Operation: Preparation Sandbox (after suitable period of Procrastination)

Tomorrow we pick up the ACKS campaign after taking last weekend off. Which means I'll be doing some game prep before Date Night with the wife (which just happens to coincide with Prom Night for the son and probably followed by Pick Me Up Night). Which means my game prep time is limited.

Have I mentioned in the past that I am a horrible procrastinator? Actually, I'm a pretty skilled procrastinator, but I'd rather not be a procrastinator at all. Especially when crunch time doesn't leave you with too much time.

I've been reading Never Unprepared: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Session Prep from the folks at Gnome Stew. They sent me a prerelease copy (if memory serves in releases on June 4th), and I've been slowly working my way through it in the midst of everything else going on. So far, the one big thing that's struck home with me is that there is little discussion of game prep in the circles I travel in

There's lots of talk on how to GM, how to run a game session, how to run a campaign, the pros and cons of GM Fiat, why D&D Next Rocks / Sucks - but we don't talk much about GM prep. Not because it's a dirty secret, but because it's something that generally isnt as much fun as actually playing the game.

So, tonight I get to do some rushed game prep (although I may skim forward in Never Unprepared to pick up somethings that may expedite the process). Tomorrow, another birthday party for my son at my inlaws. Tomorrow night we game! Sunday I'll continue my quest to procrastinate less with my game prep (as i run a sandboxie campaign, I need to be ready for most anything, including improvising.)