As it is Free RPG Day, there were a lot of people at my FLGS. Ironically, I wasn't there for Free RPG Day, I had other business and was just stopping in to say 'hi.' I had forgotten it was free RPG day.
As it was, there were a number of people talking about various games they were running and prepping. One of the regulars knew I'd been running games for a long time and asked me about my prep procedure.
I laughed. My prep is usually those few minutes before I fall asleep during the week, and the time between when I get up on Sunday and the game starts. If I know I'm going to need to make PGCs I'll dedicate some time to do that, but usually, it's minimal prep--maximum improv. And it works well for me. I've been GMing for over 30 years and have read so many RPGs that it's redonkulous. But, I had the epiphany while talking to them that if I didn't clarify my status, other people might be inclined to try to improv a session or campaign.
First off, unless you have decades of experience don't do this.
If you want to practice Improving games, your first step is to put down your D&D books and pick up every other RPG you can lay your hands on and read them cover to cover. Good, bad, mediocre, it doesn't matter. With one exception (which shall not be mentioned), all games, even the worst games, have some good ideas. You will learn more about D&D by reading how other games did things differently than you would believe. Other games will teach you things about D&D that you didn't know you didn't know. I learned more about GURPS after playing in Gummiβear's Hero games than I had in years of just reading the books. Playing Mutants and Masterminds taught me things about the ebb and flow of combat that GURPS never teaches.
After you've read a bunch of games, go back and read your D&D books again. This time, look for things you missed before--you'll find them. Look for rules you think are broken and play with them. Make a character that uses them and play some sessions with those rules. See how they actually play out. You'll probably see they're not as broken as you thought. Or maybe other rules are broken in a different way. You won't know without trying.
After reading as many games as you can, let your players know you want to try to improv a session. Give them this warning up front. It's the only way to be fair. Then, get an idea. Just a starting place. It needs to be a bit more than "You all meet at a tavern." One of my best improved games stared with "You're all at a McDoogals, it's during the lunch rush. Looking outside, you see a triceratops running down the street. What do you do? Go!"
That game lasted twelve sessions going in all sorts of directions I wouldn't have guessed. I didn't do any prep. Just dug into my repertoire of adventures I'd read, media I'd seen, games I'd played, and just did things as the players reacted. Every critical failure resulted in someone falling, face-first into dino poop (in addition to any other results).
Don't be surprised if your first attempt flops. It happens. Just learn from the flop and move on. Don't get discouraged. Learn from everything. Anything and everything you see is fodder for improv.
While you're running the game, take copious notes of everything. Have random name generators up to give NPCs names. WRITE THEM DOWN. Give them a sentence or two to remind you of who they are. Gnagagnodart, the insane gnomish jeweler just appeared in my mind when I saw the name. He was a crazy old gnome with saucer-sized eyes, two pair of goggles, a dwarf-enviable beard, mustache (and nose hairs) that were meticulously braided, and tied to all of his jewelers tools, so he was never without them.
GM: “On the one face of the hammer, bejeweled into it, is Gnagagnodart’s face. On the other, and this requires a sanity check, you’re pretty sure, is Gnagagnodart’s butt.” Ghesh: “Don’t look too close at the handle.”
Ink (to Jaoel): “You didn’t warn me about the gnome! You should warn people about him before you send them there!”
The players both feared and enjoyed every interaction with the eccentric gnome. So much so that he'll be making appearances in other games, even ones where he's inappropriate. Because funny.
But, enough from my twisted mind. How do you incorporate improv? What have you done to get better at it? Do you try to avoid it as best you can, or use it as a trusted friend?
It seems to me every DM is improving every session. Nobody has every dialogue written down ahead of time. So the real question is to what extent do you improv?
I have noted that in contemporary practice, players appear to run the show and the DM is expected to provide content they will enjoy. It has always been a practice that the DM wants to provide content the players will enjoy, but they expected the players to want to find out how the story goes. In my younger days I tried to provide an adventure, and at the end of the adventure the players would likely 'level up.' The players would become wealthier and more knowledgeable of the world I created. The players capabilities were expanded and often they obtained a magical item that fit with their class and how they play.
These days it seems the DM is expected to steer the adventure in a direction the players want to go. If the DM has prepared for the group to rid the frontier of Orcs and become heros of the town forever, but the players don't want to fight orcs or become heros for the sake of these townsfolk, then the DM is expected to develop a story arc (on the fly) that does allow the players to face the enemy of choice. If the players wish to fight drow or githyanki and the players see a mountain range not so terribly far away, it seems he is expected to create a dungeon beginning over there and then roleplay a quick jaunt over there and let the party loose at the mouth of a cave with some glyphs of something suggesting "The enemy you want to fight is down here."
In these cases, DMs will need to be ready to improv often and to show some real skill at it.
Either way, DMs are always improving. The DMs that appear better at it have either been DMing for a long time or they are still very prepared. The ones that have been gaming a long time are likely recycling bits they used or played before. There is no substitute for experience. Other DMs, accomplished at improv, have probably prepared several alternative ideas and they just grab one from their best memory and feed it to the players. When the players show they are becoming invested in that idea, he completes the session and write plenty of notes on what happened. Then in the intervening time before the next session he develops a story fleshing out the details of what was established in the earlier session.
Every DM is improving, the only question is to what extent. New DMs need a lot of story ideas, random names, shops, wilderness encounters and nuggets like that ready in their notes if they want to be prepared to bend their story in a new direction on the fly without appearing overwhelmed.
Good luck.
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As it is Free RPG Day, there were a lot of people at my FLGS. Ironically, I wasn't there for Free RPG Day, I had other business and was just stopping in to say 'hi.' I had forgotten it was free RPG day.
As it was, there were a number of people talking about various games they were running and prepping. One of the regulars knew I'd been running games for a long time and asked me about my prep procedure.
I laughed. My prep is usually those few minutes before I fall asleep during the week, and the time between when I get up on Sunday and the game starts. If I know I'm going to need to make PGCs I'll dedicate some time to do that, but usually, it's minimal prep--maximum improv. And it works well for me. I've been GMing for over 30 years and have read so many RPGs that it's redonkulous. But, I had the epiphany while talking to them that if I didn't clarify my status, other people might be inclined to try to improv a session or campaign.
First off, unless you have decades of experience don't do this.
If you want to practice Improving games, your first step is to put down your D&D books and pick up every other RPG you can lay your hands on and read them cover to cover. Good, bad, mediocre, it doesn't matter. With one exception (which shall not be mentioned), all games, even the worst games, have some good ideas. You will learn more about D&D by reading how other games did things differently than you would believe. Other games will teach you things about D&D that you didn't know you didn't know. I learned more about GURPS after playing in Gummiβear's Hero games than I had in years of just reading the books. Playing Mutants and Masterminds taught me things about the ebb and flow of combat that GURPS never teaches.
After you've read a bunch of games, go back and read your D&D books again. This time, look for things you missed before--you'll find them. Look for rules you think are broken and play with them. Make a character that uses them and play some sessions with those rules. See how they actually play out. You'll probably see they're not as broken as you thought. Or maybe other rules are broken in a different way. You won't know without trying.
After reading as many games as you can, let your players know you want to try to improv a session. Give them this warning up front. It's the only way to be fair. Then, get an idea. Just a starting place. It needs to be a bit more than "You all meet at a tavern." One of my best improved games stared with "You're all at a McDoogals, it's during the lunch rush. Looking outside, you see a triceratops running down the street. What do you do? Go!"
That game lasted twelve sessions going in all sorts of directions I wouldn't have guessed. I didn't do any prep. Just dug into my repertoire of adventures I'd read, media I'd seen, games I'd played, and just did things as the players reacted. Every critical failure resulted in someone falling, face-first into dino poop (in addition to any other results).
Don't be surprised if your first attempt flops. It happens. Just learn from the flop and move on. Don't get discouraged. Learn from everything. Anything and everything you see is fodder for improv.
While you're running the game, take copious notes of everything. Have random name generators up to give NPCs names. WRITE THEM DOWN. Give them a sentence or two to remind you of who they are. Gnagagnodart, the insane gnomish jeweler just appeared in my mind when I saw the name. He was a crazy old gnome with saucer-sized eyes, two pair of goggles, a dwarf-enviable beard, mustache (and nose hairs) that were meticulously braided, and tied to all of his jewelers tools, so he was never without them.
GM: “On the one face of the hammer, bejeweled into it, is Gnagagnodart’s face. On the other, and this requires a sanity check, you’re pretty sure, is Gnagagnodart’s butt.”
Ghesh: “Don’t look too close at the handle.”
Ink (to Jaoel): “You didn’t warn me about the gnome! You should warn people about him before you send them there!”
The players both feared and enjoyed every interaction with the eccentric gnome. So much so that he'll be making appearances in other games, even ones where he's inappropriate. Because funny.
But, enough from my twisted mind. How do you incorporate improv? What have you done to get better at it? Do you try to avoid it as best you can, or use it as a trusted friend?
It seems to me every DM is improving every session. Nobody has every dialogue written down ahead of time. So the real question is to what extent do you improv?
I have noted that in contemporary practice, players appear to run the show and the DM is expected to provide content they will enjoy. It has always been a practice that the DM wants to provide content the players will enjoy, but they expected the players to want to find out how the story goes. In my younger days I tried to provide an adventure, and at the end of the adventure the players would likely 'level up.' The players would become wealthier and more knowledgeable of the world I created. The players capabilities were expanded and often they obtained a magical item that fit with their class and how they play.
These days it seems the DM is expected to steer the adventure in a direction the players want to go. If the DM has prepared for the group to rid the frontier of Orcs and become heros of the town forever, but the players don't want to fight orcs or become heros for the sake of these townsfolk, then the DM is expected to develop a story arc (on the fly) that does allow the players to face the enemy of choice. If the players wish to fight drow or githyanki and the players see a mountain range not so terribly far away, it seems he is expected to create a dungeon beginning over there and then roleplay a quick jaunt over there and let the party loose at the mouth of a cave with some glyphs of something suggesting "The enemy you want to fight is down here."
In these cases, DMs will need to be ready to improv often and to show some real skill at it.
Either way, DMs are always improving. The DMs that appear better at it have either been DMing for a long time or they are still very prepared. The ones that have been gaming a long time are likely recycling bits they used or played before. There is no substitute for experience. Other DMs, accomplished at improv, have probably prepared several alternative ideas and they just grab one from their best memory and feed it to the players. When the players show they are becoming invested in that idea, he completes the session and write plenty of notes on what happened. Then in the intervening time before the next session he develops a story fleshing out the details of what was established in the earlier session.
Every DM is improving, the only question is to what extent. New DMs need a lot of story ideas, random names, shops, wilderness encounters and nuggets like that ready in their notes if they want to be prepared to bend their story in a new direction on the fly without appearing overwhelmed.
Good luck.