"Do you want to play tonight?" the ten-year old boy asked as he plopped a pile of books, papers, and dice on the table.

"Well that depends on whether or not you have the entire adventure written. Do you?" His older brothers looked down upon him, eager to see if the boy was going to tell the truth.

"I have most of it done." The boy smiled, his face turning a light shade of red. "I thought I could wing the rest."

Needless to say, they didn't game that night, nor any night that the boy responded with that particular answer. At that time the trio resorted to prefab modules, which gave the young Referee a complete adventure to use with a minimum of creative effort. Back then, such adventures were perfect. But over time the prefabs lost their appeal; the scenarios lacked at least the tinge of realism and were stocked with enough magic and treasure to make a Dragon choke.

Eventually the young boy turned into a young adult and was capable of laying ideas to paper (sometimes), creating scenarios for his brothers that would satisfy their adventure-fixes, and which also included story lines, subplots, and more realistic appeal.

Yes, I must confess, that boy was me. I must almost confess that my earlier campaigns were not very well crafted. They lacked the continuity, flavor, and creativity that a good adventure or campaign needs to captivate the Players. After all, that is the aim of the Referee; to create something that people will enjoy playing. To do this requires a lot of time, dedication, and work. I have made it my aim to create mini-adventurers and resources to help Referees, since I understand the workload that is required to run a good game, but these scenarios alone will not solve everything. The Referee must still spend time reading, altering, and preparing the adventure to suit the needs of his or her campaign and create interesting ties to the Players' characters. The later creates a genuine interest on the Players' parts and keeps them interested in game play.

Looking back I realize that the gaming night usually suffered when I was not adequately prepared. That was partly due to my immaturity as a Referee, but I find that it remains the case even after eighteen years of experience. That is why to this day I make sure I have the entire adventure laid out beforehand and work diligently to create solid quests. Nothing spoils a gaming night more than a Referee who starts making things up as he or she goes along, piecing the adventure together as the Players overcome obstacles. Although it may work for the short term, it is bound to end in failure. Believe me, I have lived it.

Written by Mark Kibbe of Basement Games, Co-Creator of the Forge: Out of Chaos RPG and World of Juravia, http://www.basementgames.com