Winging It!!!!

[Some guy from Ohio]

Now days, I prepare way too much ahead of time. I’ll usually have maps, counters, pictures of all the monsters, ect. I have also gotten into the habit of scanning any purchased adventures (that’s all I run anymore) and converting it into word, making any changes I like. I had been told I was a good DM and I guess this spurred into being way more prepared than completely necessary. Of course I would only use 50% of the material prepared and feel like I was wasting my time playing in the first place.
In the old days (the 80s-mid 90s), I would just run with an outline of that session and all the books at hand. After reading some of the post here, it may be time to try that again. I hope I still have some imagination left.

 

[Fenes]

I take pains building a world with as many NPCs as possible, and (try to at least) track their interactions with the PCs.
When we game, I usually prepare an adventure plot - who wants what using what kind of ressources, how do the PCs enter in it, where does it take place, and a few possible course of actions for the PCs, should they run out of ideas, to cut the "in-game-planning stage" shorter.
I wing it from there, letting the PCs run free, with just the (hopefully) right small nudge to make them participate in the adventure - spinning that off the PCs' long- or short-term goals, background or history.
I like to roll a single 1d6 a lot, or let the Players roll one. 1 means something bad, unlucky or unconvenient happens, a 6 means something good, lucky or convenient happens. As an example, when a PC wants to chat up a random guard and I roll a 1, that guard may be racist vs demihumans, or too crooked or honest to let useful info slip. Or when the PCs, fleeing, duck into a random storehouse a 6 means an deserted place with lots of hiding places, a 1 means they crash a thieving guild dealing with a pirate crew.

 

[UD]

You can download the Everchanging Book of Names (EBON) at

http://ebon.uni.cc/
/B]

Cheers!