Five Minute Prep to kill Session Anxiety

We all know the feeling. Today is game day, and we get a wash of emotions. Excitement, anticipation, and also a little anxiety. TTRPGs are big, they have a lot of rules, and sometimes facing that down alongside seeing your friends for the first time in a week can be a little bit too much. When life outside of the game is too stressful, this gets even worse. Anxiety can take over, and there’s just no way you can handle session this week.

This is Session Anxiety. It can take even the most experienced player, and put them on edge. That’s why I made the 5 minute session prep sheet. Whenever I am feeling stressed about my upcoming session, I spend 5 minutes, answer these questions, and then I feel well prepared for the upcoming game. Grab the download here, or just answer the following on a sheet of scrap paper:

Did anyone need anything from me?

Sometimes, anxiety is our mind reminding us that we were supposed to do something. The two most common items I put here are: “DM needs a bit of information about my backstory” and “I need to level up.” Even though you may not be able to level up in the 5 minutes you take to fill out these questions, now you know what is up. Whenever I realize I haven’t leveled up, this can be my reminder to level up during the 15 minutes where the table is chit-chatting before we start playing, or my reminder to shoot out a text that says “Hey, just realized i didnt level. gonna do that first thing tonight.”

What is our group’s current goal or quest?

Just one or two sentences here can help to bring the whole world of TTRPGs back down to a manageable level. “We are traveling to stop the evil cult by the coast.” When you bring attention in like this, the rules in the far corners of the game fade away. All you need to focus on is the quest.

What did we do last session?

Two to three sentences are best here. Try to remember a couple of details. “We traveled through the swamp and killed some hags. Then we camped out on a cliffside.” This helps anchor you in the session that is about to start. I find that when I feel nervous about session, it is often because I can’t remember where we are and where we are going. Once I jog my memory, I am more comfortable with what will be coming up this session.

What did my character think about that?

One or two sentences here. “I was raised in a city, and hate sleeping on the ground.” Listing this out preps you for any RP interactions that the DM might ask you to do early in the session. In this case, my character would be in a grumpy mood, because they had to camp on a cliffside.

Is there anything I would like to remember for this session?

Sometimes, my anxiety stems from not knowing what I am going to do this session. Answering this question can give me a direction for where I want to go when I play. This bullet can be either a goal or a reminder for myself. Three such examples would be “Remember to apply the bard’s bonus when I roll attacks.” or “Remember to flank when moving in combat so that I get sneak attack.” or “Remember to talk to the blacksmith to repair my shield when we get back to town.” One is simply a reminder for hard to remember rules, and the others may be a mini-quest that I give myself. Make sure to note when you want to remember these items. They could be in combat, diplomatic situations, or in dungeon exploration.

What item or ability do I have, but have never used?

This last question is something I do as an excuse to review my character sheet, and figure out what “surprises” I could pull on enemies. This is often a piece of loot I wrote down a month ago, and should keep in mind. “I have a potion of water breathing, and that might be useful as we explore the sunken cottage of the largest hag in the swamp.” Make sure to note down a time when the item might be useful. This item wont always get used, but writing down that you have it again helps keep it top of mind. You might find that once you begin doing this regularly, you’re the one who always seems to have a solution for the party when they get stuck.

Don’t spend too much time on it.

All you need to do is fill out the questions in about 5 minutes. Don’t write yourself a whole essay, because you never know if your plans will all pan out. Just a few bullet points helps you stay grounded in where you are, where you’re going, and gives you something to keep an eye out for.

If you’d like a pdf of the questions to fill out, you can get it here.

Good luck out there, and remember - we’re all friends around the table.