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Do the Eight Steps Work for Other RPGs?

by Mike on 2 March 2026

Yes.

I wrote the eight steps from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master at the beginning of the era of D&D 5th edition but, at the time, I had played a lot of other RPGs that sprung up between 4th and 5th edition D&D. Though the steps assume a single GM builds, prepares, and runs campaigns, adventures, situations, and sessions; the steps support systems with many different rulesets.

Which Systems Work with the Eight Steps? Which Don't?

The eight steps can work with nearly any RPG where there's a single game master and one or more players. Games with more free-flowing narratives in which the players build big pieces of the story as you play might not work as well. In my own experiences, I've used the eight steps to run over a dozen different RPGs and only Blades in the Dark gave me any trouble because of how the moves shifted the reality of the story. Blades had a fair bit of player-driven narrative that made solidifying steps like locations, monsters, NPCs, and rewards difficult. Even still, steps like the strong start and secrets and clues still worked fine in my Blades games.

But the eight steps worked for just about every other RPG I’ve run and I’ve heard the same feedback from many other GMs. I wouldn't expect the eight steps to work for solo RPGs, nor would they work with more open-ended story games like Fiasco. But for games with a somewhat pre-defined narrative hosted by a single GM and multiple players, the eight steps work fine.

Let's look at each of the eight steps and consider how they might work for different RPGs.

The Characters

Assuming your RPG has the players take on the role of the characters and, assuming you know who those characters are during your prep, this first step is almost always a useful one. Spending time considering who the characters are, what their hooks are into the next session you're planning to run, what story-based and mechanical features they possess – all of these things are useful to review for just about any RPG.

The Strong Start

Games begin somewhere and ideally that beginning draws players into the game. This step is heavily independent from the system you chose. Somehow you have to bring your players into the game, whatever that game is, and a strong start is a great way to do it. The strong start is largely universal.

Scenes

Some games definitely have a more free-flowing narrative where you don't pre-define your list of scenes. But the “scenes” step was always intended to be a loose list on the things that might happen — not a hard checklist of events that will happen. “Scenes” is the catch-all step with a great deal of flexibility whatever RPG you happen to be running.

Secrets and Clues

Any time a game has opportunities for the characters to learn something about the world, about the situation, about their adversaries, or about their allies — secrets and clues are useful. Some games might lean into them more than others but almost all games have lore the characters learn as they play. Mysteries and investigative games need a good deal of useful secrets and clues connected enough to bring the characters from one point in the story to the other. In other systems, secrets might be the backdrop painted on the walls of the location they explore. But secrets always give our games texture and I haven't found a system yet where defining ten things the characters might learn wasn't a useful step to prepare.

Locations

Adventures (or sessions) have to take place somewhere. Whether you're delving into dungeons deep or investigating the mysteries at Miskatonic University before the coming of the Great Old Ones, you need places the characters go to and investigate. What material you outline in your list of locations might change depending on the game you're running but having a list of possible locations, especially a list that lets you choose the right location depending on the choices of the characters, is useful in most RPGs.

NPCs

The characters meet NPCs in most RPGs. Listing those NPCs with important characteristics and the hooks is a common activity, regardless of the system you choose. What you note down may change, but listing NPCs the characters interact with is as common as having places to go.

Monsters

Not all RPGs have the same types of adversaries. The monsters list is mostly there to support lists of combat-focused adversaries and, for some games, it might not make sense. This step is a good example of the flexibility of the eight steps. Each step lets you note what you need for the session you're going to run and enough flexibility to cut a step if you don't need it. Often you'll want a list of adversaries but sometimes you might not. If you don't need it, cut it.

Rewards

Not all RPGs have tangible rewards. Some games have currency. Some have magic items. Some have nothing at all. Like monsters, you'll have to decide if it's worth listing out rewards the characters might acquire. This step might include useful items for the continuation of their quests and investigations or it might include fancy weapons that enhance character abilities. This step might also list out character boons that aren’t physical treasure if your game focuses more on character growth through less tangible boons. This step captures a common element to many RPGs, but not all of them.

Modeling the Simulated World

When we think about what the eight steps capture, they don’t capture game mechanics. They mostly capture things in the fictional world we build and explore with our players. This focus on in-world prep often makes the steps ubiquitous across RPGs which, at their core, are about exploring fictional worlds and situations with our friends. Thus, the eight steps are useful in almost any RPG you happen to be running.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video.

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers.

Talk Show Links

Here are links to the sites I referenced during the talk show.

Last week I also posted a couple of YouTube videos on Rolling for Monster Targets and The Sarklan Desert – Dragon Empire Prep Session 57.

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Handing out loot is a strong start your players will love.
Find or design low power magic trinkets you can reward often.
Tie magic items to the lore of your world.
Have monsters surrender when they reach zero HP instead of just dying.
Understand the difficulty dials for your RPG of choice.
Offer three options and have players choose their path at the end of a session.
Write down rules questions and look them up after the game. Make a ruling during the game so you keep things moving.

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