Being a game master is awesome. I love it. I find it more fun and more rewarding than being a player.
I think one of the reasons I find it so enjoyable is that I treat prep like a form of play. You see, I'm a narratvisit gamemaster. I run games with passionate NPCs; I demand my players play passionate characters; and I set up the conceits of the world to smash those passions into conflict, forcing the characters into conflict. Then I get to watch how it plays out. And that's exciting.
When I prep, I aspire to do blorby prep, but more than anything, I approach prep as an opportunity to "play to find out": call it prepping to find out.
This means I go into prep knowing that I don't have to decide what happens or invent things, I only have to find out what is going to happen next, off screen, away from the characters.
All in all, it takes about 15-20 minutes for established campaigns.
What do I do?
- I look over the NPC sheet and see what they want.
- I ask myself how they respond to the what the PCs just did
- I ask myself how they're responding to what the other NPCs are doing
- If I need inspiration or to resolve a conflict, I'll consult an oracle
I especially like to consult a homemade oracle, that has all the following bits I need to resolve a situations at the table, but is also great in prep (and fun to use!):
- Danger (in number of zombies)
- Location
- Need
- Names
- 2d6 roll (2-12)
- An image from some inspiring media
As I do all that, I write the updates down and consolidate some ways the players might learn about this information. I keep these events on hand, so the players can interact with them at the table.
I also like to keep a list of "cool things" that inspire me. Things that I think are awesome examples of the setting.
For example, I like the idea of an ice morphing mutant who has taken over a hockey rink, has a massive stockpile of food (dependable refrigeration), and abducts people to play hockey against – freezing them alive if they're not as good as he hoped. So that's in my notes. And maybe I'll drop it in if things get boring, or if the players go off script and I find myself over my skis.
All in all, I prep the fun stuff. The threats and challenges. The pointy edged, dangerous stuff. And that makes it fun. And then I get the fun of seeing how the players respond to the pointy edged, dangerous stuff. And that is fun too.