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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Worlds of Design: The Improv Imbalance
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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 9303238" data-attributes="member: 467"><p>They may reduce the "planning" part of prep, but they don't necessarily reduce the amount of work necessary. Or, at least, modern adventures do not. Back when an adventure was a 16 page pamphlet composed primarily of a keyed map or two, that may have been true, but the thick books full of walls of prose don't make the GM's life much easier. In addition, since modern D&D has more player options, both between and within individual characters, it is harder and harder to write an adventure that works as written for any given group. Therefore, the GM still has a bunch of work to do prior to play.</p><p></p><p>Improv alleviates most of these problems, but you are right to say that improv is easier for more experienced GMs. What less experienced GMs need is improv tools that are built into the system. That includes lots of easy to digest and immediately use situations, scenarios, set pieces and NPCs. An "adventure" that is a town, a local wilderness, and a bunch of potential side quests, all presented in small digestible bits on cards or similarly discrete bits, will go a lot longer teaching new GMs how to run games on the fly than any number of modules written in the modern style.</p><p></p><p>There are ways to write and (visual) design modules to make them much easier to run for new and experienced GMs alike. Unfortunately, only indie designers and publishers seem interested in exploring that space while WotC, Paizo, Kobold and every other "traditional" publisher continues to obfuscate the fun with dubious prose.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 9303238, member: 467"] They may reduce the "planning" part of prep, but they don't necessarily reduce the amount of work necessary. Or, at least, modern adventures do not. Back when an adventure was a 16 page pamphlet composed primarily of a keyed map or two, that may have been true, but the thick books full of walls of prose don't make the GM's life much easier. In addition, since modern D&D has more player options, both between and within individual characters, it is harder and harder to write an adventure that works as written for any given group. Therefore, the GM still has a bunch of work to do prior to play. Improv alleviates most of these problems, but you are right to say that improv is easier for more experienced GMs. What less experienced GMs need is improv tools that are built into the system. That includes lots of easy to digest and immediately use situations, scenarios, set pieces and NPCs. An "adventure" that is a town, a local wilderness, and a bunch of potential side quests, all presented in small digestible bits on cards or similarly discrete bits, will go a lot longer teaching new GMs how to run games on the fly than any number of modules written in the modern style. There are ways to write and (visual) design modules to make them much easier to run for new and experienced GMs alike. Unfortunately, only indie designers and publishers seem interested in exploring that space while WotC, Paizo, Kobold and every other "traditional" publisher continues to obfuscate the fun with dubious prose. [/QUOTE]
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