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One thing I’d like to offer everyone here is a chance to see how I do things. My way is not the Only Way™, and in fact may not be for anyone but me—but you might find an idea or two to steal for your own creative projects or home game. Today I’d like to show you my “kit” approach to running RPG events at conventions. I've been running convention events since 1993 (RPGA Member #145241). I use the same idea for games I run that are hosted in someone else’s home. Organization will set you free!
Today’s example is Dungeons & Dragons but you could apply the idea to just about any game out there. And today I’ll do you one better and give you access to as many of these materials as possible—in case you’d like to run this as a one-shot your own self!
The goal here is to make the process of setting up and running the game as smooth as possible, especially since in the standard convention slot you have less than 4 hours before you have to clear out for the next group. I want to provide players with all possible resources—which means pre-printed character sheets, miniatures for their use, and quick-reference items like cards for spells and magic items. On my side I do extra work before the game so I can focus on what’s happening and not constantly flipping around through books at the table. If I can go an entire session without a single player cracking open the Player’s Handbook, I feel like my efforts have been worth it.
Adventure Folder
Here’s where I put anything the size of a sheet of paper (or can be folded down to one). The stuff that’s only for me to reference I bind into the folder with a 3-hole punch. In this case I have a great little adventure called “The Wild Sheep Chase.” I didn’t write this one, but stumbled on it when a friend visited from out of town and wanted me to run a quick one-shot. You can get it free over on the Dungeon Master’s Guild. A color printout of the adventure is what’s bound inside my folder. This adventure is perfect if you want to have a quick D&D session with plenty of action and combat filled with humor and off-color sheep jokes and animal puns. Over in the Dungeon Master pocket I have some foldable battle maps (more on that below) and also have …
Combat Stat Sheets. I don’t want to constantly flip through books in the middle of D&D combat, so I took the time to put everything in a document I can reference at the table—one that I can scribble all over to record damage and note combat conditions or anything else.
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