How players should prepare before their next TTRPG session

There’s a lot of guidance on how to be a better DM. There’s some guidance on the player-side of the table. The most prolific of the player-side guidance is about character builds.

Instead of focusing on the character or DM, we’re going to focus on the player. What can a player do to prep for their next session? How can they help their group move at a pace that matches the genre of the game?

While the examples provided relate to Dungeons & Dragons, the fundamentals apply to most roleplaying games. You should be able to prepare in less than 30 minutes. These tips may be basic, but they’re steps I take every time I’m a player in my current era and come from my experiences in my bifurcated RPG time (early 80s to mid-90s, 2014 to present).

Review your character’s motivations

Others may push you to look at your powers first, but to me what makes a pen-and-paper RPG (even if it is D&D played on a VTT) special is that you get to act as the character would act. You aren’t constrained by anything but the willingness to be a coherent character.

To do so you should spend a few minutes thinking about your character. That could mean checking what their alignment is, what their personality is, what their goals are, how their family motivates them, etc. Don’t have them act slovenly if they’ve been cleanly in the past. Don’t have them be a chaos agent if they are orderly.

Do talk about how their brother inspired their quest. Do put forth that they are searching for their best friend. Do have them be motivated by riches and treasure.

Reviewing motivations means putting on that character’s face for a couple of minutes.

Review your character’s abilities

Character sheets can be complex. D&D PC sheets can be two-plus pages with spells and feats and features and weapons and masteries and riders — this list can go on. But for most characters you have a primary attack, a secondary attack, a way to interact in social encounters and a way to explore (or other pillars for other games).

Focus your attention on the main things your character does because they are good at them. At the table that’s what you’ll do. Spending a minute or two reviewing the rules for the things you do should speed up play as you won’t be looking up the rules live. This is especially important if the character has recently leveled up, acquired a magic item, or added a new feature.

Also remember what your character shouldn’t do because they are bad at it. You may want to hint at that during play. Maybe you are a Barbarian who shouldn’t be doing ranged attacks, bring that up when the group wants to snipe at distance.

Plan to use an ability or feature you haven’t in several sessions

When you’re looking at your sheet maybe you’ll notice something that your character hasn’t done in a few sessions. Find a way to do that in the session you are prepping for!

Xabal, my goblin Artificer, started using a spell called Caustic Brew regularly. They hadn’t used it in enough sessions that I forgot I had it. This week I committed to bringing it back to the forefront. Xabal blasted an automaton with it and later used it to break open a gate.

Review the party’s names, excellences and weaknesses

In real life most of us don’t forget our friends and coworkers. In a game like D&D, where some of us only play once a month, it’s easy to do so. As a player that’s understandable. It’s not for the characters.

Our recent session continued an invasion of a mob warehouse. Xabal wouldn’t forget the other character’s in the party, what they are good at and what they’d need help with.

The only way to ensure that you, the player, don’t forget the other characters in the group is to take a moment to review their names, their skills, and what they are doing adventuring with your character.

Remember the adventure and campaign goals

You don’t have to be a deep notetaker for this one.

Take the time to think about why the group is on this quest. What does success look like? What does failure look like?

Why is Xabal’s group invading a mob warehouse? Because they were sent there by an organization of mages from the ruling powers who think this mob may be connected with cultish activities that are attempting to overthrow the order in the world.

By knowing what the group’s goals are you may avoid going on that weird side quest or shopping trip or winding up with a 4-hour session in a tavern — you might not avoid it though! That’s the power of playing as real people. Sometimes we don’t do the smart thing or the right thing. We still should be ready to do the proper thing and know why we aren’t

These are my four steps to getting ready to be a player in a D&D session. What do you do to prepare to play?