THIS is how you make D&D prep EASY
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ม.ค. 2024
- Prepping a new D&D campaign for 2024? This video covers the system I use to make my D&D prep fast, easy, and stress-free.
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Basically you divide a campaign in Arcs, an Arc in Quests, a Quest in Sessions, and then you prepare for the key features of a single session (shops, hostile encounters, NPC interactions, puzzles, plot hooks, etc)
Pretty much! I take it one arc at a time and prep only what I need to. I have some vague notions of where it's all going, but that might not even be written down.
Scarlet, you basically described the Pathfinder Adventure Path system: APs are broken up into books. Books into chapters. Chapters into quests.
And then there's d&d 5e, where you just get a location and then a dump of everything that goes along with it.
AKA a railroad
@@Naren25 If poorly done yes.
If done in an average manner, you would have a story that's like a undone, unbrained rope: it starts at one point, obviously. Divides in many threads, but then comes back all together with a node at the end. The node is there so the rope is still a "band of threads" and not a complete mess.
If done skilfully instead, it branches, comes back together, branches more, then back together again.
And eventually, it definetively branches out, allowing for different endings.
Theoretically you could also do improvisation only and go for entirely loose threads, but good luck in providing a meaningful story when you don't know where it's going.
"Something can carry over to the next arc" I would argue something SHOULD carry over. Nice vud. Good advice.
The quality of this channel has exponentially improved over time - you're smashing it!
Thank you my friend, I really appreciate that! And I'm just getting started 💪
This is very similar to the system I’ve used to prep my games. Only thing I’d like to add is what I call “ABS”; which stands for always be seeding.
You can do this in many ways. But one of my favorites is to place a unique or interesting trinket amongst the treasure found in adventure locations, or planted in desks etc in normal locations.
That item/trinket doesn’t require any meaning at all in the moment. But write it down for later; to be tied into a future arc. It really helps tie some things together and always creates that Ahah! moment for my players.
They wonder how I’ve tied all those arcs together over a year ago… i didn’t. But I seeded random items that could be linked later on to give the appearance I did.
Congrats on the two years! I tend to follow Sly Flourish's Lazy DM Prep, but if I combine this with that, it will help make it more manageable, thank you for all the hard work!!
Same here.. both are incredibly valuable to my games
Thanks for the support, mate! I hope this system can dovetail into your current approach.
I love that the conversation is turning slowly more toward shorter arcs!
Thank you so much. This video is a true gem for anyone struggling with organizing their thoughts for session prepping. It's packed with useful tips that simplify the process of sorting through a plethora of ideas. I often find myself overwhelmed with too many concepts and end up with lengthy notes and dialogue. I found your suggestions to be incredibly valuable and time-saving. Your video is clear and concise, making complex planning seem much more manageable. I'm proud to be a Patreon member and support Tales Arcane's full-time dedication to creating such helpful content.
This is so kind of you to say! You've pretty much summed up the overall goal of the channel, which is always to make the more challenging, overwhelming parts of D&D feel smaller and more manageable. Glad you found that to be the case with this one, and thanks for supporting me on Patreon!
@@TalesArcane love the overall goal you have and it's very nice to have you doing this fulltime now. I always found myself waiting, impatiently sometimes, for more content even though you were sending it out pretty fast. Since you went fulltime, seems I am getting it faster and I love it.
I really enjoy your formatting advice. I think it goes a long way toward demystifying how a campaign gets from start to finish.
Kinda how I do it too. I am a big fan of organizing the most essential stuff and setting up areas where improv will carry it. I prep the skeleton and then let the sessions make the meat. Loving the content as always, mate!!!
The skeleton and meat analogy sums it up perfectly! The phrase "connective tissue" always comes to my mind when I'm thinking about the improvised elements that get me from one plot beat to another
Please do one on planning a one shot!
This video is exactly what I was looking for about a year ago. I have bumbled through session prep since so a bit late for my first struggles but very welcome now. I have saved this and expect to rewatch it to get the ideas through my thick head. Thank you
awesome video :)
I subconsciously already build my running campaign like you described -> with arcs
really like the way you explained it in this video
your video had good tips in general :D
That I am already doing everything you suggested before clicking on this video makes me feel really good. Seems like I'm on the right track.
Working on DMing my second ever TTRPG (first one was two years ago and it didnt go very well...) and your content is incredibly helpful. Keep it up!
I didn’t know McLovin was a DM.
The acting gig just wasn't working out, I had to change it up 😩
😮 This was a great breakdown! Thank you for this excellence!
Excited for 2024!🎉
Thank you for supporting the channel, mate, it's much appreciated! It's going to be an exciting year, I think 😁
Video like this are too hard to find, I've been trying to find one for at least 3 weeks and now you post this gem! Great work
That's so good to hear mate! Glad this one came in handy. I'll keep 'em coming.
This is insanely helpful! Thank you so much
I appreciate you saying so mate, glad the video was useful to you 🙏
This is so helpfull. Im really strugling right now prepare my first campaign. You really nail the things good down. Thank You
Good luck with the campaign, I hope it's a roaring success!
aaaaaaaay you gave me quite a stream of ideas, thanks a lot man
Thank you this is so helpful
That's what I like to hear! 💪
Love it!
Nice work on the video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Happy New Year! BTW, new session report is up on Venger's old-school gaming blog.
I found one a bit easier Snapchat chat bot 😅 give it brief ideas with guidelines and boom you got your rough draft and you then just adapt it how you want
Can we get an entire video dedicated to developing the story of each arc and how to split it into three to four sessions?! It would be a great video that could apply to any RPG system.
You certainly can! Just posted a full video on this subject. Thanks for the suggestion!
This is me leaving a comment hoping it helps your channel
I have a question! So in one of your videos, you mention creating a few different BBEG’s that can exist simultaneously, so you can pivot to a new one if the players don’t have interest in the original. Does that mean I should sprinkle in foreshadowing for all possible endings in each arch?
HE HAS RETURNED! That was a long month 😂
New year, new consistent posting schedule, let's goooo!
@TalesArcane Super excited. I've been binge watching your videos. I'm about to start my second long term campaign and you've been a huge influence. Thanks so much 🤘
@@thestakesauce5891 I love to hear it! Good luck with the new campaign 💪
Just thought I'd give my experience on the whole "if players don't seem interested in a dragon, maybe I should think of a different boss" etc.
It really is OK to just ask them. Just have a genuine over the table moment and ask them where they see themselves at the end and what kind of encounter they've always dreamed of having as a bbeg. It doesn't have to include details or spoilers, but they could give input for what they want to do
I think they don’t really ever know that, speaking as a player and a dm, some of the best fights I’ve played in were monsters I’d NEVER have thought would be enjoyable as a dm
How would this fit with day-to-day travel? Would the arc just be extended, or are Arcs meant for more localized situations?
At my tables, travel usually acts as the connective tissue between localized arcs. We might spend three sessions in one town, wrapping up an arc, before the characters continue on. A session or two can pass with smaller one-shot travel encounters and side quests in smaller villages they pass through, and then the characters come to the start of a new arc. It's obviously very fluid, but that's roughly how my own games go.
I have been watching all your videos about how to prep, worldbuilding and so on.. and they have been useful so far. But I struggle with something else that I do not know if it is related to the way I prep or maybe there is something I miss. Briefly, I created a story arc in my mind, I did in a way similar that you explained, I exposed the scenario to PCs (not a condition of save the world, they were level 2 characters) and in front of the problem they said to me "Why should we do it? They didn't make anything wrong to us". At that point I haven't anything else prepped outside that scenes and those locations, NPCs. So How can you overcome situations like this?
When you're prepping an arc make sure your hooks are geared to the motivations of the characters. At the beginning of the campaign (and maybe check-ins throughout) ask your players what the goals are for the character and what's their motivation for the adventuring. When deciding on an arc and "how can these goals and motivations fit into what you want to do". If it's not easy or impossible to do it's probably not an arc you should create. Remember that the players, not your world or story, are the main characters.
😎😎😎
Congratulations on going full time
Thank you mate! I'm very excited to see what 2024 holds now.
My biggest advice to new/fellow DM's: never forget that you are in charge of the rules and the setting.
But you should NEVER be responsible for the plot.
Think of yourself as an improv-theater stage manager, rather than the director of a play.
You set the stage, lights, sounds, and then you let your players run wild.
Absolutely 💯 agree. Makes things easier. It also gives the feeling of agency even if their choices are really not their own but aiding NPCs. Not that I am against agency, totally for it, but I like it when they feel comfortable and have that sense of control and taking action. And things have been happening throughout that the arc I had begun (4 years ago) have been overshadowed by immediate goals. Yet, the overall trajectory will eventually culminate in discovery that the arc will continue to be there.
Why is mclovin from super bad telling me how to DM
(This is a joke and not hate I absolutely love this guy and he is incredibly helpful, only love for this man)
This is my third McLovin comment this week 😂 Also thank you for the kind words mate, glad you've found the channel helpful!
I do not think all D&D campaigns need to resolve around solving some cataclysmic event via epic boss battle.
I agree. While many who watch this video will want to have that big save-the-world experience - killing Vecna, for example - it's not universal. My favorite campaign to run is my Strixhaven home game, where the closest thing to a cataclysmic event is exam season.
@@TalesArcane I think professor dungeon master had a fun looking campaign
This is fantastic. If i were to download your video and promote your ideas (and add a few of my own), how would i do so to compliment-support you? Can i just... go ahead and do that and send you the link? I would send it to you first, you could glimpse-peruse this and (if you don't like it), tell me what to take down, if anything. If you are HORRiBLY BUSY i could leave it up until you want to comment and i could modify my video accordingly. Let me know what you think. If you feel this is a TERRiBLE idea (you: 'i don't know you!!'), please let me know. Huge fan, keep up the amazing work, 'you da man', etc. etc.
Man . . . I wish more YT RPG content makers would move away from Hasbro/WoTC products. They are sleazy and have now spent years trying to exploit content creators, their fanbase, and most recently, their staff!
They're a trash company, 100% - I genuinely love D&D as a system and a setting, but you'll notice that in this video, as in almost all my other videos, none of the tips are specific to D&D - they're general storytelling and structuring tips that could be applied anywhere. Sadly, if I put out a video which doesn't at least frame itself as being D&D focused, I'll get next to no views and the overall reach of the channel goes down. Once the channel grows a bit more, I'd like to do more videos on alternative systems, but for now, it's D&D keywords all the way 😅
I'm going to be honest. I think you're info is really good. But honestly, I find myself conpleatly distracted by the background art.
Perfectly timed as I was just about to start DMing a new campaign - this was kind of my plan already but there's some great tips and it's great to know this approach has been useful for other people!
That's good to hear, mate! Best of luck with the new campaign 💪