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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CRG" data-source="post: 272404" data-attributes="member: 5867">I do a combination of all of these things.First, I have an overall story/arc/whatever that will be happening in the background in which hopefully the party will want to participate.  Some adventures may be keyed to or important to this arc eventually, even if the PCs don't want to participate directly..."What?  you mean that holy avenger we donated to the temple was just destroyed by evil-bastard-warlord-bob?"Second, I tend to create things and throw them out there with hooks.  The players can do whatever they want, using the hooks as a basis..."Trolls under the bridges in New York.  Lost temple rumored to be in a forest here.  Strange woman lying in a pond distributing magical swords found here."  They investigate and handle as they wish.Third, I build enough background into the key groups and people so the party can participate with them.Fourth, and this is key, for each NPC - whether I decided they were important in the beginning, like the old healer in the local temple who I named "John Doe" and is a former adventurer, versus "some guy who runs a tavern" - I keep an index card.  For instance, the healer "John Doe" who I think will be important and with whom they may interact would have a card I create in adance - describes what he looks like, how he talks, what his interests are.  The "guy who runs the tavern" may not have a card, or a name.  The problem is, there is no telling when a PC will want to strike up a detailed conversation, make a friend, etc.  I ad-hoc those things on the fly and scribble as quickly as a can on the index card so that the NEXT time the PCs talk to that NPC, I know his name, personality, likes, dislikes, etc.  Heck, before a session I might flip through the cards and add a note if something happens to the NPC - his daughter gets married, he gets killed in a bar fight, he inherits a sum of money, etc.  That way the NPC develops and the PCs get a sense that time in this world is moving forward.This index card thing has saved me a bazillion times.  you can add to NPC cards or create new ones on the fly as necessary (and it is necessary).  Then, when there is nothing going on you can plan new plots and events for the PCs to stumble into or plan out reactions as they do things differently.Above all, when dealing with your main plot remember this:Nothing can be made fool-proof as fools are so ingenius.</blockquote>

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