Preparing when you have no idea what the PCs will do

[Tav_Behemoth]

The Don't Prep Plots essay talks about a toolkit, and I think that's a great way to look at it. The tools a DM wants to have in there differ from person to person and game to game, but they all do the same thing: create adversity.

When the players know what they want to do, your job is to find ways to set up resistance that they have to overcome. When the players don't know what they want to do, your job is to dangle bait in front of them that'll lead them onto the hook of facing some kind of resistance.

Either way, having some elements that you can use to make things difficult for the players wherever they may go is invaluable. Some suggestions:

- Look at previous actions of the players and think about how they might create consequences that will come back to bite them. This could be bad stuff (people seeking revenge) or good; if there's someone the players saved or helped once before, that person could send a messenger saying that there's a reward waiting for them if they go to (place where you have a night's worth of trouble waiting whenever you need it).

- Have a couple of wandering monsters ready, by which I mean adversaries for which you've thought of a couple of different ways that they could come out of nowhere and disrupt a variety of different situations.

- Think about events that showcase cool aspects of your setting and could derail or complicate whatever the PCs are trying to do. This could be as drastic as "A terrible howling storm of acid and radiation lashes the land driving all into shelters where they must contend with cannibalistic madness.", or as innocuous as the arrival of a pilgrimage that brings with it a problem or plot hook when and where you need it.

- As others have said, have some NPCs plotting behind the scenes so that their plans can reach out and create entanglements for the players wherever.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

Yep, I put the responsibility onto the players to tell me what they want to do.

The first few sessions I introduce the players to the world, people & plots. They pick up on what they like. Then once they've finished something they tell me what they want to do next.

Of course I mix it all up. What they want to do and what they achieve might not be the same thing.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Mostly, I'm talking about when the PCs just finished everything up. Something like "OK, it's 11 o'clock and you just utterly destroyed your primary enemy, that whole situation is pretty much over with, let's call the session now," then you later realize you're not sure what they're going to do.

Certainly, I should've tied hooks/etc into future adventuring in what we were doing beforehand, but that doesn't mean I always manage to

In these situations you generally know a few given things about the current situation:

1) Where the PC's are. Knowing the starting location will give you an idea about where they could possibly go in a reasonable amount of time. Unless the party is super powerful and has access to instant travel nearly anywhere it should be easy to figure out how far they can travel in a session of play.

2) Loose ends. The villain may have been stopped but there might be situations connected that are still in play. Sometimes it might be as simple as returning to the town to inform those in charge about everything that has happened, dispose of/convert loot, etc. This is the perfect chance to provide the next opportunities.

3) The effects of the PC's actions. The recent actions of the adventuring party might have effects beyond the obvious ones. Some of these effects might trigger events that will become important later on. Some clues about these possible effects can be found at the beginning of the next session. Perhaps the big bad has a letter from a close relative that might want revenge?

I find it helpful in these types of situations to always have some simple unassigned adventure hooks on deck and ready for a party that is looking for something new to latch onto. Some prepared stock encounter statblocks of varied type help also. Once the players show some interest in doing something I start developing the situation in more detail. Always having at least one full gaming session worth of unassigned ready to improv material is a great start.