I have a long gaming to do list. Between conventions, Unconventional GMs, and new purchases, I’ve got a lot of games I want to get to the table. But I’m stuck. UK Games Expo was over a month ago, and my excitedly-purchased new games have been sat unplayed on my shelves. I have Bundles of Holding burning holes in my hard drive. But I can’t seem to get them ready. Sound familiar? “I’d love to run Dark Conspiracy at a con…” – well, why haven’t you?

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I’m in a rut – I just can’t seem to get started. But thinking about it, I know how to solve this, so in the true spirit of self-help, I’m telling myself what to do in this post. And what you should do if, like me, you’ve got games you really want to run, but can’t… just do the first step. That first step?

Make some pregens.

Not one or two – make a full parties’ worth. N+2 pregens, the ideal number for N players. Sit down with a character sheet and pen, fill out a Google Sheet, or just crack a Word doc and start writing. Once you’ve done them, you’ll be 200% more likely to actually get your game run. 

Why?

Well, there’s a few reasons. And the most throwaway one is the sunk cost. Making pregens is not an exciting creative release. You’ll have to flip books and do sums and maybe even roll some dice. Once you’ve done that, the hard stuff is done – prepping your adventure won’t take as long as the pregens. Or, if you’re actually using a published adventure, all you have to do is read and make notes, and you’re away. Even if the adventure prep takes longer, it’s a creative activity that’s more fun than the drudgery you’ve just endured.

Creating pregens also helps to answer one of the key game questions – “What do the PCs do?” Once you’ve got 6 characters with all their skills and powers, you can at least answer “ What can the PCs do?” – and that is just a small step to answering the first one.

If you’re unsure about the system, it’s a great opportunity to run a mock combat or skill challenge to check you’ve got a handle on it – this is absolutely essential for complex systems.

Or go further – you could use a generic solo tool like the Mythic GM Emulator or Triple-O to actually run some solo sessions yourself. I’ve done this in the past and ended up writing up the whole adventure as an actual one-shot – don’t knock creative play like this!

But I can hear you protest – what about the internet? (Or, heaven forfend, AI?) Couldn’t I just download some ready-to-run pregens and save myself the time? Well, you could – but you won’t feel the benefit, I can guarantee it. So get your sheets printed and do some chargenning! I’d stay longer, but I need to make some pregens for Crescent 2e, Spectaculars!, and Imperium Maledictum – see you soon!