Playing D&D without study or preparation.

[Agback]

You know, I think demanding "realism" for D&D is completely missing the point.

I agree, which is why I didn't demand realism. I only said that more realism would make the game easier for the GM to run without preparation. I didn't go on to consider whether that gain would be worth the cost you would have to pay to get it.

If you want more realism in your game, simply play another RPG.

I do, mostly. But sometimes I come to D&D for what it has to offer, which is rococco profusion of game detail.

Regards,


Agback

 

[Umbran]

I agree, which is why I didn't demand realism. I only said that more realism would make the game easier for the GM to run without preparation.

I'm not sure that it would, though. More realism does mean it's closer to the real world. But it also generally means more complex mechanics, because the real world is a complex place.

So, you save in terms of conceptual prep, yes. But you lose on the need for game-mechanics prep.

 

[pogre]

Tons of Prep

Rarely, I run on the fly. Usually it happens because an old friend is in town and everyone wants to get together at the last second and play. I agree with the other posts about good ideas for running a game on the fly.

My preferred method is to spend hours and hours creating a module-like adventure. Part of the enjoyment of DMing for me is to write the adventure out completely.

Writing the adventure is only half the battle for me - I like lots of props including players' handouts. I spend quite a bit of time on these handouts and other adventure add-ons.

I also usually paint a few extra minis I might need and create a dungeon room or two for some games. I use Hirst Art blocks to match with my master maze.

All of this prep work helps combine my hobbies of modeling, painting, writing, drawing, and playing D&D. We usually play once every other week, but I do have an off-season in the Fall (I coach HS Football) when I write out most of my adventures for the next campaign - or continuation of last season.

 

[ced1106]

My question is this: Can D&D be played without preparing before hand?

Just read a post by a publisher of "solo adventures", so I think it **can** be done with an adventure, but no one's really published such a thing yet. I've run a Tunnels and Trolls solo adventure for a friend, improvising here and there to improve it, and GURPS has an introductory solo adventure that it encourages players to run for their friends.


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[jester47]

I'm not sure that it would, though. More realism does mean it's closer to the real world. But it also generally means more complex mechanics, because the real world is a complex place.

So, you save in terms of conceptual prep, yes. But you lose on the need for game-mechanics prep.

What one has to keep in mind here is that realism is not what you are looking for. When most people say realism they mean believability. To site an old example, the dragon in the room that cant fit through the door. On the simplest level, this does not make any sense and is somewhat laughable. However, if a reason is presented for it (the dragon was asleep for five age categories because of a magic item and recently woke up and has been planning to leave) then it ceases to be absurd and becomes plausible.

Aaron.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I think what it boils down to is that running adventures without preparation is a skill - a skill that improves with practice. In the beginning, you might feel that you need to be prepared for every possibility - and perhaps you do.

But as you get used to GMing, you may try to invent some parts of the adventure on the fly. Try this as often as you feel confident for it. Do it especially when the PCs do something unexpected - if you can pull it off, you can feel good for a job well done, and the players will feel gratified that they have a lot of freedom in their PCs actions. Certainly, this is better than its opposite - railroading.

And with enough practice, you will feel confident enough to improvise more and more of your adventure, until almost everything is improvised. And that's - in my opinion, at least - the ideal situation: Your players won't feel unnecessarily constrained by the adventure, and you have to spend much less time actually preparing the adventure - time which you can use for thinking up new ideas for future adventure.

(And as for getting new ideas, I tend to read many books - both RPG books and others - about a wide range of subjects. And when I suddenly start laughing like Jinnai from El Hazard, I know I have a winner... )

 

[Fenes 2]

Winging it can greatly enhance a game with the right players. If the players ask if there is a fair in the next days because they want to use the cover of that crowds that will be drawn in by it to get close to an evil hideout, then you can invent it and go with that plan - after introducing other obstacles in the fair (f.e. a weapon ban for the duration).

 

[Nine Hands]

For me I am rarely, if ever truly prepared (in the sense that I have a full set of notes, complete NPCs, maps, etc). Generally the adventure is in my head and I just make up stuff as I go. Also, my gaming group's transporter (via teleport) has failed 3 teleport attempts in the last 2 or 3 months. He has gone to random cities, a drow temple, and botched the teleport (they took damage) but ended up in the correct location). Therefore I must be able to come up with things on the fly. I have about 10 different plot hooks dangling at a time, from demon infested weapons, to greater dieties trapped in a pocket dimension (using a member of the party to try to get out), to an attempt to revive Myth Drannor.

I will admit that higher level adventures are MUCH harder to run and I find myself attempting to prepare more now than I have ever done. But, vs. 2nd Edition, I can actually make a character in my head and be pretty close to correct.

IMO, the best way to improvise is to dream up some interesting encounters that you would like the group to have. Then write them up. Use them when you need them. When the group levels take the ones that you really like and balance them out for thier character level.

-John-

 

[Taren Nighteyes]

About 1 out of every ten gaming session do I do anything more than a 1 hour before game time prep.

I prefer not to run modules, or plan out a LARGE adventure. I found it leads to a bit of DM railroading, and I prefer to give characters the opportunity to choose their own adventures.

I do have political/world events thought out. But I do that while day-dreaming at work. Trying to come up with some devious plot twist that makes the players fret.




This is not to say I shouldn't spend more time preparing. But kids/work/etc make it hard.

Taren Nighteyes

 

[mmadsen]

What would make the game more playable "out of the box"?

I think there are a number of things that could make the game more playable "out of the box" -- some have been touched on; some haven't.

Umbran mentioned "a drastic enough simplification of the game to make it restrictive". That sounds awful, phrased like that, but a simpler set of core rules would certainly make more sense to new players -- and it's not as if they can't buy supplements later.

Agback made the excellent point that "in D&D so much depends on knowing details about features of the D&D game world" and that a more "realistic" world is easier to understand and gamemaster.

Of course, saying "realistic" in a D&D conversation summons all kinds of trouble, but he has a point. Once characters can ignore common soldiers, fly, teleport, read minds, divine truth, etc., it becomes much, much harder to plan an adventure. You'll notice that low-level adventure modules read more like common fantasy stories. High-level adventures read like pure D&D.

So we simplify the game a bit and we reserve the reality-bending magic for higher levels. That helps a bit. What else can we do? For all its many pages of advice, I don't think the DM's Guide lays out the typical adventure formula quite clearly enough. I'd like to see something as crystal clear as The Lester Dent Pulp Paper Master Fiction Plot. (Lester Dent wrote the Doc Savage stories.) Once you know what you're doing, you can drop the formula. A snippet:

Here's how it starts:

1. A DIFFERENT MURDER METHOD FOR VILLAIN TO USE
2. A DIFFERENT THING FOR VILLAIN TO BE SEEKING
3. A DIFFERENT LOCALE
4. A MENACE WHICH IS TO HANG LIKE A CLOUD OVER HERO

Everyone could also use certain locations mapped out, preferably full-size, as battle maps: a tavern, a tower, a keep, a monster den, etc.

Everyone could also use pregenerated stats for certain common monsters/enemies -- not just the 1st-level Goblin Warriors, but their 3rd-level Captain, the Wolf-Riders, etc.

What would you put in a Basic Set?