Session Prep Evolution

An analysis of how DM session preparation has evolved across 45+ sessions of the Tempus campaign, from November 2022 to January 2026.

Three Phases of Evolution

Phase 1: Experimental (Sessions 00-05, Nov 2022 - Apr 2023)

The campaign began with Session 00 as a pitch document establishing core philosophy:

• Theater of the Mind combat emphasized over grid-based tactical play
• Collaborative world-building with player input
• “Player driven” and “Weird” as campaign priorities

Early session notes followed a simple structure with sections for Characters, Locations, NPCs, Monsters, Treasure, and an unstructured “Scratchpad.” Format was still experimental with inconsistent checkbox usage and incomplete sections. Prep was light—scene lists often had placeholder language like “They find the church casting light…” without full details.

What began as a simple rescue became a fight for reality itself.

When four unlikely heroes met in a quiet village tavern, they could not have known that answering a blacksmith’s desperate plea would set them on a path to save the world. Tracking kidnappers into an ancient tomb, they stumbled upon something far more sinister—a dark ritual conducted by the Cult of the Eclipse, servants of a mysterious Lady promising that “darkness will descend once again.”

Phase 1: The Rescue

• Day 1: Meet at Raven’s Perch, track kidnappers
• Day 2: Rescue Winry from the tomb
• Day 3: Return to Tannis, get gear from Sig, rest at windmill

Phase 2: Darkness Falls

• Day 4: Darkness hits Tannis, escape through church, meet Arbiter
• Day 5: Travel to Vidrir’s grove
• Day 6: Meet Vidrir, learn about Summer’s Edge, rest

Phase 3: Tracking the Cult

• Day 7: Travel toward silver maple, encounter pixies
• Day 8: Rescue pixies from darklings, find Serenity’s cabin
• Day 9: Battle flameskull, encounter charmed Serenity, flee with orb
• Day 10: Return to Vidrir, get Order medallion, meet Francis

Phase 4: Winter Court

• Day 11: Travel to Winter Court, meet rangers
• Day 12: Arrive at embassy, meet Alora, heal Olivia
• Day 13: Hunt and kill Bandersnatch, get magic items
• Day 14: Investigate Winter leyline temple (with Trius)
• Day 15: Final battle with Serenity, burn cabin
• Day 16: Debrief with Alora, receive teleportation ring

Phase 5: Autumn Court

• Day 17: Travel to Autumn Court (fey thieves ambush)
• Day 18: Festival, battle Xolthos, meet Ali/Arden
• Day 19: Meet Lord Farkris, investigate Autumn temple
• Day 20: Rest at treant’s grove

Phase 6: Summer Court

• Day 21: Travel to Summer border, fight cultists at battlefield
• Day 22: Arrive Summer Court, meet Lady Sylvia, attune ring
• Day 23: Investigate breached Summer temple, encounter Manus
• Day 24: Meet Elara, plan Feywild expedition

Phase 7: Feywild Adventure

• Day 25: Shop, Blackbird contract night 1, travel to Starfall Crater
• Day 26: Fight celestial guardians, get ore, contract night 2
• Day 27: Travel to Shimmering Glade, contract night 3, enter Feywild
• Day 28: Join a feast at the Satyr camp
• Day 29: Capture the first kiss of the midday sun and Manus encounter
• Day 30: Weaver’s ancestral home

Phase 8: Summer’s Edge and the Spring Court

• Day 31: Return to the summer court, reforge summer’s edge (feywild timeskip)
• Day 32: Journey to Spring Court, close Hollow Threshold (Beastland theme), meet Vael
• Day 33: Arrive at Spring Court, meet Faela Mossheart, rest at the Moonlit Hearth tavern
• Day 34: Travel to the Spring Leyline Temple, investigate corruption, fight Bodak and other undead, find note from Manus detailing the Cult’s endgame
• Day 35: Journey to the Chained Library, learn critical information about repairing the barrier and discover Vidrir’s true identity as the Knight of Ravens and leader of the Order of Seasons.
• Day 36: Visit Vidrir to debrief about Summer’s Edge, learn Vidrir is Odin and maintaining Nidhogg’s seal, visit Tannis
• Day 37: Close Hollow Threshold with ties to the elemental Plane of Air that Vael discovered in the Winter Court’s territory; recover the royal artifact Skreek was dispatched to find.
• Day 38-43: ???
• Day 44: Attempt to stop the Weaver’s ritual to release Nidhogg

✅ COMPLETED QUESTS

🛡️ Rescue the Blacksmith’s Daughter

Location: Tannis → Elven Forest → Ancient Tomb
Quest Giver: Sig Rockwell (desperate blacksmith father)

• Track kidnappers north into the enchanted Elven forest
• Investigate the obsidian standing stone and receive vision of landmarks
• Explore the ancient tomb of the Order of Seasons
• Rescue Winry from the Cult of the Eclipse’s dark ritual
• Defeat goblins and bugbear cultists
• Recover Cult medallion marked “Darkness will descend once again”
• Discover hidden chamber of five knights
• Retrieve broken pieces of Summer’s Edge (legendary longsword)

Rewards: Custom magical gear from Sig, future favor owed
Key NPCs: Sig Rockwell (grateful father), Winry (traumatized daughter)

Meeting in Tannis

The Raven’s Perch Tavern smelled like pinewood polish, stale ale, and secrets no one wanted to say out loud. The hearth crackled with half-burned oak logs, sending shadows flickering across a clientele that looked like they’d all seen better days – or at least better choices.

Shadicar lounged near the bar, silver-stringed lute in hand, half-elf ears peeking through a tousle of hair that probably took him an hour to make look artfully unkempt. His nimble fingers danced across the strings as he plucked out a slow, haunting tune that snared the room’s attention one cautious note at a time. He smiled faintly to himself, tasting the silence that followed each note like a sommelier tasting a fine wine.