My Method for Planning the Next Session of Dungeons and Dragons

Last time our adventurers found themselves fighting a rug of smothering which had completely smothered Ulv. Luckily the group was able to dispatch the rug rather quickly and were able to continue on their journey. The group then entered what appeared to be a library. This library seemed completely empty which caused minor consternation for the whole group. The group then entered what seemed like a small plush office that had 3 books of interest. Two of the books were about necromancy and curses. The last book turned out to be the first journal of Anandra. Contemplating this turn of events, the group re-entered the library, only to find it was now filled with books. The group decided to investigate various books but as soon as they did, the books seemed to animate and started attacking the party. The group discovered the doors were locked and after trying to light the books on fire, they realized the books weren’t going away. After taking a brief break in the den, the group set out with a new plan that turned out to be the right one. The group ended up finding the second journal of Anandra which triggered all the animated books to stop. 

At this point, the group had explored all the first level of the manor. The group decided to finish exploring the first level before going to Gamaileil and asking their question. This led the group to experiment with the grey potion. This potion turned everyone in the group into a faded, a being who is neither dead, alive, nore undead, but something in between. As soon as this happened, group was able to take the stairs down into the basement. Who knows what the group will uncover down there. 

As the group walks down the stairs they notice their surroundings in muted towns. You reach the bottom and find yourself in a long room with a second set of stairs on the far side of the room that lead up. The room is empty aside from pillars interspersed throughout the room holding it up. There are doors on your right and left. You also notice writing along the walls of this room, similar to the great hall directly above you. What would you like to do?

Welcome back to the 7th episode  of How to Be a Better DM. I’m your host, and we are going to help you tell better stories while you DM a session of Dungeons and Dragons 5e.

In this show, I share somethings that have helped me as a DM so you can enjoy this wonderful game. 

Before we get to today’s show, another shoutout to Cowchy Audio who does the audio work for this show. If you need audio help, reach out to @kahootaz on Instagram and he’ll hook you up. 

Today let’s get simple and quick and talk about my method for planning in between sessions. This isn’t a perfect method, but it’s certainly helped me. 

1. Write a recap. 

Some might rif on this at the beginning of the session, but I find it more helpful to write this beforehand. Doing so does two things for me. First, it helps remind me what happened in the last session. Rarely do I start preparing for the next session right after the previous one. It’s also great to let the players know what happened last time. The second thing it does for me is help get the brain juices flowing. It’s a lot easier to think of new things after I’ve had the simple exercise of summarizing what happened last time. If you need an example of what this looks like go back and listen to the first snippet of today’s episode because that is the actual recap of my last session that I played with my friends.

1. Figure out Generally What Happens Next

If the party is currently in a dungeon or going through some sort of fortress or something like that, this gets pretty easy. You can look at the map of wherever the players are and think about where they will go next logically. 

If you are using an adventure guidebook, this means reading ahead to understand what should probably happen. I also like to ask the players what they think their characters will want to do next. 

After that, and if I’m not using a guide book, I like to think about all the possible places the characters might go. I then jot down logical sequences of events should the players go to those locations. Be prepared. Sometimes players will just choose never to go to places you’ve prepared. It’s ok. You can get over it.

If you feel like this might be too much like 4D chess and you can’t really anticipate your player’s moves, then don’t. Just give them constraints. Say for example, they’ve been tasked to find an ancient artifact and there are really no clues so their journey could take them anywhere. One thing you might do is say, “After an investigation check in this town, you’ve discovered that talk of this artifact originated in this specific area. There are 4 towns in that area and each have extensive libraries” or some such nonsense. Give them choices, but slightly constrain them.

1. The extras

This is where I remember to look up rules I’d forgotten, or create items that I’d given to the party without really knowing what they do. I use this extra time to fill in the odds and ends that really flesh out a campaign. Step 2 was creating a framework. In this step I add in the cool details. 

This is where you go find the maps that make the game cool but aren’t necessary, or work on your collection of minis, or craft a new NPC that isn’t essential.

Here you can also bring up interests that characters have mentioned. In my campaign, the Rogue expressed an interest in traveling to Neverwinter (which is really far from where they are). This little bit allows you to have extra prepared in case the group does decide to go down any particular rabbit hole. Believe me, having something prepared is much easier than improvising.

So that’s my method. Now, I’d love to hear yours. How do you go about planning your sessions? Message me on Instagram @geronimolevis. I’d love to hear from you.

Well that does it for today’s episode. Come back next week for another show and if you get the chance, please leave a rating and review to help the show be discovered by even more people.

Until next time. Let’s roll initiative.

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