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Scenes – The Catch-all Step of the Lazy Dungeon Master

by Mike on 2 September 2024

The eight steps for game prep from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master include:

Review the characters
Create a strong start
Outline potential scenes
Define secrets and clues
Develop fantastic locations
Outline important NPCs
Choose relevant monsters
Select magic item rewards

Obviously, with so many different types of games and many different adventure models, these steps are intended to flex and shift as you need them.

One step in particular holds a lot of weight and contains a lot of flexibility: outlining potential scenes.

This step can act as a catch-all for many different things depending on what you need for your session. This includes:

Adventure hooks – what draws the characters into this session's adventure?
Forks and options – what paths might be open for the characters in this session?
Five scenes – What scenes might happen in the game? You probably need about one scene for every 45 minutes of gameplay. Writing down this handful of short scene descriptions is the default use for this step.
Potential shifts in the story – where might the world move to in the short-term if certain things happen?
Next steps – what options do you want to put in front of the players this session to figure out where they're going in the next session?
Steps required to accomplish a task – what do the characters need to do to accomplish a goal? This works well with the three of five keys idea.

You don't need all of these things for any given session, of course. Sometimes the hooks are already firmly planted. Sometimes there aren't clear forks or there are so many forks (like when exploring a dungeon) that you don't bother to break them out into scenes. Sometimes you know where the characters are going next so you don't need to outline the next steps.

A Flexible Catch-All

Use the "scenes" step to apply whatever glue you need to hold your session together and give you what you need to prepare the next one. There's no fixed format for this step (or really any of the eight steps). Like secrets serving you, this "scenes" step serves you to help you get your hand around the session you're going to run and helps you get what you need to keep your game going in the right direction.

And, of course, you can omit it completely. None of the eight steps are mandatory. Each step is there to help you get your hands around what you need to run an enjoyable session for your friends. If a step doesn't serve that purpose, skip it. If you feel like you already have what you need, toss out anything else.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos including Regions and Biomes of the City of Arches, Let's Build a Character in Shadowdark RPG, and Return to the Gloaming – Shadowdark Gloaming Session 40 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

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. 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:

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:

Bathe dungeons in layers of lore.
Give characters a customizable home base.
Write down names of NPCs associated with the characters
Drop in quick combat encounters in looser exploration and downtime scenes to focus peoples’ attention.
What cool magic item reinforces each character’s theme? Take notes and review them during your prep.
Think of encounters as situations the characters can navigate instead of purely tactical combat encounters.
Write your own quick random lists to bring locations to life.