Ad Libing Material [Archive] - Wizards Community

Ad Libing Material [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
DM_Jericho
09-06-06, 10:39 PM I write my campaigns session to session, I feel it allows greater feeling of freedom for the players. I start with a broad plan, and fill it in later. Unfortunately, this usually leads to situations where I just make stuff up.

Ex:

The Party,the cliche Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, and Rogue, all level 3, were heading to the a nearby city to confront the City Councellor, who is part of the primary antagonistic cult.

They had escaped another city that was attacked by goblinoids, managing to avoid nearly EVERY combat. So the session was running very combat low... so I through a combat at them completely ad hoc. They were sleeping, and were ambushed by monks, the main fighting force of said cult. Since both the Fighter AND cleric were unarmoured, it turned into one of the most challenging, and fun, combats of the game.

Anyone else ad hoc major plot points, combats, etc in their games?
Tichrimo
09-06-06, 10:51 PM Back-story: party was asked by the High Priest of their LG church to retrieve a holy relic (a book) from a grave at an abandoned shrine. They do so, and the High Priest starts using said relic to mass suggest his followers fill the church's coffers.

Suspecting the book is actually evil and corrupting the high priest, they go back to the grave, and use speak with dead on the remains of the guy in the grave. They have the proof they need that the book is evil, but can't go to their own church anymore.

Do they go the the other, albeit rival, good church in town? No, they decide the best bet is to bring the remains to tell the leader of the local evil cult.

Bwuuuuh?

Yeah, it was an ad hoc extravaganza from that decision onwards...
stargate525
09-06-06, 10:51 PM I write my campaigns session to session, I feel it allows greater feeling of freedom for the players. I start with a broad plan, and fill it in later. Unfortunately, this usually leads to situations where I just make stuff up.

Ex:

The Party,the cliche Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, and Rogue, all level 3, were heading to the a nearby city to confront the City Councellor, who is part of the primary antagonistic cult.

They had escaped another city that was attacked by goblinoids, managing to avoid nearly EVERY combat. So the session was running very combat low... so I through a combat at them completely ad hoc. They were sleeping, and were ambushed by monks, the main fighting force of said cult. Since both the Fighter AND cleric were unarmoured, it turned into one of the most challenging, and fun, combats of the game.

Anyone else ad hoc major plot points, combats, etc in their games?
I'm currently running a game where I promised my players I would write NOTHING more than one session in advance. Pain in the butt that is, but so far they've decided to make an ordinary fork and a peice of kobold skin (don't ask) major plot points. How I'll pull that off is beyond me.
Tichrimo
09-06-06, 10:53 PM I'm currently running a game where I promised my players I would write NOTHING more than one session in advance. Pain in the butt that is, but so far they've decided to make an ordinary fork and a peice of kobold skin (don't ask) major plot points. How I'll pull that off is beyond me.

Wow -- shades of Whose Line is it Anyway improv comedy... :)
Piggyfreak6
09-06-06, 10:53 PM All the time. If I feel that they aren't being challanged enough, I'll bring in more monsters and just play it off like I had it planned. Like, in the next one, I know that if they arn't challanged enough before the final boss, I can always add in more Large Monsterous Spiders, and they'll be fine.
Toloran
09-06-06, 11:02 PM 90% of what I do is ad libbed. I generally make vary nice overall stories and such, but my players often go "ooh! shiny!" and dash off in a direction I neither planned for or even considered (Which wouldn't be too bad except I generally allow my players to go anywhere as long as it makes sense and they have the means to get there).

Occasionally I think they aren't being challenged enough or are being too laid back and start rolling dice randomly (not for anything particular).

Me: *rolls some dice* Hey, Whats your spot modifier again?
Player: ?? Um... +10
Me: Oh yeah, thats right. *rolls a die* Oh ok. Continue on then.
Player: ....

Every once in a while that isn't a bluff and something really does come out randomly :) Although generally when that happens, the dice rolling is just for show and it was going to attack them anyway.

But, as always you can add a monster or three if your players are playing TOO well and need more of a challenge. :D
Tichrimo
09-06-06, 11:07 PM ...my players often go "ooh! shiny!" and dash off in a direction I neither planned for or even considered...

LOL! (I read that one out loud to the missus, and she asked if that was something I wrote or was reading...)

I had my entire 2e campaign side-tracked for months because the party decided to pursue a personal vendetta rather than follow the path I laid before them. (Granted, their revenge plot was masterful -- involving crack troupes of mimes seeding dissent, and a wonderful combination of inverted ethics and thought broadcast...)
SnowSage
09-06-06, 11:21 PM Nothing I do is not ad libed. I simply make a backstory and a general hook and possably a BBEG, plus the main allied NPCs, and then I just improvise every session. I do exactly enough work between sessions to crack open a book once {tough stuff... can't do it more than once, maybe twice a week without spraining something.} and go "OH! fun monster to kill party with next week... plus I dream up traps whenever I doze off in school... but besides that it's 100% ad libed.
speeblefreak
09-06-06, 11:26 PM Not only is the majority of our (I'm a co-DM) campaign ad-libbed, but the DM and I don't always share notes, so often one of us will provide some information the other never saw coming. It gets interesting sometimes, particularly when we are both speaking for the same NPC.
Amon_WinterfallIV
09-07-06, 04:10 AM There is no world so well designed that the PCs cannot leave it, do something not planned for it, or make a new path in it.

I go for the Morrowind approach; Adventurers CHOOSE to adventure, they aren't forced to. Once the make enemies powerful enough to harass them and go after them, THEN they are forced into action. Otherwise, there is no reason they can not go beneath the radar.

The Specifics are ALWAYS ad-libbed; but the enemy strategy is generally prudent and the world keeps on churning along without the PCs, if they are not around. Some things, such as a BBEG with a vendetta, can be relied upon. Others just emerge by chance--make it challenging to adapt.

I build my world long in advance; but the specifics will always be ad libbed--the PCs can not be railroaded into doing something.
Mitchell
09-07-06, 04:17 AM My regular DM and I are polar opposites in this way.
I ad lib everything. I expect that my players (which are my party mates when the regular DM is present) will do any number of things except what I would want them to, so I don't even bother. I can hit them right between the eyes with a cluestick and it won't even phase them.
The regular DM wants everything planned. I have been working with him so as to prevent the dreaded railroading thing. We have reached a workable solution where he will offer us a few hooks, then we will pursue one of those hooks exclusively. It allows him time to prepare what he needs, and it puts him in his comfort zone.
Seriously, sometimes it's damned if you do, damned if you don't. Everyone wants some giant, sweeping story to take them from level 1 to whatever, but no one wants to focus on a single giant, sweeping story. They want to kill some orcs, then they decide that they don't want to kill more orcs (which eventually leads to the revelation of the orc/giant alliance forming to crush a few choice kingdoms), so they go out and look for some evil cult, but rather than follow the clues they got there (leading to the cults master plan of summoning a demon/devil/evil god to take over the world), they decide to go check out the haunted ruins, etc.
I think it is a fair compromise, and if your players suffer from ADDnD, it can help keep them on track. :cool:

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DM_Jericho 09-06-06, 10:39 PM	I write my campaigns session to session, I feel it allows greater feeling of freedom for the players. I start with a broad plan, and fill it in later. Unfortunately, this usually leads to situations where I just make stuff up. Ex: The Party,the cliche Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, and Rogue, all level 3, were heading to the a nearby city to confront the City Councellor, who is part of the primary antagonistic cult. They had escaped another city that was attacked by goblinoids, managing to avoid nearly EVERY combat. So the session was running very combat low... so I through a combat at them completely ad hoc. They were sleeping, and were ambushed by monks, the main fighting force of said cult. Since both the Fighter AND cleric were unarmoured, it turned into one of the most challenging, and fun, combats of the game. Anyone else ad hoc major plot points, combats, etc in their games?
Tichrimo 09-06-06, 10:51 PM	Back-story: party was asked by the High Priest of their LG church to retrieve a holy relic (a book) from a grave at an abandoned shrine. They do so, and the High Priest starts using said relic to mass suggest his followers fill the church's coffers. Suspecting the book is actually evil and corrupting the high priest, they go back to the grave, and use speak with dead on the remains of the guy in the grave. They have the proof they need that the book is evil, but can't go to their own church anymore. Do they go the the other, albeit rival, good church in town? No, they decide the best bet is to bring the remains to tell the leader of the local evil cult. Bwuuuuh? Yeah, it was an ad hoc extravaganza from that decision onwards...
stargate525 09-06-06, 10:51 PM	I write my campaigns session to session, I feel it allows greater feeling of freedom for the players. I start with a broad plan, and fill it in later. Unfortunately, this usually leads to situations where I just make stuff up. Ex: The Party,the cliche Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, and Rogue, all level 3, were heading to the a nearby city to confront the City Councellor, who is part of the primary antagonistic cult. They had escaped another city that was attacked by goblinoids, managing to avoid nearly EVERY combat. So the session was running very combat low... so I through a combat at them completely ad hoc. They were sleeping, and were ambushed by monks, the main fighting force of said cult. Since both the Fighter AND cleric were unarmoured, it turned into one of the most challenging, and fun, combats of the game. Anyone else ad hoc major plot points, combats, etc in their games? I'm currently running a game where I promised my players I would write NOTHING more than one session in advance. Pain in the butt that is, but so far they've decided to make an ordinary fork and a peice of kobold skin (don't ask) major plot points. How I'll pull that off is beyond me.
Tichrimo 09-06-06, 10:53 PM	I'm currently running a game where I promised my players I would write NOTHING more than one session in advance. Pain in the butt that is, but so far they've decided to make an ordinary fork and a peice of kobold skin (don't ask) major plot points. How I'll pull that off is beyond me. Wow -- shades of Whose Line is it Anyway improv comedy... :)
Piggyfreak6 09-06-06, 10:53 PM	All the time. If I feel that they aren't being challanged enough, I'll bring in more monsters and just play it off like I had it planned. Like, in the next one, I know that if they arn't challanged enough before the final boss, I can always add in more Large Monsterous Spiders, and they'll be fine.
Toloran 09-06-06, 11:02 PM	90% of what I do is ad libbed. I generally make vary nice overall stories and such, but my players often go "ooh! shiny!" and dash off in a direction I neither planned for or even considered (Which wouldn't be too bad except I generally allow my players to go anywhere as long as it makes sense and they have the means to get there). Occasionally I think they aren't being challenged enough or are being too laid back and start rolling dice randomly (not for anything particular). Me: rolls some dice Hey, Whats your spot modifier again? Player: ?? Um... +10 Me: Oh yeah, thats right. rolls a die Oh ok. Continue on then. Player: .... Every once in a while that isn't a bluff and something really does come out randomly :) Although generally when that happens, the dice rolling is just for show and it was going to attack them anyway. But, as always you can add a monster or three if your players are playing TOO well and need more of a challenge. :D
Tichrimo 09-06-06, 11:07 PM	...my players often go "ooh! shiny!" and dash off in a direction I neither planned for or even considered... LOL! (I read that one out loud to the missus, and she asked if that was something I wrote or was reading...) I had my entire 2e campaign side-tracked for months because the party decided to pursue a personal vendetta rather than follow the path I laid before them. (Granted, their revenge plot was masterful -- involving crack troupes of mimes seeding dissent, and a wonderful combination of inverted ethics and thought broadcast...)
SnowSage 09-06-06, 11:21 PM	Nothing I do is not ad libed. I simply make a backstory and a general hook and possably a BBEG, plus the main allied NPCs, and then I just improvise every session. I do exactly enough work between sessions to crack open a book once {tough stuff... can't do it more than once, maybe twice a week without spraining something.} and go "OH! fun monster to kill party with next week... plus I dream up traps whenever I doze off in school... but besides that it's 100% ad libed.
speeblefreak 09-06-06, 11:26 PM	Not only is the majority of our (I'm a co-DM) campaign ad-libbed, but the DM and I don't always share notes, so often one of us will provide some information the other never saw coming. It gets interesting sometimes, particularly when we are both speaking for the same NPC.
Amon_WinterfallIV 09-07-06, 04:10 AM	There is no world so well designed that the PCs cannot leave it, do something not planned for it, or make a new path in it. I go for the Morrowind approach; Adventurers CHOOSE to adventure, they aren't forced to. Once the make enemies powerful enough to harass them and go after them, THEN they are forced into action. Otherwise, there is no reason they can not go beneath the radar. The Specifics are ALWAYS ad-libbed; but the enemy strategy is generally prudent and the world keeps on churning along without the PCs, if they are not around. Some things, such as a BBEG with a vendetta, can be relied upon. Others just emerge by chance--make it challenging to adapt. I build my world long in advance; but the specifics will always be ad libbed--the PCs can not be railroaded into doing something.
Mitchell 09-07-06, 04:17 AM	My regular DM and I are polar opposites in this way. I ad lib everything. I expect that my players (which are my party mates when the regular DM is present) will do any number of things except what I would want them to, so I don't even bother. I can hit them right between the eyes with a cluestick and it won't even phase them. The regular DM wants everything planned. I have been working with him so as to prevent the dreaded railroading thing. We have reached a workable solution where he will offer us a few hooks, then we will pursue one of those hooks exclusively. It allows him time to prepare what he needs, and it puts him in his comfort zone. Seriously, sometimes it's damned if you do, damned if you don't. Everyone wants some giant, sweeping story to take them from level 1 to whatever, but no one wants to focus on a single giant, sweeping story. They want to kill some orcs, then they decide that they don't want to kill more orcs (which eventually leads to the revelation of the orc/giant alliance forming to crush a few choice kingdoms), so they go out and look for some evil cult, but rather than follow the clues they got there (leading to the cults master plan of summoning a demon/devil/evil god to take over the world), they decide to go check out the haunted ruins, etc. I think it is a fair compromise, and if your players suffer from ADDnD, it can help keep them on track. :cool: