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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mesh Hong" data-source="post: 5371622" data-attributes="member: 73463">I think your reaction to a “Random left turn” your players make probably defines what sort of DM you are and the sort if game you are running. Personally I think that some of the best stories are created by one or more characters doing something that is both perfectly reasonable, but also completely unforeseen (by the DM). My advice really would be to embrace it when it happens, and learn to improvise and follow the players lead. If you remind yourself that it is your players story as much as yours then you are already in the right frame of mind. Now just advising “improvise” is a lot easier to say than do. Like anything it is a skill that develops with experience. The key to good improvising is having a reasonable working knowledge of the world you are running, the broader your knowledge the more strands you have to draw on. Instinctively I would like to say that consistency is also important when improvising, but you would be amazed at what you can get away with. Again sometimes a few inconstancies (or even factual errors) can lead to a more interesting story! This is my basic advice list:- Have a working knowledge of the world/area the PCs are in- Have some generic threats appropriate for the region written up. This sort of resource is handy when developing an area anyway and should really be part of your world/adventure building process.- Remember to be open to the PCs goals. (be aware that it is a perfectly natural psychological response to try and stop the players getting side tracked or moving away from the story. Remind yourself of this so that you can remain impartial and concentrate on making the best of the situation rather than being negative about it!)- If all else fails (which means that you have messed up big time, don’t worry it happens to everyone) get out the giant plot crowbar. Invoke the greater power of coincidence to introduce an event/clue/NPC that gives the PCs an option to get back on mission (but remember that is your mission, not theirs), if your PCs refuse one or more of these giant plot crowbars then that means that they either are not interested in or do not understand your plot and it is time to go back to basics and change your plot, because changing your plot is easier than changing your players!</blockquote>

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