D&D Session Prep with This Dungeon Is Occupied

Reach out to This Dungeon is Occupied at https://linktr.ee/thisdungeonisoccupiedpod

Warmup: Justin to This Dungeon is Occupied

Prompt: Think of the last group you DM’d for. Now describe  the character that you would like to have played in that group if you could add a new character for yourself.

Intro:

Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM. I’m Justin Lewis, and together with my cohost Tanner Weyland, we help you craft better stories for yourselves and your players as you DM sessions of D&D 5d regardless of how much time or money you have.

Today we are joined by some awesome guests, the voices behind the This Dungeon is Occupied Podcast. We have Illideen, Thorn and Bone Daddy. I’ll let them share their real names with you if they want in a second, but first, let’s go through a couple of housekeeping items. 

First of all, remember that we have the next one-shot coming up in September. Tanner is that game's Dungeon Master, and we have all the spots filled. If you’re interested in watching that one-shot as a spectator you can go to https://betterdungeonmaster.com/audience at the time of the one-shot and enjoy an excellent show for a few hours.

If you’re interested in signing up for the next one shot, it will be in October and will actually be hosted by one of our guests here, Bone Daddy. He is a big fan of the horror genre so we thought it was appropriate to have him host a horror-themed Halloween one-shot. You can go to betterdungeonmaster.com/one-shot to sign up for that.

Lastly, we just want to thank you for all your support. We really appreciate everything you do for us. With every episode we strive to give you even better content, so please tell us if we do something wrong or right.

Now, let’s get into today’s show.

So let’s get into our discussion topics. Feel free and introduce yourselves amidst our questions, but don’t feel that you have to.

Main Topic: Preparing for Sessions

• What’s your main process for session prep?
• What tools do you use for session prep?
• How do you balance the main plot line and Individual Backstory plot lines?

Break: Continuation of Warmup Prompt

Prompt: Now describe the moment when the character you described at the beginning of today’s show betrays the other characters in the party.

Main Topic Continued: Preparing for Sessions Cont.

• How do you know you’ve prepared enough?
• Do you go back and revise any preparation (like editing a paper?)

• How much do you write out word for word versus simple prompts?

Close:

linktr.ee/thisdungeonisoccupiedpod

Mentioned in this episode:

Signup for Our Email Newsletter

Do you love the show but can't always listen to it? Do you prefer written content? Go to session0studios.com/newsletter/ and sign up to get weekly tips and tricks sent to your inbox so you can become the greatest DM the world has ever seen.

Level Up Guide

Add the Magic of Sound to Your Gameplay

When you set the scene you need to tap into the five senses. When it comes to sound one of the best ways to do that is with music, sound effects, and ambience. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Monument Studios. Monument Studios provides an easy-to-use Soundboard perfect for Dungeon Mastering. If you want to see this in action, go to fantasy-plus.com and get 10% off of your first month of their Fantasy+ App by using the code BETTERDM at check out. Again that is fantasy-plus.com and BETTERDM at checkout.

Monument Studios

Brought to you by Session 0 Studios

Visit session0studios.com for more information.