Great GM: How to prepare an adventure for your Role Playing game - RPG Great Game Master Tips 

Looking at his notes: "It's some kind of elvish. I can't read it."

Thank you for explaining, "I want monsters to do my bidding, not their prescribed bidding." While that might upset the few traditionalist players, most everyone appreciates an interesting monster/creature/whatever over a predictable one.

about 16:45, " the statis-, the statis-" gives up, " the numbers" that was the best recovery XD

"Making a deal with a Chaos Daemon" They deserve everything horrible that will eventually come their way.

I was a Recon Sniper back in the '80's playing with a bunch of Marines and Sailors. Our GM was getting tired and wanted to play a few sessions and asked me to step in and run a war campaign. I agreed, thinking of all the things I would/could do to set this up, where it needed to start, and everything these experienced players/characters could/would do to head into this war. Two weeks of planning. Looking at terrain, looking at cities and farming communities that could be invaded, random encounters plotted out for every contingency. Hours of work to ensure fun was had by all. Everyone knew ahead of time that I would be running this campaign. Everyone was looking forward to it. I gave them a wagon for their extraneous gear and had several inns where they could safely stay. They got to town, saw an island out in the bay while shopping for arrows, throwing knives, bolts, and material for traps. Rather than talking with any of the citizens, they got a sloop, stolen by the thief, and went out to visit the island. Two and a half hours of improv and random encounters later, one of them turned and asked me if they could climb a tree and see if they could see any enemy troops. Since the war was from a landlocked country, the answer, after a failed roll was a resounding no. Another hour and the ranger asked if she could see any tracks. A good roll, and she realized that the only humanoid tracks on the island belonged to the party. War, not being a static event, continued apace as their home country suffered defeats and land losses because the PCs decided not to use their skills or even talk to NPCs. When they realized what they had done, our GM laughed, congratulated me on letting everyone hang themselves and we continued on with the game as they hurried back to try to win some of the land lost.

The thing that Impressed me the most is not the way your able to explain everything so well, not the awesome ideas you gave me, how you always easily help me become a better DM with each video I watch, but how easily you came up with names of your monsters. Names are the hardest thing for me.

I'd LOVE a video in improvising NPC dialogue on the fly. That is something that I struggle a great deal with, and it takes away from an adventure that my players otherwise enjoy.

"Pointy eared Romulans" So Romulans then

I almost spit out my drink at 6:06 when you decided to make a 40k scenario. I found this channel about 6 hours ago looking for ideas for the Dark Heresy campaign I'm going to be running in a few weeks. Yours was an Only war scenario, but frankly, it's pretty much what I was looking for. Thanks! You earned a sub!

For me, the first step to preparing an encounter/adventure/campaign is to know my players. Note: not "know the Characters. ". Know the players. Different players respond to different cues regardless of what character they're playing. Once you understand those cues, seed your evening or adventure with the right cues to spark your players' interests. After that, make all notes on point form. Understand that your players decisions will circumvent more than that. So point form is fine. As Guy has stated, record any important names or plot points, but try to keep things as fluid as you can. An important aspect is this is also the GM Pokerface. When the players change gears or directions, act like it was always part of the plan. Write some key encounters down ahead of time that could be placed anywhere, and insert them in those odd directions the players chose. Act like it "was your plan all along". Trust me. So long as it's entertaining, they won't care. If your players are still talking about how "that thing did that stuff" even as they walk out the door, you've won. The idea has seeded in their memory, and you're free to build on it. To sum up: know your players. Be flexible. Plan small, but sell big. And where possible, leave them with a cliffhanger.

So, the plan involves the Humans teaming up with the Dark Eldar. What's the bet one of them screams HERESY and starts firing his lazer pointer

This is literally the first guide on prep notes I've found. Bless you sir

Seeing messy notes like this and the fact that you're also South African really got me to sub to this channel. It helps when one isn't neat when it comes to world building themselves to see someone who is something of an authority being the same 😅

wow... just wow you've made that look so easy and straight forward. I've not long started playing DnD and now going to DM for the first time (I'm a complete noob) and trying to make a campaign I'm trying to create an adventure/campaign for 5e d&d and I have made my country map but hit a writer's block for what adventure i would make and you have pretty much made it so simple (wished the DM guide did lol) your videos have been a massive help and i will continue to watch them for more guidance. thank you for the step by step process. I've forwarded a vid of yours to a friend of mine who like me needed a bit of help. keep it up. thank you

The best session I had as a GM was based on some notes on a napkin. It was a blast!

Incredibly helpful and insightful. Thank you very much. Love the channel.

This was exactly what I needed as I am planning my first campaign. Didn’t know how much info I needed

"And they're all British." The horror. (JK, I love Brits)

Your videos are so so so soooo helpful! Most GMs I've been finding on RU-vid to be honest, never really have a good sense of properly displaying and expressing information in their videos. They either have a super crappy mic or all they do is talk to the screen and never really walk the viewer through the specific process of how they do things. You sir, are a great exception. Keep up the great work and consider me a (probably longtime) subscriber!

Thanks for this. This is one of the best and most practical examples for GMing rather than the usual "Read everything, make index cards, draw maps, ensure everything aligns with player expectations."

Best and briefest description of Warhammer 40,000 I've heard after 7 years of playing the table top and various role playing games around it!

Hello! I am in the preliminary stages of writing my first campaign and want to let you know that, map drawing and irrelevant system and setting episodes aside (I've already decided on using D&D 5e and the Forgotten Realms setting), I have watched all of your videos and have found them to be immensely helpful! I have gotten more than a few ideas not only on how to improve my story, but also on how to improve my telling of it. I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate what you do and am looking forward to watching your future videos! Thank you very much for the time and effort you put into your channel and I wish you the best of luck in all of your endeavors!

I haven't watched all your videos, but this is probably one of if not your best video. Thank you!

Thank you for another awesome episode, it helped me fill in some areas I thought were lacking in my planning!

Your work encouraged me to start my own channel along with a few others, so that last statement truly does ring true for me. Thank you very much for all the constant muse, inspiration, and encouragement from your videos, Guy!

Thank you for giving great GM advice. When I feel like I have writer's block when creating adventures. Your videos give me inspiration and fuel to make the best adventures possible.

Listening to this has really been eye opening to me. I love the simple layout of things, while focusing on all the main ideas, instead of all the unnecessary details. What a breath of fresh air. I've never been a GM, because it seems so overwhelming, but this inspires me to do so. Thank you!

This is a ridiculous level of practical support. The other channels are ok, but they dont get this granular. Wish I could sub twice.

Great video, I liked comparing my approach to yours! I've been browsing the videos you have up for ideas and improvements, since no GM is ever finished growing. I like the open-ended plot plan you use, it gives the players options while leaving you some structure to keep things manageable. I'm probably guilty of overplanning to some extent, especially when it comes to what my party will actually be fighting (creating original monsters, etc).

Great video helped me a ton and my own friends who just started to DM. It was funny since I am the laziest DM in our group but I always seemed to make the episodes go better by improvising what I had. Where as my friends would sit a write a complete campaign and have it all planned out a dry to play as if it’s a story book.

These videos are really detailed and fun to listen to, especially when doing chores and other activities. I'm running a homebrew campaign starting this weekend and I have some nice hooks and story points for my players instead of cobbling some random things together with no direction!

this is a really useful video, I know this can be a personal thing, making games & can depend on the group but having a loose guideline on how to go about it will help me in the future

You have a great faith in the intelligence of players. If I gave my bunch anything that complicated they would sit and stare. They react more to "you-go-fight-win" and mind you these are Call of Cthulu college professors.

This video has proven extremely helpful! What I love to do is create my own adventure along with him as he does it. It makes it so much easier to be following a specific process and inspires me with the important questions he asks.

GreatGM, thanks so much for this. I'm in the position of needing to bootstrap a campaign and I've gotten in the habit of sitting down with this video each week as I prep my sessions, because they run more smoothly when I do: even if I don't have time to prepare all the stuff I'd like, going through this process means that the adventure is set up well enough for my players to have fun. And the hand-holding is great these days, when the world is rather crazy and it can be hard to focus. Again: thank you for helping us have a great time!

Keep doing this type of episode, I learned the most from this one out of all your others.

fantastic. really enjoying these, learning lots. i've been GM for my group of friends for a few months now and my notebooks look just like yours, if not a little more cluttered. thanks for putting the work into the videos man, cheers! take it easy.

I love that no matter what country people are from, the default villain voice is always an English accent! :D

There's a lot of mystery around the actual planning of an adventure and it's understandable why some DMs would want to avoid displaying it (looking like a one-true-wayist or to perpetuate mystery?) but just having some example at all helps immensely! I really enjoy how simple and succinct your pages are so that the adventure has room to be flexible and not too wordy. I am a newbie player and preparing to DM for friends and family in the near future. Currently, I'm in the world building phase of my campaign prep, before any games are being run, so it's nice to know that once I have my world set up and have thought though the main elements of the environment that I'll be able to quickly put together adventures like this. It takes some of the weight off my shoulders and I'm so glad you made this, thank you!

This video has helped me out so much in making my own custom adventures. Having a way to organize it and seeing someone just go through their process helps me start finding my own way to try it.

I can definitely say that a bit of notes to have is always really nice to have for adventures. It is always nice as a reference just in case you forget (which you probably will). Besides that, really nice use of the green screen to show things like drawings and writing! Nice work as always.

Damn, dude. I think the most important things I've learned from your channel is how to make a campaign story actually go somewhere, and not just leave it up to the players bumbling around randomly... and also to make dungeons like 1/10 the size what I normally do. I mean, I used to make those things like upwards of 40 rooms with descriptions, stat blocks, and a paragraph of notes for each one. Whereas yours is like a kindergartner's drawing of a rocket with 4 rooms, and yet is probably more fun than mine.

really happy I found this channel. tons of excellent content. :)

This was fun. I am currently thinking of a Mutant Chronicles adventure... and you were preparing a W40K, which is so close in terms of atmospere and setting... and then, I am also creating an adventure set in the Alien world and you mention that too! :D Too much synchronicity! :D Thanks a lot for this. I may do a similar video some time in the future too. ;)

Amazing video it really inspired me and I am excited to try your methods in my campaign planning!

Dude, love the channel! I'm a learning new DM, so suits me just right. Thanks!

Thank you so very much for this video! I seem to have the exact same group as you to, the last 3 sessions were all but my adventure (Not that we weren't having fun, but all that prep for almost nothing). Just yesterday I tried to figure out how to use my prep time more efficiently, 4-8 hours per session seem a bit much... This helps me so much! If you could do this type of video some day for preparing a dungeon (even if the lightbringer/darker horse is kind of that, but in a little more detail on traps/encounters), I would really appreciate it! Thanks again, you saved me indefinite hours of lifetime for the future!

I really enjoyed your name generation method. syllable>syllable>syllable = some names. I love these videos!

I like it it goes in juat enough detail to bring your persons life but you have backups and are able to have enough room for adventuring in the"wrong direction)

I am so so happy I found these videos. Thank you

good story for such a quick brainstorm! Thanks.

this.. was actually incredibly helpful. Thankyou, subscribed!

Another great video! I always like to see other DMs' process so I can get ideas for my own. For myself, if I'm running a module it's easy to just read through what I think the party will do and run it. Although this can be a problem, because in my last session, the players went way farther than I had read so I just had to make up the town and NPCs on the fly. When I'm preparing for a homebrew game though, I'll have dialogue written if it's really important, but I'll otherwise have maybe half a page of notes for a 4-hour session. Since most of it is from my head anyway, I just change what happens as it comes up. I like the thought process you have for your way of preparing though and I think I'll try to do that more. From what I've seen, this is a really hot topic for new DMs and I'm glad you showed your method. Also the juxtaposition of you and your paper behind you was perfect. Looking forward to the next one!

I love 40k and your example was quite good and I think I will take it as inspiration for my 40k roleplay campaign

Recently found your channel and am really loving it as my three brothers and myself are just learning to play tabletop. Praise aside, could you give a quick run-down of how you crafted this video; specifically how you are superimposed in front of a screen that is showing you write in real-time. I'm currently in college to become a math teacher, and this video layout looks perfect for extra supplementary lessons that I want to put together for my future students.

Great episode! Some great takeaways

Breaks it down rather nicely, this. I've yet to find my most comfortable balance between, "I'm incredibly prepared for anything, but the PCs do exactly what they're led to do and I overcompensated" and "I'm just going to wing it because who the hell knows anymore? Oh, now we don't have a sense of direction..." Curious, Guy: Have you ever been crazy enough to give your players a sandbox-like environment? I have a main story in mind for something, but I also want players to know their characters might be just as likely to say, "Bugger this, I'm moving to the next nation over." I've basically been thinking about what might be going on within a radius of a session's starting position on a map. Basically, such-and-such has been a major bit of news, but I can also make generalized notes of, "...But this syndicate has been planning to sabotage such-and-such." After all, not every villager is going to feel ready to combat their nation's shift into a proto-fascist regime. They should do whatever makes sense, but the world and politics should still be alive and affect them. "So you scurry to Yluaram. Sensible. What happens when your home nation decides to invade them?"

Incredible... There are lots of similarities between your example and my own homebrew scenario that I am currently running! (Mine scenario being: a scientific research vessel carrying the body of a martyr from legend, the archeological find of the century. The players are either of the ship's security detail or stowaways. One by one, the crew and passengers are brutally killed by a malevolent revenant and subsequently raised as undead. The historical findings, clues, and secrets all point back to the war in which this martyr fought and died. It turns out that the "revenant" is actually being controlled by a piece of sinister technology. If the martyr's tomb was ever penetrated, presumably by the other side, victorious, the ai would control the body to decimate the enemy---a final insult. The tech is now malfunctioning. They can't kill it. The only way to deactivate the ai is to surrender. (took inspiration from the Doctor Who episode: Mummy on the Orient Express). All the while, drow saboteurs wait for their opportunity to seize the ancient technology once the threat has been nullified, and destroy all evidence of their presence (by destroying the ship, finishing off what remains of the security and crew). The first thing my players did was kill a passenger. Then, they met one of the drow agents. Before even speaking to him, they decided that they wanted to kill him for fun. ....Later, after dispatching some of the undead, and getting their first glimpse of the revenant, they met a terrified survivor, one of the scientists. Before they could get information from him, they attacked him. He was blown up. Then, the wizard performed several unethical experiments on passengers, rolling very high on his persuasion. His victims rolled very poorly. This went on for a long time. I decided to go along with it. Eventually, the head of security caught him. He rolled a natural 1. She tried to apprehend him. He and the other players beat her into unconsciousness, tied her up, covered her in flammable liquids, and tortured her. ...... They burned her alive. The sound of her screaming have now drawn the attention of the rest of the crew. When comparing the players to the undead threat, I think they are the greater evil, here.

Really solid walkthrough!

Enjoyed your video immensely. (Sorry, this isn't The David Megarry, but rather one of the directors of Secrets of Blackmoor using David's account. ;) .) I do very minimal prep as you do for my own games. Look forward to perusing more of your videos. Thanks

Thanks for doing these! Sorry I haven't been as active. Looking forward to other things requested. Like how you pull stuff up in social settings when the party goes off script, or talks to someone you weren't aware the were planning on talking to.

wow. tthis is totally different from how i prep. I'll have to give it a try. it has several advantages over what i do.

More great advice. You're the guy, Guy!

I love the WH40K fluff, so I loved your off handed descriptions 😂😂😂

Very helpful. Thanks for sharing it

Finding this extremely useful. Still new to DMing and trying to do a lot more planning with a lot less work/ have things less linear.

Another great video! I enjoyed this one because it shows your thought process really well. I wonder if you can talk about making interesting NPCs on the fly...or maybe you've already done that, not sure...another topic could be how to add players into campaigns that are already in progression. Like if a player joins mid-way through your campaign.

Thanks for your channel sir

Great video! While I was watching I realized that I've an idea for a video I'd like to see for Great GM! Recently I've been working on creating my first homebrew class for a campaign. It's difficult in some aspects, but it's going well. I'd be interested in hearing what methods you use and how you approach developing your own classes. :)

That was a really good video! Thanks!

Left-handed brothers, UNITE!

Great stuff! This channel has been very helpful!

Another great video and I love the setup! Would actually like to see this scenario played out. Or at least let us know what happened if you do use it

Excellent!

This deserves more likes.

I might be late but I'd love to see a video about setting up an entire campaign!

Another very helpful video, especially for newbie DMs like me. I've been considering recording each session, just so that I can go back and discover all the things that I may have missed. Also, if you use minis and maps, would you detail your maps beforehand, or just make a general sketch and then detail it when the PCs make it there (assuming they make it there)? Thanks again for great videos.

Brilliant! Yes!!

Great video, glad I found your channel. I really like the way you build an adventure and I'll try a similar method. In terms of wrapping things up, do you plan possible endings to a session? As in this case, ways they could make it off the Lightbringer. Or do you leave possible endings to player initiative?

Set up a trap that teleports the PCs to the lowest level of the dungeon and then they have to find the way out. Always fun when they are guaranteed to deal with the adventure you planned to run and you can control their entry point.

Yo! Awesome videos. Could you make a video on utilizing table space / how to stay organized with d&d. Thanks!

thanks man, helpful as always.

I did often gel lost in my notes so i changed my preps to write down notes and ideas first and then transferize these to word documents wich i do print out later on - leaving every location with a cover sheet so i can instantly see what is inside. so I can jump from location to location.

Big understatement when describing the Dark Eldar there.

I'm glad I've found your channel, really useful tips in all the videos I've seen so far. if I can ask, you sound British - do you know of any good websites/social media groups for recruiting players?

"What shall we use?" World of Darkness...WORLD OF DARKNESS "What shall we use?...hmmm" WORLD OF DARKNESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD "Warhammer 40K!" SONOVA....

I wish I saw this before I started my campaign. It's pretty much coming to an end now due to us switching GMs and the players getting fed up. Good stuff, for sure.

Thougt the 1000 Souls a day (psyker souls by the way) are used to keep the astronomicon burning.... (you know that huge ""lighthouse" fire that ALL Navigators use when travelling through the warp) still gruesome, but at least it has some practical use

Thank you so much for this video! Just watched it and I already have a lot of ideas :) I also have a suggestion for a possible topic to talk about in the future, which is "How to adapt a movie/game to an rpg". That's one of the nicer things to do for me and my group, seeing that we love all sorts of materials in a very diverse tone, like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Castlevania, Prince of Persia, etc. I'd like to know your opinion on the subject, seeing that to me it's crucial to try and adapt things without breaking the universe that's already created, so that the players do feel like they're in that characteristic universe. I'm making a Mortal Kombat rpg right now in fact, hope it will come out well. Anyway, thanks again for another well made and informative video

I can't stop watching your videos.. send help!

Thank you for making this (& other) videos! They have helped my my games a richer experience for myself and my PCs. I wonder if you have any advice on how to successfully pass the GM baton to another person at your table? For example, there have been great NPCs created that I want to continue to have the group interact with. I want to be respectful & give the next GM as much freedom as possible but I also don't want everyone to forget about the rich content I've just started to build. If it matters, we have done ~8-10 sessions and the new GM has said he wants to do something focused more on an adventure taking place on a different plane. Do I just need to chill and let him do his thing? Thanks again for such amazing content!

I base my adventures vaguely on old cartoons. Most recently I had my players following a man very similar to He-Man who was trying to stop 5 evil children from summoning 'Gius the earth lord'.

the prep work you do seems pretty quick and easy...which I think is great! I feel like I'm often buried in work getting ready for my sessions. Maybe I'm trying to be too detailed. For example, I've noticed that I tend to lean quite heavily on maps and tokens (PC and otherwise) for a lot of situations. I guess what I'm asking is, when SHOULD I plan maps and when should I just let the theatre of the mind take over? Which option is best for combat? Which option is best for exploration? Are there times when a map might be necessary for a complex social situation?

50%+ is winging it. 50%+ is also trigger events. Things get triggered by either the players showing up at a location (there are monsters there).... it doesn't necessarily have to be the place you as a GM intended (the PCs had to show up at the cloak room to move the plot along not the closet of the jester).... or ten am on a sunday when the brunch crowd shows up at Der Haus o Pancakes! For me that's when a laptop comes in handy instead of a pen and paper notebook.... easier to link the stuff together. Personal tastes vary but whatever works for you as a GM.

with each vid i watch the less stress i feel for when i try out GMing for the first time.

I preferred to prepare a lot, then get tired and stop the entire campaign XD... You are changing my mind. But at least a small background for the dungeon and a description of rooms is needed, i think. Maybe something short Like one page dungeon

I like your process, I use a similar one. Good video. Funny, being a 40k player i can hear all the die hard 40k guys crying out in fury, since imperials would die before working with non humans. This, even at the cost of their own lives.

Useful as always. And I'm waiting for a video about props. This question really bothers me)))

@How to be a Great Game Master - if you include a little more detail, that would be helpful. As a wannabe GM looking to run a sword and sorcery campaign, I greatly appreciate he videos.

I envy your skill to make this stuff up on the fly ... I really have problems with that. I'll try doing the imagination excercises you proposed, like linking two things someway the thing is I have no problem with this kind of thing but I walways have a problem to ty many things together to a coherent story that, in the end, makes sense >.> I can imagine stuff just fine but to, ad hoc, invent a character/ Village/ Villain or what ever and have it fit in the world and overall story is just sooooo hard T.T but yyeah I'l practice