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<blockquote data-quote="Pielorinho" data-source="post: 448993" data-attributes="member: 259">I definitely do a worse job DMing when I don't prepare.I also like to experiment, though -- last night, I ran scenes out of order, gave my players funky NPCs to run during scenes in which their PCs weren't active -- and I absolutely can't do stuff like this without advance preparation.&nbsp; If I didn't have stats for the (homebrew monster) skinwalker version of the absent cleric PC to hand to the cleric's player, he couldn't have played the skinwalker when it suddenly turned on the party.&nbsp; If I didn't know the personalities and ritual sayings of the three guardians of Helibikamur, the Hyena's Hill, then I couldn't have instructed another player on how to handle it.If I prepare for a session, I can figure out weird and interesting NPC personalities, I can pace the clues that the players get, I can foreshadow.Players, of course, go in directions that I'm not expecting. And in the middle of the game, I get an idea for a cool scene.&nbsp; And that's where improv comes in.&nbsp; But improv and preparation are both essential for my running a good session -- if I slack on either front, the session suffers.Daniel</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Pielorinho, post: 448993, member: 259"] I definitely do a worse job DMing when I don't prepare. I also like to experiment, though -- last night, I ran scenes out of order, gave my players funky NPCs to run during scenes in which their PCs weren't active -- and I absolutely can't do stuff like this without advance preparation. If I didn't have stats for the (homebrew monster) skinwalker version of the absent cleric PC to hand to the cleric's player, he couldn't have played the skinwalker when it suddenly turned on the party. If I didn't know the personalities and ritual sayings of the three guardians of Helibikamur, the Hyena's Hill, then I couldn't have instructed another player on how to handle it. If I prepare for a session, I can figure out weird and interesting NPC personalities, I can pace the clues that the players get, I can foreshadow. Players, of course, go in directions that I'm not expecting. And in the middle of the game, I get an idea for a cool scene. And that's where improv comes in. But improv and preparation are both essential for my running a good session -- if I slack on either front, the session suffers. Daniel [/QUOTE]

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