Planning, prep, motivation and you?

payn said:

Sounds like a good Prablem to have

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It's emphatically a first-world prabelem, yeah.

Ruin Explorer said:

Yes also that way you don't forget vital stuff that happened and then get embarrassed when the players remember it!

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That's why I open every session with a recap where the players tell ME what happened.

TwoSix said:

That's why I open every session with a recap where the players tell ME what happened.

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DM: So, what happened last time?

Derek: Well, I got all the gold. And then I got a vorpal sword. And then you said that a deity gave me 4 ASIs.

DM: ..............uh, well, do we have any reliable narrators?

prabe said:

Fortunately, I also have at least one player who takes good notes and shares them with the table. Occasionally someone remembers something not in the shared notes, and I flail a little bit, but the players haven't given me too much grief about that, yet.

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I used to have that and they were an amazing asset - unfortunately they moved away and so aren't in the main group anymore.

Snarf Zagyg said:

DM: So, what happened last time?

Derek: Well, I got all the gold. And then I got a vorpal sword. And then you said that a deity gave me 4 ASIs.

DM: ..............uh, well, do we have any reliable narrators?

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You realize that's just a normal session for me, right?

Snarf Zagyg said:

DM: So, what happened last time?

Derek: Well, I got all the gold. And then I got a vorpal sword. And then you said that a deity gave me 4 ASIs.

DM: ..............uh, well, do we have any reliable narrators?

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Since this is a thread about prep, I'll clarify that I'm 100% serious about the player recap thing. I can't tell you how many sessions I've DMed where I've only had a hazy recollection of what happened last time. The players filling in with the parts they found particularly memorable is a good way to focus my attention for the current session.

TwoSix said:

Since this is a thread about prep, I'll clarify that I'm 100% serious about the player recap thing. I can't tell you how many sessions I've DMed where I've only had a hazy recollection of what happened last time. The players filling in with the parts they found particularly memorable is a good way to focus my attention for the current session.

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It's how my group usually works. They are quite good at keeping notes and records - something I'm bad at as a player. Keeping that in the hands of the players has been a godsend.

payn said:

So, folks that create material for home games and publishing; How do you do it? How do you get your motor started, stay motivated, and finish the work?

-cheers

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Generally, when I hit burnout on a given setting or game system, I switch.
I've never hit the "I don't want to game" level, but have occasionally hit the "Lets do some boargames, instead" level.
I have occasionally hit the "Hey, x , I don't want to game with you" level...
Those last two involve discussing with the group.
I tend not to run high prep games, either.

I find FFG star wars needs little prep past comprehensive mechanics coverage; the supporting tables for play are about 20pp, not counting Char Gen/Advancement (50pp), shopping list (20pp), vehicles list (60+), and NPC Templates (60+). I didn't do that prep all at once, but instead one book at a time over the last 16 years.... Player handout is 2pp core, and when needed, a half-page for special situational spends.

Star Trek Adventures, the material for rules of play is about 8pp, the templates is about 15, and the ships list about 20pp. Player handout is 4pp. I use a lot of canned adventures from Modiphius. I don't do much past NPC template choices for actual adventures. Plus, the Captain's Log core is able to be used as a mission generator.

ALIEN has really good mission gen; For Mercs, it's very low prep, as the missions take a while to resolve; for Space Truckers, it's more frequent, but less detail needed.

Tales from the Loop, my total system tables are 8pp including char gen... and the adventures need only a little bit from me to use the ones in the books, and only a high concept, a few hook details, and to let the players fill in a lot...

payn said:

Greetings,

I've worked my way back into gaming out of a hole that occurred during the pandemic. I wont go into details, but lets say I wasn't playing much of anything, nor had the desire to get into anything for a year or two back then. Prior, I had run APs in PF1 for a good solid decade. Often went to board game nights, and dabbled in many one shots. Since, I joined an online game or two, and started playing Battletech locally. I'm back to being actively engaged in several games and excited for future opportunities. However, I still have difficulties getting started, keeping going, and overall finishing the work. By that I mean, organizing play, creating rules documents, developing campaign material, prepping sessions, etc..

So, folks that create material for home games and publishing; How do you do it? How do you get your motor started, stay motivated, and finish the work?

-cheers

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As a few members have already suggested:

1. Ask players what they expect from the campaign or 1shot.
2. However the players respond to #1, give them those things early and often.
3. Steal ideas from PC backstories and merge them into the campaign.

This will be super low-effort "prep" and you should get maximum engagement from the players because it's THEIR playstyles and ideas that are driving the campaign.