Never Unprepared

The Complete Game Master's Guide to Session Prep

By: Phil Vecchione

Narrated by: Colby Elliott

Whether you're new to game mastering or have been running the same campaign since 1974, Never Unprepared: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Session Prep will help you prepare for games faster, avoid common pitfalls, and have more fun in the process. Never Unprepared breaks game prep down into its component phases - Brainstorming, Selection, Conceptualization, Documentation, and Review - and provides the tools you need to make the most of each phase. If you hate prep, you'll find ways to make it more enjoyable. If you already have a great system for doing your prep, you'll learn how to make it even better. Ten years in the making, Never Unprepared is award-winning author Phil Vecchione's epic rock ballad to game prep.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2012 Phill Vecchione (P)2019 Last Word Audio

So useful

I am looking forward to applying The techniques I’ve learned and going on to read the books Phil recommended.

another tool in the box

another tool in the box good listening can apply in more then dnd or d20 dice games

This Book Changed My Prep!

I've read a lot of GMing books and blogs. From Sly Flurish, The Angry GM, Guy, and so on. I've gained a lot of knowledge from the former, but this one really helped me tighten up my GM prep, shorten my notes, and helped me create my own preping system. If you're a DM/GM, of any kind, there's a lot you can learn here!
(Oh, and don't listen to the comment saying the books to intensive and says "I don't want to write a book." The author in no way suggests you write a book. He's got a wife and kids, and no time to write a book for each session. And he mentions how having to many notes can slow you down in session. That commenter missed some key messages in the book itself.)

Meh.

This may be my fault but i was expecting more from just common sense. it has very useful tips and information, but nothing more than you could get from searching "DM tips" on youtube.

LOTS of filler, one GOOD chapter

This “book” was basically one useful chapter with several more chapters of complete fluff. Either the writer didn’t have enough genuinely valuable content to warrant a book, or else he must think his audience is pretty ignorant.

Example: in an overly-lengthy discussion about which office supplies you’ll need, he goes into detail about making sure to—if you’re going to make notes by hand—purchase paper that’s sturdy enough not to tear whenever you decide to erase something. Wow! Thank God for such insightful advice! If only I’d read this book sooner, I wouldn’t have piles and piles of hand-written notes lying around my house, full of eraser holes. Genius!

I quickly found myself skimming the fluff, just to get to the one usable chapter which lists all the elements you should have in your game notes such as the purpose of each scene, the conditions for winning / losing and the possible outcomes of each, what tactics the NPCs will employ (so that they do more than just stand there and give / take damage), plus little details such as distinct mannerisms for NPCs and the weather (which is often ignored).

If you think this one chapter is worth paying the sticker price, then this might be a good return on investment for you. Personally, even though I am grateful for hearing that one chapter, it’s hard not to feel ripped-off about the rest.

Also, I didn’t care for the narration all that much. It sounds like the narrator is trying to do an impression of someone who has a naturally deeper voice than his own. I prefer a natural, conversational approach rather than trying to sound dramatic, especially when the book isn’t dramatic; it’s about how to organize blocks of text on note-pages, for goodness’ sake. So, that was a bit distracting.