Roughly how much time do you (GMs) spend prepping your sessions? Per hour, let's say. Obviously this will vary massively, depending on what the session contains, but I'm just interested in a rough estimate - I think I'm probably over-prepping, and I'm curious to see how my prep-time compares to other peoples.

As a bonus question, what do you find the most useful thing to focus on when prepping is? (And, by extension, what do you spend less time prepping?)

Thanks in advance.

I'll generally spend 2 to 3 hours on each session... Sometimes more if an encounter needs a map.

I usually have an idea of how I want the story to progress so I'll pull together any stats that might be needed for NPCs & also think about some set pieces that are required storywise. Then I'll plot out a couple of random encounters, both combat & role-playing, for if the PC's go off track (If? There is no if They'll always go off track!!)... Other than that I'll wing it & make notes as I go along so I doubt forget the winged bits

That's a very good question. I've never really been able to track it in my case because it varies so widely. If I'm planning an adventure which mostly involves people, places, and things which have already been established; that takes a lot less time than if I need to develop a bunch of new people, places, and things. It also gets a little skewed if I'm planning a big, multi-session story arc; I usually end up having to put in an inordinate amount of time before the first week but very little for the subsequent weeks.

My focus is usually on the locale, the situation, and the people involved. I'll have stats set up for potential combat encounters, but I rarely make specific plans for them; nor do I make any attempt to predict what the PC's are going to do or how everything is going to flow. I just establish the base facts and then let the PC's actions dictate everything else.

You can find a related discussion here . My short answer is: I spend too much time prepping. But I'm working toward shortening it.

I spend a lot of time with my nose in Wookieepedia.

I spend around 1 hour prepping for 1 gameplay I think. For exemple the first Act of the Long Arm Hutt took me around 5 hours. I search every details, like pictures for the landspeeder, ambiance sound, a list of drinks and meals related to the planet etc

Ambiance sounds special starwars (1hour) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE5erINBHsE

You have a list of all ambiance sounds from this link

It's kinda hard to pin down exactly. Probably about a 1-1 ratio in prep time vs. game time, with more if I need to come up with lots of NPC stats and handouts and the like. Then again, if we factor in the time spent thinking up adventure plots and overarching campaign themes, you could very easily double that.

Days, probably a solid 3-5 days (but distributed over a month or more) for a 5 hour session, but it "starts" with me posting a thread in this forum with my general idea/theme for the adventure, a lot of the time will also be spent on Wikipedia, and I might spend time on trollandtoad.com (or similar) buying appropriate wotc minis for the particular session, other time is spent going through my colection of maps (digital and hard copy), or reading the eureka plot ideas book/pdf by gnome stew (which is not always as helpful as I would like)

In general it's probably about an hour per session. I just make a few notes about plot points I want to hit (if possible), and some possible encounters with interesting physical terrain or social issues. For the actual encounter (say, combat) I might scan the adversary cards and note which ones I'll use, but save the actual scaling until the event.

If I think I might have trouble describing the scene to do it justice, I might spend another hour searching for good images.

If I think I need a map, that's a different story. I'll usually only invest time in a map, using a decent graphics package, if I think I'll need it on multiple occasions, but then the time is not just for that session alone, but many sessions and possibly multiple campaigns. If I need something quick I'll scrawl a few pen lines, then put that on a white board.

Honestly, I think I spend more time vacuuming and setting up the room and table than prepping the session

For me, there's Campaign prep and Session prep. Campaign prep consists of building the pieces I need to tell a good story. I brainstorm locales and characters. I research all manner of things. I seek inspiration.

Now for session prep, I'm refining a system that cuts my prep down to a minimum. Leveraging all the things I've previously built, I go to my notes and grab a few interesting bits of data to fill in the holes of the ongoing story as I see it. Since I know my players will go whichever way the wind blows, I keep everything loose and easily-adapted so that player choices are rewarded with ongoing story instead of trying to force a predetermined set of scenes.

So, for times: Campaign prep is ongoing. I take advantage of free time whenever I have it. For Session Prep, rarely more than an hour. A wise DM once told me he spends about 1 hour prepping for each hour of play, so I aim for that as a soft limit.

So, for times: Campaign prep is ongoing. I take advantage of free time whenever I have it. For Session Prep, rarely more than an hour. A wise DM once told me he spends about 1 hour prepping for each hour of play, so I aim for that as a soft limit.

This is a good distinction. Campaign prep can happen any time, any where. Heck, it's probably half the reason I'm on these boards

So, for times: Campaign prep is ongoing. I take advantage of free time whenever I have it. For Session Prep, rarely more than an hour. A wise DM once told me he spends about 1 hour prepping for each hour of play, so I aim for that as a soft limit.

This is a good distinction. Campaign prep can happen any time, any where. Heck, it's probably half the reason I'm on these boards

Gotta stay fresh!

Plus, seeing how other people do it helps me hone my craft, wherein it is a number of things.

Average seems to be about 1:1 prep to playing time, then...so I'm probably doing a bit more than I should. Good to know I'm not the only one with the problem though.

You can find a related discussion here . My short answer is: I spend too much time prepping. But I'm working toward shortening it.

I spend a lot of time with my nose in Wookieepedia.

I saw that thread - thought it had a really interesting discussion in it, but have been struggling to actually implement it!

Days, probably a solid 3-5 days (but distributed over a month or more) for a 5 hour session, but it "starts" with me posting a thread in this forum with my general idea/theme for the adventure, a lot of the time will also be spent on Wikipedia, and I might spend time on trollandtoad.com (or similar) buying appropriate wotc minis for the particular session, other time is spent going through my colection of maps (digital and hard copy), or reading the eureka plot ideas book/pdf by gnome stew (which is not always as helpful as I would like)

Dude...3-5 days? As in, up to 120 hours for a 5-hour session? That feels...that feels like a lot!

In general it's probably about an hour per session. I just make a few notes about plot points I want to hit (if possible), and some possible encounters with interesting physical terrain or social issues. For the actual encounter (say, combat) I might scan the adversary cards and note which ones I'll use, but save the actual scaling until the event.

If I think I might have trouble describing the scene to do it justice, I might spend another hour searching for good images.

If I think I need a map, that's a different story. I'll usually only invest time in a map, using a decent graphics package, if I think I'll need it on multiple occasions, but then the time is not just for that session alone, but many sessions and possibly multiple campaigns. If I need something quick I'll scrawl a few pen lines, then put that on a white board.

Honestly, I think I spend more time vacuuming and setting up the room and table than prepping the session

I'm impressed - this is what I'm aiming for. Is your prep time so low because you have everything sorted in your head? Or are you completely winging it a lot of the time? Do you find that there's ever anything that you wish you'd done more prep work on?

For me, there's Campaign prep and Session prep. Campaign prep consists of building the pieces I need to tell a good story. I brainstorm locales and characters. I research all manner of things. I seek inspiration.

Now for session prep, I'm refining a system that cuts my prep down to a minimum. Leveraging all the things I've previously built, I go to my notes and grab a few interesting bits of data to fill in the holes of the ongoing story as I see it. Since I know my players will go whichever way the wind blows, I keep everything loose and easily-adapted so that player choices are rewarded with ongoing story instead of trying to force a predetermined set of scenes.

So, for times: Campaign prep is ongoing. I take advantage of free time whenever I have it. For Session Prep, rarely more than an hour. A wise DM once told me he spends about 1 hour prepping for each hour of play, so I aim for that as a soft limit.

Good point - I guess I'm the same, really. Although my players are less "whichever way the wind blows" and more "hey, let's make our OWN wind. And then use it to blow everything over."

Recently, due to grad school, I've had to seriously condense my prep time per session. I do usually half an hour, just designing some basic encounters, making sure I have at least one conflict for each character, and selecting NPC cards to use. However, I also do a lot of campaign prep, including coming up with set piece ideas.

8-10 hours a session. but lots of artwork involved.

On average, probably 2-3 hours total, split up where I can find time to do it. And, of course, not counting the idle time that I'm tossing various ideas around in my head when I should be working or doing other things. Sometimes, it's over-prep, sometimes it's under-prep. Very rarely (like yesterday's session), it's both.

Let me illustrate.

Yesterday's session was our Special Halloween Session. At the same time, it was mostly about setting up some story points that would drive one player's subplot forward and position the group for the next layer of the campaign onion to be revealed (in part by revealing that an NPC used to be a Jedi). As side element, I was building in a contingency for a new player to join who had been invited by a pair of players, but hadn't confirmed yes or no. And, I had to also build in the possibility of writing out a character whose player had cancelled at the last minute the last few sessions and was considering leaving the group.

Under-prep was just loading the adventure mainly with zombies...I could tell the players were getting bored with them. Over-prep was putting too much thought into the mechanics of how the Blackwing Virus from Death Troopers would work. (Good on my players...they had foresight to equip themselves with breath masks, and kept them from getting into engaged range.)

Now...since reading it was, in part, to get this element right...does my time reading Death Troopers count in my prep time?

I'm impressed - this is what I'm aiming for. Is your prep time so low because you have everything sorted in your head? Or are you completely winging it a lot of the time? Do you find that there's ever anything that you wish you'd done more prep work on?

I almost always regret doing zero prep* and winging it entirely, because in the thick of accounting for everybody's actions and rule adjudication, it's simply harder to imagine some kind of epic scene on the fly. If I prep an encounter (and the players actually end up in it), what I'm after can almost always be distilled down to some kind of chase. Chases are the adrenalin for any session. Even an assault on a target can be treated like a chase, in the sense of having a clock and pacing the events to keep the action moving. The worst is when the PCs get bogged down in a firefight and don't feel like there's a way out. This can be okay for two rounds or so, but then something has to change to get the scene moving again. So the prep is imagining such a scene and making a note of 3-5 ways that the narrative dice can be used to get things going.

(* That said, sometimes the zero-prep sessions have worked out the best, especially when the players have a clear idea of what *they* want to do...I just follow along and often the only thing I need to stay ahead on is the environment and chase elements.)

The plot and the key NPC players are in my head, and if things feel aimless I can always weave in a hanging thread. Eg: currently the PCs are being sought by at least 4 different NPCs (and their minions), so if the players do something unexpected that doesn't feel like it's leading anywhere else, I can always try and relate it to one of those plot threads. Part of this is simply having multiple adversaries, and I'll go so far as to suggest that having one BBEG is a mistake of campaign planning, and very limiting. Currently I have an Imperial Admiral and Inquisitor...they might both be Imperials, but they don't necessarily work well together. There is also a planetary politician who could a friend or enemy depending on which way the PCs move; an in-hiding crime lord out for revenge because the PCs wasted his hideout; the local sheriff and his ne'er-do-well brother; and various other NPCs that need attention once in a while. The most likely BBEG here is the Admiral, but it really depends on the players.

One thing I don't do is spend a lot of time working out the exact opposition for an encounter. By now I have a pretty good handle on what Soak levels and number of minions/groups/rivals makes for a good encounter, and the adversary cards help a lot. It's easy to tweak the soak, damage output, skills, etc so while I might use "thug" several times in a row, they're all different.

Just to flog this a bit more, the examples above were about combat. Social encounters can be trickier because it's sometimes harder to pace the intensity. The sense of progress can be more nebulous, never mind that it's easier to misread the acting of the GM...the players will often assume nefarious overtones that aren't there (but maybe that's just my bad acting). I found this very helpful:

http://theangrygm.com/systematic-interaction/

Basically you can put a score on what the NPCs want and if the PCs achieve those then it's easier to have a sense of progress.

Just to flog this a bit more,

While we're flogging, Diaspora has an interesting take on "social combat" that is well-adapted to this system.

I've only run modules with a session or two being completely original, so most of my time is just spent reading the adventures and then making notes on tweaks here and there; maybe creating some nemesis for certain parts or obligations. Like an hour or two, nothing to heavy, but I do rattle ideas for it around in my head all the time between sessions; I can't really help that, just the way my brain works.

Have to agree with Whafrog on the "zero prep" sessions, my players always say that they never realised I'd winged an entire session but I generally find I'm disappointed with myself when I end up doing it that way, and feel like I could've given them so much more!

Have to admit it's always a relief when they end up having some kind of in character argument/discussion in those sessions, gives me the chance to sit back & think about what I can throw at them next I also write notes (lots of notes) on what they're saying so I can bring it back in future sessions... Have had so many good ideas just given to me by my players that way

I always front-load my campaigns. I try to keep them confined to one large locale (one planet usually), with a large scale storyline that has large events and a decent sized cast that the players can react to. This can take a good long time, but is often well worth the effort. Because then I can do a solid, memorable campaign with only an hour or so prep work for each session. Often, I just have several pages of stats for 'things I might need', and a list of generic names (with a character trait each) that I can use for very minor characters as needed.

Even though I play at the moment...the idea to add would be: create an encounter, similar to the modular encounters per type of Obligation the PCs have, then you can drop it in at a whim when you make the Obligation roll at the start of the seesion... even though it adds prep time at the start of a campaign it gives you a bunch of encounters if the players go off track.... as if the players would ever go off track!!!

I always front-load my campaigns. I try to keep them confined to one large locale (one planet usually), with a large scale storyline that has large events and a decent sized cast that the players can react to. This can take a good long time, but is often well worth the effort. Because then I can do a solid, memorable campaign with only an hour or so prep work for each session. Often, I just have several pages of stats for 'things I might need', and a list of generic names (with a character trait each) that I can use for very minor characters as needed.

See, this is much more sensible than what I did, which was give me players a campaign that has sent them tearing across the galaxy!

I always front-load my campaigns. I try to keep them confined to one large locale (one planet usually), with a large scale storyline that has large events and a decent sized cast that the players can react to. This can take a good long time, but is often well worth the effort. Because then I can do a solid, memorable campaign with only an hour or so prep work for each session. Often, I just have several pages of stats for 'things I might need', and a list of generic names (with a character trait each) that I can use for very minor characters as needed.

See, this is much more sensible than what I did, which was give me players a campaign that has sent them tearing across the galaxy!

I have tried to narrow mine down to a home-brewed sector of the galaxy... It still seems like I've got a lot of planets to deal with though, and why do they always want to visit the planet you've only got a basic outline for mid session??? Not one of the ones I just spent a load of time developing... Never that one

Even though I play at the moment...the idea to add would be: create an encounter, similar to the modular encounters per type of Obligation the PCs have, then you can drop it in at a whim when you make the Obligation roll at the start of the seesion... even though it adds prep time at the start of a campaign it gives you a bunch of encounters if the players go off track.... as if the players would ever go off track!!!

I've done my fair share of this. I have basic ideas for sessions, but don't flesh them out until they're the next session up for play. While I have a rough idea of where I'd like to place them in th campaign, most are not dependent upon being played in a particular order, allowing me to shuffle them around as needed to accommodate the group's decisions and what points they've reached in the various subplots before bringing that subplot forward into the spotlight for a session or two.

For example, the session that was roughly scheduled as next will probably be pushed back, as the last few sessions haven't allowed for the associated subplot to be highlighted enough to bring it forward. (On top of which, last weekend's session focused on one particular character's wants, and the would-be-next session is tied to that same character's back-story...I like to spread the spotlight around the characters.) So, next time out will probably be something not in the mix already, and designed to move that subplot along, giving it a little more prominence, to make up for it not being a part of the last few sessions.