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Some weeks I prepare several pages of notes on possible NPCs or areas that my players may come across (more often than not, they don’t). Other weeks I’m throwing together last minute ideas and looking up basic info or creature stats to have anything for the evening’s session. This is true even though we are streaming. When I say we do not prepare ahead of time, I mean it. We come to this very raw, every week I read the summary from the previous week for my players. One of us does keep notes for the group (the big green binder), but the rest of us…
Unfortunately, this sometimes includes me. I get stuck in my everyday life, or other hobbies I’m involved in, and just don’t have the time. I still want to give my players a fun experience, and sometimes it works. Those times I generally feed off my players. What are they doing or talking about? Do they seem worried about anything in particular? Are they going someplace new? Now, I’ve been doing this long enough, and am comfortable enough with the system and my group, that I can pull something out pretty quick. That GM tool box sitting in my notebook or on my computer is a true treasure trove at this point. I’ve got old one-shots that I could incorporate within the story, NPCs I’ve been dying for my players to meet, or interesting monster ideas to try. Any of these things could make for a wonderful session. All those times I had pages of notes prepared, I will pull something from there to run the session. Like I’ve said before, don’t throw away unused material, it will be useful in the future. Keep those things in your own tool box so you can continue to game each week, despite not having prepared much.
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I’m sitting at the computer, thinking (scary, I know). We have been streaming our “home” game for over a year now and I still feel like I’m flying blind. We still have moments where we get aggravated at each other for antics we drive our characters to do, but we brush it off and keep going. This makes me wonder, what keeps us going? Know your group. Every group has a few people in it (if you are thinking that your group doesn’t have one of these, it’s probably you).
Rules Lawyer. The one that knows all the rules and will let you know them too. This person can become frustrated at homebrew, especially if there is no logic behind it. They are also easily aggravated by inconsistency. If the GM flips back and forth on how they handle a situation or magic item, they will begin to find loopholes to exploit. Do not be quick to dismiss this player though, they will often aid you in understanding what your own character or item can do (they tend to keep me honest). Unpredictable Nature. This is the player who works their character according to how they feel that day. Often, they will attempt to stay within the nature of the character, but the decisions and actions take on a whole other level based on the mood of the player. Sometimes their actions will make sense while other times it will cause complete chaos (leaving others thinking “What the hell…”). This is an excellent player to have at your table, they keep things fresh and exciting. Die Roller. They need to roll the dice and it doesn’t really matter if it is actually for combat, or just some skill check. Almost a compulsion, they will roll those dice simply because they are there in front of them…no reason needed. Give them only a few seconds to themselves and the sound of those things will be tumbling into a box (we hope they’re contained at least). This player tends to remind us all when we’ve hit a decision paralysis and it is time to just pick something and move on. Wallflower. Keeping quiet and watching others take action, following the leader and not really contributing to the decisions made are often the way this player approaches the RPG. They often stay out of the role play aspect. In a group where they are most comfortable, they will come away from the wall a bit, but still only offer up a few words and thoughts. These players will often have tragic backstories for their characters, playing the “strong and silent” type to avoid any unnecessary talking. Listen closely to these players as they will often have the deepest insight to a situation. Of course these can overlap. You might be thinking that you fall into multiple “roles” and that is okay. As a GM or player, having a general idea of who the players are can help to ease some tension at the table. However, it is also up to the players to realize these are friends who share a common interest. Together, they can create a story like no other…antics and all! I wrote that title and just shook my head. There have been several times that I expect my players to do certain things, and most of the time, they do something else. Planning ahead can only go so far. My titles are hopes, a tiny glimpse into the overall vision.
After many years of playing with this group, I have been able to adjust accordingly. Unless they have something they really want to do, they will linger in whatever town they happen to be in. Titling an episode with a hope is one of the only ways I know to say “Time to go” without actually saying it. The hardest titles to give are when I’ve already named the previous episode what I will end up accomplishing in the one to come. That is what happened with “Lorem Ipsum,” though that has become my favorite so far. What the group discovered during that episode, I was expecting them to get to during “Collections,” but you see how far that went. Then there are the ones where I think they will investigate something, but never do. Fellow GMs, I know you feel my pain. I just want to scream it out because I think it’s really cool, but then I never share it. To be fair though, I’ll forget about it later, well, most of it anyway. I just keep hoping they’ll ask about it. I might have to bring it up in a campaign wrap-up. Do not lose hope! All those ideas and story hooks can come back around. Re-skin them a bit to make it work later. Nothing goes to waste when you plan ahead. You’ll use it, trust me. Let me just start by saying, I am no expert. I barely qualify as experienced. To be fair, I struggle with this every time I plan an encounter to set before my players. As I have said before, each system has suggestions and guidelines to aid you in doing this, but when I have used it, I still find my players walking all over the monsters, or it results in a TPK. So how do we figure this out?
First thing we must realize: it’s not designed for a single combat. Most of the equations are set to have multiple encounters between recovery times. We can interrupt a rest and our players will not be at a detrimental disadvantage. They will be able to handle multiple fights at their “level” of challenge, and still come out unscathed. Next thing is party size: it’s designed for an average party of four. If we have a larger party, we will have to adjust it a bit. Same thing applies if the party is smaller (though I personally feel like this is a larger adjustment). Again, we need to keep in mind that this is designed for several encounters before the party resets their resources. Last, we might as well just throw the whole system out the window. Why? Because we all know there is only going to be one battle, and we want it to be challenging for our players. (Confession here, I don’t care if my players are challenged by anything other than the major plot points.) To do this though, we must make major adjustments to the enemy. Let me give you some things that I’ve done. To make these encounters balance, I have added hit points, given legendary actions/reactions, and increased the number of minions. My most challenging fights are with intelligent creatures. They know to spread out and expend the weaker ones to save themselves. I also try to utilize mechanics such as lair actions and pre-cast wards for protection. If the equations laid out by the system works for you to balance the encounters, then use them if you’d like. However, do not let it hold you back from building your own battles. I encourage you to do what works best for your party and the style of game you have chosen to play. |
AuthorJodie 
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April 2025
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