Be honest, DMs: how much do you ad lib?

[Henry]

So have any of you ever just...froze up?

I did once. As silly as it sounds, I was horrified. The players took a turn in a direction I hadn't anticipated. My brain locked. After a few minutes of intentional OOC distractions, things got back to their normal flow.

Believe it or not, there was a pretty good Dungeoncraft article on this very subject. The first thing suggested was to create a distraction for the players to sink their teeth into, and while they're dissecting the red herring, they usually come up with something that the DM can latch onto.

 

[Kichwas]

Most of what I do is 'ad lib'. Even when I run a module a good half or more is of my own on the spur development.

A GM who can't ad lib well can't GM well.

 

[Psion]

Believe it or not, there was a pretty good Dungeoncraft article on this very subject. The first thing suggested was to create a distraction for the players to sink their teeth into, and while they're dissecting the red herring, they usually come up with something that the DM can latch onto.

I don't know how many times I've done that.

 

[Tokiwong]

My best games come when I ad lib, from a basic plot outline, and just a few characters that is when I do my best role play, by the seat of my pants LOL

 

[JoeGKushner]

I generally get some ideas and ad lib from there. I have a theme I try to go with and work it into the game.

 

[Pants]

I do my best work when I ad lib. For some reason when I prepare, I become unable to deviate from the 'point' of the quest. When I ad lib, I feel that since I don't have much prepared, I am not bound by any sorts of plot. I do however, prepare when I am doing a dungeoncrawl. I also prepare little encounters for the night, but I usually just ad lib everything from NPC's to plot twists.

 

[Tokiwong]

I generally get some ideas and ad lib from there. I have a theme I try to go with and work it into the game.

I use this same method

 

[d10]

As my players will tell you.... the more prepared I am...the worse the game is....

I will sometimes come to the table with nothing more then a vague plot point.....

I love ad-libbing..... it is a wonderful DM style, when one is confortable with it...

Most of my sessions i come to the table with a good idea of where we need to be at the end of the session.....

how we get there.....that is another story.....

If you give the PCs enough random plot points......sometimes they will flesh some of them out for you......if done efectively, it can exciting for a DM....just to see where it ends up....

Thats exactly my situation!!! Every time I "wing it" they love it and have a total blast. Its to the point where they can tell whether I've planned it or not. THEY KNOW!!! lol