The secrets of winging it

[Steverooo]

That's pretty cool... I might have to talk to the other Rat Bastard DMs, and see if we can come up with a similar list more geared toward D&D and other fantasy games.

My point was, that's already been done, I just have to rink it off the CD-ROM, and add the HTML... I think the version up on the web site is still almost perfectly usable, though, as it's just plot ideas. The only problems might be not knowing what a "Kafer" is (alien), or a "Night Stalker" (cat-like alien beast).

Examples:

1) Ambush: Somebody (or some group of somebodies) is in dire need of a good womping, to say the least...
Estimated Time Required: 5 minutes.
Other Development Required: Either the attackers or defenders, along with their means of transport (if any), their weapons, armor, and any other equipment affecting combat. A map of the terrain where the ambush will take place. Some tasks for determining who surprises who.
Notes: Maybe the PCs have been too cocky, and left some "unfinished business" with someone who hires a few Mercs (or some po'boy with an old hunting rifle who decides to take matters into his own hands). Maybe the PCs have had it too rough, and are out for revenge. Maybe the local Kafer problem is just acting up, again... or maybe the local drought has driven all of some hungry critter's prey out of its hunting territory.

2) Arson: Something's burning...
Estimated Time Required: One hour.
Other Development Required: A factory, home, ship, shop, store, or other likely target, complete with deck/floor plans. Type of building and the materials it's constructed out of (details of how it'll burn), locations and types of goods or cargo inside. Plans for the immediate vicinity of the building or ship (means of escape, etc).
Notes: Arsonists may be caught in their own blaze, by the police, or by the PCs (unless the PCs are the firebugs)!

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Absolutely. I haven't winged it in a long time, but we had a lot of fun in the past with it, when most of our adventures were written on the fly. It was very important to pay attention to the players and their reactions. Are they having fun? Where do they want to go?

A good city or location sourcebook with a good map is invaluable to winging it, in my opinion. Give them colorful locales and NPCs to interact with, and they'll make their own adventures.

Many of those adventures began with a simple, "you wake up to a bright and shining day in the city of Waterdeep. What do you do?"

The only advice I can give on winging it is to know your players and trust yourself.

 

[barsoomcore]

Stats are never a problem for me when winging it. Players don't see those stats, so I can easily make them up on the spot.

NAMES are the tough part. I keep sheets in my binder with dozens of names listed on them, one sheet for each linguistic group so that I can easily grab a name for any given locale. Names are tough not only because coming up with a random Hungarian (forex) full name isn't super-easy for me, but also because it's so visible to the party and has such a huge impact on their sense of verisimilitude.

I actually sometimes just say, "He tells you his name" when it's an NPC I don't want the party spending any time on. Everybody knows that if an NPC doesn't have a name, he's not important, and sometimes that helps to keep the story from going in the wrong direction.

But when I'm really winging it, I don't always know myself who's going to turn out to be important or not, and so having a stock of names goes a LONG way to convincing my players I had it planned all along.

 

[Joshua Randall]

One piece of advice Monte gave in his "winging column" that I think is particularly valuable related to spellcasters. Don't even bother with full spell lists or choose prepared spells. Remember that most combats last only a handful of rounds, so the spellcaster is likely to cast a half-dozen or fewer spells.

Just have him cast them something like: 1 or 2 from highest level slot, 2-3 from next highest slot, and if the fight is still going, maybe 1 more random spell.

You can use generic spells for generic opponents -- the players use fireball over and over, so why shouldn't the random enemy sorcerer do so? You can use specialty spells for opponents you want the PCs to remember, or just to make a fight more interesting -- like the aforementioned example of cloudkill.

If the enemy caster is particularly intelligent or well prepared, let him cast whatever spell would be most benenficial in that situation, and don't feel guilty about "cheating" -- assume the lich wizard with Int 25 would have known to prepare phase door, for example, instead of limited wish.

I guess what this comes down to is that you don't need to overprepare. You only need to "wing" what the party is going to interact with, not anything else.

 

[Pbartender]

NAMES are the tough part. I keep sheets in my binder with dozens of names listed on them, one sheet for each linguistic group so that I can easily grab a name for any given locale. Names are tough not only because coming up with a random Hungarian (forex) full name isn't super-easy for me, but also because it's so visible to the party and has such a huge impact on their sense of verisimilitude.

A TIP: Spam & Junk email folders are great places to mine random NPC names from. For example, today in my Spam Box I've got... Quire H. Wakened, Jerrica Delina, Aleski Boehmer, Pertre Sjogren, Joseph Wood, Gavin Young, Zala Caverly, Caleb Puckett, Cooper Bell, Miles Denny and Everard Mahone. And as Barsoomcore said, keep a list handy.

 

[EricNoah]

Stats are never a problem for me when winging it. Players don't see those stats, so I can easily make them up on the spot.

NAMES are the tough part. I keep sheets in my binder with dozens of names listed on them, one sheet for each linguistic group so that I can easily grab a name for any given locale. Names are tough not only because coming up with a random Hungarian (forex) full name isn't super-easy for me, but also because it's so visible to the party and has such a huge impact on their sense of verisimilitude.

I actually sometimes just say, "He tells you his name" when it's an NPC I don't want the party spending any time on. Everybody knows that if an NPC doesn't have a name, he's not important, and sometimes that helps to keep the story from going in the wrong direction.

But when I'm really winging it, I don't always know myself who's going to turn out to be important or not, and so having a stock of names goes a LONG way to convincing my players I had it planned all along.

Ah yes ... during a one-on-one Birthright campaign, where the PC was going to be traveling to different cities, I would always have handy a list of 10 male and 10 female names appropriate to the setting. The BR setting box actually had lists of names for the different ethnicities ... I should dig that out and have that handy, maybe. The hero builder's guide also had name lists. Maybe I'll scan/PDF that for myself to have on my laptop...

 

[Radiating Gnome]

My own methods for winging it involve mostly a mix of ideas already shared. For one thing, I create index cards for every NPC or creature my PCs encounter -- after years of gaming, I've got a library I can hit fast if I need to. Mind you, it's not organized very well, so that technique isn't always as satisfying as I might like . . .

I also prefer to feel like I can invent and improvise in the world on the fly -- and that means being comfortable in the setting -- which isn't necessarily the same thing as knowing the setting well, but it's pretty close. Knowing the setting well is one way to reach that comfort level, but it's not the only way.

Knowing your players and their characters also helps a LOT. Nothing helps a DM invent a new challenge on the fly like PCs with good, interesting backgrounds and some history in the world. I'm happiest when there are subplots or potential subplots for most or all of my players, and any encounter I need to fudge at the last minute can actually be a development in one of those subplots. You don't even need to have those subplot developments planned ahead -- just know the plots and where things stand, and when you need it they will be there.

Generic plot idea lists like Steveroo's are great, but I think it's easier to develop fast, creative ideas on the fly when those ideas can be personzlized, and they can relate to past PC behavior.

It doesn't even have to mean heavily involved PC character and background development. Keep a list of NPCs that the PCs have wronged in the past -- anyone who might have a grudge. When you're stuck for something to do, pull out the grude list and look for inspiration.

-rg

 

[kigmatzomat]

When winging NPCs be sure you know their motivations, both the why and the what. Why can be a heckuva lot more important when the players go on a tangent.

At one point I was about to have an NPC smite the party as part of an ambush but they confided in him that their next course of action was X, where X was exactly in line with his ultimate goals. The ambush was averted without the party's knowledge and the party now considers him somewhere between neutral and an ally. They never realized this happened and I see no reason to enlighten them. After all, he may yet need to smite them.

 

[Ruined]

For stats, I'm also a wholehearted supporter of NPC Designer. Previous to that, I used Jamis Buck's generator, and this is tons more advanced.

For the overall direction of the game, I leave it very open-ended to appease my sense of improv. I like it when the players suggest courses of action I'm not fully anticipating. It keeps it fresh and keeps my mind sharp. I stack the deck though, as I plan my overall sessions two or three in advance. I know the major hurdles they need to hit and I'm ready for them. This probably works best for my schedule of games - weeknight games averaging 3 hours per session. I also like to seed the campaign with lots of little details and objectives early so that during any potentially dull moments, I can pull out something interesting.

Generating names at the spur of the moment is one of my weak points. I think the spam method is great, although it may serve me better in Planescape or Modern than in standard fantasy.

 

[Cassandra]

Generating names at the spur of the moment is one of my weak points. I think the spam method is great, although it may serve me better in Planescape or Modern than in standard fantasy.

TTA found a great help to deal with this - the Deck O' Names. This is a print-and-cut deck of cards with syllables from common names that can be combined in different ways to make unusual names. These work for either fantasy or Modern, and are also good for futuristic names. These cards easy to use, and more than that they're fun! Not only are they a great GM tool for developing names on the fly, they are extremely useful for players who have trouble naming their characters. You can see the Deck O' Names at EN Game Store: http://shop.enworld.org/index.php?do=product&productid=1440&source=TTA-post