Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master

by Michael E. Shea

Checklist for Lazy Campaign Preparation Prepare the overall campaign in the same manner that you prepare your next session. That next session always matters the most. Develop a spiral campaign that focuses on what matters to the characters right now, and which spirals out as the characters move out into the larger world. Build a campaign hook that focuses the campaign on a single major goal everyone can understand. State the six truths of your campaign that separate it from other campaigns. Use the six truths to help the players build characters that fit the campaign theme. Define three fronts—the major actors for the campaign—including their goals and three grim portents that show their progress.

Checklist for Running Session Zero Use your first game session to help players build characters relevant to the campaign, and to steer the campaign toward the backgrounds and motivations of the characters. Describe the general campaign theme and the “six truths” you put together as part of your campaign planning. Use session zero to manage the expectations for the campaign. Develop ties between characters, and connect the characters to the world. Consider tying all the characters to a single faction. Let the players choose from a selection of such

factions. Guide the characters toward cooperative adventure by asking players to give their characters a clear reason to adventure with the rest of the group. Run a quick and heavily improvised session with some NPC interaction, some exploration, and some combat.

Being able to relax comes with experience. It comes from trusting your tools to help you run flexible, creative, and improvisational games.

It comes from remembering that the players are your friends, and that everyone is at the table to have a good time.

Checklist for Flexibility, Creativity, and Improvisation The best DMs embrace flexibility, creativity, and improvisation. Learn to relax, and focus on your strong start when it’s getting close to game time. Actively listen to players by making eye contact, not interrupting, and taking note of what they say. Build off the ideas players give you, and connect them to secrets and clues. Trust your preparation material to help you run a creative, flexible, and fun game. Continually sharpen your skills by watching other games, reading about the experience of other GMs, and talking to other GMs.

When we’re ready to start a game session, we can start by asking the players to summarize the previous session—and then carefully observe the responses we get. This sort of feedback helps us understand how our games are really working.

At the beginning of a session, ask the players to summarize the events of the previous game session. Listen and pay attention without interruption. Take note of what the players remember. Let other players jump in to fill in the blanks. Only correct vital misunderstandings. Use what you hear to focus your game on what the players find most memorable.