prep is, sometimes I'll prep too much, sometimes not enough. It changes week to week even.

I know this video has been out for quite a bit but I NEEDED to hear this! I've been actually scared to prepare a session, FOR MY VERY FIRST CAMPAIGN! I feel like if my playing party (one of whom is a DM) feels like I've "over prepared", they'll like, scoff at me or something. I was so underprepared I just revealed a key member of the BBEG group IN THE FIFTH SESSION! And I've been so stressed and nervous the entire time, and I don't feel confident enough to believe my players when they say they're having fun. I obviously need to reassess and make sure I'm actually ready for everything now, and I'll definitely be utilizing your tips. Thank you so much Ginny!

Your advice just gets better and better with time and your own experience! This is definitely good for new players to be told.