D&D General Zero-Prep D&D Game?

[overgeeked]

Which is why I didn’t say improvising requires planning, I said it’s making and executing a plan simultaneously. If you didn’t have a plan you would be acting randomly. Good improvisation does follow a plan, it’s just a plan made up as you go.

Ah. You’re using “plan” in a non-standard way. Got it.

 

[overgeeked]

While there's probably a difference between "Prep to improvise" and "prep what you don't feel comfortable improvising at the table," they do seem very similar in spirit, and I have no quibbles.

What distinction do you see between the two?

 

[prabe]

What distinction do you see between the two?

The distinction I see--and I'm not looking to fight about this--is that "Prep to Improvise" seems to me to imply that you're doing your prep with the idea it will be the foundation of your improvisation (which seems pretty close to exactly right for improv theater); whereas "Prep what you don't feel comfortable improvising at the table" feels to carry more the idea that what you improvise won't be, might not even be related to, what you prep.

For example, in prepping for the session I ran last Friday (session one of a new campaign, but that might not matter all that much--though I do prep campaign starts more than just about anything else) I worked out like twenty names, complete with Lineages (ToV-speak for ancestries or species) but no other personalities. If I'd needed an NPC I'd have grabbed that name and Lineage and just dropped it in as the kind of NPC I needed, if that makes sense. Those names were just names, and it turned out I didn't use any of them, and I improvised a lot of other stuff not related to those NPC names at all.

 

[overgeeked]

and I'm not looking to fight about this

No, of course not. I'm honestly just curious.

(which seems pretty close to exactly right for improv theater);

That's not my experience with improv comedy at all. Are you making a distinction between improv comedy and improv theater?

is that "Prep to Improvise" seems to me to imply that you're doing your prep with the idea it will be the foundation of your improvisation whereas "Prep what you don't feel comfortable improvising at the table" feels to carry more the idea that what you improvise won't be, might not even be related to, what you prep.

For example, in prepping for the session I ran last Friday (session one of a new campaign, but that might not matter all that much--though I do prep campaign starts more than just about anything else) I worked out like twenty names, complete with Lineages (ToV-speak for ancestries or species) but no other personalities. If I'd needed an NPC I'd have grabbed that name and Lineage and just dropped it in as the kind of NPC I needed, if that makes sense. Those names were just names, and it turned out I didn't use any of them, and I improvised a lot of other stuff not related to those NPC names at all.

Yeah, I'm not seeing a distinction that makes a difference here. They strike me as two ways of saying the same thing. As I said above, I'm terrible with names, so I make lists of names to use. But I'll still improv the interactions. I need the names beforehand (the prep) so that I can comfortably run any social situation (the improv). To me that's the epitome of "prep to improvise" but it's what you're calling "prep what you don't feel comfortable improvising at the table." But cool. Thanks for the answer.

 

[Charlaquin]

Ah. You’re using “plan” in a non-standard way. Got it.

I mean... “an intention or decision about what one is going to do” is a very standard definition of plan…

 

[prabe]

No, of course not. I'm honestly just curious.

I figured, but sometimes disagreements metastasize. Didn't want that to happen.

That's not my experience with improv comedy at all. Are you making a distinction between improv comedy and improv theater?

Well, comedy isn't the only kind of improv theater, the only distinction I was making was going for the broader category. It certainly seems as though if you have the idea for the thing you're going to riff on, you can improvise on/around that: It'd be sorta like a musician improvising in a key--which might be closer to my thinking, here, in that you might plan, say, to improvise in a key, or over a specific chord progression, which would definitely be deciding on at least some things plausibly well before the moment of improvisation. Improvising without knowing a key or progression would be a very different thing.

Yeah, I'm not seeing a distinction that makes a difference here. They strike me as two ways of saying the same thing. As I said above, I'm terrible with names, so I make lists of names to use. But I'll still improv the interactions. I need the names beforehand (the prep) so that I can comfortably run any social situation (the improv). To me that's the epitome of "prep to improvise" but it's what you're calling "prep what you don't feel comfortable improvising at the table." But cool. Thanks for the answer.

I picked names because working through my Random Lineage tables and finding names takes some time, and I don't want to interrupt any flow taht might be happening. I can work out names just fine, sometimes even in the moment, but why not write up the list?

I think we're probably understanding/reading "Prep to improvise" differently, which seems probably fine. Happy to answer good-faith questions in good faith.

 

[AnotherGuy]

One can zero-prep using material one is familiar with (published or otherwise).
For instance it's very easy for me to start a session in towns and cities of published settings where I have a decent amount knowledge of.

What I'd also dig into are the characters: Who they are? Their bonds, desires, their ideals and flaws? And be able to quickly build content for the session from there.

So I have a starting base (settlement), I have NPCs (settlement + PC backgrounds), I have goals (PC desires) and then I borrow, from memory, any of the myriad modules and adventure paths I have run over the years. Manipulating the fiction to suit the needs of the specific party.

Tables are extremely useful for ideas and to take the story in unexpected directions.

In 5e the higher the starting tier adds complexity.
It shouldn't be too difficult if you're a forever DM.