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| #1iserithMar 20, 2015 14:40:27 | I came across a quick video (less than 10 minutes) that has some nice insights on improvising more in your games. Some good points on how you're already probably good at it (but don't know it) and how to reduce your prep to minutes instead of hours. Nothing too indepth (yet) and broad as to system, but it's a good starting point to make you think.
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| #2abs1nthMar 20, 2015 15:46:46 | I never write down descriptions at most a keyword. When I'm coming up with the location during prep, I imagine what it would look like and figure out what I might say and when it gets time I just try to remember that or maybe come up with something better. The other obvious improvisation is with characters, I don't write down what they say, at most I'll come up with a character concept or the basic thing he/she wants from the players or what the players might want from him/her. Other than that improvisation is pretty much my plan B, the thing I fall back on if things don't go as planned.
I had to chuckle when he said his prep is 5-10 minutes because it's easy to come up with something. It sure is but I'm not satisfied with something. I'm the guy that preps 3-4 hours if not more but there are a couple of reasons why: 1: I like doing it. 2: We don't get to play that often due to scheduling, so I have plenty of time to prep. 3: I'm running a sandbox, providing lot's of options takes time. 4: It pays off. A lot of the stuff I come up with are things you can't improv because they are too elaborate. Good ideas can come out of spontaneity but I tend to find that good ideas or better ideas take time. And to get enough ideas to create a dungeon where every room has something interesting takes me quite a lot of time and there's a lot of iteration involved and often my favorite ideas come weeks after my intial prep. |
| #3crimfan07Mar 20, 2015 16:56:02 | I use a lot of randomness as I'm improvising, something I picked up from a friend I played with regularly for many years. I'll just pick up a D10 or D20, think of a descriptive adjective or two and roll, the higher the more it applies. "The guard has D10 dark secret... 9... hmmm, what's up with him... ah, he's sold himself to the mind flayers!" This helps break things out of things I would think of totally left to my own devices and tends to keep things moving quickly. Cards like a tarot deck can be fun for this, too.
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| #4RhennyMar 20, 2015 17:07:45 | I listen very carefully to what the players say and throw out details that play off of what they imagine. I try to figure out ways to present the players with moments that evolve naturally from what they say or do.
Often, if a player decides to look closely at a fountain or a specific area on the wall, I'll just describe strange scratch marks or gems that glow when they are touched. Sometimes that even triggers an idea that creates a way to open a secret passage or set other actions in motion.
For NPCs and monsters I try to think beforehand about their motives (and generally why they are there) so that when a situation occurs, I can speak and act like the creature more easily. This takes only a few minutes to set up for an entire night's session, but it pays off tremendously. Also, for some reason, I do use different voices for my monsters and pcs and when I talk with a different voice it gives me enough distance so that I can create spontaneously. (It must be my inner actor/alter ego at work)
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| #5abs1nthMar 20, 2015 17:40:42 |
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| (Reply to #5)Rhenny |
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| (Reply to #4)crimfan07 |
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| #8OoftaMegMar 21, 2015 7:44:32 | I improvise the majority of my games. I know who my NPCs are, what monsters (or NPCs) the group is likely to encounter and some general idea of the enviornment.
I then jot down some notes on what motivations are (the NPCs/monsters often have conflicting motivations even within the same organization) and what appears to be happening and what's really going on.
Special monsters are also made up on the fly depending on the situation. For example one game investigating a mysterious fog-shrouded island started taking on an almost Cthulu-like vibe because of the reactions of my players so I created a monster they never truly saw, just giant tentacles that grabbed their poor NPC guide and pulled him off into the mist and then tried to do the same with them.
I combine that with a some charts
I rarely have more than a page of notes, which includes possible encounter builds which I may or may not use depending on which way the group goes. However, I frequently have several pages of notes including things like descriptions of the region I've jotted down or information on deities so that I can flip through pages "looking" for the information while I'm trying to figure out what the heck to do when the group goes off the rails.
As others have said, the important thing is to pay attention to the players and try to respond and build the adventure based on their reactions. Are they having fun with the RP/social encounters? Go with it, grab a couple of names from the list and throw in the random NPC traits. Are they getting bored with the RP/social encounters? Throw in a fight you weren't expecting.
I do have to jot down notes for myself soon after the game is done. Were the monsters getting waxed so I decided they chugged some kind of potion that made the stronger? Make a note. Did the PCs need rescue? Who was the mysterious benefactor and why didn't they stick around? |
| #9bawylieMar 21, 2015 9:09:56 | Quick prep & improv permit me to spend my time and effort of working on the parts of the game I enjoy most. So I can rely on improv to handle a small dungeon (Budget Dungeon!) and use my prep time to build some 3d terrain or write a set piece encounter.
I have no philosophical preference to crafted experiences over improvised ones. Both approaches compliment each other. Good improv saves time, goes to unexpected and colorful places. Crafted experiences are controlled and tailored to the story & player interests. |
| #10DaomSlayerMar 26, 2015 20:43:01 | Improvisation is really the most important ability for both players and DMs to have, next to imagination. Neither is quite sufficient on their own, but even playing modules, though requiring little prep, still benefits greatly from a more imaginative DM (and DM style). And tbh, the more imaginative the players, the less a strict or railroady adventure will be satisfying. I generally prefer a world to be populated with myth, excitement, and danger, and there are lots of ways to achieve that, most of which hearken back to imagination and improv ability. Both of which can be honed over many years experience, both as a player and a DM.
I've become more and more interested in DMing in the past year or so, due to my dissatisfaction with playing modules which seem to be the rage these days (people with busy schedules, what cha gonna do about it, eh). I was in a terrific campaign last year for the start of 5e that broke up due to two modern-style D&D players with lots of PC entitlement not grokking our old school DM's dynamic style that didn't think PC abilities should work no matter what. So they quit in a huff, and things fell apart. Thankfully it's easy to find replacement players, though not easy for DMs to get over hurt feelings. Or find time to prep. D&D is great when you have that time, and make a custom campaign setting or world that you can fill over the years. I generally loathe FR because of its kitchen sink genericness, for a long term game, but for hack n slash type pickup games it's ideal. Regardless, improv is where it's at.
Some of the best adventures I've come up with walking home from work, right before the guys show up. And they loved it. Some of the biggest disappointments where when I spent a long time prepping stuff that I ended up losing focus. Or trying to make battles too big and was too tired to handle all the variables mentally after an exhausting day at the office and a few glasses of wine.
One thing that D&D's great for though, it making new friends. I've made some really solid ones by exposing them to 5e, or even just playing with new people at the office in a pick up game. Really fun times. I love 5e, it really lets you focus on the adventure instead of the nuts and bolts and tedium of 3e or the actual in-game drudgery of hour-long monotonous and repetitive combats from 4e. There's only so many times I can stomach using Combo A to open up a fight with. Incredibly boring after a year or so. It always feels the exact same. I never feel that way in 5e. It feels organic and dynamic, free of most instances of awkward rules (though not entirely), that get in the way of the story.
Simple, elegant rules are what allows improv to thrive. It's what makes players want to scout a bit more, get the lay of the land, find out how many orcs there are before they jump in. And the DM can do the same, add sudden or even random variables without turning every little situation into a set-piece that otherwise Team PC will just nova into oblivion using encounter powers. 1 hour short rests really put a lot of kybosh on that type of lame gameplay patterns. I'm so happy that 5e is here now. Improv matters now. Avoiding battle is just as important an ability to recognize, as your combat stats now. Yay for that. It feels like your character inhabits a real space, one where decisions have consequences. Well, except for fighters who can wash away their lost HP after every fight or two at low levels, as if nothing happened. Did we fight a group of ten orcs a couple hours ago that knocked me unconscious, and left me for dead, bleeding on the ground? I didn't notice, I'm as fresh as a morning ray of sunshine now. Let's fight again! Yayyyyyy.
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| #11DarkSphinxMar 26, 2015 23:20:48 | I usually concentrate on one or two threads of action which an NPC or major adversary have on their minds, but let the pacing and direction be completely controlled by the PCs and their proclivities. I tend to have very detailed "lairs" because I really enjoy interactions with the environment. One particular session (in AD&D) comes to mind where, at the end of the previous session, one of the PCs was abducted, so I mapped out to the smallest detail, that PC's progression through the environment and into a hidden fortress and deep into its dungeon to a holding cell, not knowing when or even if the rest of the group would rescue him on the way or he would attempt to escape on his own. So, as an example of what the dude in the video said NOT to do in his intro, this was the main thread around which the adventure for that session was wound, and it ended up (not surprisingly) with eventually all of the group deep inside this fortress (having come up with a clever way to "sneak" inside the gates). This also allowed a convenient way to introduce a couple of new PCs to the game who were also incarcerated there (who would have thunk?). The next session was an epic attempt to bust out, and I'd say there was quite a bit of improvisation on both sides of the DM's screen for that one!
Concerning his first point: Yes, I agree that as long as you (the DM) know the minds of your antagonists and extras (a.k.a., motivations!), you can improv with impunity. And the DM's NPCs? One of my worst experiences playing in a very long campaign was having to deal with all-powerful, in-your-face NPC's that just WOULD NOT DIE!!! (or stay dead!) and get out of the forking way!
Concerning his second point: Hmmm, actually I really enjoy what might be considered the inverse of what he suggests -- I like to imagine the PC's point of view and describe scenarios specifically based on what their character would notice based on class, race, background, etc. This is especially fun to do with different characters observing the same scenario. So, though I go for "Yes, and...," and would readily pick up on an idea that a player might come up with on the spur of the moment and roll with it, I'm not ready to give it over entirely to the player (to narrate what happens beyond their own character).
I guess my two things along these lines to always remember while DMing would be: #1 Make the NPCs and antagonists REAL! (with hopes and dreams and flaws of their own) #2 Always look at consequences of the PCs' actions, so that they really can change the world! (whether it's the fruits of conquest or learning from their mistakes)
-DS
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