The Scop: Improvising Like a Pro

[Hella_Tellah]

While roaming the wilds of the Internets for WHFRP stuff, I found this great article on how to improvise effectively. It uses a few Warhammer examples, but it's a great guide for any GM who wants to ditch their 3-ring binder full of notes and let the players lead the action.

I started doing improvised games a few months ago, and I'm never going back! It's definitely my preferred way to play.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Every good DM needs improv skills.

In 3e, I improv'd entire games seamlessly.

It's...harder for me in 4e...

But it is very much my preferred playstyle.

The site is good. Improv comedy tricks are useful as well. And basic storytelling structure lessons.

I'd love for 5e to bring back the "totally spontaneous D&D game" that 3e gave me.

 

[Scribble]

Every good DM needs improv skills.

In 3e, I improv'd entire games seamlessly.

It's...harder for me in 4e...

But it is very much my preferred playstyle.

The site is good. Improv comedy tricks are useful as well. And basic storytelling structure lessons.

I'd love for 5e to bring back the "totally spontaneous D&D game" that 3e gave me.

I'm pretty much the opposite...

2e and prior I improvised me the hell out of games... 3e I still did but it was harder... much harder. 4e made it easier for me again. (Not as easy as 2e though.)

 

[Pbartender]

Every good DM needs improv skills.

In 3e, I improv'd entire games seamlessly.

It's...harder for me in 4e...

It's rather interesting, KM, as I've had almost the exact opposite experience. I've been finding it a lot easier to wing 4E than 3E. For me, at least, mainly because of the trouble it sometimes took to generate off-the-cuff monster stats in 3E.

Anyway...

Outisde the nuts & bolts of winging stats, which varies widely from edition to edition, in D&D one of the biggest and best tips I can give for improving a game is to pay attention to the speculations of your players... and then play off them. Not only does it put at least half the burden of creativity on the players, but it also lets feel a sense of accomplishment when they "solve" the complicated plot you've concocted...

 

[Hella_Tellah]

Outisde the nuts & bolts of winging stats, which varies widely from edition to edition, in D&D one of the biggest and best tips I can give for improving a game is to pay attention to the speculations of your players... and then play off them. Not only does it put at least half the burden of creativity on the players, but it also lets feel a sense of accomplishment when they "solve" the complicated plot you've concocted...

Nobody tell my players, but this is exactly how my "mysteries" go down. If the player's speculation is reasonable, or at least reasonably fun, he's right--unless another player gets it in his head that it must be a red herring! Many an adventure has been generated simply through the players' belief that other players' ideas were planted by villains trying to misdirect the party.

 

[Oni]

Every good DM needs improv skills.

In 3e, I improv'd entire games seamlessly.

It's...harder for me in 4e...

But it is very much my preferred playstyle.

The site is good. Improv comedy tricks are useful as well. And basic storytelling structure lessons.

I'd love for 5e to bring back the "totally spontaneous D&D game" that 3e gave me.

Just out of curiosity, what makes 4e harder? Is it an issue of rules familiarity or something else altogether?

 

[Scribble]

Nobody tell my players, but this is exactly how my "mysteries" go down. If the player's speculation is reasonable, or at least reasonably fun, he's right--unless another player gets it in his head that it must be a red herring! Many an adventure has been generated simply through the players' belief that other players' ideas were planted by villains trying to misdirect the party.

Man that should be one of the basic tools in the DMs bag I think.

I do that constantly... It makes the players happy because they feel like they were smart enough to "figure things out" and makes the DM happy because it's less work he has to do!

Plus I've noticed that I can never in my wildest imagination days come up with some of the horrible situations players tend to fear their characters are about to be in...

Plus it seems like it makes it easier to throw insane situations at the without someone throwing the "thats totally unbelievable" card... Since they thought it up, they'll buy it.

 

[Thanee]

It's rather interesting, KM, as I've had almost the exact opposite experience. I've been finding it a lot easier to wing 4E than 3E. For me, at least, mainly because of the trouble it sometimes took to generate off-the-cuff monster stats in 3E.

For me it's also way easier to improvise with 3E compared to 4E, but that's not a fair comparison, of course, considering several years of experience with the 3rd edition.

Funny enough, it is especially the monsters, which I find a lot easier to make up (without having an actual statblock handy, which I never have, unless I use them right out of the MM) in 3E than in 4E. The 3E concepts are just so much more straightforward, at least to me they are.

Bye
Thanee

 

[The Shaman]

Outisde the nuts & bolts of winging stats, which varies widely from edition to edition, in D&D one of the biggest and best tips I can give for improving a game is to pay attention to the speculations of your players... and then play off them. Not only does it put at least half the burden of creativity on the players, but it also lets feel a sense of accomplishment when they "solve" the complicated plot you've concocted...

Ugh. As a player I really dislike this.

I enjoy actually solving puzzles and mysteries, so I prefer to play with referees who invest the time and effort to come up with a genuine challenge.

In my experience improv'd games tend to be transparently obvious that the referee is just making stuff up as s/he goes, and are usually pretty boring as a result. I think this 'technique' tends to be overused, not underused.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

Out of curiosity, why is edition at all relevant to an interesting article on improv?

Off to actually read the thing....