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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BSF" data-source="post: 1622829" data-attributes="member: 13098">Interesting question.  I improvise a lot.  Most of my prep work is a skeleton of what might happen.  I gave up trying to anticipate everything that the PC's might do a long time ago and now I focus on what the interaction with the PC's will be.  Then, when they go off on a tangent, I have a reaction that is in-line with the NPC's/environment.  I also try to drop possible story arcs out there that the PC's can pick up and pursue.  If they aren't interested in that particular story arc, then I will either drop it, or I will turn it into background information that they will hear about.  My involvement with individual character backgrounds is kind of a seperate deal.  I will pick up elements for a character, mull them around and present them as a possibility that the PC can run with, or not.  It's just another opportunity in life and the PC can embrace or ignore it.  But, I try to have actions with consequences.  So, something the PC does today, might have repurcussions tomorrow, or next week, or next year.  I don't necessarily plot out how the PC will achieve long-term goals (Heck, I would be happy if all my players could give me pretty solid long-term goals), but I will plan the opportunities I will probably present that would help the PC on the road toward those goals.  As I said, the PC's may or may not seize that opportunity.  I do try to work with my players to keep things interesting and to keep the game moving where everyone is having a good time.  In many ways, I use improvisation as one of the tools toward achieving that.</blockquote>

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