[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":200},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page-\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fpreparing-a-session":3,"navigation-main":81},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":73,"extension":74,"meta":75,"navigation":76,"path":77,"seo":78,"stem":79,"__hash__":80},"wiki\u002Fwiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F3.preparing-a-session.md","Preparing a Session",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":65},"minimark",[9,13,18,27,31,34,38,41,45,48,57],[10,11,12],"p",{},"You prepare situations, not scripts. A situation survives contact with the\nplayers; a script does not.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"what-to-prepare","What to Prepare",[10,19,20,21,26],{},"Keep it short. A handful of places, sketched enough that you could describe\nany of them cold. The people in each one, and what each of them wants — that\nis usually all you need to improvise the rest. One or two\n",[22,23],"tooltip",{"label":24,"tooltip-key":25},"encounters","rules\u002Fencounter"," you can see coming,\nso you are not building one from nothing at the table. A couple of names, held\nin reserve, to hand to whichever passerby the players decide to talk to. That\nis the whole list, and it fits on an index card.",[14,28,30],{"id":29},"what-not-to-prepare","What Not to Prepare",[10,32,33],{},"Do not prepare an outcome. Do not prepare the one route between two places, or\na scene that only works if the players have already made a particular choice.\nThe moment you have written down what happens, you have also written down what\nyou need the players to do to get there, and that is the job turning into\nsteering. Players notice steering. They resent it, even when they cannot say\nwhy.",[14,35,37],{"id":36},"prepare-for-the-table-you-have","Prepare for the Table You Have",[10,39,40],{},"Prep what your group actually engages with. A dungeon full of traps is wasted\nwork on a party that would rather talk its way past the guard than fight him,\nand a week of faction politics is wasted on a party that just wants to hit\nthings. Watch what your table leans into, and prepare more of that.",[14,42,44],{"id":43},"your-first-session","Your First Session",[10,46,47],{},"Start small. Start in the middle of something already happening, rather than\nat a beginning that needs explaining. Give the party a reason to already be\ntogether, so the first ten minutes are not spent inventing one.",[10,49,50,51,56],{},"The conversation about tone and limits — what kind of story this is, what\nnobody wants to see at the table — belongs before any of this, and it is\ncovered in ",[52,53,55],"a",{"href":54},"\u002Fwiki\u002Fintroduction","the Introduction",". Have it first.",[10,58,59,60,64],{},"Once you are ready to sit down and run what you have prepared, read\n",[52,61,63],{"href":62},"\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fsetting-difficulty","Setting Difficulty",". It answers\nthe question every new DM asks before the first roll: how hard should this be.",{"title":66,"searchDepth":67,"depth":67,"links":68},"",2,[69,70,71,72],{"id":16,"depth":67,"text":17},{"id":29,"depth":67,"text":30},{"id":36,"depth":67,"text":37},{"id":43,"depth":67,"text":44},"What is worth writing down before a session, what is wasted, and why a prepared outcome is the thing that breaks.","md",{},true,"\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fpreparing-a-session",{"title":5,"description":73},"wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F3.preparing-a-session","B4AQQpM0ZSA4zag_s86rnemZYxM-ssxND-CPpj_aOgc",[82],{"title":83,"path":84,"stem":85,"children":86},"Wiki","\u002Fwiki","wiki\u002F1.index",[87,88,91,137,167,171],{"title":83,"path":84,"stem":85},{"title":89,"path":54,"stem":90},"Introduction","wiki\u002F2.introduction",{"title":92,"path":93,"stem":94,"children":95},"Playing the Game","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F1.index",[96,97,101,105,109,113,117,121,125,129,133],{"title":92,"path":93,"stem":94},{"title":98,"path":99,"stem":100},"Damage and Healing","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fdamage-and-healing","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F10.damage-and-healing",{"title":102,"path":103,"stem":104},"Conditions","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fconditions","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F11.conditions",{"title":106,"path":107,"stem":108},"Rhythm of Play","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Frhythm-of-play","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F2.rhythm-of-play",{"title":110,"path":111,"stem":112},"The Six Abilities","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fthe-six-abilities","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F3.the-six-abilities",{"title":114,"path":115,"stem":116},"D20 Tests","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fd20-tests","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F4.d20-tests",{"title":118,"path":119,"stem":120},"Proficiency","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fproficiency","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F5.proficiency",{"title":122,"path":123,"stem":124},"Actions","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Factions","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F6.actions",{"title":126,"path":127,"stem":128},"Social Interaction","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fsocial-interaction","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F7.social-interaction",{"title":130,"path":131,"stem":132},"Exploration","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fexploration","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F8.exploration",{"title":134,"path":135,"stem":136},"Combat","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fcombat","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F9.combat",{"title":138,"path":139,"stem":140,"children":141},"Creating a Character","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F1.index",[142,143,147,151,155,159,163],{"title":138,"path":139,"stem":140},{"title":144,"path":145,"stem":146},"Choosing a Class","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Fchoosing-a-class","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F2.choosing-a-class",{"title":148,"path":149,"stem":150},"Origin","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Forigin","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F3.origin",{"title":152,"path":153,"stem":154},"Ability Scores","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Fability-scores","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F4.ability-scores",{"title":156,"path":157,"stem":158},"Alignment and Details","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Falignment","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F5.alignment",{"title":160,"path":161,"stem":162},"Equipment","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Fequipment","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F6.equipment",{"title":164,"path":165,"stem":166},"Beyond Level 1","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Fbeyond-level-1","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F7.beyond-level-1",{"title":168,"path":169,"stem":170},"Rules Glossary","\u002Fwiki\u002Frules-glossary","wiki\u002F5.rules-glossary",{"title":172,"path":173,"stem":174,"children":175},"Dungeon Mastering","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F1.index",[176,177,181,182,184,188,192,196],{"title":172,"path":173,"stem":174},{"title":178,"path":179,"stem":180},"Running the Game","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Frunning-the-game","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F2.running-the-game",{"title":5,"path":77,"stem":79},{"title":63,"path":62,"stem":183},"wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F4.setting-difficulty",{"title":185,"path":186,"stem":187},"Building an Encounter","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fbuilding-an-encounter","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F5.building-an-encounter",{"title":189,"path":190,"stem":191},"Running a Combat","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Frunning-a-combat","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F6.running-a-combat",{"title":193,"path":194,"stem":195},"Between Scenes","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fbetween-scenes","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F7.between-scenes",{"title":197,"path":198,"stem":199},"Rewards","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Frewards","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F8.rewards",1767225600000]