How Do You Prepare Situations Instead of Plots in 5e?

Prepare what is happening—not what the players are supposed to do.

by Jackson Dean Chase

Founder and Lead Designer, MageGate Games

Why trust this guide?

MageGate Games founder and lead designer Jackson Dean Chase is a USA Today bestselling author, veteran Game Master with more than 40 years of gaming experience, and the author of dozens of 5e-compatible sourcebooks and GM resources.

MageGate Games was founded to create practical tools that help Game Masters prepare faster, make stronger decisions at the table, and build more memorable campaigns.

This guide applies that same approach to campaign and session preparation: build situations that can respond to player decisions instead of preparing a predetermined sequence of scenes

This article contains advice for intermediate and experienced GMs.

Continue with:

• How Do You Make Combat More Interesting as a GM?
• How Do You Keep Players Engaged as a GM?
• How Much Worldbuilding Does a GM Need?
• What Do You Do When Players Derail the Campaign?

If you’re new to running games, these guides cover the core skills:

• First-Time DM Tips: What Actually Matters?
• How Much Should a DM Prep for Each Session?
• How Do You Improvise as a DM?
• How Do You Avoid Railroading as a DM?
• How Do You Run Your First Session as a DM?

Prepare What Exists, Not What Must Happen

A plot says:

1. First this happens.
2. Then the players do this.
3. Then this scene happens.
4. Then they discover this clue.
5. Then they fight the villain.

A situation says:

1. These people want different things.
2. This problem exists.
3. These pressures are increasing.
4. The players have arrived.

That difference matters.

Plots depend on players following the expected path.

Situations can survive unexpected decisions.

If the characters negotiate instead of fight, leave town instead of investigate, ally with the apparent villain, ignore the obvious clue, or invent a solution you never considered, the situation still exists.

You know:

• Who wants what
• What they are doing
• What resources they have
• What happens if nobody interferes

That gives you enough structure to respond.

• See also What Do You Do When Players Derail the Campaign?

Start With a Problem, Not a Sequence

Begin preparation with something that is already wrong or about to become wrong.

For example:

• A noble has disappeared.
• Two factions are competing for the same relic.
• A town’s water source has been poisoned.
• A cult is preparing a ritual.
• Refugees are arriving from a nearby valley.
• A monster has disrupted an important trade road.
• A local ruler is hiding a political crisis.
• A temple has declared someone a heretic.
• A magical storm is isolating the region.

Do not immediately decide how the characters will solve it.

Instead ask:

Why is this happening?

Who cares?

What happens next if the characters do nothing?

That gives you a situation with momentum.

Give Important NPCs Goals

NPC goals create motion without requiring a scripted plot.

For each important NPC or faction, know:

• What do they want?
• Why do they want it?
• What are they willing to do?
• What are they unwilling to do?
• What resources do they control?
• What happens if they succeed?

A baron may want to suppress evidence of corruption.

A priest may want to protect the innocent even if it damages the church.

A smuggler may want profit but refuse to harm children.

A cult leader may sincerely believe a dangerous ritual will save the region.

Now the GM does not need to predict every conversation.

When the players act, ask:

How would this NPC respond given what they want?

That is much easier than trying to force the scene back toward a prepared script.

Give Factions Conflicting Interests

Situations become richer when multiple groups want incompatible things.

For example:

The town council wants:

The problem contained quietly.

The local temple wants:

The truth revealed.

The merchant guild wants:

Trade restored immediately.

The cult wants:

The crisis to continue.

The villagers want:

Someone to make them safe.

Now almost any player decision affects somebody.

If the characters expose the truth, the temple may support them while the council becomes hostile.

If they solve the immediate problem quietly, the merchants may be pleased while the underlying corruption remains.

The GM does not need a predetermined “correct” branch.

The factions create consequences.

Prepare Pressures That Keep Moving

A static situation waits politely for the players.

A strong situation changes.

Useful pressures include:

• Deadlines
• Political tension
• Resource shortages
• Weather
• Reinforcements
• Public fear
• Rival adventurers
• Escalating violence
• Spreading disease
• Ritual progress
• Enemy movement
• Collapsing alliances

The pressure does not need to activate every hour.

It simply needs to create the sense that the world is not paused.

For example:

Day 1: A caravan fails to arrive.

Day 2: Food prices rise.

Day 3: Merchants begin hiring guards.

Day 4: The town council closes the road.

Day 5: A rival faction takes advantage of the disruption.

Now the situation develops whether the players follow your expected plan or not.

Know What Happens If the Players Do Nothing

One of the best preparation questions is:

What happens if the characters never interfere?

That answer gives the situation a natural trajectory.

Perhaps:

• The cult completes the ritual.
• The merchant guild buys political protection.
• The monster claims more territory.
• The missing noble is executed.
• The rebellion gains support.
• The plague spreads.
• The rival adventuring party solves the problem first.

This is not a railroad.

It is the world’s default direction.

The players can change it.

That is the point.

Prepare Locations as Tools

You do not need to know exactly when players will visit every location.

You need enough information to run it when they do.

For an important location, prepare:

• What is immediately visible?
• Who is usually there?
• What can be learned?
• What can go wrong?
• What resources or opportunities exist?
• What changes if the situation escalates?

A warehouse does not need a scripted “warehouse scene.”

It needs:

• guards
• cargo
• hidden records
• a suspicious foreman
• a locked office
• evidence someone recently moved contraband

Players can infiltrate it, burn it, investigate it legally, bribe someone, ignore it, or turn it into an ambush site.

The location remains usable.

Prepare Information in Multiple Places

A rigid plot often fails because one clue must be found in one location.

If players miss it, the campaign stalls.

Instead, prepare important information so it can emerge from several sources.

For example, the characters need to learn that a noble is secretly funding a cult.

They might discover that through:

• Financial records
• A servant
• A captured cultist
• A rival noble
• A shipment manifest
• A symbol found in the noble’s estate
• A priest who recognizes the connection

You do not need all seven to appear.

You need enough redundancy that one missed scene does not break the campaign.

The information matters.

The delivery method can remain flexible.

• See also How Do You Improvise as a DM?

Prepare Consequences, Not Correct Answers

When players make a major choice, you do not need to decide whether it is the “right” choice.

Ask what logically follows.

They reveal the conspiracy publicly.

What happens?

Perhaps:

• The population panics.
• The accused faction denies everything.
• Allies emerge.
• Enemies destroy evidence.
• Authorities demand proof.
• Someone tries to silence the characters.

They keep the conspiracy secret.

Different consequences follow.

Neither branch needs to be the one you expected.

A situation stays alive because choices alter it.

Prepare Obstacles, Not Required Solutions

You can know what makes something difficult without knowing how the players will overcome it.

For example:

Obstacle: The fortress gate is sealed.

Possible player solutions might include:

• Bribing a guard
• Climbing the wall
• Using magic
• Creating a distraction
• Finding a hidden entrance
• Waiting for the gate to open
• Impersonating officials
• Starting a riot
• Negotiating entry
• Breaking through

You do not need to prepare all of those.

Prepare the gate.

Prepare the guards.

Prepare the security.

Then adjudicate what the players attempt.

This is one of the main advantages of reusable GM tools: good building blocks can support many player solutions instead of prescribing one sequence. MageGate Games’ design library is built around that principle—modular encounters, traps, terrain, bosses, magic items, and other tools that can be adapted to different campaigns rather than requiring a fixed script.

• Explore MageGate Games’ 5e GM Resources

Prepare Escalation Instead of Scene Order

A scripted plot might say:

1. Tavern
2. Crime scene
3. Sewer
4. Cult hideout
5. Final battle

A situation can instead say:

If the players do not stop the cult:

1. The cult recruits additional members.
2. A witness disappears.
3. The cult moves its ritual site.
4. Officials become compromised.
5. The ritual begins.

Those events are not mandatory scenes.

They are changes to the situation.

The players may interrupt the sequence at any point.

They may even cause a completely different escalation.

That is easier to adapt because you are tracking what the opposition does, not forcing the players through your outline.

Use Fronts, Clocks, or Simple Progress Tracks

You do not need a complicated campaign-management system.

A simple progress track can help.

For example:

Cult Ritual Progress

1. Components gathered
2. Site prepared
3. Sacrifices acquired
4. Ritual begins
5. Entity summoned

Advance the track when:

• Time passes
• The cult succeeds
• Players ignore the threat
• Another faction helps the cult
• The characters create unintended opportunities

Reduce or alter it when players interfere.

The track represents pressure.

It does not dictate player actions.

Let Player Choices Create Future Prep

You do not need to prepare every possible branch in advance.

Let the session tell you what to prepare next.

At the end of a session, ask:

• What did the players change?
• Who gained or lost power?
• What problem did they create?
• What new goal did they announce?
• Which NPCs will react?
• What unresolved pressure remains?

Then prepare the next situation from those consequences.

This is much more efficient than preparing five branches “just in case.”

• See also How Much Worldbuilding Does a GM Need?

Reuse What the Players Ignore

Unused preparation is not necessarily wasted.

If the players never visit the ruined watchtower, you can:

• Use it later
• Move its useful elements elsewhere
• Turn it into another location
• Let another faction occupy it
• Repurpose its encounter
• Salvage individual NPCs, hazards, clues, or maps

The players do not know what was originally intended.

Do not become trapped by your own notes.

Preparation is a toolbox.

Know the Difference Between Direction and Predetermination

Campaigns still need direction.

“Situations instead of plots” does not mean:

Prepare nothing and hope something happens.

You can still establish:

• A central problem
• Important factions
• Stakes
• Threats
• Deadlines
• Likely consequences
• Strong hooks
• Important locations

The difference is that you do not decide in advance exactly how the characters will move through them.

Direction says:

This matters.

Predetermination says:

This must happen this way.

Keep the first.

Avoid depending on the second.

Example: The Missing Heir

The duke’s daughter disappears three days before a politically important marriage.

A plot-based version might assume:

1. The party investigates her room.
2. They find a letter.
3. The letter leads to a tavern.
4. A contact points them toward smugglers.
5. The smugglers reveal the cult.
6. The party raids the cult hideout.

That works only while players cooperate with the sequence.

Instead, prepare the situation.

The missing heir:

She left voluntarily after learning the marriage would strengthen a corrupt alliance.

The duke:

Wants her returned quietly before anyone learns she fled.

The fiancé’s family:

Believes she was kidnapped and wants immediate military action.

The cult:

Has offered the heir sanctuary because her disappearance destabilizes the government.

The city watch:

Has orders to suppress rumors.

The heir herself:

Does not want to return.

If nobody intervenes:

The fiancé’s family mobilizes troops, the duke blames political enemies, and the cult publicly reveals the heir’s accusations.

Now players can:

• Find the heir
• Side with her
• Return her
• Expose the duke
• Negotiate a compromise
• Blame the cult
• Protect the cult
• Prevent military escalation
• Leave the city entirely

You do not need to predict which choice they make.

You know what everyone involved wants.

That is enough to keep the campaign moving.

Use a Situation Prep Template

You can prepare most situations with eight questions.

For the situation:

1. What is happening?
2. Why is it happening?
3. Who wants what?
4. What pressures are increasing?
5. What important locations exist?
6. What information can the players discover?
7. What happens if nobody interferes?
8. Who reacts when the players change things?

Then ask one final question:

What am I assuming the players must do?

If the answer contains several required actions, loosen the preparation.

How MageGate Games Approaches Flexible GM Prep

Good preparation should make the GM more capable of responding to players.

It should not make the GM dependent on them following instructions.

Prepare:

• People
• Motives
• Places
• Pressures
• Resources
• Information
• Consequences

Then let player decisions determine the sequence.

MageGate’s broader design philosophy follows the same pattern: use reusable building blocks that increase meaningful choices while reducing wasted preparation.

Situation-Prep Checklist

Problem:

• Is something happening now?
• Does it matter if nobody intervenes?
• Are the stakes understandable?

People:

• Do important NPCs have goals?
• Are their interests different?
• Can they react logically to unexpected player actions?

Pressure:

• Does the situation change over time?
• Is there at least one reason not to wait forever?
• Can events escalate naturally?

Information:

• Can important facts be learned in more than one way?
• Will missing one clue stall the campaign?
• Can NPCs, locations, or consequences reveal information?

Agency:

• Are multiple approaches possible?
• Have you avoided requiring a specific solution?
• Can players meaningfully change the situation?

Prep efficiency:

• Are you preparing usable components rather than long scene sequences?
• Can unused material be recycled?
• Are you preparing only what is likely to matter soon?

If those pieces are present, you probably have enough.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is preparing situations the same as improvising everything?

No. Situational preparation can be highly structured. You prepare goals, locations, pressures, NPCs, consequences, and information. What remains flexible is the sequence created by player choices.

How much should I prepare before a session?

Prepare enough to understand the active situation and confidently run the most likely places, NPCs, and pressures the players may encounter. Avoid preparing several complete branches unless there is a strong reason to expect them.

What if the players ignore the main situation?

Let the situation continue without them. Show the consequences later. They may return to it, another group may address it, or the problem may grow. The world does not need to freeze because the characters went somewhere else.

Doesn't this make campaigns feel unfocused?

Not if the situation has clear stakes and strong hooks. Flexibility does not require vagueness. You can present an urgent, specific problem without deciding how the players must solve it.

Can I still plan major future events?

Yes. You can prepare likely events, deadlines, and consequences. Treat them as what will happen if current conditions remain unchanged, not as scenes that must occur regardless of player choices.

Prepare Problems Players Can Own

The GM does not need to write the players’ story in advance.

Prepare the world’s problems.

Prepare the people creating them.

Prepare what those people want.

Prepare the pressures that keep moving.

Prepare the consequences of inaction.

Then hand the situation to the players.

Their decisions create the sequence.

That gives you structure without requiring a script.

Build Campaigns From Reusable Pieces

MageGate Games builds its GM resources around reusable systems rather than rigid one-use content. Boss mechanics, traps, terrain, weather effects, magic items, encounter structures, and other tools can be mixed, adapted, and reused across campaigns instead of forcing the GM into a predetermined adventure path.

That same philosophy applies to preparation.

Build useful pieces.

Know how they relate.

Then let the table determine what happens next.

• Explore MageGate Games’ 5e GM Resources

More GM Advice from MageGate Games

Continue with:

• How Do You Make Combat More Interesting as a GM?
• How Do You Keep Players Engaged as a GM?
• How Much Worldbuilding Does a GM Need?
• What Do You Do When Players Derail the Campaign?

New DM Advice from MageGate Games

If you’re new to running games, these guides cover the core skills:

• First-Time DM Tips: What Actually Matters?
• How Much Should a Prep for Each Session?
• How Do You Improvise as a DM?
• How Do You Avoid Railroading as a DM?
• How Do You Run Your First Session as a DM?

Explore More Resources for Serious Game Masters

MageGate Games publishes practical 5e resources designed to help Game Masters create stronger encounters, memorable villains, distinctive magic items, dangerous environments, deeper fantasy religions, and more useful campaign material without unnecessary prep.

Explore MageGate Games' 5e GM Resources

Explore MageGate Games’ growing library of encounter design tools, boss lairs, monster customization systems, and Game Master resources built for serious 5e campaigns.

• Grab Free GM Resources from the MageGate Games Store