Prepping?

Running B/X. I spend a few minutes reading through the module the day before.

For homebrew stuff I can spend hours making maps and tables and documents, but I never actually use any of it.

Im playing GURPS, in the process of preparing a sci-fi game for its first sesh. I usually start large with my prep as i work down to the players but i decieded im wasting time like that and outta just get whats important ready rn. Ive usually spend about anywhere from 12-20 hours prepping a game for a new setting and its first sesh but between sesh is like 2-4 hours of preparation

I have a bunch of notes that I'm slowly rewriting so that the campaign can be read as if it were a module like Curse of Strahd or Tomb of Annihilation. I'll let you know how much time this takes when I'm done, assuming I haven't given up or tried to an hero myself over how stupid the ideas in my campaign are.
Why?
I'm a fucking brainlet and I'll probably forget most of the ideas I have written down. If I structure it like this I can reproduce the ideas I had a few months ago without feeling too attached, since that person might as well be a completely different person.

5e starter set. Five of six players and myself are new to rpgs

Spent about eight hours prepping for session one reading rules, modules, printing cheat sheets and maps and stat blocks, and having the experienced player briefly go over combat with me so I could gauge my understanding of the ins-and-outs. Session two prep took less than half the time. That was grossly inflated by making pic related so things wouldn't be slowed down by needing to draw everything out as we go. Now I'm spending about two hours of prep for a three-to-four hour session. More if I'm drawing out more tiles or something.

good luck, user-san
you can do it

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Honestly, I have over time read hundreds of encounters and now just throw parts of them together at random until it works. I roll always behind a screen because I never actually look at the dice anyways, it's all for effect. Works extremely well.

Throw together some enemy lists based off what my players did last week, pull the rest out of my ass as needed. D&D 5e

I homebrew every single thing I do to a greater or lesser extent, so I don't really have to do any story-prep.

>D&D 4e, 5e
About an hour on the maps if they haven't already been made. Thirty minutes per major NPC. An hour at most for props. Twenty four two hour sessions usually require about thirty five hours of prep.

>M&M
About the same amount of time for maps and props, but I spend an autistic amount of time building even minor NPCs. Last campaign I spent maybe ninety hours or more on.

>Savage Worlds
Don't bother with NPCs, I have a binder of empty templates I can use on the fly. An hour per session max.

>Burning Wheel Family
Zero.

>WoD
Old or New I spend an autistic time on characters, but once I have a supporting cast built I'm done. Maps aren't needed. Maybe an hour per prop tops.

>Homebrew
This is where my autism really takes a hold. Thirty to forty hours a week, easy.

I DM 5e. My golden ratio is 1.5hrs of prep:1 hour of game time. I can wring 1:2 out if the players feel like having a lot of personal interactions during a particular session. Most of my prep focuses on having NPCs wrote out, traits, names, relations to one another, etc. I also have to change monster stat blocks at least a little because my group are a bunch of autistic veterans that have every mechanic and monster memorized, so I add in new abilities here and there, replace a few things, and generally fuck with them by having the numbers be slightly more or less than they remember. I'm shit at making maps though, so that tends to eat a lot of my time. I also write out elaborate descriptions of important rooms or characters for MUH IMMERSION.

Otherwise, I spend a few months or so working on a world with villages, governments, and factions leading up to the actual campaign, along with working on a rough idea of the length and scope of the campaign, dividing my work into different "Acts" that consist of a mostly self contained story arc, though I try to at least vaguely connect them. I'm not a huge believer in the "Sandbox" style of RPGs, so I try to create the illusion of freedom whilst railroading like a motherfucker, though I offer different options to complete the tasks given to the party.

Overall, while I'm not 100% sure putting all the work in makes for a better campaign, it definitely feels better than completely winging it and makes me feel more confident in my ability to DM. Plus its easier to recite an in-depth description for a room if its pre-written rather than coming up with it on the fly. Same goes for if I want the BBEG to gloat or monologue. It's easier for me to write that shit in advance rather than improv it.2
Verification

I usually don't play combat-heavy systems, so I my prep-time is not that long.
When I prepare for a session, I just think of the environment and driving forces that are able to influence it. I think of their goals, motivations, methods, strengths and weaknesses, and then think of kinds of obstacles that this force could cause. I used to take notes on this, but the further I GMed the less notes I took until I didn't use them at all. All I need now is a list of names and random details for NPCs like appearances and mannerisms.
Most of my prep nowadays is preparing physical props like documents, letters, maybe some non-combat maps or newspapers.

As for campaigns, it's pretty much the same environment and forces with key NPCs, but in larger scale. I also spend some time to pick music and create soundscapes for each campaign. If I have to do worldbuilding, I don't go into much detail and often try to flesh out things as I need it.
That's about it.

Currently I've started working on pre-written CoC campaigns.

I start by reading the whole book, then I work out app the possible ideas my players may or may not come up with.
I work around and pre-input things to help guide them towards the right direction while not having "to much railroading".

Once I'm comfortable with the "add-ons" and have a comfortable understanding of the plot, secrets, ect. I work out the PCs, ask them if they want pre-made PCs or if they want custom NPCs, then I work wtib them to flush out the ideas.

Next I adjust the setting as needed to work with the PCs.

Finally I work to flesh out the NPCs by giving then characteristics and traits, how they will react and interact in a way that's interesting and helpful.

I also print out the handouts and run through how combat encounters will go, making sure to keep it "fair" while still keeping the theme, feel, and integrity of the setting honest. (Meaning most things will rape their mind as it one shots them).

Playing urban shadows right now. All the prep needed is sorting out and cleaning my notes of the last session. Maybe write a threat or two if there is enough material.

Generally speaking, I prepare enough to be able to improvise easily in a variety of scenarios.

I don't prepare a "story" or "script", instead I focus on broader circumstances but model out stuff rather detailed in a top-down way.

Example:
I want to create a city in the game world.
I start by thinking about general info, like what faction does this city belong to, what geography surrounds it, is it a rich trading hub, is it a fortified military base, etc. etc.
After I got the rough outline, I usually start sketching the layout of the city.
Here is the blacksmiths house, right across the market place, over here we have some rich folks homes on a hill overlooking the city. The mayors mansion is also here.
However, it's not all fine and dandy in this city, there is a big collection of shacks and huts where the poor folk are shitting in the streets and living in general misery. Luckily, these slums are tucked away behind the hill, so the rich people don't have to see it all the time.
After I am satisfied with the layout I start thinking about the inhabitants of the city, such as subfactions, persons of interest etc.
For the sake of this example, let's define two factions, the rich folk and the slum dwellers.
I like to give each of the factions a representative and add other noteworthy NPCs.
When thinking up NPCs, I rarely write down specific dialogue, instead I only give them sets of opinions and values, that make it easy to improvise their reactions to whatever the players say.

The Blacksmith doesn't really care for the slum dwellers struggle. He's not exactly wealthy, but he works his ass off every day to make an honest living and while he doesn't exactly appreciate the elite living in luxury, he is satisfied with his lot in live and would rather stay out of conflict.
For each NPC define where they live, what they do all day and all that. Sketch up room layouts and such as needed.
When you got all that (and during thinking it up), put some thought into what would happen in this city if THE PLAYERS NEVER INTERFERED.
That might sound strange, but it gives you a baseline that the players can influence to their liking. If they don't want to get involved, that's fine, you know what will happen. When the players return in a later session the city might have turned into a full on bandit fortress, run by the former poor folk and the friendly blacksmiths head ended up on a spike on the city wall. Too bad.
If they do get involved, they have pretty much free reign to influence the conflict to their liking and best of their ability.
Now, if you design an entire world like this you can pretty much let your players roam and make their own adventures

3.5
I usually write down every attack and ac + special qualieties and abilities if nessecary for npcs that gonna be in combat and all enemies that pcs might face.
I use random generatos for shops and prices, but loot is written what where lies in dungeon, or if not then again random.
Writing down long monologs is must for me but not for talking with bartenders or guards.
Map for dungeon, village/city/country major points of intrest and important npc.
My players said they like quest logs and flavor texts for it so i'm doing those too but only for main plot if there is any.
>actually i do it all in all systems i play

Jesus fucking Christ dude

Man those maps are gorgeous, good luck in your sessions

too much time for some players who wouldn't care if I just threw a bunch of skeletons at them :(

I daydream up my settings, then wing it. 25 years of experience. I need no notes and bullshit.