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The secrets of winging it
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<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 2903841" data-attributes="member: 63"><p>When I wing it, the main things I do are look at dice and decide whether they look like they should succeed or not. If a player sees a 17, he can accept that he's been hit. If I roll 10, though, I'll decide whether I want to hit (usually yes, since more damage makes the players more worried).</p><p></p><p>I don't cheat. In my head I have a clear sense of what every random character's stats are, just with a small range of possibility. And the PCs seldom let such foes live long enough for them to Heisenberg him into certainty.</p><p></p><p>My main tools for winging it don't apply to combat at all. My main issue is when players decide to do something I didn't prepare for (like flying to Greece to buy magic items in my modern game, instead of working on the real adventure). In such instances I say that I need to use the restroom, and I have about 5 minutes to work up a new plot. It helps immensely if I'm familiar with the location, or if I've read about some place similar so I can just transport ideas from one place to another.</p><p></p><p>When running fantasy games, I like to have a vivid knowledge of my whole world, so I can create things on the fly. It's fun, actually. Some of my best adventures have been the result of 'off the cuff' GMing.</p><p></p><p>Oh, but one thing I do keep in mind is that when I run things without planning, my villains seldom have good tactics, so to compensate I either give them more numbers or more raw power. Thus the PCs think they've triumphed with a great victory, when in truth it's more like the bad guys were just having an off day.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 2903841, member: 63"] When I wing it, the main things I do are look at dice and decide whether they look like they should succeed or not. If a player sees a 17, he can accept that he's been hit. If I roll 10, though, I'll decide whether I want to hit (usually yes, since more damage makes the players more worried). I don't cheat. In my head I have a clear sense of what every random character's stats are, just with a small range of possibility. And the PCs seldom let such foes live long enough for them to Heisenberg him into certainty. My main tools for winging it don't apply to combat at all. My main issue is when players decide to do something I didn't prepare for (like flying to Greece to buy magic items in my modern game, instead of working on the real adventure). In such instances I say that I need to use the restroom, and I have about 5 minutes to work up a new plot. It helps immensely if I'm familiar with the location, or if I've read about some place similar so I can just transport ideas from one place to another. When running fantasy games, I like to have a vivid knowledge of my whole world, so I can create things on the fly. It's fun, actually. Some of my best adventures have been the result of 'off the cuff' GMing. Oh, but one thing I do keep in mind is that when I run things without planning, my villains seldom have good tactics, so to compensate I either give them more numbers or more raw power. Thus the PCs think they've triumphed with a great victory, when in truth it's more like the bad guys were just having an off day. [/QUOTE]
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