GMs: Issues with Improvising During Sessions?

[Ralif Redhammer]

I would say combat encounters are toughest. Unless it’s some powerful NPC like an archmage who was just supposed to be a social challenge, yeah, I also have trouble with improvised combat encounters. Sure, I can throw a bunch of bandits and a veteran together and call it a battle, but it’s not going to sparkle as much as I’d like. And that’s while running theatre of the mind.

I’ve been actively working on improving my improvisation skills of late. I’m a big fan these days of pulling a card from either D&D’s Tarokka deck or Pathfinder’s Harrow deck in the middle of a session when the PCs go off in an unexpected direction and coming up with something based on that.

I think generating encounters & pacing on the fly can be an issue, especially when I may have a limited pallette of minis and encounter maps (or no pre-drawn maps). It's definitely easier in theatre-of-the-mind than in minis-centric play.

 

[Satyrn]

The social stuff. Although they aren't exactly my issue, I selected "Generating quality minor NPCs quickly" and "Dropping in an unexpected roleplay scene" because they're close enough.



. . . No wonder I'm running a megadungeon sandbox right now.

 

[Tarin Greenflame]

What system(s) do you have in mind? Different systems put different demands on the GM.

I mostly run D&D and Call of Cthulhu, and agree that ease of improvisation depends on the system as well as the published adventure, if applicable. For example, D&D's Red Hand of Doom presents lots of combat-related materials, but is so light on roleplaying/NPC resources that I struggled when players tried to interact with NPCs in a novel way. Conversely, CoC's Masks of Nyarlathotep offered enough depth to the NPCs for me to easily improvise with them in a convincing way, but combats were generally very simple.

BTW, the other thing I could use, improv or not, would be lists of local color for different types of areas. Being able to throw in descriptions of a puppet show with children when walking down a street, or a glade filled with orchids in the middle of a forest, or whatever. Even one page per different types of locations with a d% chart would be fantastic.

There's a book I recently bought called Table Fables. It has some tables covering stuff like that, but I haven't used them enough to tell if they're presented in a useful way.

 

[Blue]

There's a book I recently bought called Table Fables. It has some tables covering stuff like that, but I haven't used them enough to tell if they're presented in a useful way.

Thanks, I'll check that out.

...

Nice ratings on Amazon, and a sequel already out. Looks good. Thanks for turning me onto it!

 

[Ratskinner]

It can depend a lot of the system I'm running, honestly.

Looking up rules
Tremendously system-dependent. For D&D and related, its a constant bother. (Our group switches system a lot and minor changes in things like healing, damage, etc. are constant bugaboos.) However, when running Fate or a PbtA game, this isn't really a thing.

Generating quality minor NPCs quickly (players want to talk to an NPC you hadn't prepared)
My biggest problem with this kind of thing used to be names. I've solved that with Inspiration Pad Pro. I just have a sheet full of names ready to go. Unless combat breaks out, then it can be a pain for systems like D&D, where generating an NPC takes more than writing a few lines down.

Generating quality locations/maps quickly (players explore unprepared areas)
Lots of generators online, its pretty easy to have some sketchy bits printed out to reference.

Dropping in an unexpected combat scene (players attack guards, crime syndicate, etc.)
Again, system dependent. PbtA adversaries are just descriptions, so that's almost instant. A Fate adversary can take only a minute or two to "stat up" but a D&D adversary (if you want it to be interesting) can take a lot longer. Of course, you can "wing it" with any system that you are familiar with.

Dropping in an unexpected roleplay scene (players interact with prepared NPCs beyond what's planned)
Easy-peasy after I got the name thing got sorted out.

Generating handouts (players came upon a clue or quest hook you hadn't prepared for)
If I'm at home, I can just hit print. At my buddy's house....well its much harder.

Reacting to fundamental changes in the story (players kill quest NPCs, side with bad guys, etc.)
I try not to have too awful much planned out ahead of time.

 

[pemerton]

Some systems make it fun (in a doing-a-crossword-to-pass-the-time sort of way) to generate NPCs/creatures:

* Traveller is famous for this (starships and worlds also!);

* I find Burning Wheel good for this too;

* And I enjoy designing or tweaking 4e D&D monsters.

In all these games, I therefore tend to have a supply of NPCs/creatures on hand for when I need them. In 4e doing interesting maps requires prep, though I've done some plainer ones on the spur of the moment.

Of games I've run over the past year, the prep for my Classic Traveller game has involved collating stats for NPCs, worlds and vessels, and making the odd notes about possible situations; the prep for my Prince Valiant game has involved reading through the Episodes book looking for situations I'd like to run; and the prep for Cortex+ Heroic has involved writing up some creatures and planning a couple of scenes.

I've also run one-shots of Cthulhu Dark (prep = remembering to bring the rules along), The Dying Earth (I skimmed the introductory scenario on the train) and In a Wicked Age (no prep required).

So some of the poll entries don't really apply: no planned interactions, no "quest NPCs", etc. And none of these games really needs maps, so that doesn't come up. Checking rules can sometimes take a few minutes in a game that we're not all familiar with.

 

[Lwaxy]

I really haven't had an issue with improvising yet.

 

[Lanefan]

Biggest headache for me is coming up with a map or layout without drawing it out ahead of time - if I'm doing it free-form or off the top of my head I inevitably end up with two or more things/rooms/etc. trying to occupy the same space; or elements wildly out of synch e.g. a vertical shaft passing through various floors in a very non-vertical way; and as my players religiously map everything, when (not if!) this sort of thing happens I'm going to get called on it hard.

That and coming up with original ideas that I haven't used a hundred times before.