How do YOU wing it?

[Patman21967]

Boy do I miss them

Yep. It really can be that easy.

Either that, or you just tell the guy to burn a Hero Point...

Hahaha...I used to love Hero Points...WFRP was such a cool game, except that you career'd out too fast...

I usually tailor things so the PC can do it, but the cooler it is, the better.

 

[Crothian]

Winging it in general can be hard. Most people say that the more you do it, the better you get and they are right. But there are other things that will make you better. Knowing the rules I think is very important. Not just so you don't have to look them up but they also give you a good idea to at least get it close when you have to create
DCs out of thin air. Also, once you feel like you really know the rules well, you will feel more confidant when winging it, and that will help a lot. Another thing is player trust. If tyhe players trust that the rules and DCs you come up with is right, it really helps the session flow and again builds confidence.

 

[Campbell]

To be honest, I've always been a bit of a cheater when it comes to skill DCs. I try to find a relevent skill and then use the chart in M&M, which just defines rather general categories.

Very Easy: 0
Easy: 5
Average:10
Tough: 15
Challenging: 20
Formidable: 25
Heroic:30
Super-Heroic:35
Nearly Impossible: 40

If there is one thing I'd changed about 3.x it is the highly specialized rules for skill use.

 

[shilsen]

Yep. It really can be that easy.

Either that, or you just tell the guy to burn a Hero Point...

That's another reason I'm glad I'm running an Eberron game now. Action points may stuff like this so much easier to adjudicate.

Winging it in general can be hard. Most people say that the more you do it, the better you get and they are right. But there are other things that will make you better. Knowing the rules I think is very important. Not just so you don't have to look them up but they also give you a good idea to at least get it close when you have to create DCs out of thin air. Also, once you feel like you really know the rules well, you will feel more confidant when winging it, and that will help a lot. Another thing is player trust. If tyhe players trust that the rules and DCs you come up with is right, it really helps the session flow and again builds confidence.

This is a great point. I am pretty good at flying by the seat of my pants as a DM when needed, and one of the primary reasons is that I know the rules very well. If I make up something rules-wise off the top of my head and then refer back to the rules later, I'm usually very close to what I would have got if I'd spent time double-checking. And that definitely gives me more confidence to wing things and my players to accept it.

 

[ironmani]

Usally if my players in my modern game want to try something dramatic and cool, I do a sliding scale DC. To use the above example, if they make the DC, they land on the dragons back, if they miss it by, say 5 or less, the make the landing, but need to make a reflex save to hold on. If they miss it completely ("I rolled a one") well thems the breaks. Of course the dragon may decide to toss them back up into the air to have some "fun"
It also depends on my mood and how the players are acting, if I am in a bad mood and my player(s) are being asses, then the DCs go up.
"I want to shoot that guy"
"He's no threat. He's knocked out, bound, and exausted all his spells!"
"I dont care I want to put a bullet thru his head!"
GGGgggrrrrrrr........
The above actually happened two weeks ago.

 

[wedgeski]

There's winging it (making up a couple of save DC's or deciding which skill check would be appropriate) and winging it (generating whole swathes of an adventure off the top of your head because the PC's turned right when the module assumed they'd turn left). The first extreme is relatively easy for anyone who generally knows the rules, but the second is something that only relatively good and/or experienced DM's tend to be able to do well. And I'm not talking about making up a quick dungeon here - I'm talking about creating a chapter of your campaign that is as exciting as, and fits seamlessly into, the rest of your game.

I've done it semi-successfully a couple of times in a previous DL War of the Lance campaign, but they tended to be interludes which I threw together while trying to steer the PC's back toward the denouement of the module, rather than integral bits of the story. Plus, the only evidence I had that it 'worked' was that my players didn't tell me afterwards that it was obvious I had no idea what I was doing.

One day I'd love to throw together an A4 page of crib notes and run an entire campaign off the top of my head, almost entirely driven by the actions of the PC's but with a story arc that seems foreshadowed from day 1. That's DM Nirvana AFAIC.

 

[Desdichado]

Hahaha...I used to love Hero Points...WFRP was such a cool game, except that you career'd out too fast...

Those are fate points, and IIRC, the only purpose they serve is to keep you from dying at the last minute. Hero Points are from Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed and are a bit like Action Points on steroids; except of course, that PCs don't get nearly as many of them.

 

[KB9JMQ]

I think I can wing it pretty good when needed.
In your dragon example I would just have the person roll and see if he has a natural high number 18+ and would go with that.
I would hate to come up with a number that they couldnt get even if they maxed out their roll and appropriate skill for their level.
Does it skew the game too much ? I don't think so.
If it adds fun and flair then I have done my job.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I don't bother to tell the player a DC. I simply say: "Make a Jump check."

If he rolls high, he succeeds. If rolls not quite as high, he succeeds, but with some amusing side effects. If he rolls low, he fails with amusing side effects.

And just what amusing side effects am I talking about? Simple - just think of the most coolest thing that could happen in any given moment.

Let's get back to the dragon example. If he rolls high, he will land on the dragon's back (and I'll ignore AoOs and grapple check for the first round, because it's a cool visual). If he rolls not quite as high, he will manage to grab the dragon's tail - who will now be quite pissed off. If he rolls low, he will crash into some furniture or in a group of generic henchmen - he might knock one or two down with this, but they will have him surrounded and attack him after they have recovered from their surprise...

Frankly, I think telling the players the DCs is a bad DMing habit that needs to stop. Even if you do know the specific DC for any given situation, don't tell them the exact odds - just things like "should be easy", "looks dangerous", or "are you nuts"?

 

[Rel]

There's winging it (making up a couple of save DC's or deciding which skill check would be appropriate) and winging it (generating whole swathes of an adventure off the top of your head because the PC's turned right when the module assumed they'd turn left).

I think this is an important distinction. I don't generally even refer to the first instance as "winging it". To me, coming up with ways of handling things not specified in the rules is the definition of what a DM, GM or Referee is.

But when the PC's take a completely unexpected turn in the plotline, that's when you have to "wing it". And for that there is just one simple rule to follow:

"What is the single most exciting, cool thing that could possibly happen RIGHT NOW."

Learned that one from Piratecat.

But here's another hint: Go to the bathroom.

When the PC's take that hard turn and leave behind what you've prepared, excuse yourself from the table and go to the bathroom or the kitchen or someplace where they aren't on the pretext of doing something else. Think hard for about a minute. Identify what the "exciting, cool thing" is. Figure out what resources you have to pull it off with. Then walk back into the room and gather those things together and do it.

One other final hint: I write up index cards for all my bad guys to use in the popular "index card initiative system". I NEVER throw these cards away so I have a stack of cards with stats for bad guys sitting nearby when we play. It is easy for me to thumb through these and quickly whip out a few enemies for that unexpected plot twist. Then just add some touch of detail to bring the encounter to life. Like maybe a note:

Things are proceeding well on my end and we've gather almost all the components. But I need you to deal with those meddling adventurers before they find out too much.

Get it done!

-Q

Voila! New plot thread in one minute in the bathroom.