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I stink at winging it- HELP!
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<blockquote data-quote="Doug McCrae" data-source="post: 5213719" data-attributes="member: 21169"><p>1) Preparation is the key to improvisation.</p><p>2) Written material can be changed on the fly.</p><p>3) Take a 5 minute break when you need time to think.</p><p>4) The Monster Manual helps a lot.</p><p></p><p></p><p>1) Prepare whatever you find hard to create on the spot. For me that's names and adventure seeds/outlines. Armed with a few adventure seeds you can stop worrying about whether the current one goes kaput, because you have a backup.</p><p></p><p>2) Another technique is to change what you have written a bit so it 'rises' to meet the PCs no matter what they do. Say there is an important letter on the body of a master villain and the PCs don't search his body. But they do search the chest. So you move the letter to the chest. Players are none the wiser. No matter what road the PCs go down they meet the little old man who sends them on a quest. And so forth. Everything should still remain plausible ofc.</p><p></p><p>3) If it takes you time to figure out alternate NPC plans, like the PCs enter by the skylight when you were expecting the door or whatever, or you need to do some quick stats when the PCs attack an NPC you thought they would befriend, then just call a short break. Food break, smoke break, toilet break. It's fine, no one will mind.</p><p></p><p>4) It's easier to improvise in D&D cause there are so many damn monsters in the world. Opposition is so easy to come by. It's a heckuva a lot harder in a superhero game (my preferred genre), let me tell you. There just isn't that much in the world that can trouble the PCs. And what there is all has to be handcrafted.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Doug McCrae, post: 5213719, member: 21169"] 1) Preparation is the key to improvisation. 2) Written material can be changed on the fly. 3) Take a 5 minute break when you need time to think. 4) The Monster Manual helps a lot. 1) Prepare whatever you find hard to create on the spot. For me that's names and adventure seeds/outlines. Armed with a few adventure seeds you can stop worrying about whether the current one goes kaput, because you have a backup. 2) Another technique is to change what you have written a bit so it 'rises' to meet the PCs no matter what they do. Say there is an important letter on the body of a master villain and the PCs don't search his body. But they do search the chest. So you move the letter to the chest. Players are none the wiser. No matter what road the PCs go down they meet the little old man who sends them on a quest. And so forth. Everything should still remain plausible ofc. 3) If it takes you time to figure out alternate NPC plans, like the PCs enter by the skylight when you were expecting the door or whatever, or you need to do some quick stats when the PCs attack an NPC you thought they would befriend, then just call a short break. Food break, smoke break, toilet break. It's fine, no one will mind. 4) It's easier to improvise in D&D cause there are so many damn monsters in the world. Opposition is so easy to come by. It's a heckuva a lot harder in a superhero game (my preferred genre), let me tell you. There just isn't that much in the world that can trouble the PCs. And what there is all has to be handcrafted. [/QUOTE]
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