Abandoning Prep
A sequel to Join me in just prepping what's fun
I have a Stonetop game coming up in a couple hours. I feel like I should prep, but I don't want to. Why? Is it because what I say won't be interesting enough? Stonetop itself says one of the reasons to prep is to "shore up your weaknesses" (Book 1, p. 204); this implies your GMing has weaknesses! In addition, you can't (definitionally) know what prep is needed in advance. That's impossible, assuming you allow your players to make decisions and have agency. I certainly have prepped things I was certain would arise next session and been completely wrong about that.
I feel this malaise most keenly when I get frustrated at tracking factional moves, as in my recent open table game of Blades '68. I don't often incorporate those faction moves into sessions, because I don't know what the players will do. They are divorced from the present-moment activity of running the game. Would anything bad happen if I just dropped those systems? Would the game still be fun?
However, it is still helpful to know that if I want to more about Barrier Pass, I can consult Stonetop's almanac. But I find enormous value in just reading that section and then allowing it to be a part of me, rather than making a lot of detailed notes on the trader who will come through offering an opportunity this session.
Here's how I want to approach GMing right now.
- Pay attention to what's happening. Allow the game session to take up your entire sensorium.
- Respond, rather than react. Draw on what comes naturally.
- Stop being "interesting", and pay attention instead. Say what's obvious at all times. It won't be to your players.
- Jot notes as needed. But consider: what notes do you even need?
- Cultivate curiosity. What might happen next? What feels alive with possibility?
The benefits of aliveness---of being with and fully attending---outweigh the imagined costs of not being ready or prepared. Why not just let the game happen? It will be okay if you do!