The Wizard of Oz School of DMing

[Sebastian Francis]

My wife just finished her first ever session of D&D. It was version 3.0, set in Greyhawk, and her character, which I pregened for her, was a 2nd level human fighter. It was a short session, about 1 1/2 hours, and in the session she rescued a halfling rogue/sorcerer from a cage some orcs had hung him up in (a la Val Kilmer in Willow--loved that scene, hated the movie), and together the two of them checked out this abandoned keep. In the keep they were attacked by five goblins, and my NPC (the halfling) got stuck with a spear by one of the goblins and dropped like a ton of bricks, though not before he got off a magic missile. Then my wife's character wiped out all five goblins, though she took some serious damage.

She gave the halfling rogue a healing potion she started the game with (I ruled that she could dribble it down his unconscious throat and thus revive him with 1d4 hit points) and now the two of them are going to explore the cellar of the keep. End of session.

She really enjoyed it, as she's been wanting to play D&D for ages but we've never gotten around to it, due to all the prep time involved.

Which brings me to the point of this post. In this awesome little session we had, I had NO STATS WHATSOEVER for either the halfling NPC or the goblin band. Everything was improvised, ad libbed, winged on the fly.

My wife didn't know, of course. Because players do not and cannot know the stats of monsters or NPCs.

Which got me thinking--why the *hell* am I busting my ass writing up countless stat sheets for various monsters and NPCs for my regular gaming group? They don't know one way or the other what those stats are. Why not use the Wizard of Oz approach--hide behind the curtain and put on a great show!

Obviously, you have to know what you're doing. A goblin can't have 50 hit points (except in extremely unusual circumstances, I suppose) and a mind flayer can't have giant bat wings. But if you know the game well enough, as I do, then I can't see a downside to creating an illusion for the players to enjoy.

Earlier I referred to the halfling NPC as a sorcerer/rogue. Is he? Who knows? He can cast a few spells, and I gave him a sneak attack, but he has no stats, no official skill ranks, nothing. All I have written down for him is "Telly the Quick, Halfling Sorcerer/Rogue". Everything else is improvised.

When the goblin stuck him with her spear (female goblin, dont'cha know) I decided "Poor Telly--he's now at -1 hp."

***

Now I can see where this fast-and-loose approach isn't for everybody. You have to know the rules pretty well, and be pretty quick on your feet to keep the illusion convincing. And I know that some DMs and players approach D&D as a wargame/board game/stat-and-number crunching game. For them, the enjoyment is in the accounting, rather than the role-playing. Which is cool.

But man, that ain't me. And I feel free! Wheeeee!

 

[sfedi]

Yeah, I know.

Some time ago I've run a session like that as well.
Everyone (including myself) enjoyed it very much.

But the problem of this approach, I've found, is that it leaves a lot of thing for you, as GM, to decide.
Sometimes it's nice to just set up a situation, have some rules, and let the players figure it out, without your intervention.
That gives the Players another feeling of freedom.

Not that you can't give that freedom when you wing it, it's just another kind.

 

[UltimaGabe]

Personally, I suck at coming up with stat blocks and maps and all of that. Whenever I sit down and try to do it, I never get anything done. There have been one or two times, however, where I completely ad-libbed everything, and it turned out very, very well. There was once or twice, however, where I ad-libbed it too, but it turned out horribly.

Basically, if it works for you, then go for it. Some situations call for a pre-written section of the adventure, and others are better off ad-libbed- just see how it works for you. And if you mess up, and the PCs get on your back about it, tell THEM to try.

 

[Nifft]

The difference between ad-libbing with and without a big set of rules that you totally understand on a deep level is the kind of intuition that you develop in knowing those rules well.

Knowing that two average blows, or one strong blow, will kill your typical goblin, is something that emerges from experience with the rules.

Having or not having lots of rules does not give you freedom. It's internalizing the rules that gives you the confidence to ad-lib, and the wisdom to adjudicate fairly.

-- N

 

[Tinker Gnome]

That is what I do with all of my NPCs, none of them have any statblocks or anything like that.

 

[Bloodstone Press]

I've done that a lot myself, mostly in 2e, though. I'm usually more prepared for games now than I was in the past.

 

[The_Gunslinger658]

Hi-

Ad-libbing is ok for lower level games, but when your character's start getting up there past 6th level, ad libbing wont work as well just because ya have to challenge your players with cool spell's, fighting situations and so on. Its kinda hard to ad lib a Rogue-Shadow dancer NPC.

Scott

 

[Crothian]

Welcome to the next level of DMing. It is not easy, and as the character get higher in level it becomes even more of a challenge to ad lib stats. But you are completely right about the time saving and the "freeness" it gives the DM. It is important to know the rules and be familiar with the PCs and the monsters you want to use. I'm glad your wife had fun; hopefully the enjoyment will continue.

 

[Crothian]

Hi-

Ad-libbing is ok for lower level games, but when your character's start getting up there past 6th level, ad libbing wont work as well just because ya have to challenge your players with cool spell's, fighting situations and so on. Its kinda hard to ad lib a Rogue-Shadow dancer NPC.

Scott

Actually it if you know the rules and what the NPCs should be able to do, it works quite well. As the characters get higher in level the ad mibbing just becoems more diffucult, it never becomes impossible.

And a good DM does not need "cool spells and fighting situations" to challenge his PCs.

 

[The Grackle]

I end up ad-libbing a lot b/c I'm FORCED to. The PCs always end up going in some unexpected direction or racing to the end of an adventure to the NPCs I haven't rolled up yet. I often end up using the stat blocks from past NPCs, but changing their appearance and personality.

Player: Weird. Another guy that uses a longsword and a torch?
Me: Uhhh... Yeah. It's a very common fighting style in this city.