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<blockquote data-quote="Yora" data-source="post: 8449503" data-attributes="member: 6670763"><p>As I see it, the best use of improvisation is to create improvised content on the fly. Not to improvise fixes for something that isn't playing out as you had expected it to.</p><p>Improvisation as a GM tool is not to get the players back on the track you wanted them to follow, but to lay a new track right in front of the party as it is veering of into the unknown.</p><p>Improvisation is about continuing going forward after an unexpected turn, not about reversing and getting back to what was originally anticipated.</p><p>Improvisation is not about negating choices that the players have made.</p><p></p><p>Sometime improvisation can greatly benefit from having robust tools that determine some elements of a quickly made up piece of content without the GM having to make a decision on them. As an example, let's say we have the party run into a group of 8 goblins that where either randomly rolled in that moment or were marked on the map without further notes on details.</p><p>If you're in the situation where you have to make something up on the spot, with the players looking at you waiting to hear what's happening now, there is always a strong instinct to just go with the first thing that comes to mind and feels natural in that situation, because you don't want to let the players hanging for a minute or two while you make up your mind. And in the overwhelming majority of cases, your instinct is probably going to be "they attack". You can do that once or twice, but it soon becomes a persistent pattern and is pretty boring.</p><p></p><p>Which is where for example the 1981 D&D Basic edition has some very useful tools for GMs. Four quick dice rolls to set the general parameters.</p><p></p><p>Encounter distance: How far away will the creature or NPCs be when the party sees them? Roll 2d6 X 10.</p><p></p><p>Surprise: Will the creatures see the party coming, or will the party spot the creatures still being unaware? Roll 1d3 for both the party and the creatures, a 1 means they are surprised. This allows for four possible outcomes: 1. The party and the creatures spot each other at the full spotting distance. 2 The party spots the creatures, which are unaware. 3. The creatures spot the party, which is unaware. 4. The party and the creatures both spot each other only when they are at half the spotting distance.</p><p></p><p>Reaction: How will the creatures react when they become aware of the party? In some cases, there is only one sensible reaction, like for hungry undead, or guards patroling their castle. But when it really could be anything, roll 2d6 to see:</p><p>2: The creatures immediately charge at the party to attack.</p><p>3-5: The creatures are hostile to the party, but will try to chase them off or arrest them.</p><p>6-8: The creatures are undecided and wait to see what the party is doing. Maybe roll again after the players have displayed their intentions.</p><p>9-11: The creatures don't want a fight. They might try to negotiate if the players' goals conflict with their own, or even retreat and leave the party be.</p><p>12: The creatures are friendly and might invite the party to rest at their camp or offer to assist them in their undertaking.</p><p></p><p>You still will have to improvise the encounter, but now you have much more varied starting conditions to work with than always falling back to the default "they attack". Most importantly, these rolls are suggestions for what you could do. Maybe you roll a 12 for reaction but really don't know how to treat that specific creature as friendly towards the party. In that case, just go with the suggestion for a roll of 11 instead.</p><p></p><p>The fourth roll is a morale check when the creatures do get into a fight with the party. That roll can be whatever you want it to be. It could be a roll of 2d6 against a fixed morale value of 2 to 12 that is part of all creature stat blocks, or you could make it a Wisdom saving throw, or whatever works for the rules you're using.</p><p>As with the reactions of creatures to the party, when it comes to how a fight ends up being resolved, the typical first instinct is to just let everyone fight to the death. You could of course always make the choice that all or some of the creatures decide to flee in this round, but that's often unsatisfying. It can easily feel like you always make the enemies run away when there's a chance the players might lose the fight, or that a villain always keep running away every time the players get close to killing him. A morale check takes this decision away from you and randomizes it.</p><p>Good moments in a fight for morale checks are the first time one of the enemies is killed or incapacitated (now it's no longer a brawl, this is real), when the enemy leader is killed or incapacitated, and when the enemies are down to half their original number. You can roll either for the whole group or for each enemy individually, or you might put the enemies into several sub-groups that roll morale together. For example, a group of 3 ogers and 8 goblins might make one check for the ogers and one check for the goblins. When the goblins fail and flee in panic, the ogers might still continue to fight on. (Though if the ogers flee the battle, it would make a lot of sense for the goblins to follow them even if they made their morale check. See, I'm improvising.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Yora, post: 8449503, member: 6670763"] As I see it, the best use of improvisation is to create improvised content on the fly. Not to improvise fixes for something that isn't playing out as you had expected it to. Improvisation as a GM tool is not to get the players back on the track you wanted them to follow, but to lay a new track right in front of the party as it is veering of into the unknown. Improvisation is about continuing going forward after an unexpected turn, not about reversing and getting back to what was originally anticipated. Improvisation is not about negating choices that the players have made. Sometime improvisation can greatly benefit from having robust tools that determine some elements of a quickly made up piece of content without the GM having to make a decision on them. As an example, let's say we have the party run into a group of 8 goblins that where either randomly rolled in that moment or were marked on the map without further notes on details. If you're in the situation where you have to make something up on the spot, with the players looking at you waiting to hear what's happening now, there is always a strong instinct to just go with the first thing that comes to mind and feels natural in that situation, because you don't want to let the players hanging for a minute or two while you make up your mind. And in the overwhelming majority of cases, your instinct is probably going to be "they attack". You can do that once or twice, but it soon becomes a persistent pattern and is pretty boring. Which is where for example the 1981 D&D Basic edition has some very useful tools for GMs. Four quick dice rolls to set the general parameters. Encounter distance: How far away will the creature or NPCs be when the party sees them? Roll 2d6 X 10. Surprise: Will the creatures see the party coming, or will the party spot the creatures still being unaware? Roll 1d3 for both the party and the creatures, a 1 means they are surprised. This allows for four possible outcomes: 1. The party and the creatures spot each other at the full spotting distance. 2 The party spots the creatures, which are unaware. 3. The creatures spot the party, which is unaware. 4. The party and the creatures both spot each other only when they are at half the spotting distance. Reaction: How will the creatures react when they become aware of the party? In some cases, there is only one sensible reaction, like for hungry undead, or guards patroling their castle. But when it really could be anything, roll 2d6 to see: 2: The creatures immediately charge at the party to attack. 3-5: The creatures are hostile to the party, but will try to chase them off or arrest them. 6-8: The creatures are undecided and wait to see what the party is doing. Maybe roll again after the players have displayed their intentions. 9-11: The creatures don't want a fight. They might try to negotiate if the players' goals conflict with their own, or even retreat and leave the party be. 12: The creatures are friendly and might invite the party to rest at their camp or offer to assist them in their undertaking. You still will have to improvise the encounter, but now you have much more varied starting conditions to work with than always falling back to the default "they attack". Most importantly, these rolls are suggestions for what you could do. Maybe you roll a 12 for reaction but really don't know how to treat that specific creature as friendly towards the party. In that case, just go with the suggestion for a roll of 11 instead. The fourth roll is a morale check when the creatures do get into a fight with the party. That roll can be whatever you want it to be. It could be a roll of 2d6 against a fixed morale value of 2 to 12 that is part of all creature stat blocks, or you could make it a Wisdom saving throw, or whatever works for the rules you're using. As with the reactions of creatures to the party, when it comes to how a fight ends up being resolved, the typical first instinct is to just let everyone fight to the death. You could of course always make the choice that all or some of the creatures decide to flee in this round, but that's often unsatisfying. It can easily feel like you always make the enemies run away when there's a chance the players might lose the fight, or that a villain always keep running away every time the players get close to killing him. A morale check takes this decision away from you and randomizes it. Good moments in a fight for morale checks are the first time one of the enemies is killed or incapacitated (now it's no longer a brawl, this is real), when the enemy leader is killed or incapacitated, and when the enemies are down to half their original number. You can roll either for the whole group or for each enemy individually, or you might put the enemies into several sub-groups that roll morale together. For example, a group of 3 ogers and 8 goblins might make one check for the ogers and one check for the goblins. When the goblins fail and flee in panic, the ogers might still continue to fight on. (Though if the ogers flee the battle, it would make a lot of sense for the goblins to follow them even if they made their morale check. See, I'm improvising.) [/QUOTE]
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