Your D&D Prep SUCKS. This is why.
Summary
TLDRThis video script discusses the art of Dungeon Mastering in D&D, advocating a balance between meticulous world-building akin to J.K. Rowling's approach and the flexible, character-driven storytelling of Stephen King. The speaker shares their method for game preparation over a decade, emphasizing the importance of player agency and offering tips on scaling preparation to the players' interests. The 'Deficient Law of Narrative Influence' is introduced as a guideline for starting sessions with engaging hooks that respect player autonomy, ultimately aiming to create immersive and dynamic gameplay experiences.
Takeaways
- 📚 The speaker emphasizes the importance of preparation for Dungeon Masters in D&D games, sharing their personal method that has been effective over a decade.
- 🔍 They used to stress over finding the right balance between sufficient preparation and avoiding over-preparation, which can lead to wasted effort.
- 🎯 The key to good preparation is not the quantity but the quality of what is prepared and how it is presented to the players, to avoid railroading and maintain player agency.
- 🚂 The term 'railroading' is clarified as forcing a predetermined outcome on players, which takes away their agency – something the speaker strongly avoids in their games.
- 🎮 The speaker values player agency highly, noting that tabletop RPGs offer a unique level of player control not found in other forms of entertainment.
- 📝 The preparation approach involves being detailed in world-building like J.K. Rowling, but playing the game with the flexibility of Stephen King, adapting to where the characters lead.
- 🏘️ Start with small-scale preparation, focusing on immediate surroundings and characters, and build outward from there, adjusting based on player interest and questions.
- 📉 Follow the 'Deficient Law of Narrative Influence,' which suggests that a DM has the most influence at the beginning of the game, which diminishes as the session progresses.
- 🎲 Use the beginning of the game to set hooks that are already in the players' mouths, making the opening scenario personal and engaging to draw them into the prepared material.
- 📈 Adapt to player actions during the game, allowing their decisions to guide the narrative within the world created, rather than forcing outcomes.
- 🔄 At the end of a session, identify the players' next goal to use as a hook for the next session, ensuring that preparation remains focused and relevant to their interests.
Q & A
What is the main issue the speaker addresses in their Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) game preparation?
-The speaker addresses the struggle of finding the right balance between sufficient preparation and overpreparation in D&D game sessions, which can lead to wasted effort if the prepared material is not used.
What is the speaker's view on the term 'railroading' in the context of D&D?
-The speaker views 'railroading' as when a game master enforces a predetermined outcome in the game world, disregarding the player characters' involvement and agency, which takes away the players' freedom to influence the game's direction.
Why does the speaker prioritize player agency in their games?
-The speaker prioritizes player agency because they believe that tabletop roleplaying games offer a unique level of agency that cannot be matched by other forms of entertainment such as books, movies, or even other video games.
What are the two writing styles mentioned by the speaker, and how do they relate to game preparation?
-The two writing styles mentioned are 'plotters' and 'pantsers'. Plotters outline their stories before writing, while pantsers write based on their feelings in the moment. The speaker relates these styles to game preparation by suggesting that a Dungeon Master should detail their game world like a plotter but play out the game like a pantser, allowing the story to unfold naturally with player input.
What advice does the speaker give for starting small-scale game preparation?
-The speaker advises starting with a small, manageable area such as a single town and a few nearby locations. They suggest using resources like tables from 'Tales of Adventure Design' or official modules for inspiration and to ensure that the preparation is focused and not overwhelming.
How does the speaker recommend a Dungeon Master should adjust their preparation based on player interest?
-The speaker recommends that a Dungeon Master should take mental notes of what the players are interested in during the game session and prepare further details on those topics for the next session, making the players feel important and engaged.
What is the 'Deficient Law of Narrative Influence' as mentioned by the speaker?
-The 'Deficient Law of Narrative Influence' is a concept the speaker introduces, stating that a game master has the most narrative influence over their players at the beginning of a game session, and this influence diminishes as the session progresses and the players are given more agency.
How does the speaker suggest starting a game session to maximize player engagement?
-The speaker suggests starting a game session with the 'hook' already in the players' mouths, meaning the situation should be set up in a way that is personally engaging and interesting to the players, making them want to follow the prepared storyline.
What is the importance of ending a game session with clarity on the players' next goal?
-Ending a game session with clarity on the players' next goal is important because it provides a clear direction for the next session's preparation, ensuring that the game master focuses on what is most relevant and interesting to the players.
What potential issue does the speaker warn about when using the 'Deficient Law of Narrative Influence'?
-The speaker warns that starting a game session in a precarious situation using the 'Deficient Law of Narrative Influence' requires trust between the players and the game master, as it could lead to players feeling forced into scenarios they did not want to be in, which could damage the game experience.
Outlines
📚 The Art of Balancing Preparation and Player Agency
This paragraph discusses the speaker's journey to improve their Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game preparation. They draw an analogy between being a 'deficient master' and renowned authors J.K. Rowling and Stephen King, emphasizing the importance of preparation and flexibility. The speaker outlines their method of preparing the game world in detail, akin to Rowling's plotting, while allowing the game to unfold naturally with player agency, much like King's pantsing approach. The paragraph also touches on the concept of 'railroading' in D&D, which is frowned upon as it restricts player choices, and the speaker's commitment to avoiding it. The focus is on creating a rich game world and starting sessions with hooks that engage the players without forcing a predetermined narrative.
🎲 Preparing for Player Interests and the Law of Narrative Influence
The speaker continues the discussion on game preparation by emphasizing the importance of tailoring the game to the players' interests. They advocate for starting with a small-scale world and expanding based on player inquiries during the game. The speaker introduces the 'Deficient Law of Narrative Influence,' which suggests that a Dungeon Master has the most control over the narrative at the beginning of a session, with this control diminishing as the session progresses. They argue for starting sessions with the players already engaged in the story, using the example of beginning with the players captured to meet a new antagonist. The paragraph also warns against overusing narrative control, as it can lead to a loss of player trust and autonomy.
🔮 Adapting to Player Goals and Maintaining Engagement
In the final paragraph, the speaker concludes with advice on how to end a session effectively by identifying the players' next goal, which serves as the hook for the following session. They stress the importance of focused preparation that aligns with the players' current interests to avoid wasted effort. The speaker also touches on the importance of trust between the Dungeon Master and the players, ensuring that the players feel their choices are respected and not being forced into a scenario they did not agree to. The paragraph ends with a call to action for the Dungeon Master to start small, prepare like J.K. Rowling, and discover the world alongside the players, like Stephen King.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)
💡Dungeon Master (DM)
💡Preparation
💡Player Agency
💡Railroading
💡Plotters and Pantsers
💡JK Rowling
💡Stephen King
💡Deficient Law of Narrative Influence
💡In Media Res
💡Narrative Hooks
Highlights
The speaker compares their D&D preparation and play style to that of famous authors JK Rowling and Stephen King, emphasizing the balance between preparation and player agency.
The importance of not overpreparing and the stress associated with finding the right balance in session preparation is discussed.
The concept of 'railroading' in D&D is explained as a game master imposing a predetermined outcome, which takes away player agency.
Player agency is highlighted as a key aspect of tabletop roleplaying games, setting them apart from other forms of entertainment.
The speaker introduces the idea of preparing the game world in detail, akin to a plotter in fiction writing, but playing the game based on player actions, like a 'pantser'.
JK Rowling's meticulous note-taking for Harry Potter is cited as an example of detailed world-building.
Stephen King's approach of following characters and story development is contrasted with Rowling's method.
The speaker suggests starting with small-scale world-building, focusing on immediate surroundings relevant to the players.
Using resources like 'Tome of Adventure Design' by Frog God Games is recommended for idea generation.
The importance of scaling down preparation based on the time available before the game session is emphasized.
The speaker's first rule of preparation is to make players feel important by focusing on what interests them.
The concept of 'Deficient Law of Narrative Influence' is introduced, stating that a DM has the most influence at the beginning of a session.
The speaker explains how to use the initial moments of a session to set the scene and engage players without forcing a specific path.
The importance of starting sessions with a hook that is already in the players' mouths, rather than setting up hooks around them.
An example of an effective opening scenario is provided, illustrating how to engage players immediately.
The speaker warns against taking the 'Law of Narrative Influence' too far, emphasizing the need for trust between players and the DM.
The session's end is identified as a crucial time to determine the players' next goal, which should guide the following session's preparation.
The video concludes with a summary of the preparation method: start small, prepare like Rowling, and play like King.
Transcripts
my D and D game sucked until I started
preparing like JK rling and playing like
Stephen King I'm the deficient master
and we dungeon Masters are always
looking for quick fixes for our game
prep and despite the amount of advice
out there my subscribers still want to
hear my take on how I go about prepping
my games so in this video I'm going to
give you my method that's worked for me
over the last decade of gaming and maybe
it'll be just as helpful for you as it's
been for me I used to lay in bed all
night stressing over my upcoming game it
felt frustrating trying to find the
perfect balance between just enough prep
that would get me through the next
session while not overpreparing and
having to scrap entire notebooks worth
of time and effort I don't believe
there's really any way around it
preparing a good session takes work but
the skill lies in not how much you've
prepped but what you prep and how you
present that prep to your players
because if you try to force whatever
Adventure you've made on to them you
might be railroading now that term has
been tossed around so much that I feel
like it's kind of lost its meaning to me
railroading is when a game master enacts
a predetermined outcome within the game
World despite the player character's
involvement in that outcome because it
takes away the player's agency I heavily
prioritize player agency in all of my
games because no other medium in
entertainment can match the amount of
agency allowed in tabletop roleplaying
games not books not movies not video
games even in games like balers 3 the
developers can only code so many choices
and alternative
consequences I want you what if I'm only
playing D and D for the combat or the
dramatic role playing there are mediums
and even other tabletop games that do
those things better players willingly
playing out the adventure you've
prepared for today's game is not
considered railroading but I don't want
my players to feel like they have to
follow along my story just because
that's what I want them to do so how can
I both prepare prepare a game session
that I can actually use at the table
while maintaining that player agency
well I do that by prepping my Game World
like I'm JK Rowling but I play out my
Game World like I'm Stephen King what's
that mean well in the world of fiction
writing there are two camps writers
often fall into known as plotters and
pancers writers that are more plotters
tend to outline their stories before
actually writing them while the pancers
write the story based on their feelings
in the moment relying on their
characters to show them how the plot
will play out now in actuality most
writers fit somewhere in the spectrum
between the two Styles but rling is
famously known to be in this Camp by her
meticulous notes for Harry
Potter this mass of material was
generated some of which will never find
its way into the book we'll never need
to be in the books it's it's just stuff
I need to know for my own pleasure
partly for my own pleasure and partly
because I like reading a book where I
have the sense that the author knows
everything they might not be telling me
everything but you have that confidence
that the author really knows everything
while King has gone on record several
times that the opposite approach is the
best way to create a story I feel like
you have to follow the characters and
you have to follow the story where it
leads and the last thing that I want to
do is to spoil a book with plot so you
know I think I think the plot that plot
is the last resort of bad writers is a
rule I'm a lot more interested in
character and situation and you'll
follow it where it goes so how do these
writing styles relate to game prep it
means I write and detail my Game World
as if I was plotting a Noel but
preparing your entire game world like
your JK Rawling doesn't just happen over
a weekend but here's how I would start
first we start small scale don't map out
a whole continent just map out the one
town then put three or four
progressively more dangerous or
interesting locations around that town
that's within about a day's travel if
I'm empty on ideas I use this table from
frog god games' to of Adventure design
if you want an official module example
check out the dragon of ice Spire Peak
from the fifth edition's Essentials SE
or if you want an even better designed
and organized alternative I suggest the
black worm of Brandford regardless you
probably won't get all the details
nailed down before the game that's fine
the less time you have to prepare the
smaller scale you should go don't prep
the whole town then prep the tavern
don't prep five different NPCs just prep
the barkeeper that the party is going to
be both getting the quest Hook and the
reward from start from the simplest most
manageable idea that you can come up
with and then build your world from
inside outward rather than outward in
your players don't care about the shape
of your continent they don't really care
what war happened 100 years ago what
they want to know is what's surrounding
their character and who or what can they
interact with now during the game I take
a mental note as to what my players are
asking questions about throughout the
evening that determines what I'm going
to prepare further for next week's game
because I follow my first rule make my
players feel important I prep what's
interesting to the players if your
cleric is asking about all the different
religions in your world Now's the Time
to flesh out religions if the fighter
wants to hunt down monsters like he's a
Witcher spend the next week drawing up
monster layers if the Bard wants to know
the personalities and relationship
statuses of the Barkeeper's daughter the
blacksmith's daughter the captain of the
Guard sister and the princess start
working on some of those Outer Planes
for you to banish him to so we're
prepping our game world like rling but
what does playing the game actually look
like with this sort of prep well if I
try to play the game like rling I'm
going to want certain things to happen
to my protagonists only problem is that
I don't control my protagonists my
players do and if my goal is to have as
much player agent as possible I can't
force certain outcomes to happen just
because that's what I wrote down earlier
this week when my players meet my pre
world I have to play things out as if I
was Stephen King with a bag of cocaine
and a graphically detailed sewer scene
involving
child I need to let the characters guide
me on what happens within the world I've
created but deficient wouldn't that mean
some or even all of your prep from
earlier could be trashed
no not necessarily because my prep looks
like this I spend most of my prep time
preparing the beginning of my games
instead of the middle or the end because
I have this law I follow a law that I
didn't discover but I'll be the first to
give it a stupid name at least until
someone corrects me in the comments of
somebody else that came up with a better
name and that is deficient law of
narrative influence in tabletop role
playing games and I Define my madeup law
as such the game master possesses the
most willfully surrendered narrative
influence of their player characters at
the beginning of the game this influence
diminishes relative to the amount of
time that has passed after the game
master asks what do you do what this
means is that in the first 5 minutes of
a session I can put you almost anywhere
I want and you will probably agree that
yes this is where the game session
begins this is doubly so if you're
starting a new campaign or a one shot I
can start the session with you all in a
Tavern I can start the game with you all
tied up in prison I can start my
campaign with you on a tentacled alien
ship with a tadpole I've narratively
forced into your eyeball and you're
probably not going to say but I wanted
to buy some potions at the shop with my
spare starting gold you control time
space and anything that appears in front
of the player's noses but if you were to
try that 10 minutes or even 10 seconds
after you ask the players what do you do
it starts smelling like a railroad you
know that joke about setting up all
these Adventure hooks only for your
players to start wandering between the
blank spaces of your prep I don't start
my games with hooks around my players I
start my games with hooks already in
their mouth let me show you an example
with both a standard tabletop opener and
how I would start my sessions let's say
for example we really want our players
to get captured or put in a moment of
weakness so they can meet this new
antagonist that you want them to hate
for the next few games you're going to
have this guy's goons show up in the
tavern and then when the players
inevitably surrender your new Big Bad
Evil guy is going to strut in and gloat
right right no what's going to happen is
you start the game with your players all
sitting in the tavern you let them
banter back and forth a bit to get into
the swing of things and then 30 NES
crash into the tavern telling you to
surrender and as you raise your hands I
ain't no I cast Fireballs I'll Attack
the nearest n and I will sneak attack
the
barkeeper you're a paladin are you are
you sure you want to fight this I said
there's like 30 of them yeah and I cast
fire
ball and now you look like a bad DM that
set them up for
failure but an alternative opener using
the unofficial law of narrative
influence would look something like this
let's start the game the N Warchief
throws your drink in your face causing
the pungent Aroma of red dragon Crush to
sting your eyes your hands are bound as
the three of you sit in the middle of
the now desecrated sleepy Dragon Tavern
this was supposed to be a quiet dinner
that wine dripping off your face cost
you six gold pieces just for the glass
the Warchief licks the drops on his
hands and says weak drink for weak man
he gestures at four of his Warriors to
stay behind to finish you off as he
leaves through the kick down door riding
off into the night with his warband as
the screams from the barid and the
inkeeper gr f
the four remaining nlls begin to debate
which of you they're going to eat first
what do you do but I wanted to buy some
potions at the shop with my spare get
out of my
game when you start the session with the
hook in media res the players can still
try to ignore that particular hook but
if you made that opening line personal
and tantalizing it won't take much to go
them into following your prep because I
can't control what my players do once
I've released them into my world but I
can wag a bone in front of their nose
before throwing it now can we take this
law of narrative influence too far Yeah
the more precarious of a situation you
start them in the more trust you'll need
between the players and yourself that
you're not forcing them into some
impossible scenario or a decision that
they didn't want to make a simpler
example of this would be to start the
session at the adventure site instead of
playing out the shopping scene at Town
followed by traveling across the
Wilderness only for them to get
distracted at something you mentioned
offhandedly while describing their
surrounding ings I mean you can do that
but know that once you give autonomy to
the players you can't take it back not
without looking like a jerk
anyway now one of the more important
things I do at the tail end of my
session when either the adventure has
been completed or I feel like I'm doing
way too much improvising is to find out
what the player's next goal is it might
be as simple as continue on this current
Quest but whatever they decide what
their goal is for the next game that's
the hook I put in their mouth at the
start of next week because prep is all
about focus and prep that's focused on
the player's current interests is prep
that I typically don't see wasted but no
matter how you prep your games you won't
make it far without what I cover here in
this next video dming is a lifelong
marathon of Mastery if this video gains
traction I'll do more like these but for
now start small prep that small world as
if you're JK rling but discover that
world along with your players as if
you're Stephen King that's all I got for
now see
you
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