Michael E. Shea's Blog, page 2

Prep Three Quests

During prep, think about the three next quests that stand in front of the characters when they're done with their current quest. Where will they go next? What options lay ahead of them?

Stick these three potential quests at the end of your "scenes" step from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master.

This idea combines three previous topics:

The 3-2-1 Quest ModelScenes ��� the Catch-all Step of the Lazy Dungeon MasterThink Two Horizons Out

We want to think about these three future quests early ��� even if it's just a couple of words. When the characters (and players) start to think about where they're headed next, we can drop them on the table and have them choose one.

Ideally, players choose their next quest somewhere close to the end of a session so you know what to prep next. You can even put these quests out to your players before they're finished with the current one just to get an idea of where they want to go next.

Prepping three quests early helps you avoid the situation where you're in the beginning of a session and your players are only now deciding what they want to do next.

What Is a Quest?

I really like how Robert Schwalb calls adventures "quests" in Shadow of the Weird Wizard. "Quests" focuses adventures down to the actual goal instead of just the situation. What are the characters supposed to accomplish?

Quests can be described in single sentence with a template like this one:

An NPC wants the characters to accomplish something at a particular location.

We can fill this model out by saying "who's asking?", "where does it take place?", and "what are we supposed to do?"

Not every quest focuses on this model but generally you have a motivation, a location, and a goal.

Here are several example quests:

Roselyn Zeshe wants the characters to stop the Children of the Red Rose from assassinating the queen's sister-in-hiding at Heron's Stride.

Queen Karsara wants the characters to infiltrate the Dread Necropolis, face the Dread Knight Karavon, and prevent his war against the City of Arches before it begins.

Garland Willowmane wants the characters to travel into the Vault of the Key of Worlds and recover the artifact before either the marilith Sylisa Sixblade or the erinyes Vether Voidwalker find it first.

You need no more detail than these single sentences when presenting such quests to your players. They choose the one they want to go on and then you fill out the rest of the adventure with NPCs, location details, treasure, secrets, monsters, and the rest of the eight steps for game prep from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master.

Keep Things Simple

Focusing things down to the next three quests helps simplify the whole act of GMing. We GMs have a lot going on. Anything we can do to help build templates and add simple clear steps to our prep makes our lives easier and lets us focus on the high fantasy and adventure stories we build with our players.

Next time you're prepping your game, prepare three quests and present them to your players near the end of your next session.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Treasure Parcels, Take it Easy, Shadowdark Adventure5e Artisanal Database Encounter calculatorNew VP of D&D and a D&D Franchise ModelCity of Arches SpotlightWhat Do You Need To Run Your Next Session?Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers.

Are We Leaving Fun at the Table?Revealing Character SecretsTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

City of Arches (with link to free preview)

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Fast, Medium, and Slow Monster Initiatives and Darkstar ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 30.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Replace Legendary Resistance with ���Dreadful Blessings��� bosses can use for rerolls, auto-saves, attack advantages, extra turns, or minion sacrifices for temp HPs. Give characters a good reason to attack other monsters than just the boss in a boss fight. Account for the fact that players love to focus on the boss in a big fight. Bosses need extra protection. Make the consequences of the characters' choices clear when they make important decisions. If offering the ability to buy magic items in stores, limit available items to three random choices. Telegraph bad inevitable news early.Describe out of character cut scenes as dreams and portents. Related ArticlesThe 3-2-1 Quest ModelTroublesome Quest ModelsScenes ��� The Catch-all Step of the Lazy Dungeon MasterGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Take It Easy

Go easy on yourself. Your game doesn't have to be perfect. Your voices don't need to be A-list quality acting. It's fine to look things up in your books at the table or ask your friends for the clarification on a rule.

The growth of the internet over the past 30 years helped us game masters expand our knowledge of RPGs tremendously. We're able to get the opinions of thousands of other game masters and use those experiences to shape our own style when we sit down with our friends and run our games.

But there's a risk. We hear it when we discuss the "Mercer Effect" in which GMs worry that players expect Critical Role levels of performance from our games and are disappointed when it turns out to be a normal game. My expectation, based on some data, is that the Mercer effect isn't as much of a problem as some might think. Most players just want to enjoy a game. They don't need (and shouldn't expect) Hollywood-level performances around our dining room table.

Going beyond the Mercer Effect, though, I hear GMs who put a lot of pressure on themselves for things like

A-tier NPC voiceworkrich deep storylinesintricate combat environmentsexpert combat tacticsperfectly interwoven character backgrounds and story threads

and so on.

RPGs are an incredible opportunity for us to get together with our friends and experience awesome creative stories together. They're also just games. Your players want to have a good time and to watch their characters do awesome stuff. It's ok to screw up an NPC's voice, forget their name, or forget what they did last time. It's ok to fall back on your players to help you fill in parts of the game you might have dropped. It's ok to forget some monster ability or forget to mention a crucial description of a room only to remember it later.

You don't need to be perfect to run a fun game. Focus on the fundamentals that make games great:

Let the story unfold during the game.Set up situations and let the characters navigate them.Be fans of the characters and their heroic activities.Prepare what you need to help you improvise at the table.Focus on the friends in front of you, the session you're running, and the characters they're playing.Pay attention to pacing.

Seek to improve your craft as a game master session by session. Take in new information, advice, tips, tricks, tools, and other materials. Continually hone your GMing technique one piece at a time.

But go easy on yourself at the same time. Focus on your friends and your game and having a great time.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Chessex Mat Review, Treasure Parcels, Shadowdark Adventure5e Artisanal Database Advanced Search FeaturesRPG Mega Bundle on Humble BundleFree League Summer Sales2025 ENNIE NominationsDungeon Delves Core Book Compatibility and Betrayal AdventuresLabyrinth by Kobold PressThe Two Opposing Truths of RPGsPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers.

Maps and Theater of the Mind Breaking ImmersionTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Chessex Battle Mat ReviewLazy 5e Treasure ParcelsRoll Big or Go Home RPG Humble BundleFree League saleENnie 2025 nominationsLabyrinth WorldbookRunning Theater of the Mind CombatAbstract Battle MapsZone-based Combat

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Defending Out of the Fun and Stonewatch ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 29.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Single foes against a full party will almost always be at a severe disadvantage. Accept it or account for it. Give characters hard meaningful choices. Do they destroy the evil citadel or send it back to the hell from which it came? Balance character to enemy actions (known as the action economy) for challenging fights. Assign the role of quartermaster to one of the players. They keep track of all loot and who took what ��� even when other players write that loot down. Double-entry bookkeeping like it���s 1299!If players are fond of abilities that shut down whole monsters ��� add more monsters. Every scene reveals more of the story. End before a big fight. Give yourself the strongest of strong starts for next time. Related ArticlesAssign Player RolesHow to Get Your Group to Play Other RPGsThe Two-Word Cure to Overpowered CharactersGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Lazy 5e Treasure Parcels

This guide offers simple treasure parcels for your 5e RPGs ��� whatever variant of 5e you're playing. Prep and award roughly one parcel per session.

Tier 1 (1st to 4th level) Treasure Parcel400 gp worth of coin, gems, jewels, and artTwo uncommon consumable magic itemsOne uncommon permanent magic itemTier 2 (5th to 10th level) Treasure Parcel4,000 gp worth of coin, gems, jewels, and artTwo uncommon or rare consumable magic itemsOne uncommon or rare permanent magic itemTier 3 (11th to 16th level) Treasure Parcel30,000 gp worth of coin, gems, jewels, and artTwo uncommon, rare, or very rare consumable magic itemsOne uncommon, rare, or very rare permanent magic itemTier 4 (17th to 20th level) Treasure Parcel200,000 gp worth of coin, gems, jewels, and artTwo rare, very rare, or legendary consumable magic itemOne rare, very rare, or legendary permanent magic itemUsing These ParcelsAdd a parcel to your prep notes for each session.Choose the parcel's tier based on the challenges faced by the characters.Award roughly two parcels each character level. If you have five or six characters, add one extra parcel per level.Customize gems, jewelry, trade bars, and art objects, subtracting their value from the gold value listed. 5e gamemaster guides often include lists of gems, jewels, and artwork you can roll on or choose from. Or you can make up something interesting that fits the theme of your adventure or campaign.Roll on your favorite 5e random tables for permanent or consumable magic items by rarity.Instead of random permanent magic items, add character-focused magic items you choose or items based on your players' wish lists.Include one common magic item per parcel if desired.Customize art objects and magic items with species, factions, conditions, or secrets and clues.Include relics �����consumable magic items with single-use spell effects.Tie daily-use spells to permanent magic weapons and armor to give them a unique flavor.Comparing Parcels Across 5e

These parcels are loosely based on an analysis of D&D 2014, D&D 2024, Tales of the Valiant, and Level Up Advanced 5e which broke out monetary treasure roughly as follows:

Tier 1

2014 D&D: 9002024 D&D: 500A5E: 600ToV: 200Average: 550

Tier 2

2014 D&D: 9,0002024 D&D: 4,400A5E: 4,100ToV: 2,500Average: 5,000

Tier 3

2014 D&D: 60,0002024 D&D: 36,000A5E: 21,000ToV: 11,000Average: 32,000

Tier 4

2014 D&D: 350,0002024 D&D: 330,000A5E: 90,000ToV: 45,000Average: 203,750

You can compare the Lazy Treasure Parcels to these lists and adjust as you choose.

Patrons of Sly Flourish gain access to the 5e Artisanal Database which include random treasure generators for the Lazy parcels described above,��D&D 2024, and Tales of the Valiant.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

New Articles, Weapons of Power, Combat TrackerWeapons of Power SupplementDread Necropolis Adventure ToolkitCombat Tracker in 5e Artisanal DatabaseNumenera Humble BundleDragon Delves for D&DBuilding a Lazy PantheonPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers.

Adventure-Breaking Character AbilitiesClimactic NegotiationsTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Avoid Removing Player AgencyChessex Battle Mat ReviewNumenera Humble Bundle

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Shadowdark House Rules and Salos Goldtooth ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 28.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Run small battles regularly. Add potential allies to infiltration situations who can offer information or distract enemies. Add hidden shrines or crypts to dungeons that even the current inhabitants don���t know about. Reveal secrets through mosaics, old scrolls, and the lore of NPCs. Keep a loose list of inhabitants and improvise encounters based on the situation and pacing of the game. Borrow ideas from books, movies, tv shows. Take ideas from everywhere. Infiltrating an occupied keep is a fantastic way to build a situation and let the characters navigate it as they wish. Related ArticlesGems of the Tales of the Valiant Game Master's GuideAward Treasure and Magic Items in 5eThe Stories of Magic ItemsGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Chessex Battle Mat Review

If you already have a Chessex Battle Mat; or you're willing to compromise on portability, durability, and cost for a beautiful and smooth play surface that feels great; the Chessex Battle Mat is a fantastic product.

Otherwise, the Pathfinder Basic Flip Mat remains what I consider the best value play surface for your in-person tabletop RPGs.

Several months ago, when I asked GMs for their favorite tools when running RPGs, many GMs brought up Chessex Battle Mats����� often describing how many decades they've used them. I was familiar with the venerable Chessex mat but I hadn't used one myself in a while ��� preferring my beloved Pathfinder Basic Flip Mat.

In the name of science, I decided to give the Chessex mats another try. I bought two of them �����the more portable 24" by 26" mat and the larger 34" by 48" megamat. I took the smaller mat to my friend's house where we play RPGs on Sundays and the larger mat I used at my own table for my home games.

I've now used these Chessex mats for several months and am ready to give my informed and battle-tested opinions.

Smooth and Flat

First, Chessex battle mats feel great. The surface feels nice and, after reverse-rolling it once it's out of a tube, it lays perfectly flat ��� much flatter than a Pathfinder Flip Mat which has creases where it folds.

The Chessex mat is also a joy to draw on with wet-erase markers. I picked up a bunch of Staedtler 315-9 medium-point black wet-erase markers and they quickly became my favorite markers. They last way longer than dry-erase markers and draw really well ��� I've been using the same one for almost six months now. While it's a toss-up on which mat wins out for me, the Staedtler markers are the big winner for me from now on.

At my home table, I used to have a big 36" by 48" sheet of acrylic I would put over a Pathfinder Bigger Basic Flip Mat. But the larger Chessex mat feels so good, I don't need the acrylic sheet anymore.

The Chessex mat feels great and lays flat in a way the Pathfinder Flip Mat does not ��� but the Pathfinder Flip Mat still beats it in a few areas. Let's take a look.

Portability

Chessex mats need to be rolled up. If you fold them, the folds can be permanent and ruin that great smooth feel. It's not impossible to carry a short poster tube but it's definitely not as easy as carrying the folded up Pathfinder Basic Flip Mat. The flip mat folds up like a file folder and fits in along all your other books and papers.

Durability

I read a lot of fun reports on how to care for your Chessex mat. I saw discussion groups about what types of chemicals one might use should you accidentally leave a map drawn onto it for too long. The wrong chemical screws up the laminant and takes off the grid lines if you're not careful. I have a friend who literally talked about showering with his Chessex mat so the humidity would suck all the ink off of it. There are a lot of Chessex mat rituals going on out there.

Not so with the Pathfinder Flip Mat Basic. It's super durable and easy to clean. You can leave a map on it for a year and wipe it off with some water.

So far my Chessex mats are as nice as they were the day I bought them but only because I draw on them right before a game and erase right after the game using only black ink. Red or green ink can apparently stain them more easily.

Cost

The smaller Chessex Battle Mat runs about $30 and the larger megamat runs $50. You can often pick them up at local game shops or order directly from Chessex. They have a lot of different styles so make sure you get the one with 1" squares.

The Pathfinder Flip Mat costs $17 from Paizo ��� definitely cheaper and also often available at local game shops.

Where Does That Leave Us?

If you're shopping for a battle mat and don't yet have one, it's hard to beat the value, durability, and flexibility of the Pathfinder Flip Mat Basic. If you already have a Chessex mat, you certainly don't need anything else. People love their Chessex mats ��� I love mine! Now that I already purchased them, I use my Chessex mats all the time, but I still recognize the better value of the Pathfinder Flip Mat Basic.

If you're willing to spend the extra money, sacrifice portability, and accept the need to engage in some fun shower-focused rituals to keep it clean, the Chessex Battle Mat really does feel great.

Otherwise, if you want the best bang for the buck ��� get a Pathfinder Flip Mat.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

New Articles, Scions of Light, 5eADB UpdatesTreasures from the Dark by Jeff StevensPerkins and Crawford Join Darrington Press, Ivan van Norman Leaves DP, Todd Kendrick Laid Off, Jess Lanzillo Leaves WOTCThe RPG Business Punditry HobbyWhat Makes an RPG Successful?Running 200 Ghouls in One BattlePatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers.

Campaign Plans and Player AgencyBest Resources for New GMsManaging Large Groups of MonstersTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

How to Get Your Group to Play Other RPGsOrganizing Your RPG Prep NotesAvoid Removing Player AgencyTreasures from the Dark KickstarterChris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford Join Darrington PressIvan van Norman Leaves Darrington PressTodd Kenrick Laid OffJess Lanzillo Departs Wizards of the CoastMastering Dungeons EpisodeWhat Makes RPGs SuccessfulRunning Hordes

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on The Retreat Action ��� Lazy DM Tip and Return to the Four of Forty Fingers ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 27.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Beyond the typical encounter calculations, consider the action economy of foes to characters in challenging battles. Significantly more or fewer foes change the balance of power. Add interesting and usable terrain features for bigger combat encounters. Share in-world secrets and lore during combat. What do the characters learn as they battle their foes?Think about the motivations of defeated foes. What do they want and what will they give up to get it?Learn prep tips from others, prep your games, run your games, and evaluate the results. Offer opportunities for roleplaying even in the darkest dungeon. Be the characters��� biggest fan. Related ArticlesThe Pathfinder Basic Flip Mat ��� My Favorite RPG Accessory2015 RPG Gift GuideBattle Map Comparisons Get More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Avoid Removing Player Agency

The excellent chapbook Adventure Crucible by Robin Laws, describes several "fun ruiners" for fantasy RPGs at the end of the book. I talked about fun ruiners in my series of articles on Adventure Types beginning with Dungeon Crawls.

There are many ways a game can go bad ��� more than we can fit into a single article ��� but many of them come down to a single issue �����removing player agency.

Players want to do stuff. They want to use the tools their characters have to interact with the world. When circumstances in the game (or our own choices as GMs) take those tools away or remove their decisions, players can't do as much as they hoped they could do. That's the removal of player agency and it can take many forms.

Here are a few examples.

Sorry, You're Stunned

Stunning and incapacitation of any sort can definitely be a fun ruiner. In combat-heavy games like 5e, players already don't get a lot of time in the spotlight to do their cool things. When we remove an entire round from them, we might eat up 20 minutes where they can't do anything at all. Not being able to do stuff in an RPG is a drag, even if it makes sense.

In the Lazy DM's Companion I offer an alternative choice characters can make:

A character can also choose to break this effect at the start of their turn by taking 4 (1d8) psychic damage per two character levels.

This is a way for players to choose damage over incapacitation if you choose to add in this optional rule. You can use this alternative for any effect the characters might want to break free from. Now that removal of agency is a choice they can make.

That's Not How This Chase Works

Sometimes we plan scenes in our games where the characters are intended to act a certain way. Chases are one example. I've seen published adventures that remove many ways you might want to interact in the chase. You can't use misty step and punch the running bad guy in the face. You get exhaustion if you try to dash (even though that doesn't happen anywhere else in the game). In some adventures, like Waterdeep Dragon Heist, even if you manage to grab the MacGuffin early in a chase, it literally won't work for you.

If the characters obtain the stone earlier than expected, it proves uncooperative and tries to separate itself from the party as quickly as possible, refusing to share any knowledge with characters in the meantime. The stone tries to take control of anyone who attunes to it, triggering a conflict (see ���Sentient Magic Items��� in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master���s Guide). If the stone fails to take control, it can���t try again against that character until the next dawn. If the stone succeeds in taking control of its owner, it orders that character to deliver it to whichever location sets into motion the sequence of encounters discussed in this chapter (see ���Encounter Chains���).

You're going through that chase, damnit.

You're All Captured and Your Stuff is Gone

Being captured sucks. Losing your stuff sucks. Often such capture is completely contrived. You never stood a chance. Some adventures force the issue by pitting the characters against an overwhelming force. Then you find yourself in a cage and all your stuff is taken away. That's a loss of agency. That stuff made characters cool and now they don't have it. Getting it back isn't fun. You're only back to where you started.

The only way I've seen this work well is in the adventure Out of the Abyss which starts you imprisoned. This adventure start doesn't remove agency because you didn't have any to begin with.

Taking away magic items or character capabilities may seem like a cool idea but it takes away player agency. I remember a high level 4th edition adventure that removed all character powers except at-will powers. No player went through the trouble of picking all their cool character abilities only to be put in a situation where they can't use them.

Avoid Removing Player Agency

These examples aren't unique. They're actually pretty common ��� especially among newer GMs who think capturing characters and taking away their stuff is going to be fun only to realize too late that their players hate it. These examples are also only three of many ways GMs might accidentally (or purposefully) take away character agency.

Be aware of the danger of taking away character agency. Know the fun taking agency away sucks away from your players. Players want to see their characters do cool stuff. They want to watch their characters use the tools they have to interact in the world. Don't take those tools away. Lean into them.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

I was sick this past weekend so there wasn't a new episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast).

I posted a YouTube video on Legendary Resistance Alternatives.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Ensure you get a group consensus on big decisions. Ensure the players work together when negotiating with NPCs. Clarify the characters��� primary goal and group bond in your session zero. Pool damage and combine attacks together to run dozens to hundreds of monsters at once. Offer choices with story and gameplay clues so players can make informed decisions. Mix a few big monsters with lots of little monsters to let characters use big areas of attack options and big single target effects. Call on individual players, particularly quiet players, when playing online. Players often fear talking over one another and more talkative players can hog the spotlight. Related ArticlesCommon D&D DM MistakesTroublesome Quest ModelsTell, Don't ShowGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Organizing Your RPG Prep Notes

Organize RPG prep notes by campaign with pages for characters, NPCs, and individual session notes built around the eight steps from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master. Include folders for maps and campaign support material. Simplify and tailor your own system to help you most effectively run great games for your friends.

Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master offers eight steps for prepping your tabletop RPG ��� the characters, the strong start, scenes, secrets and clues, locations, NPCs, monsters, and treasure. These components of our game prep are system agnostic. You can use digital tools or a paper notebook����� whatever works best for you.

In the past I used Notion for my game prep. More recently I use Obsidian.md because I like working in raw markdown files. I've also been using paper notes at my table again for both online and in-person games. There's something fun about using paper notes like folks did fifty years ago.

There are many great tools for prepping our notes����� physically, digitally, or a mix of both. Instead of focusing on one tool, I want to offer an approach for organizing prep notes that works with whatever tools you prefer �����be it a paper notebook, Google Drive, OneNote, Obsidian, Notion, Word, or or anything else.

Keep Things Simple

It's easy to let systems get out of control with deep folder hierarchies, categorization, tagging, linking, plug-ins, and adding more tools to the stack. Instead, keep things as simple as possible ��� just like the eight steps for Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master. Only separate the notes that must be separated. Instead of assuming we'll fill out a huge NPC database, can we get away with just a single list of NPCs that grows over time? Do we need a list of locations or can we just keep a folder for the maps we're using? Which elements work best when separated from our session notes and which ones can live in our session notes alone? How do we organize our notes so it makes our prep easier and faster?

Lazy GM Campaign Organization

Here's an outline for a simplified campaign organization scheme. For the sake of clarity, a "page" is a single page, sheet, note, document, or whatever. A folder is the hierarchical organization of the material.

Campaign FolderCharacters pageNPCs pageMaps folderIndividual mapsSession notes folderIndividual session pagesCampaign support folderIndividual campaign support pages

This format makes the most sense for digital tools like Google Drive, Notion, Obsidian, OneNote, or a local file-based system.

For a paper-based system, a "folder" could be an actual folder or journal or binder. A page could be a page or section in a notebook. You could have an NPC page, a set of character pages, and a section of session notes pages. You'll need room in your paper-based system to expand these sections out. You can also use physical folders for maps and campaign support material.

For a paper-based alternative, check out Kelsey Dionne's excellent YouTube video on RPG note taking.

The Campaign Folder

Looking back at our campaign organization outline, we'll start with the top-level folder ��� the Campaign folder. Each campaign folder holds material for a whole campaign. If you're running multiple campaigns (lucky you!), you can keep one folder for each campaign. If you need to share material between campaigns, copy the material into each of these folders.

A Single Characters Page

I've tried both single sheets for each character and one big character page with multiple characters listed and I prefer the latter. It's easier to prepare and review characters when all the characters are listed in a single page instead of split out to their own pages. It also prints out in fewer pages should you want a paper copy with your game notes.

The characters page contains information such as

the group's name.the group's headquarters and its features.the group's level.any other group-specific notes you want to remember.

Notes for each character on the characters page might include

their character and player name.a link to their character sheet if you have one.important stats, trained skills, passive skills.campfire tale results (updated as you run campfire tales).new abilities the character acquired when leveling up so you can think about them for lightning rods.magic items the character has, including intelligent magic items (which might also go on the NPCs page).

Update this page every few sessions and give it a review each session before you start writing out your prep notes.

A Single NPCs Page

Like characters, we can keep NPC notes on a single page. Here's an example of some character notes from my Empire of the Ghouls campaign.

Ix. Undead Abolith of the DepthsJalil im-Tep. Emerald Order advisor to God-King Thutmoses XXIIIJiro. Underworld MerchantKaglyn Kruel. Darakhul Assassin of the Grim Harvest (deceased)Kovaks. Infernal GearforgerKranos Stross. Gearforged Scorpion Ruler of ZobeckKytharax the FlamewreathedLady Malicious. Tiefling Lich advisor to NicoforusLarowyn Striferain**. Darakhul advisor to Eyesplinter and the Serpent. Sent to Zobeck to meet with Blue.

I mostly have trouble with NPC names so this is generally all that I need. You can add other notes to NPCs when important.

I also like to split NPCs up into "current" and "past" NPCs so I can keep NPCs out of the way when they're no longer relevant. Sometimes they come back, though, so it's worth keeping them around.

Update this list every few sessions.

Maps

I used to have a "locations" folder with individual pages for each location. In practice, I only need to keep a place for maps so I've switched to a "maps" folder with JPEGs of the maps I use in my game. Location info, random monster tables, and other information go in my session notes in which the location is relevant.

Session Notes

Each session I write up the list of the eight steps from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master. I omit steps if I don't need them. Our notes serve us, not the other way around, so you're free to modify your session notes to suit the session you're going to run.

Organize session notes with a nice sort-friendly date-based filename such as "2024-03-11 Empire of the Ghouls". Our notes stay nice and organized by reverse filename even as our campaign grows.

Campaign Support

A "campaign support" folder can contain separate pages of information for our specific campaign that don't fit anywhere else. This might include

a campaign faction list we want to refer to.lists of gods and deities.larger atlases of locations.campaign timelines or calendars.anything else that doesn't fit into the other categories.

The campaign support folder is the junk drawer of our notes but don't let it get out of hand. Only put things in here you know you need to write down and reference later.

Write Down the Stuff We Can't Remember

One purpose of our notes is to keep track of the things we can't remember. If we can remember something �����or we don't need to remember it�������we don't have to put it in our notes. Our notes are just for us. They don't have to carefully capture and record every aspect of our campaign as though we were going to hand it to someone else. We only need the things we need to run great sessions for our friends. This philosophy keeps our notes clean, fast to create, and easily referenced when prepping and running our games.

Make It Your Own

This structure is one suggested hierarchy. Your own needs, your own desires, the way you prep your games, and the way you run them all factor into how you organize your material. Hopefully this article gives you a path for building the perfect structure for organizing your game materials to help you run awesome games for your family and friends.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

5e Artisanal Database Updates, Key of Worlds Scenario 11Dragonbane Arkand & Book of MagicLGBTQ+ TTRPG Bundle on Bundle of HoldingDaggerheartTrack Monster Damage with Xs and SlashesPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers.

Telling Players About QuestsKeeping a Campaign's Tone ConsistentTying Character Backgrounds to Published AdventuresTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Hang On LooselyHow to Get Your Group to Play Other RPGsDragonbane KickstarterPride Games Bundle of HoldingDaggerheartTallying Damage ��� Patchwork Paladin

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Avoid Getting Caught Up in the D&D and RPG Zeitgeist and Returning Greyharp ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 26.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Keep the pace moving when a session tends to avoid combat. Move from scene to scene quickly to keep people engaged. Set the stage, offer options. Note dissenters to popular decisions, ensure they���re ok going forward anyway. Give the characters the comfort of home every few sessions. Use portals to connect home bases. Write down new character capabilities each level up. Get consensus on paths ahead at the end of a session so you know what to prep next. Related ArticlesUsing Obsidian for Lazy RPG PrepWrite One Page of Prep NotesUsing Notion.so for Lazy RPG Campaign PlanningGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

How to Get Your Group to Play Other RPGs

Finding players to play tabletop RPGs remains the hardest problem for the hobby and has likely been the biggest roadblock for the hobby for the past 50 years. Options for playing online help but finding and maintaining a good group is still hard.

Getting players to try something other than D&D is also hard. But, I argue, it's not as hard as it was to get a group in the first place.

The difficulty we face convincing our group to try a different game is often in how we approach convincing them.

Players typically know what to expect with D&D. As a brand, D&D is older than the average age of its players. Players haven't ever heard about your bespoke RPG about snails going on an adventure in a sewer. They know D&D.

Before you can convince players to try another game, they have to know you.

Once you have a solid group of friends playing your game, it's easier to convince them to try something new because they trust you.

"Let's Try Something New for a Couple of Sessions"

Your group doesn't have to throw away all future D&D games to try something new. Instead, ask your group to play a couple of sessions of a new game in between campaigns. Players are often more willing to try something when they know it isn't the new thing forever. Two sessions is about the minimum number of games required to get a feeling for a new RPG and, who knows, you and your players might end up running more.

Some groups are willing to take a bigger plunge ��� maybe ten or twenty sessions of Shadow of the Weird Wizard. You'll have to feel them out. It's still easier to convince them to try something if they know it isn't a permanent switch from the system they already know and like.

What's In It for Them?

One thing to consider when approaching your group about a new RPG is how you talk to your players about it. You might like the game's streamlined mechanics on the GM side, but what's in it for the players? Why would they want to play this new game as opposed to D&D? What makes it worth the switching cost going from a system they know to a system they don't? Work on your pitch with a focus on what the game gives to your players.

They Still Might Not Like It

Even after trying a new game, your players might still prefer D&D. D&D is a great game. That's fine. You still had the opportunity to try something else and see how it felt. If some of your players liked the new game so much that they want to continue but other players want to go back to D&D, perhaps start a new group for the new game if you have the time.

Try Other Games

Above all, give other RPGs a shot. D&D is fantastic but there are a lot of great games out there with great ideas ��� ideas you can bring to just about any RPG you play.

Like finding and maintaining a great RPG group, proposing a new RPG takes effort to convince your players. Limit such a switch to just a couple of sessions and focus on what it brings to your players to help convince them to try something new.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Happy Pride MonthLeave Blanks, Hang On Loosely, COA Available Worldwide, Markdown and EPUB Lazy DM's CompanionDaggerheart in MarkdownGrim Hollow Bundle of HoldingRPG Game Master Book Series Humble BundleTales of the Valiant Player's Guide 2Horizons Issue 3 by Wildmage PressD&D 2014 to D&D 2024 Conversion GuideTen Cultist Powers by Evan RashCorridor Themes by Justin AlexanderThe 5e Artisanal DatabaseThe Power of Text FilesPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers.

Running the Keep Scenario from Lazy DM's CompanionSly Flourish Tools for ShadowdarkStocking DungeonsTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Leave BlanksHang On LooselyCity of Arches Shipping WorldwideDaggerheart SRD in MarkdownGrim Hollow Bundle of HoldingDeadlands Humble Bundle"The Game Master's Book" Humble BundleTales of the Valiant Player's Handbook 2 KickstarterHorizons Issue 3New D&D 2014 to D&D 2024 Conversion GuideTen Cult Powers by Evan RashCorridor Themes by Justin Alexander

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on When to Cheat and Vestar the Shining Storm ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 25.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Keep a list of monsters in your prep notes the characters might encounter in your next session. Write down their page numbers.Spend time understanding the relationship between monster power and character power so you can better improvise combat encounters during the game.Ask players to let you know when they feel like they earned enough in-world knowledge to level up their characters.Mix easier encounters with hard encounters. Not every encounter needs to be a knock-down drag-out fight.Let players know what skills are likely more relevant for a given campaign.Ask players how their character learned of the information they received on a good ability check.Show characters the layers of history in the dungeon they explore.Related ArticlesFind Local Players for Tabletop RPGsAssign Player RolesTwo Different 5e Games at the Same TableGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Hang On Loosely

No single set of unified rules work perfectly for the open-ended nature of RPGs. Use the rules and tools which help you improvise as the game evolves during play.

RPGs aren't like other games with fixed rules and boundaries around the entirety of the game. RPGs often have a loose framework of rules to handle conflict resolution, a core mechanic like rolling a d20, adding a modifier, and comparing the result against a difficulty class.

RPGs are often wide open in lots of ways. Sure, combat is well refined in 5e games but how the characters get into combat, what the environment is like, what the situation is like, what monsters are there and how many ��� that's all variable. D&D isn't a board game, no matter how much we'd sometimes like it to be.

Often, when seeking hard specific rules for our more flexible RPGs, those rules betray us in the circumstances of the game. Encounter building rules result in encounters that may be too easy or too hard. Resource-focused travel rules break down when characters can summon food and water at will. Chase-focused skill challenges get circumvented when one character casts dimension door and punches the runner in the face. Fancy naval ship combat rules break down when a character creates a 40 foot deep rift in the water right in front of the enemy ship.

Three words can help us deal with circumstances like the examples above:

Hang on loosely.

Encounter building rules aren't perfect. Use them as a guideline and then use your experience to adjust.

Where else can we let go of our desire for concrete rules and instead hang on loosely?

Judging how many encounters per day you need to run to match some ideal challenge.Worrying about exactly how many magic items you should award.Determining a DC for a situation and approach.Figuring out morale for combatants.Determining how an NPC reacts to the characters.Figuring out the characters' reputation with the locals.Understanding all the mechanics required to pilot a ship.Having a perfectly clear system for buying and selling magic items.Draining just the right amount of resources from the characters before a final battle.Deciding exactly how many hit points every monster has.Determining a single system for building a home base.

Often the best system for handling these circumstances are our own brains thinking about our worlds from the inside and a flexible core mechanic like rolling a D20, adding an applicable character modifier, and matching against a DC from 10 to 20.

There are some rules you definitely want to hang on to tightly ��� the rules facing the players. Players want to know that the world plays consistently when they interact with it. The world isn't exactly fair, but it should behave the same way when reasonably expected to. Such "hard rules" might include

character mechanicsspell mechanicsthe general DC curve (10 is easy, 15 is medium, 20 is hard)basic in-world economicsmonster armor classesthe physics of terrain

and others.

You're not going to find perfect systems for all circumstances in your RPG. RPGs are often wide open with too many variables in the mechanics of the game and the approaches and experiences of your players for any single system to work perfectly.

Hang on loosely. Be flexible. Go with the flow. Select and use tools that help you improvise during the game. Worry less about getting it "right" and have fun in the moment with your friends.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

New Articles, Updated Obsidian Notes, COA Shipping in Europe, Lazy DM's Companion in EPUB and MarkdownOld School Essentials Bundle of HoldingBlades in the Dark Deep CutsDaggerheart ReleasedMashing Up the Eight StepsToo Much Linking In Markdown NotesPatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers.

Rolling 3d6 For Ability ScoresLow Level Characters with Powerful Legacy Magic ItemsBuilding Rich Tactical Battles in Old School AdventuresTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Your Criteria for Selecting Great Published AdventuresLeave BlanksOld School Essentials Bundle of HoldingBlades in the Dark Deep Cuts Backerkit CampaignDice Exploder Interview with Jonathan Harper on Blades in the Dark Deep CutsDaggerheart on Critical Role StoreDaggerheart SRDDaggerheart Community LicenseDaggerheart Quickstart PDF

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Improv and the Eight Steps and The Third Heaven ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 24.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Drop one interesting terrain feature into each big combat encounter. Assign the role of ���caller��� to arbitrate group choices. Ensure they listen to other players and remain even-handed. Let players engage in crazy ideas. Don���t punish them for it. Avoid running too many hard battles. Give the characters a break. End on cliffhangers.Strip your tools and prep down to the essentials. Your prep notes serve you, no one else. Related ArticlesAssign Player RolesSteal Character Archetypes from a Single ShowLet Characters Automatically Succeed SometimesGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Leave Blanks

One of my favorite writers, Cory Doctorow, had an excellent post called Against Lore. In it, he talks about how he could use the imaginations of firearm aficionados, who just can't help themselves but nitpick gun details in fiction, against themselves by adding a single word �����"modified":

Jim's big idea was that gun people couldn't help but chew away at the verisimilitude of your fictional guns, their brains would automatically latch onto them and try to find the errors. But the word "modified" hijacked that impulse and turned it to the writer's advantage: a gun person's imagination gnaws at that word "modified," spinning up the cleverest possible explanation for how the gun in question could behave as depicted.

Creating these blanks means the imaginations of the readers can serve as part of the fiction. They fill in the details with their own imaginations.

We RPG hobbyists are very familiar with this concept. Over and over we hear stories where players fill in blanks and the GM runs with their ideas building an adventure far better than they would have on their own.

Doctorow talks about how this idea collides with roleplaying games. I don't think he nailed the real value blanks have in roleplaying games, though. Unlike other forms of fiction where we have the creator (writer, director, musical artist, whatever) and the consumer (the reader, movie-watcher, musical fan, etc.), in RPGs we're all at the table creating the story together. A reader might fill in blanks with their imagination in their head but at our gaming table, players speak it out loud. They're changing things.

There are lots of ways we GMs can leave blanks in our games or use tricks like adding "modified" to the description of a gun.

One of my favorites is to describe big wheels and counterweights moving behind the walls of a dungeon. I have no idea how that stuff works back there but it doesn't matter. Those wheels and gears and chains and counterweights show that the dungeon can work. When a huge juggernaut smashes down a hallway and then pulls itself back, our players imagine the complex geometry and engineering going on behind the walls that make the place work.

Here are ten other ways we can leave blanks our players can fill in with their own imaginations:

Monstrous Descriptions. Instead of naming a type monster, describe it. An ogre is a lot scarier when you don't call it an ogre.Unknown Rituals. We don't have to know what all the symbols and runes mean. Leave it to your players' imaginations how the strange ritual worked.The Ghouls' Slaughterhouse. We don't have to reveal the gory and horrific details of the slaughterhouse of the ghoul imperium. Just tell the players it's a place their characters certainly don't want to witness.A Villain's Dark Past. We don't have to describe every element of a villain's past. Leave blanks and let the players fill in what they think might have brought their villain to this state. They come from parts unknown.The World's History. We GMs love to fill out millennia of history but we can leave lots of blanks in our histories. For 24 years the Clone Wars in Star Wars were just called the Clone Wars. That was good enough.Smoky Rifts to Depths Unknown. The strange misty tendrils flowing out of a bottomless ravine doesn't need an explanation. Who knows what's going on down there. Dungeons Deep. A huge sinkhole in the center of a dungeon may reveal dozens of levels of a vast dungeon complex. How far does it go?Brutal Scars. How did that guard captain get so badly scarred? She doesn't want to talk about it so stop asking.Histories of Magic Items. An ancient sword wielded by a primeval knight over a millenia ago ��� the spirit of its wielder still swirling in the gemstone on its hilt. Imagine what stories that spirit knew.The Inner Workings of Diabolic Machines. The smell of ozone, the sound of rushing water, heat being transferred through the stone ��� these details are enough for players to imagine how strange ancient traps or constructs can work.Other Kinds of Blanks

RPGs have a nearly endless source of potential blanks. Here are some big ones:

Blank spots on a mapBlank periods of historyBlank information behind factionsForgotten godsTimes of ancient and powerful technologyPlayer Prompts

Some blanks become prompts we can throw to players:

Campfire talesDescriptions of killing blowsKeeping Secrets Secret

Secrets and clues are the cornerstone of Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master. Not every aspect of your game's world needs to be revealed through these secrets. Sometimes the best parts of our world live in the minds of our players and may never be filled out in the details of our world.

Leave blanks.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

New Articles, Key of Worlds Scenario 10, COA Shipping NewsRaging Swan Bundle of HoldingNeon City Outlaws by Rodney ThompsonD&D 2024 5.2 SRD Available in MarkdownPatchwork Paladin on Lord of the Rings 5e Dissecting and Piecing Together 5eGary Gygax's 25 Year D&D Predictions from 199925 Years of WOTC Making Fun of Its Own ProductsAI GMing Taken to the Logical Conclusion - Just Run the Whole Game For UsLightning Rods for Each 5e ClassTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Raging Swan Bundle of HoldingNeon City OutlawsD&D 2024 5.2 SRD in MarkdownPulling Apart D&D 5e ��� Patchwork PaladinLightning Rods ��� Showcase Powerful Character Abilities

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on The 3-2-1 Quest Model and The Shadow Drake ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 23.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Track damage done to monsters with Xs and slashes (\). Each slash is five damage. Cross the slash into an X is ten damage. Keep a tally of extra damage separate.Introduce one character-focused location in any new town the characters visit.Offer a handful of options for downtime scenes.Tie the game's story and narrative to information the characters know or learn.Add high ground areas and cover for some tactical crunch in combat encounters.Build scenes during travel around monuments or other interesting backdrops.Related ArticlesRoleplaying Between SessionsHigh Value PrepGetting Ideas for your RPGsGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Your Criteria for Selecting Great Published Adventures

Before you read further, write down some of your criteria for determining whether a published adventure is right for you. What do you look for? What are warning signs an adventure won't work for you?

There's no perfect adventure for everyone. Ask 100 GMs what their favorite adventures are and you'll get 100 different lists. Some adventures at the top of one GM's list are at the bottom of another's.

There's no single right answer to define a perfect adventure. There are many right answers.

But we can, collectively, discuss adventures and define our own criteria for what makes an adventure work for us. Building this list helps us better evaluate the adventures we buy, read, prepare, and run for our group.

Choosing What to Buy

$60 may be cheap for the hours of fun you'll have with your players but it's not nothing. What can we do to see if an adventure might be for us before we buy it?

Read reviews from good reviewers.Read previews when they're available.Consider the previous work an author or publisher put out.Ask about the adventure from those who bought it. Ask questions based on your own typical criteria.Read forums and blog posts that discuss the adventure.

Up front you might be able to tell if an adventure is for you or not before you buy it. Even if you do buy it, though, that doesn't mean it's worth running it.

The True Cost and Value of a Published Adventure

The true cost and value of a published adventure isn't just its monetary cost. When you think about the number of hours you and your players spend with an adventure, even $60 is cheap.

The time you spend with your friends around the table is invaluable. That time is precious ��� you'll never get it back and we get too few hours with our friends in our lives. Why spend that time on an adventure we don't dig?

That's why it's important to clarify your own criteria to determine if the adventure is right for you. You and your friends are going to spend a lot of potential time with it. Even if you already bought it, that doesn't mean you should run it.

My Own Criteria

Here are some of my criteria for determining if an adventure is for me ��� and thus something I want to run for my group.

What I Look ForA clear structure for the adventure I can understand quickly.Clear character motivation to go through the adventure.Meaningful choices for the characters to steer the adventure's direction.An easy to use layout that's easy to reference at the table.Random lists that make my life easier as a GM.Not too weird, not too mundane.The clear flexibility to make it my own.Economical writing ��� give me what I need and nothing else.Lots of character agency in the story.Easy to implement ways to make the world feel alive (rival groups and villainous quests).Fantastic locations and dungeon designs.Set ups for situations instead of plot-driven scenes.A theme I can resonate with and get excited about.What I AvoidPlots and storylines built around betraying the trust of the characters (and players).No clear structure.No clear character motivation.Too many words.Too linear a structure or plot.Broken connections between the story and the motivations of the characters. No, my paladin would not like to throw people's souls into a war machine to drive 10 miles further.Just One View

Those aspects are my criteria. They are not your criteria. When you think back to adventures you've loved ��� what made you love them? When you think back to adventures that didn't work out for you ��� what sins did they commit?

Even if you've already bought an adventure, it's ok to take a deep look and say "yeah, this one isn't for me" and set it aside. Strip it for parts instead.

Of course, you can skip all of this analysis and build your own adventures. I think homebrew adventures in published settings is a much better way to get exactly what you want.

Whatever you choose, remember that your time with your friends around the gaming table is invaluable. Pick the right material to make that time awesome.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

New Articles, COA Fulfillment, Artisanal Monster Database UpdatesExperiences Running Three 5e Systems in the Same GameManaging Character Options At Our TableHow to Run Stealth and Hiding in 5ePatreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers.

The Intimacy and Focus of One-on-One GamesTalk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Two-Word Cure All to Overpowered CharactersBreak and Prevent the Boredom SpiralRunning One-on-One GamesA Framework for One-on-One D&D Games: Sherlock Holmes and Watson

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Free TTRPG Markdown Documents for Obsidian and Notion and Court of Winter's Love ��� Dragon Empire Prep Session 23.

Related ArticlesUsing Published AdventuresReading Published AdventuresThe Case For Published AdventuresGet More from Sly FlourishArticlesNewsletterBookstorePatreonPodcastYouTubeBuy Sly Flourish's Books City of Arches Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Lazy DM's Companion Lazy DM's Workbook Forge of Foes Fantastic Lairs Ruins of the Grendleroot Fantastic Adventures Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.