Places, Everyone! Places!

We thought it would be fun for y’all to see how we prep the week of a DnD game night. A little extra planning and brief dress rehearsal can help a DM’s actual sesh really sing come showtime. Let’s take a closer look!

We would do this same exercise for all our planned encounters for the week of our game but to simplify things in today’s post, we’re just going to show you how we ran through the opening tavern encounter.

To set the scene, our work group is running the Acquisitions Incorporated 5e module (which is a blast), and the party has just cleared out the fissure cavern portion of the adventure. So now they’ve returned to town to turn in some quests, re-supply, start the next leg of the core mission, and even pick up some side quests to line their pockets with extra gold.

So the natural question is how does one start prepping? Well, DM Ben utilizes a quick checklist for each encounter:

• Story/Mission Hook
• Miniatures
• Face Cards
• Base Terrain
• Accent Terrain
• Treasure Rewards

Just like an adventurer loading his/her backpack, right? You gotta say each piece aloud and lay it out in front of yourself before you load up your pack!

You may have noticed here on 3D RPG that this whole past week has been all about game content: making NPCs and building side missions for them. Coming back to town after a long story hook is a bigger deal as the group naturally wants to know what’s next. They would all certainly love a little variety to choose from before they leave town again.

DM Ben is a visual guy so he literally just starts making little “encounter clusters” on his desk and pulling things from his collection as the ideas begin to flow out of his DnD-filled head. It’s amazing how such a simple visual trick can jumpstart one’s creativity.

Then he continues to glance at these encounter piles throughout the week leading up to game night…sometimes just for a couple of minutes at a time after he gets home from work. Internal thoughts like, “Hmmmm, what am I missing for this one? Do I have a better mini or one more piece to immerse the group here?” often race through his head.

So now back to our opening encounter tavern scene! It all started with a little encounter pile of stuff and that checklist. A tavern naturally needs a bar with a bartender, some tables with some patrons, a chance for a new mission, etc. Just don’t back yourself into a corner and do an elaborate terrain scene for every encounter…sometimes just a few key pieces are all you need.

That cluster now transforms itself into the actual gameboard. Think of yourself as a chef cooking up a new recipe. You start by gathering and mixing your base ingredients but then suddenly, your mind starts racing! You add a little seasoning of this and a little touch of that. And before you know it, a masterpiece is served!

DM Ben quickly talk himself through “the why” of each piece:

• The bartender, bar, and the oil lamp post: set the mood.
• Sobbering patron in the corner: mission hook.
• Two drunkards at the far table: sidequest intro (for “Merv the Swerve”).
• Another table: where the party minis will start (and in earshot of other convos).

See how nicely that all flows together with the right prep plan in hand? Confidence gained. Stress lessoned. Now you’re ready to roll and have some big fun and laughs with your buds!