I follow this format for my campaign [[ttrpgs/The Slayers Five/World|The Slayers Five]]. For an even more strealined prep, consider just doing the strong start, secrets and clues, and locations sections. ## Housekeeping In this section, write down things about the game (mechanics, house rules) that you need to communicate to the players. ## Recap You can use a recap of the previous session to remind players what transpired as well as to situate recent events better within the context of the overarching story. Alternatively, you can ask the players to recap so that they can refresh their own memories while giving you an insight into what they understood. ## Review the characters - Think of ways to tie in one/some of their backstories to this session. - How would the characters react to things you have planned? ## Strong Start Start your game strong with a scene that is evocative and exciting. [^slyflourish] ## Scenes ## [[Secrets and Clues]] ## Fantastic Locations Come up with three possible scenes during this session, give each place a fantastic name, and write down three [[Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master#^136373259|evocative descriptions]] for each of them. ## NPCs ## Monsters ## [[Loot]] A link to loot you want to give your characters. I like to already have a loot list for several levels ahead, so that I can pace myself, at least with the higher-level or more powerful loot. If you don't have a Loot page, you can also ennumerate a few items in this section. [^slyflourish]: Shea, M. (2018). _Return of the lazy dungeon master_. [[Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master|My highlights]].