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<blockquote data-quote="d4" data-source="post: 1095734" data-attributes="member: 12699">i usually just wing it. i've run 6 or 7 session-long story arcs from a single page of scribbled notes and a handful of NPC stat blocks on index cards. i didn't even know what the plot was the first session -- i just set up an initial situation and built on what the players decided to investigate or what they thought was going on.i don't recommend doing that very often or if you're new to GMing, but it can be pretty exhilirating to know that you're only just barely one step ahead of the PCs at any moment! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />for example, one arc started when a friend of the PCs was the target of an assassination attempt. at the first session, i had only a vague idea of who was responsible (actually, i had three or four likely candidates and hadn't settled on one yet) but i really didn't know why.over the course of the next several sessions, the players began investigating their friend's background, business dealings, political situation, rivals, etc. i ad-libbed encounters allowing them to discover this stuff, making up most of the details on the spot. i listened to them as they discussed what they had learned, trying to make sense of the information, drawing conclusions, and making suppositions. some of the things they came up with i hadn't thought of myself, and decided to incorporate into the situation.eventually, after a few sessions of this, i had a pretty good idea of what had actually happened and why. at that point, i was able to drop enough clues to get the PCs to come to the same conclusion and resolve the adventure.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="d4, post: 1095734, member: 12699"] i usually just wing it. i've run 6 or 7 session-long story arcs from a single page of scribbled notes and a handful of NPC stat blocks on index cards. i didn't even know what the plot was the first session -- i just set up an initial situation and built on what the players decided to investigate or what [i]they[/i] thought was going on. i don't recommend doing that very often or if you're new to GMing, but it can be pretty exhilirating to know that you're only just barely one step ahead of the PCs at any moment! :) for example, one arc started when a friend of the PCs was the target of an assassination attempt. at the first session, i had only a vague idea of who was responsible (actually, i had three or four likely candidates and hadn't settled on one yet) but i really didn't know [i]why.[/i] over the course of the next several sessions, the players began investigating their friend's background, business dealings, political situation, rivals, etc. i ad-libbed encounters allowing them to discover this stuff, making up most of the details on the spot. i listened to them as they discussed what they had learned, trying to make sense of the information, drawing conclusions, and making suppositions. some of the things they came up with i hadn't thought of myself, and decided to incorporate into the situation. eventually, after a few sessions of this, i had a pretty good idea of what had actually happened and why. at that point, i was able to drop enough clues to get the PCs to come to the same conclusion and resolve the adventure. [/QUOTE]

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