Sorry for all the updates! This particular post is more like how I envision this blog. The others were so different in topic I really thought they merited their own posts. But they were relevant as well, so there they are. Anyway, this is more like session notes for the session we had Sunday. Officially, it was Session 12.
Session 12 was a challenge as a DM. The group had just come off a large adventure which I was very proud of. There was a really fun skill challenge (at least, the players told me it was fun) and they defeated a BIG BAD that I created using the Beta Monster Builder (not THE big bad, mind you) and thus saved the city! Only, now what?
I realized while I was planning for the session that I couldn't really plan much. I had no real idea (despite asking the players) what they were planning on doing next. So, instead of a highly polished adventure like the last session, I had to "wing it". That's not to say I didn't prepare. I grabbed a list of thematically appropriate monsters at the correct levels and I reviewed the NPCs. I also updated the Wiki and impedded adventure hooks. Just in case someone decided to bite. I also had a loose end that I knew the party would investigate and planned an event related to that.
I realized one thing as we played Sunday: as a DM, I'm lucky. I really love to build the world and I had built so much in previously that I had answers to everyone's questions! It was like magic! I could reveal those things I had worked so hard on and do so in a natural way. I also realized that 4e battles are an unprepared DMs best friend! I was able to make a thematically appropriate battle using the small amount of planning I had done on the fly! And the best part is: it was fun.
