Free resource
Pre-session prep checklist
A before-the-game list that turns a blank evening into a ready session in one pass. Work top to bottom; if you run out of time, everything above the line is enough to run.
How to use it
- Top to bottom. The list is ordered by leverage — the cold open matters more than the loot table.
- Above the line is a session. If life gets in the way, stop at the divider and you can still run a good night.
- Reuse last session’s threads. Your best hooks are the ones the players already care about.
# Pre-Session Prep Checklist
- [ ] Reread last recap; note the 3 dangling threads
- [ ] Write the cold open (a situation in motion)
- [ ] Name tonight’s objective + stakes
- [ ] Draft 3–4 situations (place / people / want / if ignored)
- [ ] One line each for the NPCs who might appear
--- enough to run above this line ---
- [ ] Any maps, handouts, or music cued up
- [ ] Rules you might need bookmarked
- [ ] Loot / rewards roughed in
- [ ] One thread deliberately left for next timeA worked example
Thirty minutes before the game, top of the list: last recap says the party is chasing a stolen reliquary. Cold open — the fence is dead when they arrive. Objective — catch the dawn ship. Situations — tavern, harbormaster, townhouse. NPCs — barkeep, clerk, buyer, one line each. That is the whole session and you are already at the line; the map and the loot can wait, and the fake-reliquary twist is your thread for next week.