BSF
Explorer
Something to get the forum jumpstarted. 
Winging it! Whether you love it or hate it, every GM needs to do it at some point. Indeed, to some degree, you are expected to wing it. It might be some casual conversation with an NPC that goes ina completely different direction, or it could be your PCs abandoning all of your plans for the current session and striking out in a new direction. At some point though, you will need to make up some stuff on the fly. So how do you not only survive those times but excel at them?
Preparation
Yes, I know this is about winging it and that seems completely counterintuitive to preparation. But if you want to be successful while winging a session, you need to be prepared.
First of all, you want to create a GM's notebook. The full fledged contents of a GM's Notebook would be a great idea for a new thread (hint, hint) and we won't get into it here. Right here, we will focus on the important aspects of winging it that need to belong in your GM's notebook.
You can obviously add more to prepare even further. But these basics should carry you pretty far with your notebook.
Second of all you want to have good notes on the current plans of a few major NPCs. Keep in mind that your PCs do not need to be aware of who the NPCs are. These are the people that will be movers and shakers in the game. You need to know their plans and motivations so you can quickly and easily pick up any story and insert the PCs if you need to.
It doesn't matter how you keep your notes. But you do need to keep them! This is the type of thing that causes many GMs the most heartburn. When the PCs derail the story and go in an unexpected direction, the GM might not know how to react. Without your notes, your wining it becomes haphazard and pointless. Then your game starts to get mired in mud.
Know where your NPCs plans are moving, and have some basic prep materials in your GM notebook and you can carry a game for quite a while when the PCs do the unexpected.
Consistency
It is important to be consistent as a GM. Rule judgments are the obvious area to be consistent, but it is vitally important to be consistent when you start winging it. If the PCs head down a road, come to a crossroads where theives have been hung from the towering oak, you had better be sure the Oak is there the next time the PCs walk by. Oh, and you need to be sure the remains of the thieves are there as well.
If you don't maintain this consistency, the game will suffer. In a best case scenario, the players will be a little disappointed that they remember these details better than you do. In a worst case scenario, they will detect inconsistency as a clue to something. This is where your game will take an unexpected turn once again and you will end up winging it once again.
When you wing something new into the game, take a few minutes after the game to add to your notes so you remember it next time.
This is a decent start for the thread. I am interested in hearing what everyone else has to say on how you wing it successfully.
Winging it! Whether you love it or hate it, every GM needs to do it at some point. Indeed, to some degree, you are expected to wing it. It might be some casual conversation with an NPC that goes ina completely different direction, or it could be your PCs abandoning all of your plans for the current session and striking out in a new direction. At some point though, you will need to make up some stuff on the fly. So how do you not only survive those times but excel at them?
Preparation
Yes, I know this is about winging it and that seems completely counterintuitive to preparation. But if you want to be successful while winging a session, you need to be prepared.
First of all, you want to create a GM's notebook. The full fledged contents of a GM's Notebook would be a great idea for a new thread (hint, hint) and we won't get into it here. Right here, we will focus on the important aspects of winging it that need to belong in your GM's notebook.
- When you have time, drop in a couple of generic maps into your notebook. You will want a generic dungeon, maze, tower, keep, home, bar/tavern/inn and possibly an outdoor location. If you have time and resources, add more locations like ships, mines, etc. The point is that you want to have one generic location that you can whip out of your notebook and populate on the fly if you need to. If you ever need to use one of these, be sure to reload your generic location before the next session.
- Generic NPCs. Always have a couple of generic NPCs. If you like PDFs, I would suggest Everybody Else as a good PDF to pick up. (Note to self, add relevant links so people can click to find some of these things.) You will also want some names. A good name list so you can just pick one from the top, associate with your NPC and *bam* you have an NPC to work with.
- Generic location names. If you don't already have a rich depth of place names to call on, at least have some generic names. Heck, maybe the GMF should start another thread to come up with a three column location name generator. (Another hint - run with it!)
You can obviously add more to prepare even further. But these basics should carry you pretty far with your notebook.
Second of all you want to have good notes on the current plans of a few major NPCs. Keep in mind that your PCs do not need to be aware of who the NPCs are. These are the people that will be movers and shakers in the game. You need to know their plans and motivations so you can quickly and easily pick up any story and insert the PCs if you need to.
It doesn't matter how you keep your notes. But you do need to keep them! This is the type of thing that causes many GMs the most heartburn. When the PCs derail the story and go in an unexpected direction, the GM might not know how to react. Without your notes, your wining it becomes haphazard and pointless. Then your game starts to get mired in mud.
Know where your NPCs plans are moving, and have some basic prep materials in your GM notebook and you can carry a game for quite a while when the PCs do the unexpected.
Consistency
It is important to be consistent as a GM. Rule judgments are the obvious area to be consistent, but it is vitally important to be consistent when you start winging it. If the PCs head down a road, come to a crossroads where theives have been hung from the towering oak, you had better be sure the Oak is there the next time the PCs walk by. Oh, and you need to be sure the remains of the thieves are there as well.
If you don't maintain this consistency, the game will suffer. In a best case scenario, the players will be a little disappointed that they remember these details better than you do. In a worst case scenario, they will detect inconsistency as a clue to something. This is where your game will take an unexpected turn once again and you will end up winging it once again.
When you wing something new into the game, take a few minutes after the game to add to your notes so you remember it next time.
This is a decent start for the thread. I am interested in hearing what everyone else has to say on how you wing it successfully.
