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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kzach" data-source="post: 5444019" data-attributes="member: 56189">After nine-months of playing, I'm guessing you all are very familiar with the rules to the point where you don't need to look most stuff up.I would suggest using this to your advantage. It sounds as if you do a lot of prep before a game and come to the table with a set encounter and roleplaying opportunity planned out. With such planning comes repetition and a feeling of staleness.Therefore, I recommend doing what I do before a game. This is sort-of a process that follows the basic guidelines set out below:1) Think of the players and their characters: I try to think of what each player enjoys in the game and what they get out of it through their character. Sometimes I can't cater to each person every session, but I do try.2) Think of the story and where it could POSSIBLY go, not where it HAS to go: I try to think up scenarios with multiple possible paths it can follow. I try to put myself in the mind-set of the NPC and think what it is they would do in various situations. These are all very generic thoughts that give me a basic frame-work to draw from at a moment's notice.3) Think up clues and puzzles and rhymes and riddles and bait to lure the players (and their PC's) through the story and on to the next chapter. Again, I try to think up a bunch of possible hooks without settling on anything in particular. I'm just looking to give myself the basic material I need so that when the time comes, I have something to work with rather than nothing.These three things help immensely with running sessions 'on the fly'. By giving myself a basis to work from, a frame-work of ideas and images to draw on, I'm rarely left stuck in the moment. The ideas might only be blobs at the time of conception, but at least it's something that when I need it, it's there to shape and coerce into being. This works for everything from traps to NPC catch-phrases.Another good thing to do is read a lot. Reading lots of RPG material or watching fantasy movies or reading fantasy books, gives you lots of things to draw on when you're stuck. I blatantly rip-off everything I read for my games. After all, originality is unimportant in a game, only fun matters. If a module has an awesome trap in it, or a really cool villain, or some sort of scenario, then why the hell not use it?The other thing to do is to promote player interaction. There's nothing worse than a group of duds who look to you to move everything forward. You want to reward players who TRY stuff, whether it succeeds or not, the important thing is that they were actively attempting to find a solution to whatever problem existed. I hate, HATE, HATE, players who sit silently in a corner and do nothing all session until poked or prodded. I'm there to play a game with people, not furniture.If you can react and interact with your players and they do the same with you as the GM, then sessions will never be the same twice. One session might entirely go by as roleplaying, another as skill challenges, another as combat, and another as all three or any combination. In fact, you'll probably forget which they were because the mechanics will take a back-seat to the flow and fun of the game. Running sessions 'on the fly' is all about working with your players to write, produce, act, direct and film the story of your game.</blockquote>

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