Prepping for a session can be quite a lengthy process when you're still learning the game. Improvising story is all well and good but trying to follow published material as a newish DM is difficult if you don't know it like the back of your hand.
One of the thing's I'm struggling with is monster stat blocks, it's a pain having to flip through the books, or for that matter even flipping from dndbeyond window to dndbeyond window is not very intuitive when you're trying to do it from a tablet. Anyone got any tips on how you pull your monster stats without killing the flow of the game? Additionally anyone got any advise on just running a published adventure from dndbeyond? Would be grateful of any tips that might help me do things a bit smoother.
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Adventure's I've published on DMs Guild: The Temple of Bhaal - A gothic horror themed "one-shot" single session adventure for 1st level characters. The Palace of Evendur - An ethereal fairy tale "one-shot" single session adventure for 1st level characters.
I print off the stat blocks ahead of time and group them together by encounter. That way, when the party runs across a certain encounter, I just pull out that page of stat blocks and go right into things.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
I always print out the monsters I'll be using from a pdf I have of the book before hand, that way I can use it both for reference and scratch paper as I track of hp, spells slots, lair actions, etc. I've seen some stat cards being sold online, so maybe getting/making something like that would help.
I don't run games through beyond accept to find a spell description quickly, so I couldn't tell you how to run it here. Still, published adventurers are published adventures regardless of medium. Best I can say is study it like a test. Read and re-read, know the path, re create the map on paper to help memorize, talk in the NPC's voice by yourself and develope answers to the questions you think your players will ask. Even if it's disjointed and unintelligible, writing notes will help dedicate it to memory.
I guess there is really no way to avoid making time to read the adventure a few times. I do enjoy doing that but sometimes it’s just difficult to find time to read more than the section I need to run.
I did have a look to see if monster cards where available as a D&D product like the spell cards are. They would probably be more helpful than the monster manual if they were in card format.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Adventure's I've published on DMs Guild: The Temple of Bhaal - A gothic horror themed "one-shot" single session adventure for 1st level characters. The Palace of Evendur - An ethereal fairy tale "one-shot" single session adventure for 1st level characters.
I use a small booklet, filled with things like my prepping strategies, like setting up a table with an encounter, the action, how the players roleplay it out, and the result. I keep page numbers so i can flick between different pages.
I purchased the Monster Manual here on D&D Beyond. Prior to an adventure session I'll print out the monsters I know I'm going to need. D&DB does a fantastic job of print layouts for the monsters. I get a nice and complete monster listing, all on a single page (I print duplex).
For any monsters that come up along the way unplanned I use the mobile app for D&DB on my Android phone to quickly reference stats from the book. It's not elegant, but helps me not turn pages. Worst case I keep the most involved monster open in the MM at my table, and then I use the app to sort between minions, etc. I was surprised by how great the book purchase on this site has been for me!
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Prepping for a session can be quite a lengthy process when you're still learning the game. Improvising story is all well and good but trying to follow published material as a newish DM is difficult if you don't know it like the back of your hand.
One of the thing's I'm struggling with is monster stat blocks, it's a pain having to flip through the books, or for that matter even flipping from dndbeyond window to dndbeyond window is not very intuitive when you're trying to do it from a tablet. Anyone got any tips on how you pull your monster stats without killing the flow of the game? Additionally anyone got any advise on just running a published adventure from dndbeyond? Would be grateful of any tips that might help me do things a bit smoother.
Adventure's I've published on DMs Guild:
The Temple of Bhaal - A gothic horror themed "one-shot" single session adventure for 1st level characters.
The Palace of Evendur - An ethereal fairy tale "one-shot" single session adventure for 1st level characters.
My DnD Play Podcast:
Monday Night Smite: a D&D Play Podcast
I print off the stat blocks ahead of time and group them together by encounter. That way, when the party runs across a certain encounter, I just pull out that page of stat blocks and go right into things.
I always print out the monsters I'll be using from a pdf I have of the book before hand, that way I can use it both for reference and scratch paper as I track of hp, spells slots, lair actions, etc. I've seen some stat cards being sold online, so maybe getting/making something like that would help.
I don't run games through beyond accept to find a spell description quickly, so I couldn't tell you how to run it here. Still, published adventurers are published adventures regardless of medium. Best I can say is study it like a test. Read and re-read, know the path, re create the map on paper to help memorize, talk in the NPC's voice by yourself and develope answers to the questions you think your players will ask. Even if it's disjointed and unintelligible, writing notes will help dedicate it to memory.
#OpenDnD. #DnDBegone
I guess there is really no way to avoid making time to read the adventure a few times. I do enjoy doing that but sometimes it’s just difficult to find time to read more than the section I need to run.
I did have a look to see if monster cards where available as a D&D product like the spell cards are. They would probably be more helpful than the monster manual if they were in card format.
Adventure's I've published on DMs Guild:
The Temple of Bhaal - A gothic horror themed "one-shot" single session adventure for 1st level characters.
The Palace of Evendur - An ethereal fairy tale "one-shot" single session adventure for 1st level characters.
My DnD Play Podcast:
Monday Night Smite: a D&D Play Podcast
I use a small booklet, filled with things like my prepping strategies, like setting up a table with an encounter, the action, how the players roleplay it out, and the result. I keep page numbers so i can flick between different pages.
I purchased the Monster Manual here on D&D Beyond. Prior to an adventure session I'll print out the monsters I know I'm going to need. D&DB does a fantastic job of print layouts for the monsters. I get a nice and complete monster listing, all on a single page (I print duplex).
For any monsters that come up along the way unplanned I use the mobile app for D&DB on my Android phone to quickly reference stats from the book. It's not elegant, but helps me not turn pages. Worst case I keep the most involved monster open in the MM at my table, and then I use the app to sort between minions, etc. I was surprised by how great the book purchase on this site has been for me!