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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 8872588" data-attributes="member: 467"><p>This is context dependent. You are also in charge of pacing, which means sometimes you have to cut players off when they are spinning their wheels or soliloquizing.</p><p></p><p>This is a hard one to overcome, because the GM is responsible for so much world building we tend to gravitate toward things we like and are familiar with. Incorporate some random tables into your prep.</p><p></p><p>Are you playing 5E? You can ignore magical treasure almost entirely if so. Give them items that are cool, important to the story, or have personal meaning to the PCs.</p><p></p><p>Do you mean when they go off script? That is definitely an experience thing, expecially if you are running a pre-written adventure or campaign since they don't usually give you good advice on what to do when the PCs zig instead of zag. If you are running home brew adventures, try and prepare plots less and situations more. Present a circumstance and have a strong understanding of who the important NPCs are in the situation and what their motivations are. With that knowledge, improv is much easier.</p><p></p><p>For example, you want to run an adventure where the PCs have to stop the Thieves Guild from stealing the crown jewels, so you have the captain of the royal guard come to the PCs and ask their help in stopping it. Instead of laying out a series of scenes like a story or script, define all the players. Figure out where the jewels are. Determine what the Thieves Guild would do if the PCs were not to get involved. Figure out why exactly the captain of the guard is trying to frame the PCs for the theft (natch). Then, let the PCs figure out what they are going to do to save the jewels and respond to their moves, using everything you know about the situation.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 8872588, member: 467"] This is context dependent. You are also in charge of pacing, which means sometimes you have to cut players off when they are spinning their wheels or soliloquizing. This is a hard one to overcome, because the GM is responsible for so much world building we tend to gravitate toward things we like and are familiar with. Incorporate some random tables into your prep. Are you playing 5E? You can ignore magical treasure almost entirely if so. Give them items that are cool, important to the story, or have personal meaning to the PCs. Do you mean when they go off script? That is definitely an experience thing, expecially if you are running a pre-written adventure or campaign since they don't usually give you good advice on what to do when the PCs zig instead of zag. If you are running home brew adventures, try and prepare plots less and situations more. Present a circumstance and have a strong understanding of who the important NPCs are in the situation and what their motivations are. With that knowledge, improv is much easier. For example, you want to run an adventure where the PCs have to stop the Thieves Guild from stealing the crown jewels, so you have the captain of the royal guard come to the PCs and ask their help in stopping it. Instead of laying out a series of scenes like a story or script, define all the players. Figure out where the jewels are. Determine what the Thieves Guild would do if the PCs were not to get involved. Figure out why exactly the captain of the guard is trying to frame the PCs for the theft (natch). Then, let the PCs figure out what they are going to do to save the jewels and respond to their moves, using everything you know about the situation. [/QUOTE]
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