How do *you* prepare to Loremaster?

[shipwreck]

does this mean you have the rules memorized (or the basics at least) or that you're content to look up things in the moment?

If you can improvise something, don't look the rules up during the game, as it completely removes all the momentum you built. Decide something, look it up afterwards, and then if you were wrong, use the correct rule for the next session.

This! As LM you should be the most knowledgeable on the rules but if you communicate well, and agree that you're all learning the game together, it gives you a lot of wiggle room with your crew. For instance I made a big error in the rules our first game, treating every Eye as an automatic failure. Reviewing the rules again, I found my mistake (Eye = 0) and was expecting the Wrath of my players. Luckily they're reasonable, and not power gamers, and we'd said all along that we were learning together (I also messed up the Travel rules so I think they're used to my bumbling) and they were fine with it. Just pick it up and do better next session.

[Majestic]

I try to do a refresher of some of the basic rules if it's been awhile since my last session. I also use cheat sheets for various things. So one double-sided sheet (that I keep in a plastic protector, to make it easier to find when suddenly there's papers everywhere) with the basics of the rules (see the TOR Resources thread). Another sheet for my Adversaries (which speeds up play immensely; no more thumbing through books during a fight).

I put on the soundtracks for either Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit. My own preference is to just put in three discs and have it set to random. It's remarkable how often thrilling music will play that will completely match the scene!

I also print out a sheet that has all of my PCs Traits listed out. This is something I've just done recently (haven't used it in play yet), and I'm hopeful it will bring to mind the appropriate methods for letting each PC shine.

[Heilemann]

I know you asked about around-a-table preparation, and we play over Roll20, nevertheless:

I do 90% of my prep-work up front, before the campaign even gets off the ground. I ingest anything and everything I can about the given game, in this case The One Ring, slavishly reading through every single book out for the system, engaging with the community on things I don't understand etc. For TOR I also had to create a character sheet for The One Ring, as well as a number of scripts and a custom style for Roll20 to help bring my players onboard. This was the vast majority of prep-work, and it took 3-4 months. I'm currently prepping Beyond the Mountains of Madness for Trail of Cthulhu, and it's looking to be an even longer prep. But once it's done, I'm set, and I don't have to worry week-to-week.

After that I cruise most of the time. We're running through Tales From Wilderland, and I've read through the next few adventures several times. I try to always be a few sessions ahead of where the game is currently, so I know what's coming and I can steer their expectations towards or away from something, as well as catch anything that might be useful later, or which is running in the wrong direction.

In the week leading up to a session (we play every two-three weeks, generally speaking, four-hour sessions), I make sure I have the NPCs set up in Roll20, that I'm familiar with their M.O. and if they might engage the company in combat, I make sure that I've prepped the macros etc., to make the game flow. I've tripped on this a couple of times, and I kick myself over it.

I also find and prep any sound effects I want to use during the session, and I generally let the NPCs and situations that're coming up rattle around in my head a bit, usually something comes out of it, and if not... well, then I know it'll be a weak point. Enough weak points clustered together and I start to consider whether I need to prep something else entirely.

Again, going back to the initial prep period, I already have soundtrack playlists queued up and ready for just about any given situation, but in case I need another, I create that.

The night before a game (we play in the morning, my time, since some of the players are in Europe), I make sure Roll20 is ready to go; that the players can't see anything they're not supposed to, and that anything from the previous session is logged on the map if needed etc.

In the morning I fire up Roll20, Skype for video, iTunes and NiceCast for streaming, sharing the IP for the players and put on some music as we get into the spirit of things. Then I quickly summarize the last session or two, set the scene and off we go.

[Rieno]

I'm reading the old book "Through Dungeons Deep" by Robert Plamondon on GMing. There's a couple chapters online, good stuff: http://through-dungeons-deep.com/