Full disclosure. I have never been a lazy DM and I frown at the term, though as I have gotten older I've spent a lot less time creating D&D content that I did when I was younger.

So I went into this book with a "bad attitude", but it really seems like it would be extremely helpful for newer DM's and the tone is very open to different styles. I don't subscribe to the cornerstone of this book "The less you prepare the better your game will be". Creating countries around the one the characters are in with just a sentence or two for each country can't make your game worse, it can either make it better because you can reference those lands and make your world seem more real, or it can keep your game the same if you never happen to reference them.

My FAVORITE part of D&D is making up worlds, pantheons, magic items, spells, new races, new classes, adventures etc... . So I'm not looking to make up less stuff. So I'm not worried about "over preparing" because I already had fun creating it so it doesn't matter if it gets used or not.

There's definitely a bunch of stuff here I would never use (like having the players make up aspects of the world as we're playing), but I did end up with a list of things I either want to get better at doing or start doing that I didn't do before. So definitely worth the read. ( )

I had never thought that I overprepare for running RPG sessions until I started GMing for kids. Their creativity, rapid tonal changes, and unexpected switches between hyperfocus and total distraction proved me wrong :) This book provides a great framework for "just enough" prep as well as tips on improvisation and simplification of the game mechanics.

[book:Sly Flourish's Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master|58726082] promises ~30 mins of minimum viable prep before the game and quite a lot of improvisation during the session. The proposed framework is mostly common sense and things GMs pick up with practice. They are laid out in a neat way with handy summaries and checklists. Having a consistent example throughout the book helps to bring them all together and shows how to use it in practice. Even experienced GMs might benefit from having a Lazy DM mindset, I certainly do - Lazy DM checklists give me confidence that I do not miss anything crucial and don't waste time on something superfluous.

There are also multiple tips on improvisation and some suggestions on how to run different kinds of games. They are fine, nothing groundbreaking but certainly worth knowing. I think that the whole book works the best for GMs who have some experience but not enough to feel confident and relaxed during the sessions. Also, some reading, watching, and playing are required to have a wide selection of references, archetypes, and themes to leverage easily to support improv skills. But this is true for both Lazy and Not-lazy DMs ;)

There is one assumption that is not clearly stated in the book - this whole thing works well when you want to optimize for fun. If you have a head full of fantasy references and decent improv skills, you can use this minimal approach to deliver entertaining RPG sessions for your players. However, if you want to go for depth, strong emotions, compelling character arcs, and have meaningful set-ups/payoffs throughout the campaign - this might not be the best approach.

I wish there were more tips on how to leverage D&D 5e story hooks that are embedded into the system like the character's background, traits, and weaknesses to create memorable moments - e.g. difficult choices or challenging situations that define or profoundly change players' characters. This might be too system-specific but I think with a small twist it could be adapted to any game. Also, more guidelines on how to read or watch fantasy pieces to creatively use their themes, tropes, or elements - how to deconstruct them, what requires special attention, and how to add your own twist to make them original. This would be definitely helpful for GMs at all levels.

Overall, I find this book very practical and useful. All the material summarized in a few pages is very handy and easy to go through when preparing for the next game. The author provides also a lot of examples of preparations on his YT channel, so it's easy to understand and practice the Lazy DM way. ( )