Thoughts on low-prep and one-shots
[I wrote this for an RPG forum, then realized how far it veered from the topic. Nonetheless, there's something worth saving here for later use.]
Low-prep gaming doesn’t equal Tabula Rasa.
I enjoy creating detailed imaginative worlds. In fact I’ve created several that have barely been touched by my gaming group. I also enjoy no/low-prep GMing. Here’s the thing, the two are not mutually exclusive. Low-prep gaming can mean different things to different GMs. For some low-prep is specifically the prep given to a particular adventure or session. The setting may be a richly detailed home-brew, but the GM need only glance over a few notes to be ready for the night’s game. Conversely, the setting may be fairly generic, but with specific tropes and shared expectations that require few details.
What makes a successful (fun) low-prep game is something I’ll call
The 3Cs*
- Comfort. The GM is comfortable with the setting and rules to be able to create content on the fly.
- Confidence. Similar to comfort, confidence is about presentation. Comfort enable the GM to create content, but it is confidence which empowers the GM to present the content in an enjoyable way.
(A GM may have comfort without confidence or confidence without comfort, but sooner or later, the lack of one will become appearant to the players.) - Cooperation. Players must cooperate with the GM to generate the story at the table. They must have enough familiarity with style, genre, and expectations of play to participate in a meaningful manner.
My own experience with low-prep games has been that rules-light systems work best. But I believe that’s because I prefer rules-lite (comfort and confidence). Groups used to 3.5 should probably stick to it for a low-prep one-nighter.
In one of my best low-prep games, we were playing cinematic swashbuckling pirates. Even though I was the only one with much historical knowledge of pirates and things nautical, everyone had seen Pirates of the Caribbean and Peter Pan, and Treasure Island. We could all jump into the setting feet first because we all knew the tropes.
*-Obviously this only applies to rpgs with a traditional GM/player breakdown.
