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Don't do too much, or you will waste time and efforts
(ttrpg.network)
You can of course plan the big lines of the campaign, but the more precise you get and far ahead of the present, the more you will either lose or railroad to not lose. Both suck
People complain about the mercer effect but I think his take on this is the best approach
Not all the balls to the walls set producing and stuff, but how he keeps important encounters ready in his back pocket should things turn back in that direction
There have been two encounters now where Matt said if the players had gone about them differently, they would have become next campaign antagonists.
I do not think it's really possible to consider the preps of Critical Roll to any normal table. Because it's their job. They can spend time again and again and redoe and recycle and lose work and barely feel it.
We normal DMs do it in our spare time. Not only are we not paid for it one way or another like Matt (which benefits greatly now of his preps per CR's moneymaking) but our free time is limited as it is. That's why you shouldn't over prepare. To not lose whatever preps you managed to squeeze out of your scheduling,
But even keeping encounters just in case is a 5 out of 10 idea. In the sense that where players are, what level they are, what equipment they got, the terrain, type of enemies, etc. is still improvisable in the same quality as adapting a cookie-cutter encounter to where they are would be. At least for me. Recycling and improvising sometimes takes just as long.
I will be saying that if I would be making money out of my preps, I would prep a lot more. And depending on how much money, if it can be enough to live on, I could prep for hours and hours everyday to have every situation covered and not feel it as much when things go in a way where 3 hours of my time go in a puff of smoke.