Hey everyone, 

so this is a Gm philosophy question: How much do you prepare for you sessions? 

I just ran a session 0 for my new table. The players had never played together, three of them were experienced players, one was a newbie. I’ve been DMing for a couple of years. 

The day I ran this session, my workplace got hit with a string of unforeseen Issues that had to be addressed so the few hours I normally spend preparing we’re consumed by that. 

what this means is that I spent the thirty minutes that my player took setting up to plot out the encounters etc. all I had time for was: the town name (Amberwood) the tavern (lily bell) and the plot (goblins are kidnapping the towns folk) I jotted down some random names, and applied them when needed. 
This session might have been the smoothest session I’ve ever run. Not sure if it’s because usually I over prepare. So this just felt smoother (less to go “Wrong”) Or if I simply am being too complicated when I come up with sessions. But when I literally winged this entire three and a half hour session. It was glorious. 

So my question to you other DMs/GMs, how long do you prep? How much do you prep? Do you spend a lot of time detailing what happens in a session? Or do you just make some bullet points and go from there? 

Thanks for reading! 

Depends on what part of the campaign I'm in. I kind of background think about campaigns all the time, so I generally just jot down major plot points.

Lists of names and such are just part of my general GM bag so I don't have to spend time on that much.

It's not a question of how much you prepare, but what you prepare.

In a perfect world, I try and:

1. Sketch out the central conflict, how it could possibly resolve, and how would each side "win".
2. Sketch out the non-party major players and factions - what is their nature, what they want, what they know/believe, what resources they have, what their tactics and personalities are.
3. Try and sketch out the possible ways the plot could unfold - basically flowchart out what might happen.
4. Note the Places and Encounters that seem to be "choke points" in the flowchart; these are the most likely Encounters to occur, or Places to be visited.
5. Do some detailed Place/Encounter design for those possibilities.
6. Throw the flow chart out ( it's only really there for steps #4 & #5 )
7. Set up the initial conditions of the scenario: the hook.
8. For each passage of a significant block of time:
   • Role play all the factions & NPCs - figure out, based on their goals,knowledge, belief, personality, and resources, what they'll try and do next.
   • Determine what the Party will try and do next.
   • Figure out where any of the factions/NPCs will come in conflict, either with each other, or the Party
   • Resolve those conflicts - with some luck, those will occur in Encounters that you've done some pre-design and polish on.
9. Rinse, repeat, until you get to a resolution of the conflict, or all the parties in the conflict have stopped acting in the conflict.

As you see, that can be a lot.

But, all you really need to do is 1, 2, and 7,8,9 - which is kind of what you did: You knew the goblins were kidnapping people, you knew the conflict ended when the Party stopped them or were wiped out, you probably improvised some motivation for the goblins - and for the rest, you just role-played out each of the NPC/factions' actions in 'real time'. 

If you do steps 3-5 you end up with better Encounters and Places, because game elements that we've designed and polished are typically better than things we improvise on the fly. If you've predicted things decently, you can have some really well built encounters prepared for the Party. But those steps are not required. With some practice you can "wing it" well enough. If you develop your improvisational skills, you'll still have good Places and Encounters - just not as good as they could be.

And by doing that "real time" reaction to the passage of time and/or the Party's actions, you never get caught flat-footed by unforeseen circumstances, because you just put yourself into the shoes of the NPCs or factions, and figure out what they'd do next.

Nothing ever funnels the Players anywhere ( no one can complain about being Railroaded ), you still get to polish and design Encounters based on what you think is the most likely to occur so your Scenes are high quality, you can't ever get caught out by unpredicted Player actions,  and you can scale how much effort you put into preparation: either a few scrawled notes for steps 1 & 2, throw the Players the hook, and run things as per steps 8 & 9, or the whole  shebang by creating complex nuanced NPCs and factions, doing predictive sketching of the likely plotlines, identification of likely Encounters & Places that are likely to be visited, detailed design of those Encounters & Places, and role-playing out all the NPCs & Factions in real time.

I think Vedexent has pretty much nailed it.

I haven't been DMing that long in the grand scheme of things but I was overprepared for the first sessions and I think this was a hindrance. I struggled to improv when sessions went in completly different directions and then I went to the other extreme of having nothing prepared and it was equally bad because it slowed everything down. I think I've begun to find a happy medium now.  I have a few scenarios mapped out in vague details and NPCs that they would meet if they went certain directions are more clearly defined. I have several combat encounters prepped which can be used either for that week or maybe they can be tweaked for later if they are not reached.

I would also add to listen to your players. My session this week was easy, last week they had spelled out exactly what they had planned to do. Now obviously you are dealing with people so in that week they could have forgot or come up with a different idea so be prepared for that but if they have said what they expect to do then you can plan that in a bit more details. For this week I planned a single NPC encounter and a combat encounter they would get along the way. Did it go exactly how I expected? Of course not but the main storystrokes I imagined were all there because I knew what was coming from them (roughly).

I also have lists of taverns, shops, npcs etc. that have very little information but just enough to be able to grab in a hurry. And a couple of anthology books of short adventures that can be used in an emergency of 'the players have gone completly off script and I don't know what to do', I have only used this once.

Hoenstly a combination of hundreds of aggregate hours and as little as 20-30 minutes.  The primary campaign world in 5e is my 3.x Forgotten Realms game that never had the SpellPlague/Second Sundering or other novelization/4e garbage polluting it.  That game has had so many hours of writing, planning, and role playing in it that I can usually just think for a few minutes and unwind plots and goals vs. reactions to see what is currently going on in say Thay or Amn.    In my "Age of Savage Adventure" game, I typically spend around 2-3 hours prepping for a Saturday night.   My SCION one on one game has ZERO prep, and is run as a soap opera.  I literally have no idea what is going to happen because my player uses the World as giant Sandbox.  Luckily our game style is more cooperative and she (my wife) is like 40% her own Storyteller with me voicing her supporting cast, various NPCS and antagonists.  Heck, last night she got her Mother- the Yazata Goddess Ma, to intercede with Hera to protect her against the machinations of Zeus.  I was intially like "You want to do what?" and then we role played how that happened.  Turns out Ma makes delicious cardamon/hibiscus tea.

Yes, Campaign Planning can take up hours and hours of time. Session planning should not be nearly as extensive or exhausting. 

I only play once per month. I put hours and hours into prepping each session. But then again, I really enjoy doing so.

I tend to prep a good amount before each session depending on how much I may have already prepped from the previous week that has not been utilized. I will also try to do some after each session while events are still fresh in my head. What I try to do is keep everything as open as possible to avoid the game becoming a railroad and trying to set everything up so the players have the option to take on adventures/quests and whatnot without feeling obligated or forced to do so.

I make lots of notes based on concepts and ideas that I wish to use within the game without getting too detailed. This basically allows me to grab bits and pieces from various quests or adventures and seed them into whatever they are currently working on. Also keeping notes so loose allows me to make future adjustments or changes to the game based on what the characters have done. For the most part I am still able to utilize everything I have set up for the characters in one way or another.

I also draw my own maps for the game sessions which admittedly takes most of the time. We do use a lot of theater of the mind but there are many situations I prefer to have a map of some sort as reference for the players. So based on where the players are headed what they have done in the previous section, I take note of that and potentially make some kind of map for their current adventure or quest.

Now how much time do I spend that really depends. It could be several hours or even as little as an hour. I think on average I would put myself at three or four hours a week. I have not factored in the time it takes to create maps. Some maps that I have drawn up, city maps for example, can take quite some time. For example 1 of the main cities that the players are in, the map took me approximately three weeks to complete. Yes it was rather detailed so that's part of it.

Well here’s an addendum question, A few of you guys talked about “Campaign Planning” what does that look like for you all as opposed to individual session? Normally I just sketch out a central conflict (law Vs Chaos etc) followed by some factions (good, evil, and neutral) principle NPCs, and then write or adapt some Lore and pick a few nice artifacts or quest ideas. And then with the Pcs backstories in hand I tie them into the larger narrative as best I can.

but I’m mostly curious what you guys do? How many B plots do you prep to keep things interesting when the main drag seems to be growing a bit stale? Do you come up with a central conflict at all? 

Central conflict for a series is pretty much essential when I start a game. I have long ago realized that that for most players Sand-Coated Rails with occasional free reign areas are the ideal format.  For instance of my last 5e games that wrapped up had an ancient Netherese Cambion Lich arise from her centuries long slumber (she was exploring other crystal spheres) and set about reclaiming land, minions, and magical power.  I set the PCs on a path that eventually led into conflict with her.  The B and C plots accrued as the Player Character's interacted with the world.  For instance the B plot's antagonist was a Ogrillon Warlord they fought ALOT and eventually recognized he cared for his people (the Orcs) as much as they cared for their people and eventually brokered a peace and handed over the control of Dragonspear Castle and its environs to him.

I take a different approach than Hawksmoor, but I don't think they are wrong, and I do it for reasons other than you might think.

For a new Campaign, I generally don't have a central conflict in mind, at all, when it starts. Things start with a few "one shot" adventures, with the Party - and I see how things evolve out of those adventures: what events resonate with the Party; what NPCs and locations are interesting and important to them; what are the "post game talking points" amongst the Players; what elements did I - personally - think were really cool.

Eventually, notable events, notable NPCs, and emerging Character personalities will start to suggest larger structures of possible Campaigns: what possible larger scale conflict could be knitting some/most ( doesn't need to be all, although it can be ) of the Party's adventures to date, together in a larger background conflict? What are some of the potential emerging Themes in the Narrative? What is the Tone?  

I'll always have been making notes, and doing some design out beyond what the Characters are interacting with, even after an Adventure - and I'll have been weaving in subtle threads of connection between Adventures whenever seems appropriate. But at some point - somewhere around level 3-4 - an overall Campaign concept will "gel' out of the events and design sketches made so far. I'll select the elements of their Adventures which are significant, and start to deliberately - and retroactively - knit them together in a larger conflict. Larger NPCs factions, and powerful NPCs that would have been operating at a level above the Party until now, get sketched out at this point - along with their goals, knowledge/beliefs, resources, tactics, and personalities.

At this point it really helps to have a detailed and nuanced Setting - I tend to put a lot of work into the world if it's homebrew, although right now I'm running in a version of the Forgotten Realms ( minus the Spell Plague ) purely for the depth of Lore. I also have to remind myself that not all story threads need to be incorporated; some Adventures are just B-plots. There's nothing wrong with having multiple storylines running at the same time, with differing lengths, levels of significance, and with varying levels of inter-connectivity. 

And I keep randomly throwing plot spaghetti at the wall, whenever it feels right, during the Campaign. I'll throw in a one-shot Adventure to keep things mixed up is good. Maybe I'll come up with it - maybe it will be something a Character wants to do on their own. Maybe it's just a diversionary plot - maybe I'll end up weaving it into the larger Campaign, and incorporating those events into the larger Campaign will introduce a nuance or twist I hadn't thought of originally.

Now - to be clear - this is a very open-ended and flexible Campaign design strategy; but I don't do it for the Players. This is for me.

I really like Hawksmoor's phrase "Sand coated Rails". I think this sums up the level of need for Player free will elegantly.

To me, an ideal Table would be one where all the Players are alert, engaged, driven, and great at developing and driving their own Character story on their own, all the time. That doesn't happen in the real world.  Every Player - at least part of the time - likes to show up, roll dice, kill monsters, get loot, move on to the next pretty obvious plot point. That's not true all the time, and not for all your Players all the time. A good Group will always have 1-3 Players who are fully engaged at all times, although it's unlikely the same Players all the time. 

Additionally - with some experience - you'll be able to predict with imperfect but reasonable accuracy how your Players/Characters will react to a given situation or choice. That's because you know your Players, their personalities, and the things that they like to get out of an Adventure.

You absolutely could design your Adventures ( see my open-ended structure for doing that above ) and even your Campaign, much more tightly. Knowing your Players, and being able to somewhat predict their wants and reactions, is why the flowchart/dungeon design works reasonably well - although sometimes it goes off the rails because of predictive mistakes, random chance, or Player whimsy. 

But I keep the design process open and dynamic, on all levels.

This isn't for the Players, or to keep from "railroading" my Players ( whatever that means ). I like the "discover as you go" method of design, to keep me entertained and surprised. I like having a design approach that allows me keep things coherent, integrated, and well-structured ( it helps to be able to edit things retroactively, so long as you don't break causality or consistency ) - and still be as much an organic discovery for me, as for my Players ( although clearly, I find out much sooner than they do ).

Lots of good responses here.   I'll add another factor,  how frequently do you play?  

If you play once a month then adding a lot of fine details that the players/chars should remember is going to be an issue.  You'll need to use much broader story strokes.

For campaign planning,  I consider what I want happening in the world, what is an overarching theme that the characters will have to respond to. Ie, their main quest.  It's my world, so I pick the theme (ie fighting dragons, or fighting giants, or fighting mind flayers, or political intrigue between kingdoms).

Early on,  have a bit on rails to bring your players and their characters into the world,  explore what they like and don't like and how they interact.  Then start opening up the world.

Note:  take the pulse of your table,  some players like being railroaded from one encounter to another, with limited choice.  Others like having more input.   As a DM you may consider the "illusion of free will" and set up things that way.  Again this is table specific, so you have to see how your group interacts.    I have found that at least with my table if there are too many choices they may flail around and end up not having as much fun.

For individual sessions,  I sketch out a few bullet point beats/motivations.  I may also make up a bunch of possible monster stat blocks.  Try to have a sense of where the party is going and you can end sessions when you get to a point you want to flesh out more in detail first.

Hope some of that helps!