PC actions vs. DM expectations

[Quasqueton]

My favorite part of being a DM is when the players completely surprise me and ruin my craftily laid-out plans. I live for those moments.

But...

As you can probably tell from the dialogue, I designed this with the expectation that the only sane choice would be to temporarily ally with the ghouls in order to drive away Elder, and then to turn back to fighting them. I was surprised when they didn't even consider this as an option! I shouldn't have been, I suppose, but the alternative was so much worse -- but they understandably concluded that they weren't about to succeed where a God was needed, and concentrated on their other enemies instead.

I spent most of this game figuring out in my head what was about to happen when an astonishingly powerful force of uncaring evil gains the powers of a God. Most of this planning involved the word "apocalypse." Ah well, tearing down a gaming world every now and then is good for creativity.

Quasqueton

 

[francisca]

I run a very loosley structured game. I have some ideas of events that happen independent of the PCs on a macro scale: wars, famine, rise of an evil, etc... However, I set the world, drop the players in, and on a micro scale, the world reacts to them. So there I sit, leering over my DM screen, playing NPCs based on notes concerning general attitude I make between sessions, basically improvising each session. Now, sometimes, they kinda stare back at me, so my internel pacing timer goes off, and I come up with something to move it along. Sometimes, I have detailed encounters, such as dungeons and strongholds, but typically, it off the cuff.

Between sessions, I analyze what happened, figure out what ramifications the PC's actions may have had on my macro events, and determine the general disposition of NPCs they may/will encounter next time. Basically, I plot where they are on the map, and figure out how far they could get in a month's travel, then at least sketch notes for settlements and prominent NPCs.

Some of my best DMing has happened when improvising a whole new campaign arc on the spot. I find my method to be a very satisfying method.

So, my expectations are never dashed, as I essentially have none.

 

[ThoughtBubble]

I've got about a 70% success ratio of waiving my hands and yelling "Over here!" to get my PC's into the adventure.

After that though, they're just a bomb. The situation will get blown into dust. Mostly I just try to figure out the major NPC's enough to be able to roll with it.

 

[Arnwyn]

Well... no.

But that's only because I no longer have any expectations. Seriously. I used to, long ago (measured in "many years"), but not anymore. Nowadays, I just present a situation, and let them have at it - even I don't know if there's any "proper" way to handle said situation.

So I'm constantly being surprised, and that's why I DM. I enjoy seeing/experiencing how my players handle the situations I create. Very fun.

 

[Yair]

I have about a 50-50 chance of figuring out what the players will do. More in some types of cases cases (or players), less in others. Overall an adventure typicaly will go along the main plot lines I envision, although of course not the minor details and many times the entire plan will fail completely.
I tried DMing with no plot - it didn't work for me. Even if the plot falls apart miserably, just preparing it usually gives me ideas on how to salvage the situation, sometimes in a better way then originally intended. I have motivations, the "undisturbed" course of events, and so on to work from.
I do enjoy it when the players surprise me, and it happens a lot. It's great fun. But I find making sure that doesn't ruin THEIR fun (i.e. bring about a dull or too short session) is also important, why should I have all the fun? So I plan just enough to wing it when the plan goes kaboom or to stick to it if, by some miracle, it actually works out as planned.