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What do you do, typically, before running a game?
How long does it take to prep the adventure?
Is there anything in particular that you do on the day you're running it?
Anything special you do at the start of a session?

RPGPundit

It depends on the game (of course).

Right now I'm working on a map with corresponding static encounters and wandering monster tables.  I made an old school looking module cover for the game and posted it to the Facebook event page last night. :)

When I first started out as a GM, I would have to have everything detailed before I could run.  I am sure it partially due to my mild compulsive-obsessive disorder (self-diagnosed).  Obviously, this was an exercise in futility for many reasons and on many levels, but it took me years to figure it out.

These days, my preparation time is significantly reduced.  I read and/or review the material about five days or so prior to the session.  I mull over the legion of tangents that might possibly arise during the session.  The night before and day of the session I will review the statistic blocks for all the major encounters.

Also, these days I play over the Internet via Skype and MapTool.  So, there is some added preparation in regards to the online format of gaming.  I have to create the necessary maps in MapTool.  I usually create the maps first, which is usually about the week prior to the session.  In preparation, I also create all the tokens/pogs needed for the session.  I also create all the macros (dice rolls, possible statements the token my make during play, etc.) for the tokens.  The day of the session, I usually review the player character sheets to get a loose feel for their capabilities and highest possible rolls.  

Just prior to the session, I open all the necessary programs and review the major plot points, encounters, and NPC motivations.

Now days, I am much more comfortable with playing off the cuff and don't need everything detailed prior to play.  As an example, when I was a younger GM I would like to have created the NPC thug by the book.  As an experienced GM, now I just adjudicate that the thug has xyz bonus to hit and xyz bonus to damage, and xyz hit points.

I ran 3e for a long time, and I would generally spend about an hour writing up encounters.  I'd thumb through the MM looking for interesting combinations of monster abilities and then reskin the monsters so they'd work together.  Before that I ran WW, and I did almost no preparation.  I statted out some important NPCs so I wouldn't succumb to the temptation to give them the exactly right power for the situation that exists in an off the cuff unplanned confrontation.  With 4e, I've gone back to doing pretty much no prep work.  I sometimes will take fifteen minutes, half an hour to plan, but I find that often my extemporaneous stuff is better than my planned stuff.  The weak point is treasure, which I need to be better about.

Quote from: RPGPundit;286058What do you do, typically, before running a game?
How long does it take to prep the adventure?
Is there anything in particular that you do on the day you're running it?
Anything special you do at the start of a session?

RPGPundit

I prefer having about 1-2 days before the campaign starts to come up with maps, NPCs, their goals and motives, organizations, resources, opening situation, and the like.

I am able to run with zero prep, creating everything on the fly.

Usually, I need to do zero prep between sessions, but if the PCs want to go to a specific place, and I have time, I'll map it. Or if a chance-met NPC looms suddenly large because of PC choice, I'll flesh him or her out.

-clash

1. RTFM
2. Try to immerse myself in the genre via music, other books movies and media.

I haven't really figured out what works for me yet in terms of prep, which is a little sad I have been GMing for a rather long time.

I have frequently over-prepped or under-prepped. To much prep and you risk suffocating the players, too little and you might fail to inspire and excite the group. Between the two over-prep is probably worse. But here is the real problem - until the game actually starts I rarely can tell if I've done too much or too little prep.

It easier to prerp for a game in an ongoing campaign and you know who the player characters are, but these days, in our group we don't really get to play that regularly so we have to rely more on one-offs and episodic games and more often than not I have to create some sort of plot before I even know who the characters it is intended for, which kind of sucks.

I don't tend to run crunchy games so at least I don't that worry of having to build 3e style encounters or map out dungeons. I also don't tend to use published scenarios. Your mileage may vary, but Pendragon is the only rpg I ever found in which published scenarios were worth a damn.

Often I come up with *cough*steal*cough* a premise for the adventure which I find cool, for instance a "Groundhog Day adventure" or "actor androids left on their own too long go nuts" adventure.  Then comes the head scratching about spin this into something playable and figure out how the players characters fit in - which as I mentioned above I probably don't know yet.

I quite often like to start the adventure with a loaded situation and than just see where it goes. When that works it's great, when it doesn't it a pitiful sight to behold.

Over the past couple of years I've been trying out systems with different approaches towards pre and plotting, including dare I say it here, a few Forge games. Some of the ideas I though were interesting but I still have not found the thing that really works for me.

You read on fora such as this about so many GM's who are masters of their craft, who know exactly what they want and how to get it. I've never been one of those.

I pretty much just spend an hour or so just before the session making a few notes about NPCs, events that may happen around them (so the PCs can interact or not), and reminding myself what happen last session (and loose threads, etc). If there's a situation the PCs are going to be put in that they can't avoid I might spend a little bit more time working out specifics, but usually I go into play without any greatly detailed plan and wait to see what the PCs do.

This method has it's good and bad points - it forces lots of improvisation which means it works off what the PCs are doing (not forcing them to do just one thing), but can mean less "depth" for some plots ideas they decide to get involved in.

Depends on the game.  Module based ones I read the module over once, and of course have read the rulesbook through (minus annoying skill and power laundry list sections of course!) if its a game I haven't read in years or a new one.

If its a homebrew adventure I usually have a couple pages of stats and notes with a brief outline of the adventure.

During play I will refer to the books and notes as needed, plus make more notes as players do the unexpected.  (Like a nWoD Mortals game where 1 page of notes for what should have been a single 3-4 hour game took 4-5 sessions due to players doing other things, heavily roleplaying, ect.  It actually caused me to redevelop parts of the adventure to fit what they were doing, plus created new friendly NPCs that they would have as contacts and such.)

I make notes for the adventure ahead, mostly "Hey what's going on?" and a few notes for key NPC's.

Quote from: RPGPunditHow long does it take to prep the adventure?

For Traveller . . . what adventure?!?

Random encounters rule.

Quote from: RPGPunditIs there anything in particular that you do on the day you're running it?

Well, without getting into too much detail, it involves the The Shamaness, the Kama Sutra, and a Leia-slave-girl outfit.

I take my prep seriously.

Quote from: RPGPunditAnything special you do at the start of a session?

Warm up well, stretch, and hydrate - that last one is key.

You want to leave it all out there on road.

At the start of a campaign, I tend to put in a lot of work to get the "feel" of the setting, identify major conflicts and set in motion background events.  Most of this is never seen by the players, but satisfies my sense of verisimilitude.

Once play starts, I do little prep.  I might draw up a list of NPC names and the like to aid in the improv, but like the Shaman says, random encounters do, indeed, rule.

Quote from: The Shaman;286119Random encounters rule.Well, without getting into too much detail, it involves the The Shamaness, the Kama Sutra, and a Leia-slave-girl outfit.

So... you wear the Leia outfit and the Shamaness wears the Kama Sutra? Kinky!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;286074I prefer having about 1-2 days before the campaign starts to come up with maps, NPCs, their goals and motives, organizations, resources, opening situation, and the like.

I am able to run with zero prep, creating everything on the fly.

Usually, I need to do zero prep between sessions, but if the PCs want to go to a specific place, and I have time, I'll map it. Or if a chance-met NPC looms suddenly large because of PC choice, I'll flesh him or her out.

I'll copy this answer.

I like to take a couple of hours and plan out possible encounters, loot, and the overall flow of the session. Since no plan survives contact with the PCs, I spend most of my prep time planning for contingencies.

I can play on the fly, but I find the quality of game suffers unless the PCs are very proactive.

I usually plan the general details of the adventure sometime in the week before the session. This might involve point-form notes in some games, in others just reviewing the material, and in others figuring out which NPCs I want where.

Then on the day I game, I usually prepare myself a Vietnamese Iced Coffee and light a pipe just before the session starts.

RPGPundit

Most of my prepwork is done when I design the campaign.  

About an hour before the game, I get my head into zone.
*I review which scenes from which plotlines will be used tonight (to serve as a foundation, we all know that players are never predictable).
*Review rules that might come up today, and character sheets to see a players chance to do certain things using those rules.
*reading source material for the setting, inspirational material if any, or somesuch.
*Read a passage to set the GM's Voice for the game.
*Make sure everything in terms of equipments, books, and notes, are ready to go.
*Eat (if not already done so).

This is the Ideal.  I could run off the cuff, especially if I have been doing the reviews and such for a couple of weeks AND I knew where we were in the various plot cycles.

Totally off the cuff, that is fun too... just not for games with long continuities.

Before I read anyone else's answers:

What do you do, typically, before running a game?

If I'm unfamiliar with or rusty on the rules, read the bits I think are likely to come up.  If that takes ages, I don't run that game.  Right now, I'm prepping Space 1889, I was pretty rusty on it so have reread a fair bit of the book.  That's unusual, most stuff I run in BRP which I know backwards.

I've also given some thought to issues I might want coming up, not in a White Wolfy way but more I want to include some stuff about differing colonial powers' interests, I want to explore the war between the British colony and the Oenotrian empire and I want to explore some of the mysteries of Mars's past.  That gives me a fraework to think in.

How long does it take to prep the adventure?

A few hours for the first session, two to four usually, six tops.  After that an hour maybe for future sessions, maybe though just 20 minutes reminding myself what happened last session.  I try to set up situations rather than adventures, which makes the prep front loaded.

Is there anything in particular that you do on the day you're running it?

Break my balls trying to get out of work on time for it.  Every fucking week.

Anything special you do at the start of a session?

Shoot the breeze a bit, chat about computer games, books or what folk have been up to.  Relax from the rush from work, hand out sheets and then get started.

Quote from: Soylent Green;286105You read on fora such as this about so many GM's who are masters of their craft, who know exactly what they want and how to get it. I've never been one of those.

Me neither, and I suspect most of them are just coming across that way because they've typed up what they do in a brief post - stuff always looks neater that way.

I wouldn't let it worry you.  As long as the players are having fun and you are too, it's cool.

Re-read some of the game's source material, take long walks and daydream.

Seanchai

Sit with some headphones on, write some general notes about the campaign and general atmosphere (I am always amazed at how a thunderstorm can confound a group of players).

Download a few NPC's from the internet and figure out how to use them while having a drink of some nice beer.

I take some time to write down some notes on a notecard about the coming sessions events. Or make a new random table, or edit an old one. Or create and introduce a new NPC. It's usually a mess of notes that get refined in play and added to a wiki later.

I run with no little or preparation because players IME will vocialize one course of action and then do another.

Quote from: RPGPundit;286058What do you do, typically, before running a game?
How long does it take to prep the adventure?
Is there anything in particular that you do on the day you're running it?
Anything special you do at the start of a session?

RPGPundit

Preparing a campaign usually takes from 2 to 10 hours tops, chargen included. After the first session, I usually need 1-2 hours a week (including refreshing rules and all that).

Prep includes thinking on:
- what happened last session and how every NPC is going to react
- mapping / statting the most important places / persons (rough sketches will do)
- thinking on new twists I can add, and the best way of starting with a bang, and finishing with a bigger bang.
- listening to lots of music, some of it quite weird.

I don't do anything special per se just before gaming.

I read the next bit of the adventure I'm running during the 25 minute or so Underground train journey to the venue.

Basically I set it all up as a house of cards at the beginning of the campaign, if the PCs do nothing they'll all fall down in a certain way; if the PCs do stuff then they'll fall another way.

I sketch out major NPCs and a few minor ones for colour, and a few key locations. Aside from that, the game world doesn't exist more than an inch beyond what the PCs have seen. Sometimes it's hard to know where they'll explore next, so in the week between sessions I start or encourage chatty emails about the campaign, this gives me a sense of where the PCs are likely to go during the next session.

If players are not writing or responding to those emails, I take it as a sign of their not being interested, and that I need to jazz things up a bit. I think back to when that player did respond to things, and what they said when they created their character, to get an idea of what to put in so they will respond this time. Some never respond so I don't cater to them, they just want to be passengers, fine.

The campaign stuff is usually written out, but the week-to-week stuff is at most a few lines, most of it's in my head.