DM Prep Page [7+8 of 9]

Page 7 comprises a randomized list of the Dungeon Dressing Tables from CotMA.

If you see a Dungeon Dressing entry on Page 6, you flip to the next page to see what the Dungeon Dressing is:

Within the Dungeon Dressing lists, you will sometimes find a Special Appendix IV Random Encounter.

When you do, you flip to Page 8.  I won't say much about these other than that they exist and they look a lot like the random tables above.  :)

I think that the best part of random tables like these are the patterns that emerge "from play".  As a DM, I could plan all this stuff deliberately, but where's the surprise (for me) in that?  When you discover these things at the same time as the players, questions start to percolate in your head.  The answers to these questions expand the game and are very exciting to me as a DM.

• What WAS that mist?
• What are all these pipes for?
• Whose voices were those?
• Why is there a pigeon in the dungeon?
• Why are the wall scorched?
• Where's the right boot?
• Who is M.B.?

You get the idea...

DM Prep Page [6 of 9]

Page 6 is a page tied exclusively to the random encounter tables in CotMA.

I've cut and pasted and interlocked the encounter tables from within the module.  I've also used my "how long until a random encounter" matrix to fill in the dots on the left.

The characters explore the dungeon.  Each turn, I mark a dot.  When I run out of dots, I cross-reference the row I'm on with the column for the level they are currently exploring.

Presto!  Instant random encounter.

Here's a pic --

Here's a scan of a page with marked off dots -- (PS: this page is before I expanded the page to Level 8, but you'll get the idea...)

Another added benefit to this method is the way it sort of "outlines" the adventure...

For example, looking at the page above, the adventurers began on Level 1 and very quickly (1 turn) they encountered some Grimlocks.

They defeated them and over the course of an hour, the descended to Level 4 where they encountered a glowing bubble.

Shortly thereafter, they were attacked by a Flind warparty.

A couple of Gelatinous Cubes were encountered (something happened with one... maybe it was frozen or something...) but when the party hunkered down to rest in the dungeon, a group of Giant Centipedes skittered by.

Later on, they encountered some Black Puddings, found a room filled with damp pipes, and some more Black Puddings.  (With all these Black Puddings around, this might be the expedition when the Frostbrand of Errol was destroyed... that led to another series of quests...)

On their way out of the dungeon, they happened upon some Carrion Crawlers and then the Grinning Skull Orc Tribe.

Bottom line, this page allows for random encounters to happen automatically without any constraints on the players.  They just explore and as time passes, the random encounters happen.

An additional benefit I've just though of now would be to use what's happening on the unexplored levels as ideas for how the dungeon is evolving over time.

For example, The Grinning Skull Orcs appear once and Troglodytes appear three times during the expedition.  IF I WANTED to explain what might be happening on Level 1 during the time the adventurers were exploring, I might say that the Orcs and the Trogs had a confrontation.  Perhaps, even when the party was leaving the dungeon, the conflict might still have been raging.

Here's another pic:

Just an idea...

DM Prep Page [5 of 9]

This is a simple page -- I use this page to track damage on monsters that the characters fight.

Each line is one (1) random d8.  The script draws a number of "0"s equal to the number.  If a monster is 3 HD, I just bracket the first three lines.  As damage is done, I mark off the circles.

Simple enough.

Here's one with a few marks on it --

This sheet represents six giant apes.  I think they attacked the characters in and around some pits.  Their jumping was useful to keep the characters off balance.

Two minotaurs were also fought.  Also five wereboars.  I use MageKnight figures, so they are often marked with Blue, Red and Yellow; hence the notes.

Oh, and a cockatrice.  :)

This particular episode marked the death of Karn, a human that was transformed into an ogre and subsequently rescued by the party.  He was killed a short time later before they could escort him to the surface.

DM Prep Page [4 of 9]

This page contains a WHOLE BUNCH OF RANDOM STUFF.  I found it out there on the interwebs and I made random tables out of it.  :)

Here's a look at the page:

Here's each section in detail:

This section contains a randomized version of Risus Monkey's DungeonWords.  That is an excellent resource if you've never seen it.  Go grab a copy!

Also some Tricks.  I think I pulled this list from -C's Tricks and Traps document as well as from the back of the 1st Ed. DMG.  -C has made an excellent document, go get it!

Next section:

A bunch of Disarms and Activations.  Don't remember where I pulled them.  :(

Next:

"What color is the potion?"

"What color are the runes?"

Here's your answer.  I'm almost positive I used Google Sets (now defunct) to generate these.

More Multi-part Disarms.  From where?  Not sure.  Sometimes I circle different parts on different lines and connect them like a flowchart, if I like that better or if that makes more sense to me.

Final quadrant:

A bunch of containers.  Good places to hide stuff.  :)  

METHOD OF USE:

What I typically do before sessions is I go out and get a little something to eat.  I have a Burger King and a Subway near my house, so those are the usual suspects. 

I grab my DM Pages and a pencil and I head out.

While I'm eating (just prior to the game) I will read through the random stuff that the sheets have on them.  I will circle items that strike my fancy.  These are some of the ideas that I have "pre-configured" in my head.  I will use these during the game IF the necessity arises.

Here's a copy of my (barely) marked up page.  Some days I'm more inspired than others.  :)

You can see that I've identified a multi-part Disarm that I like as well as a couple more ideas in the upper right.

DM Prep Page [2+3 of 9]

Originally, my 9 page DM Prep document was only 8 pages.  Recently, I had to retool my NPC names page because I was having trouble with Chris Pound's Name Generator.

Well, on a lark, I reached out to Chris and he gave me some helpful advice about linking to his page.  Suffice to say that I still have my alternate names page, but I like Chris's names A LOT better.  Here's a shot of that page:

Here's a closeup of the top section:

On the left, is a hyperlinked list of Chris's names from his site.  OpenOffice refreshes this list every 30 minutes and right when I launch the file.  This gives me a random list of names each time.  I have some RANDBETWEEN cells driving some VLOOKUP functions so that I get about 30 (?) different NPCs. Chris's generator has 250 names during each iteration, so I don't come close to using them all.

I honestly don't remember where I got the data for the other columns.  I found it online or I generated it myself or something.  I have some random scripts that drive that data too.

The bottom section looks a little different:

This section has a rumor that may or may not be true.  I don't remember where I found those lists either.  :(  Over a couple of weeks, I was pulling data off the interwebs and pouring it into the spreadsheet.  Then I set up all the random functions and viola!  DM Prep page.

Some random names that I've pulled off these lists that developed into NPCs in the game --

• Uri the Bear -- a strong orc warrior that was charmed by Biata.  Served her well for a long time until he was killed.
• Boltoff -- human mercenary, member of Red Faction and friend to Yuri.  He's not always been the most loyal, but he seems to have a healthy fear of Oryx, so he hasn't crossed the party.  Much.  
• Brogan White-eye -- Blue Faction lieutenant that the party rescued from Gnolls on Level 6.  Has given them information in the past.  Seems like a fair minded fellow.
• Sennett Silkhands -- Archmage at the Ravenport Wizards Guild, friend and occassional companion to Kalen.
• Grim "Tinblade" Broadaxe -- dwarven weaponsmith.  Tasked with reforging the Frostbrand of Errol using the Everfrost.
• Yuri the Seeker -- Former owner of a magical shield known as "The Bastion"
• Gavril the Hawk -- elf.  Friend of...
• Lathan Sapphiremoon -- also an elf.  Archer.  Romantic interest and clansman to Vera Diamondtree.
• Endira of the Yellow Hand -- strange alien enforcer for the Arena Games on CotMA Level 4.  

Endira of the Yellow Hand

There are many more.   Having names and other details at your fingertips to choose from is very valuable.

DM Prep Page [1 of 9]

I'm a highly improvisational DM.  I don't know if that's good or bad, but it's how I am and it's about all I can do.  The years of me spending hours and hours prepping for game night are long gone.  :)

In an effort to provide myself with "ideas" and "sparks" and other "triggers" for my improv use, I created a spreadsheet within OpenOffice.  In the next nine posts, I will show you an example page from the pages I print each week.

I hope you enjoy this little "look behind the screen" and I hope that you find it helpful, inspiring or at least interesting.

Page 1

Here's one (mostly) filled out --

This page has a background that I borrowed from Kellri, but I think he borrowed it from the AD&D Coloring Book.  

I set the graphic up as a background on the spreadsheet page and then I added the text elements into the cells on top.  This page has evolved a great deal since I started using it.  Originally, it was two pages and I had elements that I rarely used and those were taking up valuable real estate on the page.

Here's an example of the old sheet --

Eventually, I realized that I also needed a space to track the going price for things that the PCs buy, so that I can reference them again in the future.  (I usually make these up on the spot).

NPC interactions and Plot Developments are important to track, as well as WHO played that night, since my table is "open".  

The "Time Log" moved to a later page (I'll explain that later).  

I think I had trouble differentiating in my mind the difference between Plot Points/Campaign Events and Adventure Highlights, so collapsing those sections made sense.

Since I track Monster HP/Wounds on another page, the Monsters Defeated section could go too.

Originally the WHOLE DM Page was just the front and back of a single sheet.  That's quite elegant and streamlined.  It would be my "ideal" if I could pull it off.  I'm working on it.  :)