Your D&D Prep SUCKS. This is why.

Summary

This 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

00:00

📚 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.

05:01

🎲 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.

10:02

🔮 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.

Keywords

💡Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)

Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop role-playing game where players create characters and navigate through a fictional world under the guidance of a Dungeon Master. In the video, the speaker uses their experience with D&D to discuss game preparation and player agency, emphasizing the balance between pre-planning and allowing for player-driven narratives.

💡Dungeon Master (DM)

A Dungeon Master is the game facilitator in D&D, responsible for creating the game world, guiding the story, and managing non-player characters and events. The video emphasizes the importance of the DM's role in balancing preparation with flexibility to maintain player agency.

💡Preparation

Preparation in the context of the video refers to the process of planning and creating the game world, storylines, and encounters for a D&D session. The speaker discusses the importance of preparing enough to facilitate a session without over-preparing to the point of restricting player choices.

💡Player Agency

Player agency is the ability of players to make meaningful decisions that impact the game's narrative. The video stresses the importance of prioritizing player agency in D&D, allowing players to influence the story rather than being forced into a predetermined outcome.

💡Railroading

Railroading is a term used in role-playing games to describe a situation where the DM forces a predetermined outcome on the players, limiting their agency. The video explains that avoiding railroading is crucial for maintaining player engagement and enjoyment.

💡Plotters and Pantsers

These terms refer to two approaches to writing and game preparation: 'plotters' outline their stories in advance, while 'pantsers' write by the seat of their pants, following the narrative as it unfolds. The video uses these concepts to illustrate different styles of game preparation, suggesting a balance between the two for effective DMing.

💡JK Rowling

JK Rowling is known for her meticulous world-building and planning for the Harry Potter series. In the video, the speaker compares detailed game world preparation to Rowling's approach, emphasizing the importance of knowing the game world deeply, even if not all details make it into the actual gameplay.

💡Stephen King

Stephen King is presented as an example of a 'pantser' writer who follows the story where the characters lead. The video suggests that playing the game like King means allowing the narrative to evolve based on player actions and decisions within the prepared world.

💡Deficient Law of Narrative Influence

This is a concept introduced by the speaker to describe the DM's influence over the narrative at the beginning of a game session, which diminishes as the session progresses. The video explains that starting sessions with a strong narrative hook can lead to more engaging player experiences.

💡In Media Res

In media res is a Latin term meaning 'into the middle of things,' used in storytelling to begin a narrative in the midst of the action. The video suggests starting D&D sessions in media res to immediately engage players and encourage them to follow the prepared narrative.

💡Narrative Hooks

Narrative hooks are elements of the story designed to engage the players and draw them into the narrative. The video discusses the importance of creating compelling hooks that are integrated into the game's beginning to guide the players' actions and interests.

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