##1. Read ahead. All of it.## You don't need to remember all the details, just the overarching themes, major characters and plot points.

bits of lore or things that the PC's might ask that I do not know.

Players will always ask questions that you haven't prepared an answer to. When they do, you make something up. By reading ahead, you aren't trying to build an encyclopedic knowledge of everything. It's impossible; even the adventure writers failed to predict all of your players' questions. You're trying to internalize the story-critical information, so that you can make stuff up without setting yourself up for a big contradiction later.

Reading ahead also let's you add in your own foreshadowing of later story developments, or to recognize the foreshadowing that's already written into the adventure so that you can emphasize it properly.

2. Prep one play session.

Prepare in depth for only one play session at a time. This allows you to incorporate events of the previous session or emphasize longer-term consequences of player decisions. This is how you make a campaign feel organic, while still sticking closely to the script of the pre-written adventure. This also allows you to focus your creative energy on one session at a time to make it as great as it can be.

Often you will find that your group will take two or even three sessions to complete your "one session" of prep. That's fine, just refresh yourself on the material before each subsequent session, and make modifications as necessary to adapt to the events of the previous sessions.

Much more rarely, the group might blow through your prepared materials, completing it all with time to spare. In this case, you can either improvise, or end the session early and find some other way to enjoy the rest of the time with your group.

1. Read ahead. All of it.

You don't need to remember all the details, just the overarching themes, major characters and plot points.

bits of lore or things that the PC's might ask that I do not know.

Players will always ask questions that you haven't prepared an answer to. When they do, you make something up. By reading ahead, you aren't trying to build an encyclopedic knowledge of everything. It's impossible; even the adventure writers failed to predict all of your players' questions. You're trying to internalize the story-critical information, so that you can make stuff up without setting yourself up for a big contradiction later.

Reading ahead also let's you add in your own foreshadowing of later story developments, or to recognize the foreshadowing that's already written into the adventure so that you can emphasize it properly.

2. Prep one play session.

Prepare in depth for only one play session at a time. This allows you to incorporate events of the previous session or emphasize longer-term consequences of player decisions. This is how you make a campaign feel organic, while still sticking closely to the script of the pre-written adventure. This also allows you to focus your creative energy on one session at a time to make it as great as it can be.

Often you will find that your group will take two or even three sessions to complete your "one session" of prep. That's fine, just refresh yourself on the material before each subsequent session, and make modifications as necessary to adapt to the events of the previous sessions.

Much more rarely, the group might blow through your prepared materials, completing it all with time to spare. In this case, you can either improvise, or end the session early and find some other way to enjoy the rest of the time with your group.