On the fly or planned out?

[BryonD]

I always intend to plan the majority of details.
I just about never works out that way.

I end up being like most others, detailed big picture, on the fly specifics.

 

[Gronin]

I often listen to player conversations and steal the ideas I like!

I do this as well and the best part is the players know it but they just can't help themselves. Something happens that they don't understand and they just have to speculate. Sometimes they have such cool ideas that I just have to use them.

 

[ivocaliban]

I tend to create an outline of the adventure. A structure that makes clear the main points (such as the goal, the hook, the obstacles, etc.) while leaving out specifics. I've found that if i go into an adventure without some sort of reference material it can degenerate rather quickly. On the other hand, if I go in with a handwritten thirty page adventure that paints a very narrow picture the PCs always find a way to make at least half of it useless. So, knowing the structure of the adventure is most important to me, I can always add details on the fly.

 

[IronWolf]

I am a mix between the two. If I go into a game with nothing prepared I spend too much time fumbling during the game. I usually have a few hooks in mind with the initial portions plotted out at least somewhat. Depending on which one the party bites on I then spend the time between sessions planning a little more for the direction the players appear to be headed in. Some of my preparation goes into just being prepared for the unexpected, lists of NPC names, taverns, general stores, perhaps a noble or two, etc. That way the group can do and go pretty much anywhere and I can roll with it on the fly.

For the portions of the adventures I do prepare I still leave room for details that I add in on the fly depending on where the players may or may not focus their attention.

 

[the Jester]

Somewhere in between. I usually have at least an idea of where the session's going- one of the first things I ask my pcs is what they're doing this game when we get started! I prefer pc-driven adventures, so there are times when I can't plan ahead cuz the group doesn't let me know what they are going to do in advance.

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

I'll point you to here. 90 percent of those writeups are from adventures done "on the fly", with perhaps a sentence or two of plot direction jotted atop the paper I track HP on. When I use a published module, its often just for the shape and flavour of the plot, and I'll weave the story arcs in and out improvisationally.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

I plan a lot. If the players deviate from the plan, I manage to ad lib, but I prefer not to (although I'm trying to work on it).

That's why I love dungeons so much. You can't really deviate from a dungeon

AR

 

[Zappo]

Different campaigns, different styles. In my Planescape campaign, I plan in meticulous detail. I don't write "notes" beforehand, I write commercial-level adventures. I also make multiple plans for the most likely player decisions. Finally, I also write down setting details such as NPC motivations and resources, timelines, events that happen off-screen, etcetera. These sort of things allow me to keep the adventure consistant and under control even when the PCs do something completely unexpected, without railroading. The adventure I'm currently running is longer than my thesis and still not close to finish. If you don't believe it, check my sig.

What can I say, I'm probably insane... but that insanity doesn't extend to my Warcraft campaign. There, I only write a couple sentences about what the overall plot is going to be, and I flip through the MM before the session to pick up a few things to fight. I adlib the rest.

The two campaigns, needless to say, are very different in style. They are both great fun, but in different ways.

 

[Starglim]

I work out the locations they'll visit, characters and creatures they'll meet, and unusual rules situations as much as I can, but there's no way to predict where the storyline will go. Sometimes I reuse the elements that I planned in a different location or time-sequence than I expected.

 

[megamania]

Both are required.

Structure allows for a start, middle and end. Ad-lib allows for the fun stuff in between where players decide to do something insane and unplanned.

Ad-lib is where most of the fun occurs. The styructure allows the story line to carry itself.