1001 Tips for Winging It: A GM's Guide to Improvising and Cutting Down on Prep Time
- Thread starter pukunui
- Start date
Not really throwing out the rules, just throwing out the specifics, or at least the fluff specifics. Since you plan a major reskin of the entire system, this is what you will be doing anyway. The difference is that you don't set fluff until play, instead of trying to reskin before play.
pawsplay
Hero
15) Originality is over-rated. I could spend a half hour statting up some ogres, or I could just throw three ogres and two ogre barbarians right out of the MM at the players. There is nothing about an encounter with a couple of fiendish Huge spiders that lacks.
16) It's not hard to come up with important numbers. If the PCs get into a fight with a 7th level warrior you don't have stats for, you can assume Str 14 and Con 12, you know his BAB is +7, give him a masterwork weapon and weapon focus, add armor and bam, you have enough info to run the encounter. Crafty shopkeeper? A level 4 expert can have a +7 diplomacy, assume Cha 12 or whatever, and he probably does not have Skill Focus, but he might have Negotiator if you think it's appropriate. Add max ranks in Appraise, max in whatever skill he uses to make a living, and add Skill Focus to that skill. Done.
17) It can turn into a bit of a joke, but there is a lot to be said for dungeons being exactly the same size as your eraseable battle mat.
18) If you use minis, try to base some encounters on what minis you have, rather than rooting around for minis for the encounter you would like to run.
19) When winging it, it's better for the encounter to be too easy than too hard.
20) When creating boss encounters, spend some time on them, but don't agonize over stats your players will never see. WRT D&D 3.5, just pick the feats you really want them to have, and use the rest for Weapon Focus, Toughness, Iron Will, etc.
21) The answer to "is there a __" in a town should usually be "Yes." Unless it seems unlikely, when it's "No," unless you feel inspired. Example: "Is there a temple in town where we can have Bobtomus raised?" "Yes." "Does this village of 2000 people have a merchant who sells magic weapons?" "No."
22) Most NPCs don't need stats, just names. If you keep a list, you can amaze and astonish your players with the vivid, detailed game world that exists mainly in their imagination. In reality, you've got a couple of towns and your scrawled list of NPC names.
16) It's not hard to come up with important numbers. If the PCs get into a fight with a 7th level warrior you don't have stats for, you can assume Str 14 and Con 12, you know his BAB is +7, give him a masterwork weapon and weapon focus, add armor and bam, you have enough info to run the encounter. Crafty shopkeeper? A level 4 expert can have a +7 diplomacy, assume Cha 12 or whatever, and he probably does not have Skill Focus, but he might have Negotiator if you think it's appropriate. Add max ranks in Appraise, max in whatever skill he uses to make a living, and add Skill Focus to that skill. Done.
17) It can turn into a bit of a joke, but there is a lot to be said for dungeons being exactly the same size as your eraseable battle mat.
18) If you use minis, try to base some encounters on what minis you have, rather than rooting around for minis for the encounter you would like to run.
19) When winging it, it's better for the encounter to be too easy than too hard.
20) When creating boss encounters, spend some time on them, but don't agonize over stats your players will never see. WRT D&D 3.5, just pick the feats you really want them to have, and use the rest for Weapon Focus, Toughness, Iron Will, etc.
21) The answer to "is there a __" in a town should usually be "Yes." Unless it seems unlikely, when it's "No," unless you feel inspired. Example: "Is there a temple in town where we can have Bobtomus raised?" "Yes." "Does this village of 2000 people have a merchant who sells magic weapons?" "No."
22) Most NPCs don't need stats, just names. If you keep a list, you can amaze and astonish your players with the vivid, detailed game world that exists mainly in their imagination. In reality, you've got a couple of towns and your scrawled list of NPC names.
pukunui
Legend
Sorry. I knew you weren't really suggesting something like that. I was being rather flippant. Leaving the fluff until last is fine. It was the idea of just making up how much damage a club or longsword does on the fly that got me, as that's more of a mechanical thing. But I can see how that would work out OK. If you're having the club do more damage, you could just say it's a bigger club than normal or that it's got metal studs in it or something. Or that the guy wielding it is really strong (so if the PC picks up the club and it goes back to doing "real" club damage, then the players won't feel cheated - like watching a 4e hobgoblin warcaster blast you with his staff only to be told that the staff itself is a worthless hunk of wood after you kill him and prise it from his cold dead fingers).
I don't think any of my players care enough to question that kind of stuff though so I'd probably be OK with winging the mechanics like that.
"Club" is fluff. Keep any mechanics you want, just call it "club".
pukunui
Legend
Ah yes OK. I get it now. You're saying write "club" down in the generic thug's statblock, but if, when winging it, I say that he's wielding a spear, then it becomes a spear that deals 1d8 damage whether or not a spear does according to the rulebook. That's fine. So really it becomes more of an issue of "how much damage do I want this bad guy to be able to do" than anything else.
Ha ha yes. This is something of a running joke in our group.23: Steal mercilessly from your players. Your players (if you listen to them) will often be their own worst enemy. Chances are, they're almost always discussing what they think is about to happen. Use it.
24. Know your NPCs inside and out. Whether or not you stat them fully (like I do) or just have an excellent concept of their motivations, resources, and such, then you can deal with any obstacle that comes your way. How far are they willing to go to get what they want? How much do they know about the PCs to thwart them or plan ahead? Did their mother love them or did she abandon them for a flaggon of ale on their birthday? All that stuff comes in handy when the time comes.
Pacing, to a large extent, will decide the quality of a session. If it drags on and on while one player is trying to figure out what spells to memorize in a day, the others will get bored. If they are taking too long in planning their attack, or arguing over some pointless fact*, force the action forward.
To that end, always have an encounter in your back pocket. Someone out there hates the party (if it is my game then the list of groups who hate the party could fill the Library of Congress), so have a hit team ready to go. When the action drags, KICK IN THE DOOR. Nothing gets a party's attention like a Listen check or a call for intiative.
*Example: I was a player in a game where on an overland trek we debated for 30 minutes on where exactly to set up camp, discussing things like prevailing winds, flood plains, animal tracks, cover, the rising sun...and it was a standard night with no credible threats or reasons to worry. Do not let this happen.
To that end, always have an encounter in your back pocket. Someone out there hates the party (if it is my game then the list of groups who hate the party could fill the Library of Congress), so have a hit team ready to go. When the action drags, KICK IN THE DOOR. Nothing gets a party's attention like a Listen check or a call for intiative.
*Example: I was a player in a game where on an overland trek we debated for 30 minutes on where exactly to set up camp, discussing things like prevailing winds, flood plains, animal tracks, cover, the rising sun...and it was a standard night with no credible threats or reasons to worry. Do not let this happen.
Galloglaich
First Post
I use #7 and #8 a lot, they are old standbys, though not with a name generator or a laptop - I get lists of historical ethnic names for say, Vikings, Saxons, French noblemen, Samurai, etc. etc. and print them out for my little binder. When I use one i make a little entry next to it, some of them evolve into major NPCs. Having realistic names really helps i find, and as you make these notes they can evolve into the plot of a cool campaign.
Same for place names etc. Keep lists, get lists from maps, use the small places. This can also add to versimilitude, German names in a German area, Italian ones in an Italian area etc.
There is also a list in the old 1E DMG of random descriptive objects which might be found in a "dungeon"
My own contribution would be #25) I use a computer program to print out lists of available items in different categories, which can be used for shops, for kit of defeated monsters, travelling caravans, objects in a tavern etc.
This does require prep work but only once, and if you have something like this available you can get a lot of use out of it.
#23) is to me, kind of the essense of DMing. Yes "Steal" from your players, but the art is to do so without them realising it (if you want to keep a sense of immersion) One good way is tied in with the other things, throw out some detail, slow down the pace and start describing things precisely, players may get nervous and start asking questions... then you get some good ideas !
G.
Same for place names etc. Keep lists, get lists from maps, use the small places. This can also add to versimilitude, German names in a German area, Italian ones in an Italian area etc.
There is also a list in the old 1E DMG of random descriptive objects which might be found in a "dungeon"
My own contribution would be #25) I use a computer program to print out lists of available items in different categories, which can be used for shops, for kit of defeated monsters, travelling caravans, objects in a tavern etc.
This does require prep work but only once, and if you have something like this available you can get a lot of use out of it.
#23) is to me, kind of the essense of DMing. Yes "Steal" from your players, but the art is to do so without them realising it (if you want to keep a sense of immersion) One good way is tied in with the other things, throw out some detail, slow down the pace and start describing things precisely, players may get nervous and start asking questions... then you get some good ideas !
G.
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