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<blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 1406925" data-attributes="member: 9254">I don't know if I read that article, but I definitely live it.&nbsp; I've stopped having strict plots and instead assign each major NPC a couple of goals and motivations.&nbsp; All too often the players do something so unbelievable that it totally alters the socio-political powerbalance of the major players.&nbsp; Everyone scrambles to regroup and what was a great idea last week is now an effort in futility.&nbsp; Most of the time the PCs are totally clueless, which makes it even more entertaining to me because several NPC enemies are certain this is part of some master plan while the NPC allies are going crazy trying to *save* their master plans.&nbsp; &nbsp; Even in combat the entire battle can go sideways when one of the players decides to up the ACD (acceptable collateral damage) value or pulls out a truly inventive plan.&nbsp; Of course, I learned ad lib in the furnace of a game with a dozen players; cities were nightmarish romps of alchohol, excess, and minor pranks that rapidly spiraled into riots and/or parties.&nbsp; On more than one occassion, the party was regarded as heroes for stopping riots that a select few members had caused but none of the witnesses had survived.&nbsp; &nbsp; They were jailed on other occassions for doing something heroic in towns ruled by despots so it balanced out.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="kigmatzomat, post: 1406925, member: 9254"] I don't know if I read that article, but I definitely live it. I've stopped having strict plots and instead assign each major NPC a couple of goals and motivations. All too often the players do something so unbelievable that it totally alters the socio-political powerbalance of the major players. Everyone scrambles to regroup and what was a great idea last week is now an effort in futility. Most of the time the PCs are totally clueless, which makes it even more entertaining to me because several NPC enemies are certain this is part of some master plan while the NPC allies are going crazy trying to *save* their master plans. Even in combat the entire battle can go sideways when one of the players decides to up the ACD (acceptable collateral damage) value or pulls out a truly inventive plan. Of course, I learned ad lib in the furnace of a game with a dozen players; cities were nightmarish romps of alchohol, excess, and minor pranks that rapidly spiraled into riots and/or parties. On more than one occassion, the party was regarded as heroes for stopping riots that a select few members had caused but none of the witnesses had survived. They were jailed on other occassions for doing something heroic in towns ruled by despots so it balanced out. [/QUOTE]

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