Preparing a great Dungeons & Dragons session starts long before the players sit down at the table. This section of DM Tips is all about session prep and campaign planning: how to decide what really needs prep, how to avoid overworking yourself, and how to build campaigns that can actually survive contact with your party.

Here you’ll find advice on core topics like planning your first session, setting expectations with your group, mapping out a campaign arc without railroading, and turning loose ideas into something you can run this week. The goal is not to make you write a novel; it’s to help you create just enough structure so your game feels intentional, not random, while still leaving room for surprise and improvisation.

Good prep is more than stat blocks and maps. It includes clear goals for the session, a sense of what might happen if the players do nothing, and a list of a few strong images, NPCs or scenes you want to bring to life. In this category you’ll get Dungeon Master tips on:

• How to outline a flexible campaign instead of a fixed story
• How to prep for different playstyles (combat-heavy, exploration-heavy, roleplay-heavy)
• How to turn player backstories into real campaign threads
• How to reuse and remix unused prep instead of throwing it away

Whether you’re planning a one-shot or a multi-year epic, these articles will help you build prep habits that save time, reduce stress and make your D&D sessions feel deliberate and cohesive without locking you into a script.