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The GENIUS Of Brennan's D&D Prep — Transcript

by Edariad · 2,915 words · 454 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Brennan Lee Mulligan runs multiple
0:02campaigns, improvises 80% of what
0:04happens, and somehow his games feel more
0:07structured than those of DMs who script
0:09everything. Meanwhile, you're stuck in
0:12the DM paradox. Either prep too much and
0:15you'll try to railroad players who will
0:17go off script or prep too little and
0:19your session will feel hollow. But the
0:21good news is Brennan solved this. He
0:24preps using a very simple system he
0:26calls making toys. And in this video, I
0:28will explain it to you, show you why it
0:30works, and it will change how you prep
0:32forever. So, here's what confused me for
0:35the longest time. [music] Brennan has
0:37said he works a lot for his games. But
0:40he has also mentioned in interviews that
0:42his prep and notes for his longunning
0:44home game used to be a giant Google doc,
0:46several hundred pages long, with
0:48absolutely no structure whatsoever. stat
0:51blocks, monsters, NPCs, maps, and names
0:54just there with only a loose idea of
0:57what the people in those places are
0:58trying to do. So, I kept thinking, "This
1:00can't be it. The guy is smart, but come
1:03on." And I started to dig a little
1:05deeper because I wanted to understand
1:07how it works. Brennan uses this toy
1:10analogy to describe his approach to
1:12prep. And the more I think about it, the
1:14more I found the metaphor absolutely
1:16amazing because toys are modular. And
1:19that is the central idea here. What do I
1:22mean by that? Well, take a toy firet
1:25truck for example. It doesn't care what
1:27story the kids invent with it. It has a
1:29set of characteristics, but it can work
1:31in a lot of games they'll create. The
1:33person who designed the toy had no idea
1:36how it was going to be used. They didn't
1:38know the kid who was going to end up
1:39playing with it. And yet it works.
1:42Brennan uses a very similar approach.
1:44When he preps an NPC, for example, he
1:46defines their overall personality and
1:49motivation, but not what they will say
1:51in the third scene of the fourth session
1:53of his campaign. Therefore, when the
1:55players choose to interact with that NPC
1:57out of the blue, he doesn't have a
1:59script. But he doesn't need one. He
2:01knows the broad strokes [music] of the
2:03NPC's personality and can deduce how
2:05they'd respond based on that and acts it
2:08out thanks to his improved background. I
2:10think a good way to look at this is like
2:12this. Most DMs prep like architects.
2:14They try to build those detailed plans
2:16anticipating exactly how the players
2:19will move through space and how
2:20conversations will unfold. But a toy
2:22maker like Brennan just makes building
2:25blocks and then they dump them in a toy
2:28chest. And somehow it works [music]
2:30better, which is offensive. I used to
2:33think so anyway. It shouldn't [music]
2:34work. When I first started DMing, I
2:36tried prepping less. Most DMs have. And
2:38before it clicked, in my case, when I
2:40started to just prep less and improvise
2:42more, my games got worse instead of
2:44better. My sessions felt aimless and my
2:47NPCs like they were all some version of
2:50Bob the inkeeper. So what makes
2:52Brennan's simple prep method different
2:55from just winging it? The answer is
2:56hiding somewhere most DMs never think
2:58about. And once you see it, you realize
3:00Brennan isn't actually preppingless at
3:03all. Your brain has severe limitations
3:05when it comes to holding information.
3:07working memory, the mental space where
3:09you do real-time thinking, can only
3:12handle about four to seven chunks of
3:14information simultaneously on a good
3:16day. This concept traces back to the
3:18research of a psychologist called George
3:21Miller in the 1950s. The exact number
3:24depends on various factors, but this
3:26core fact remains. Working memory is
3:29severely limited. It's the ceiling for
3:31what humans can reliably juggle in
3:33active memory at once. Now, please
3:36consider for one second the amount of
3:39things the average DM keeps struggling
3:41with. What just happened in the scene?
3:43What is each player currently doing?
3:45What do the NPCs know? Why don't they
3:48know? What's the current emotional tone?
3:50What are the upcoming threats? What's
3:52the weather like? Etc., etc. All of
3:55this. And somehow they need to make
3:57decisions about what happens next. Seven
4:00is just not a big enough number. Your
4:03working memory is already overloaded
4:05before you even start improvising
4:06anything new. And this is why just
4:09prepping less doesn't work. When you
4:11wing it, you're trying to create NPCs,
4:13invent locations, and design encounters
4:16all in real time while managing
4:18everything else. Your cognitive capacity
4:21is maxed out. And that's why everything
4:24feels weirdly sy and shallow when you
4:27improvise without preparation. You
4:29literally don't have the mental
4:30bandwidth for depth because you might be
4:33very smart, but you're still a human and
4:35you're using all your processing power
4:37just to keep up. Brandon's approach is
4:40different though. Cognitive load theory,
4:42which comes from educational psychology
4:44research, identifies three types of
4:46mental [music] load. Intrinsic load,
4:47which is the inherent difficulty of the
4:49task. Extraneous load, which is
4:51unnecessary information that doesn't
4:53help. And gerine load, which is building
4:56useful mental frameworks. When you prep
4:59by writing detailed scene descriptions
5:01[music] and dialogue, you're creating
5:03extraneous load. And then when you play,
5:06you're trying to remember and retrieve
5:08[music] specific text while trying to
5:11process what players do at the [music]
5:13same time. Your brain has to search
5:15through written information and figure
5:17out how it applies to what's actually
5:19happening. That's two demanding tasks
5:21competing for the same limited working
5:23memory. Plus, it makes it harder to
5:25adapt when players go off script, which
5:28often leads to railroading. But when
5:31Brennan makes a toy NPC [music] and just
5:34focuses on personality and motivation,
5:36he is doing something different. The
5:38information about the toy is moved into
5:41long-term memory as a pattern, not as
5:43text [music] to retrieve. So, when he
5:45starts playing, he's not searching for
5:47the right words he wrote. He's kind of
5:49generating responses based on [music] an
5:52understanding of who this toy or person
5:54is which he internalized. It becomes
5:57pattern recognition which is largely
5:59automatic and a lot easier on [music]
6:01working memory. So that's the first
6:03answer. Brennan's prep method isn't
6:06simpler. It's simply optimized for how
6:08human memory actually functions. He's
6:10strategically choosing what to preload
6:12into long-term memory so working memory
6:15stays available for real-time
6:16improvisation. But something still
6:19doesn't make sense. This explains
6:21efficiency, sure, why his brain doesn't
6:23get overwhelmed, but it doesn't explain
6:26creativity. Making sure your brain does
6:29not explode [music] is a good thing, and
6:31it helps you not drown. But why does
6:34this method make your games better? Why
6:35do Brennan's improvised NPCs feel more
6:38alive than fully scripted ones? Well,
6:41it's because when you free up working
6:42memory, something else becomes possible.
6:45something most DMs don't experience
6:47consistently. But before I go on, I want
6:50to share something with you. According
6:52to my analytics, many of you guys watch
6:55these videos but aren't subscribed to
6:57the channel yet. So, I would like to
6:59make a deal with you Warlock style. If
7:02you could do me a huge favor and hit
7:04that subscribe button, I will work
7:05obsessively to make these videos better
7:08and better and better. I'm still a small
7:10channel and it's hard to overstate how
7:13much this helps. A bigger channel means
7:15more reach and ultimately more resources
7:18for me to help you guys have more fun
7:20playing this game we all love. All
7:21right, so what does happen when you free
7:24up working memory? Well, let me ask
7:26[music] you a question. Have you ever
7:28felt this at your table? A moment where
7:30DMing feels effortless? It's like time
7:33stops existing and ideas flow naturally.
7:35You don't have to [music] think to give
7:37amazing descriptions and your NPC voices
7:40just sound convincing. DMs do not have
7:43the monopoly on this feeling. It is
7:45called flow [music] state and musicians,
7:47athletes, and artists are all familiar
7:50with it. It's not magic or talent, but
7:52an actual documented psychological
7:55phenomenon. [music]
7:56Mihi San Mihi, a Hungarian American
7:58psychologist, spent a long time working
8:00on this concept. He found that entering
8:03flow requires three conditions. Clear
8:05goals, immediate feedback, and challenge
8:08matching your skill level. Without all
8:10three present, you can't enter flow. But
8:12when they align, something you can
8:14actually measure happens to the brain.
8:17During flow, research shows the part of
8:19your brain that handles self-monitoring
8:21and evaluative judgment shows reduced
8:23activity. Essentially, you stop
8:25second-guessing yourself. And studies on
8:27flow states have found that creative
8:29problem solving performance increases
8:31substantially during flow. It happens
8:33because you're making novel combinations
8:35between ideas without using the dreaded
8:38is this good enough filter a lot of us
8:41are familiar with. So back to Brennan
8:43and his toys. Suddenly it makes more
8:45[music] sense. The three pillars are
8:47present here. We have clear goals, you
8:49know, prepared scenarios with
8:51established NPCs pursuing goals that
8:53players [music] can interact with.
8:55Immediate feedback, player reactions
8:57tell him instantly what's working and
8:59what isn't, and balanced challenge.
9:01[music] His toys or building blocks give
9:04him tools to respond with, so unexpected
9:07player actions feel manageable, not
9:09overwhelming. [music] Let's compare with
9:11different approaches. When you overprep,
9:13players end up skipping your planned
9:15scenes. So there is no feedback loop
9:17connecting your preparation to their
9:18engagement. And flow, if you reached it,
9:21breaks. When you underprep, you're
9:23trying to create everything from
9:24scratch. So the challenge is too big.
9:27And flow just does not start. Bren's
9:29method hits the [music] sweet spot. And
9:31that's why this produces better creative
9:33output. Cognitive optimization makes it
9:36easier to enter flow state. [music] And
9:38flow state is where that beautiful
9:40inspiring creativity happens. But
9:43Brennan isn't a neuroscientist or a
9:45psychologist. And I seriously doubt he
9:47learned this from some textbook, [music]
9:49which means he must have discovered this
9:51method doing tons of improv [music] and
9:54just playing a lot. Which made me
9:56wonder, did other successful DMs
9:58discover the same thing? Matt Mercer,
10:01Matthew Kovville, Chris Perkins or Abria
10:03Youar for example, all [music] advocates
10:06essentially for the same philosophy.
10:08Modular preparation is better than
10:10linear planning. Toys or building blocks
10:12or however you want to call them work
10:14better than rigid prep. But the
10:16interesting part is they all discovered
10:18this through different paths. Matt
10:20Mercer arrived there through extensive
10:23worldbuing and production experience. He
10:25creates deep lore, but relies on
10:28floating encounters to keep the game
10:30flexible. Matthew Kovville came at it
10:32from a narrative design angle rather
10:35than following a script. He advises DMs
10:37to give villains clear goals and let the
10:40clock tick until the players [music]
10:42intervene. Chris Perkins has decades of
10:45professional D&D design experience, and
10:47his approach is onepage prep notes with
10:49most content improvised. They have
10:51different backgrounds and training, but
10:54all reached the same core conclusion
10:56about how to prepare effectively. When
10:58multiple successful people in a craft
11:00arrive at similar solutions, it suggests
11:02one of two things. Either you're looking
11:05at something fundamental about the
11:06activity itself, or you're seeing what
11:09works get selected for and copied. And
11:11either way, it's worth paying attention
11:13to. [music] In this case, it's the human
11:16cognitive limits meeting the
11:17requirements of realtime collaborative
11:20storytelling, [music]
11:21which means this isn't about being
11:23Brennan Lee Mulligan specifically. And
11:25[music] that's great news because it
11:27means the underlying principles can work
11:30for anyone, even if the professional
11:32improv training doesn't hurt. It's not
11:34about being some [music] kind of D&D
11:36genius. So, the question becomes, how do
11:39you actually implement this in your own
11:41games? Once you start thinking about
11:43prep in this way, things change. They
11:46did for me. You stop asking, "How much
11:48should I prepare?" and start asking,
11:50"What kind of preparation will allow me
11:53to improvise?" Start with Brennan's
11:55essential list. Stud blocks, maps,
11:57names, and a loose idea of what NPCs
12:00want. Pay special attention to what's
12:02missing from that list. Dialogue, plot
12:04beats, sin descriptions, and
12:06predetermined outcomes. Those aren't
12:09building blocks but scripts which
12:11constrain improvisation because they
12:13require you to steer towards specific
12:15content aka railroad. Yeah, okay. But
12:20this is still broad. What's the first
12:22thing I do? All right, fair enough. To
12:25make it stick, let me quickly walk you
12:27through a very concrete example and
12:29create a toy NPC together. Step one, ask
12:32yourself what I call the two core
12:34questions. First, what do they want and
12:37how do they pursue it? This is the
12:39engine [music] of the character. The
12:41rest just flows from there. Let's say
12:43we're building of no, a ctographer. What
12:47does he want? [music] I think he wants
12:48to be recognized as the ultimate expert
12:51on the region's geography. He wants his
12:53maps to be the maps, [music] those
12:56everyone uses. So, how does he work
12:58toward that goal? I think Ofim is
13:01obsessive and verifies everything. He
13:03won't publish anything he hasn't
13:05personally investigated, [music] which
13:07makes him insanely accurate, but also
13:10extremely slow. Step two, we work on
13:13performance hooks. We need something
13:15that makes Ofim very easy to perform at
13:18our table. Two things are enough, a
13:20physical detail and a speech pattern.
13:23Not a voice necessarily, but something
13:25to help us talk differently. So for
13:27physical, I think Ofim's hands are
13:30always stained with ink. And he tends to
13:33always catch what he's looking at
13:34depending on where [music] he is. It
13:36could be napkins, margins, even in the
13:38dirt with a stick. It adapts to any
13:41location. Speech wise, he constantly
13:44corrects himself mid-sentence, even over
13:46tiny details. I was there 3 weeks ago.
13:49No, wait, 17 days. Or [music] the
13:52distance is about 40 mi. Well, 38.3 if
13:56you take the ridge path. His need for
13:58precision is omnipresent, which makes
14:00him seem both knowledgeable and
14:02exhausting to talk to. Now, step three,
14:05we need an active problem. We can't not
14:08have this. We need to give our NPC
14:11something happening right now. It's not
14:13a backstory or potential plot hoax. He
14:15is dealing with this problem this week,
14:18whether the PCs cross his path or not.
14:20In our example, I think Ofim just
14:23discovered [music] that a rival
14:24cryptographer they can't stand published
14:27a map of the region of his [music]
14:29region, the one he's been mapping out
14:31for 3 years, but hasn't published yet
14:33because he wanted to verify just one
14:35[music] more thing. The rivals map is
14:37about 80% accurate, which means it will
14:39probably become the standard. His life's
14:41work could be ruined. And voila, our toy
14:45is ready to go and can work in many
14:47different situations. Players need a
14:49guide through the region. He really
14:51wants to prove his expertise. They
14:53mention the rivals map. He has strong
14:56opinions. They need cryptography work.
14:58He's available but distracted by this
15:00problem. They have information about the
15:02northern routes. Well, that's exactly
15:04what he needs, etc., etc. We didn't
15:07write dialogue or plan when he appears,
15:10but we can improvise him responding to
15:12anything because we've internalized his
15:14core [music] properties. Now, I want to
15:16be clear about something. I said there
15:18was no magic behind this and it's true,
15:21but there is work. Brennan is a
15:24professional improviser with years of
15:26training, so you probably won't match
15:28his performance [music] level
15:29immediately, but that's fine. You don't
15:31need to. The cognitive principles work
15:33at any skill level. Though, like any
15:36skill, you'll get better at applying
15:37them with practice. You're not trying to
15:40be Brandon, but to prep like him because
15:42it matches how your brain [music]
15:44actually works. This is what he and a
15:46lot of other protems seem to have
15:48figured out. The prep paradox isn't
15:50really a content problem at all, [music]
15:52but a cognitive one. The toy method
15:54isn't minimalist prep. It's optimized
15:56prep for human cognitive capabilities.
15:58And maybe the biggest contribution isn't
16:01even the technique, but the permission.
16:03[music] The permission to prepare
16:05differently while understanding you're
16:07actually preparing better and to trust
16:09the process even when it feels too
16:12simple. If you want to start
16:13implementing this technique, I've
16:15created after the full 15 morally gray
16:18NPCs using this exact template [music]
16:20you just saw me fill out. Each one has
16:23the core questions answered, the
16:25performance hooks ready, and an active
16:27problem to drop into your game. Plus, it
16:29includes blank templates so you can
16:30build your own using the same method.
16:32You can get it by itself, but it's also
16:34included in my Patreon along with all my
16:37video scripts, free tools, and access to
16:39private channels on my Discord server to
16:41help you become a better DM. Your
16:43support truly means the world and allows
16:46me to keep making this videos. So, links
16:48in the description if you want to check
16:50it out. All right, great. But if other
16:52pro DMs also know about this, why do
16:54Brennan's games hit so much harder?
16:56Well, I think this has to do with
16:58something almost everyone overlooks.
17:00What if Brennan was not just a DM, but
17:03something else entirely? So, click on
17:05this video next to find out what
17:06Brennan's secret is and how you can use
17:09it to become the best DM you can

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