Making S*it Up | Improv for Dungeon Masters | 5e Dungeons & Dragons
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- Опубликовано: 4 мар 2020
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Next up in our series on DM Fundamentals is wingin' it! How to improvise effectively as a Dungeon Master is such an important skill, and it's fun too! Here's how we do it and avoid getting in over our heads.
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Web DM ok guys your timing is impeccable I’m about to start a irl campaign and I was looking for a improv reference to draw inspiration from so thanks guys I mean it I know I always say thank you for videos and make it seem like I only appreciate the content you guys make which while I do truly enjoy your content I also appreciate other RUclips d and d content creators anyways thanks for the timely video also may I ask if there is any word on the next save or dice series?
Dude, Snow Crash is amazing. Never let your avatar interact with suspicious data files.
Maybe it's just me, but... I feel like Jim needs to let that 'stache crawl up the jawline to join some sideburns, and then let that bitch grow until it's bloody magnificent.
Join us as we tune in for another episode of "Who's Turn is it Anyway?"
Where the stats are made up and the crs don't matter
lol. Scenes from a vat! Wizard accidentally walks into a Barbarian Tavern.
""This next encounter is called 'Throwdown', it's for all four PC's with help from our wonderful assistant, Monty Haul!"
Next we move on to a game called Props. PCs, this is your prop to fight the next battle with.
The way Spell Components works is that the audience will call out a spell name and the PC will have to act out a Verbal, Somatic, or Material component appropriate to that spell.
The most remembered NPC that I spontaneously named was Smith Black, the black Blacksmith.
That you suck at the end of the beginning skit was so visceral
cameraman powers
I thought it was " You HACK!" but, same...
I once improvised while being DM and ended up naming an entire continent Chungamunga
There's a colony of Chwinga on my plane called Chungawunga.
"Chungamunga" is only what the ignorant characters could render in common. The 'real' name stems from a dead language and is pronounced Ch`eeUng-a-mauU!-gaa. Problem solved. :)
The primary people of the continent of Chungamunga are the Chumba Whumba, who are greatly skilled musicians- though the act of playing music is, in their language, called Tubthumping.
...and when they get knocked down, they get back up again.
After naming all the yuan-ti characters with unique Aztec names, there's one of them that's just named John. He's an abomination that has a snake with human arms poking out of his armpit.
"Just improv it. No wrong answers."
"Um... Panic."
Congratulations, as my improv teacher has told me, you somehow managed to find a wrong answer. That's impressive.
I call it the rectal extraction. I haven't always run D&D. When I was in the Army, it was anything from Rifts, to Nightbane, to D&D. I had a footlocker filled with my RPG books when we deployed, and I was the most popular guy around when we were in a REALLY crappy location somewhere in the real world. I often set up sessions to be episodic, and lots of side stuff, so if Kevin had guard duty or some other crappy detail, his character was off doing something mundane, so we could still get the action done. I had to start doing improv, because my players were very good at finding that +3 monkey wrench, and throwing it in the fire.Kind of like with the writing process, I found it was better to develop an outline, so I could stick to the bigger picture, even if what I had planned for the road to get there got tossed out the window.
Sounds like my little brother... He was a tech in the Navy for years (ET-5 when he finally left.) He wasn't attached to a ship very much, mostly he worked out of the yard in San Diego doing repairs, refits, and working on ships being built. He had a rotating gang of people that played, just a couple of regulars on station with him, but whomever had a ship in port and wanted to sit in was always welcome.
He kept copies of everyone's character sheets, too, and every former player is a potential NPC in his world. He's got three Marines in particular that get a lot of play that way, as a tribute... They didn't come back from deployments, so now they live on in his games as warrior-angels bringing orders, guidance, and aid to the party from the upper planes.
That's a helluva tribute.
@@Nathan_Talisien aww that's sweet. Those devil dogs are somewhere up in Heaven on duty for God.
@@Nathan_Talisien that’s awesome man. Thank you to your brother for his service, and for his tribute to our fallen brothers.
"narrative dodgeball" YES.
That last "You Suck" was glorious
As a DM with ADD, improving is sometimes easier than trying to remember what I had in mind in the first place. If you're worried your neurodevelopmental disorder might stop you from DMing, sometimes it can make things even more exciting and unexpected!
I was literally just thinking that having autism might pose a challenge. Thanks!!
@@user-nx5vl9wy4s honestly, autism helps if you're playing with friends
He had different facial hair in the intro, ad read, and actual video. Just spamming Minor illusion.
Disguise self actually. Minor Illusions don't move!
@@rileedavis397 nerd
Last time I was this early, I was able to actually play dnd.
I love it when we make our DM improvise. That ends up being the most memorable events. For instance, we were doing a side adventure in the Shivering Isles in the middle of Mad Mage, the DM planned for us to have to hunt down a ruler, convince the aides to help us, ruler escapes, have to find where they are get to them and finally kill them. It was going to be a two three session thing. Instead,the shapeshifting rogue goes invisible, assassinates the ruler, takes her shape and the job is done in five minutes of the group brainstorming. The DM was like, "Damn it!" Then when the session ended, the DM told us his original plan and everyone just lost it in laughter. We still bring it up to this day and laugh.
Used to do mad mountains of prep' for the game... couldn't run a module with less than five readings (read "Complete pouring over with note taking and fleshing out")... Because I knew how devious my Players were about "going off book"... Still there was no answer to keep within notes... they'd commit to endurance rampages of mental gymnastics to justify a trip right out of the Canon and find their own way back into a documented better position...
AND then I noticed the levels of scheming among themselves. I figured out they did it on purpose to drive the game "off book" for the improv'. AND my over-prep' ended... I dropped to a "broad strokes only covering bases" approach... It's almost no effort, and the game went to the next level... Now, I take ten times as many notes "in-game" as I construct in "out of game prep". ;o)
I'm a new DM, and my players went really out of left field one time when I wasnt prepared - I was honest and said "I /can/ roll some encounters for you guys, but I'm actually going to need some time for this. Should we keep going or end early?" My players were actually supportive and said they would prefer a quality, prepped session next time instead of meandering. I was terrified of brealing the illusion of DM prep, but they were understanding at how I was new and how much work goes into this role as DM. My players value RP a little over encounters so they were okay with it, but this is just to say that if you ARE caught unprepared or are new to improv, depending on your players I think it's okay to take a step back and check in with what the players want.
Now, if I need the players to slow down, I can lure them into RP with mysterious red-herring NPCs that helps them build their characters, even if it is with something like in-game truth or dare!
Off-shoot encounters for worldbuilding and character development is something I've learned works really well, makes me want to develop a table for all of them in various cities/wilderness environments.
Quick improv tip. When they go 'off script', look at the material you do have prepared and chose one element and examine a different aspect of it and improv that for the players. A couple examples are in order. So, you have an encounter with the captain of the guard planned. Where did he get his orders from? What goal is he/she trying to accomplish with those orders? Maybe the players instead of meeting the NPC at the appointed hour, first encounter while receiving orders at another location. Now they have the opportunity to know whatever information may have been imparted in your planned encounter, but presented in a different way. Second example, the players take the high road, and your troll ambush is on the low road. Maybe they run into skirmishers meant to scare/redirect the characters toward the 'real' ambush. Use a subset of the stats for the planned encounter and play it with theatre of the mind or simple wet erase marker on a game mat.
Third example using simple redirection (railroading), the dim dark dank swamp is on the road to the right and the sunshiny disney-esque fey creatures you decided are set dressing are to the left--and they go left. Well, that set dressing is now an illusion meant to lure the unwary, and the dark dank swamp really is left.
I like your attitude. Don't be afraid to be honest, and don't be afraid to flip your script. The most wonderful thing about a make believe game in a make believe world is that anything inconsistent, is a rumor, myth, or lie. Game - on !
As a fairly new still kinda floundering DM, the tips in this video have spoken to me greater than maybe any other you guys have done before.
I am so glad you all are here to help the whelps like me!
Thank you so much! So glad you're getting stuff you can really use from the video. That's what we try to do!
I am glad you are benefiting from WebDM! As a fellow new DM, I'd like to point you also in the direction of Matthew Colville's "Running The Game" series of videos. I learned a lot there too!
I'm a big fan of Matt too, but for some reason this video struck a real chord with me.
I second for Matt also. Web DM and Matt Colville as well as my long time friend and DM have been helping me develop DM skills.
@@smirk-in-progress4800 "Running the Game" got me started. I now got a year long campaing completed and gearing up to start DMing my 2nd!
I've found, in my more limited DM experience, the best way to approach a session is with an outline of A to B to C with lots of wiggle room between . Too detailed and rigid path from A to B makes the improv harder in my opinion. Give yourself a wide Lane to play in. Rather than "rails", it's more a bowling alley lane with bumpers on the sides 🤣
Yeah I do bullet points
I also make sure to never introduce or describe anything that isn’t gonna be used. And if they do, I always make sure to take notes of what they do and how I can fit in what preparation I had ready in response to their decisions.
+1 for Biker Jim.
Jim's +1 Stache of Biking
Maybe it's just me, but... I feel like Jim needs to let that 'stache crawl up the jawline to join some sideburns, and then let that bitch grow until it's bloody magnificent.
What’s that old saying ? Plans are useless but planning is everything
I think the line that Wentworth Miller had as Captain Cold in 'The Flash' perfectly encapsulates the job of the DM:
"Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails... Throw away the plan."
Jim looks so different with a shaved beard
Hulk Hogan.
AnEvilBastard you sure you wanna make that action, Brother?
Welcome to flavortown
It’s not Jim ... this one has lizard eyes
Jim’s beard was stolen and put on Pruitt!
Nat 20 on a sleight of hang for mr. Pruitt.
a 3 for Mr. Jim on perception 😀
18:00 I can only assume his name is Tyrannosaurus Hex.
I've only DMd one session so far, and I already understand that sometimes you just have to wing it. We got through my planned content fairly quickly
"I'm a dungeon master, nothing kinky"
[Van Darkholme intensifies]
Having a list of players names and trying to give each one a moment is a really cool idea.
I think there is definitely a difference between putting thought into your campaign and prep. I've found that if I prep too much then I start to railroad the PCs. However, I put a lot of thought into my campaign. It makes me feel prepared and gives me confidence, but doesn't make me so attached to my prep that that's the only ways the players can continue. My first experience in DnD had a DM who was new and railroaded us REALLY badly (several years later and he still does). It was fine when he was new, but I knew I didn't want to do that to my players.
Great video as always! One of my main tricks for DM improv is to plan what would happen if the PCs didn’t get involved, then adapt live as the players do their crazy shenanigans
I keep finding that the less prep I do, the better the sessions go.
Curse of Strahd, for instance. Previous session ended with the players deciding to enter the Bonegrinder, so I spent the whole week prepping this epic showdown with the hags. Next session opens with the players deciding to go straight to Vallaki, which I did NO prep for, and it ended up being our best session ever. I only remembered from the card reading that Richten had the Sun Sword hidden in his tiger cage, but that's all I needed to improv an unforgettable drinking match, and a heist that threw the whole city into chaos.
I think that extra time you would normally spend planning every meticulous detail would be better spent doing tangentially related research. Running an orc village? Instead of plotting out every orc's name and profession and attitude and the contents of the pockets spend that time studying orcs in other media, lore, societal structure, etc. Things that don't slot in perfectly but create a catalogue of ideas you can pull from in the moment.
Jim out here lookin like d&d John Goodman
This isn't 'Nam! There's a storyline!
I would give sooooo much for him to just pull a Walter from "The Big Lebowski" and start yelling...
"Shut up, Pruitt, you're out of your element!"
"You see this, Pruitt? This is what happens when you nat 1 a stranger in the @$$!"
"They crit'd on your rug, Pruitt. They crit'd on your rug."
"Pruitt, orc-kin is not the preferred nomenclature; it's half-orc."
:D
The secret to improv... have as many little details, twists, hooks, and non combat focused random tables written down weeks in advance.
Tables I drew up weeks beforehand have saved so many sessions where my players went completely off the plot.
as many as what citanuls? AS MANY AS WHAT??
Master list of 150 plot points/twists for writers... A lying gnome floats past in a hot air balloon
The secret to improv, be prepared.
@@Lunarimoths As many as the number of players at your table multiplied by the number of times each player has asked you the name of some random npc that doesn't matter and they'll never see again the second the social encounter ends.
In a world of "Yes, and.." be a "No, however"
Honestly, the willingness to say 'no' is such an important thing to build up. You'll probably find that once you're confident enough to say it you don't really need to anymore (egregious circumstances aside), but if you can't say no someone will run with it.
Love this mentality. I think the best is a mix of both. I've had players come up with ideas so creative that I've let them nearly break the rules just to see them happen. However, I've also had players come up with ideas that broke the rules so much I've had to say no, but were so creative that there was a however added as a compromise.
Say yes early on so no doesnt take the wind out of their sails as bad.
37:20 "I feel like we should do a whole show on DM advice" wait a second, I thought that was what most of this channel was?
i think he meant as a meta commentary on advice itself. maybe he'd discuss how to use advice, how to tell good advice from bad advice, where to get advice from, maybe debunk some common advice. he seems to have a lot of disdain for "pithy tips" and advice that's only surface level. for this entire episode they were dragging the constant "yes, and..." advice you often see on reddit, for example.
I've watched so many Web DM videos and I just want to say a big THANK YOU guys. You are truly doing Gygax's work.
Thank you!
A simple way to think about prep is; it's your job to come up with problems, it's their job to solve them. I generally try to avoid thinking too much about potential solutions because that cements those expectations in my mind or worse, I get attached to one of those solutions and be tempted to railroad the players into choosing that one. Once you boil it down to the idea that everything you should be preparing is just a problem, you start to realize how easy problems are to create.
Once you get experience enough you will walk the beautiful line of vaguely prepared notes in a rich world, and rely on your improve for 80% of the session. It really makes for lively sessions.
If you REALLY wanna wing it well - create your own world and take notes during the session. It's great
I'm a big fan of SlyFlourish's Lazy DM method - I ran a year long campaign structuring every session that way and it really empowers you to improv well by giving you a framework for your session but not something so structured that you can't deviate from it.
I'm currently working on my own method of modular planning by coming up with NPCs and adventures in advance that can be deployed whenever they're needed.
I was sick today And There were no New d&d videos. But now There are. Thanks very much
Feel better soon!
6:34 I just love Jim's _"Pulling things out of your... Imagination..."_
Going back to the roots of the game - Gygax, Arneson, and all that had a real love of tables. Random rollable tables. They're all over the older editions. Pretty much precisely because of these issues.
Your alternative as a new DM is the Hommlet approach (itself a launch point for low level D&D). Not just run Hommlet (although you can) but rather stick to a really small intimate cast of characters in an otherwise hostile world. This allows you to detail fewer NPC's and a smaller world over all - effectively Dark Souls follows this approach - in a world where so much is hostile and dangerous the like 10 people who aren't are shining lights even in the darkness (even if they're total assholes like Patches).
I almost exclusively improvise RPG sessions now. Started out writing each session after the events of the one before, using player interests to make homebrew enemies and magic items. Now I play an RPG system I designed for improv and rapid character + scenario creation. A few good questions that center play around the players' characters make the games fun.
Any chance you've published that system anywhere (even just a random blog)?
Also, any resources you can recommend for a rusty GM looking to rebuild her improv imagination that came so easily back in the day but feels like thick mud now in her thirties lol
I've run entire campaigns basically improving everything that happened. Once you get comfortable not knowing whats going to happen and just deciding on the spot its actually pretty easy. Though combat encounters can get a little swingy.
As long as the mob makes sense for the zone nobody will bat an eye. As long as your main campaign plot points can fit into the PCs actions somewhere then it’s golden.
Every other session of mine is improv, not because I don't prepare anything but because my players always find a way to do smething completely opposite to what I expect. It's still lots of fun though!
Jim Murphy has a few videos describing his "minimalist style". I tried it and it's honestly the best prep method I've ever found. Just take an hour every day during lunch break or whenever, and sketch down an adventure or dungeon. Throw it in a binder and that's it. Next time your players do something unexpected, just pull out one of these and you're golden. You might have to reskin some dungeons, but it's absolutely great because it helps you build up a ton of content.
I like the chaotic nature of improv. If you are improvising, it can be alright to throw in a tough encounter, because it makes the world feel more natural and chaotic if done well.
The keeping track of your players advice is all so true. Thank‘s a lot for this video.
Looking clean cut Jim!
I’m still preparing my first session ever as DM, having never played DnD. This vid really helped. Thank you.
This is why I'm subscribed guy's great video and it helps just hearing ideas as a DM.
Thank you!
I'm watching this while I procrastinate throwing together a session for tomorrow and the list idea alone is going to save me, thank you for publishing this video!
This video is EXACTLY what I've been waiting for! My party is preposterously unpredictable. I've been trying to work on having material prepped ahead of time that I can plug in wherever they end up, but when I sit down to prepare I never know where to start
I'm running dungeon of the mad rn, and loving it! It's my first time using a module, and my first time doing an old school dungeon crawl
Haha. I know the feeling. One of my PCs killed the caravan master they were working for in the first session. Mad scrambling and it became a fugitive scenario. Off the rails within one hour of starting 🤣
Oh yes! Didn't realize I needed this 'til now, but I ABSOLUTELY needed this.
Glad to help!
This is some of the best advice I have come across, and very helpful for the oneshot I will be running after work tomorrow 👏🏼 Thanks for this!
The 4 to 6 ideas to roll for with a short prep is Gold!
I like using the "mirror world" trick. Want to go right instead of left? Well, instead of a wintry expedition I've now prepared a desert trek!
I am very much an improv DM, my prep is usually very broad and applicable in almost any situation. I have bullet points of things and how my players get to those things are up to them or I can drop them in anywhere. As long as the foreshadowing and the overall narrative still ties back into the overall campaign, I don’t lose much. The most important thing for me to have ready is names and monsters befitting possible locations. I also never introduce something to my players that I don’t intend on using. Goblins, bears, gnolls, giants, and skeletons are my go to general monsters for any area.
I love the outtakes.
Thanks for sharing, I really appreciate it.
"The DM Inside you" By J Dahlmer
HE was tasty.
This video is pretty much *exactly* what I learned I needed when I tried to improv a session xD. I need to know how my world functions and how the key players (BBEG, minions, NPC allies, etc.) in it function and only *then* would I feel ready to "improv" when my players enter my sandbox world (rails are for brief tours, not for-ever heh)
I like to have some index cards with premade NPCs, encounters and ideas. Also, if they are in a dungeon or cave, I lean towards having it be more like a flow chart, so if they go left, they run into this, if they go right, they run into that. If they do neither, they run into the other thing.
The advice in this video seems particularly useful. Thanks, guys!
Ive had one instance where the group was confronted by a gargantuan dragon with her baby, which the group previously saved/released from an underground cavern where it was trapped, kidnapped by goblins in the goblin city, and the mother was pissed, but happy that they saved her child, so they pointed her in the way of the goblin city so she could go burn it down, and she did as they found out later when the goblin mayor and some of his goons who survived, came after them and hunted them down halfway across the country for revenge.
My last campaign was running well until we started having some scheduling conflicts and such. I had a lot of notes on the world and thought I was far more prepared, but sometimes the build-up pay-off doesn't work when you skip a couple weeks and so I had to improv a side story. One unfortunate time, I worked out everything that was going into a dungeon but then I got the message that we weren't meeting up and decided to build the map later only to forget that I didn't make the map and so I had to improv a maze for them to go through
These videos help me sm I’m working on my second campaign as a DM thanx guys
I like the idea of having characters on standby that don't necessarily pertain to the task at hand, but whose presence can further larger campaign story threads. If one or more of your PCs are wanted by the law, have groups of bounty hunters that stumble upon the party. If you've got a Big Bad, have their minions stalk the land; let the party have an encounter with your campaign's version of the Ring Wraiths (though not necessarily a fight). It could be as simple as having a wandering merchant, with a bulging backpack full of wares, that the party keeps running into.
I improv the vast majority of all but 1 game I've run. My only non-improved game was Strahd and it felt clunky to me the whole time I was running it... Players still had fun. I always go into a game with a few ideas in case the players run out of things they want to do but that is my approach. "what do you do" is how I run. It generally works well and goes smoothly.
God I love their intro skits 😂❤️ keep it up guys....you’ve taught me sooooo much and love y’all 🤗
That last point about DM tips being unnecessary to many of the smaller aspects of DMing was probably the most salient point in the video. Jim has transcended DM tips and reached DM nirvana: “Just talk to your players and ask them what they want. And have a little something for yourself.”
How’s oneness with the game feel, Jim? Does it tingle a little?
I think a lot of people who try to just wing it forget that the DMs who can do that effectively have actually put in many, many hours of practice before they get to that skill level. Nobody runs a great game with no prep, but some people have been prepping for a long long time.
The sort of improv at our table has really happened around random encounters that eventually inform the greater campaign. One of our first was a Minotaur ambushing the party on a forest road, which changed a big part of that campaign’s story and forced it to be more of a living thing. It also would give us a Pseudodragon named Tuaca and a Kobold named Trogdorf. And, most recently, it lead to a certain NPC getting a pair of displacer beast allies.
You can’t just whip out a handle bar moustache without explanation and warning! Looks great.
Another great video! I have a suggestion for your next video. I recently tried to run a "Chase" encounter for my PC's, after reading the PHB and the DMG of course, but I felt like I could've done it way better but not sure how. This might not be enough to make an entire video, so you could cover all "Movement types of encounters".
You guys rock! Keep killing it!!!!
Prepping a bunch of little plug-and-play pieces can be a lifesaver.
Sometimes players follow the plan. Sometimes they choose to go in the opposite direction of the current quest and steal a fire giants beard.
What a glorious fustercluck of a session.
I'm watching this again because I'm running a game this month using the Plot Points optional rules from the dm guide. I am a railroady DM who has ever session set up and planned out and I'm hoping Option 1 and Option 2 break me out of that since now my players have the ability to just say, "Yes there is a Troll coming right for us, BUT..."
Jim "Hogan" Davis in the RIIIIIIIIING!
Macho Madness has more to offer than DM-Mania!!
One of my groups favorite "reoccurring" NPCs is the Concierge of a high class hotel chain that is actually a series of Warforged that all look/sound the same. The idea started when the DM gave the first one we met a funny voice and the group came up with the idea that it would be funny if the guys strangeness was because he was a warforged, then we met the second one a few sessions later. Another session the group was trying to escape from a prison that had been taken over by the inmates with a cult forming around one, and to get out of combat with a group of the inmates we just pretended to be apart of the cult, the DM just made us roll persuasion, we passed, and got away without having to fight.
If your players do something completely off the wall that might break your game but is not completely impractical.out of character, there is nothing wrong with saying to a group. "I didn't expect you guys to do that, can we take a quick coffee/smoke break". Using that 5-10 minutes to think through the implications is always better than saying "No you can't do X" or just half-arsing a response.
Great show, guys...
There's another side-effect of GM prep' that gets complained about a lot... It's the "over-prepping" GM who ends up tossing stuff because his Players don't engage with everything in his adventure or Campaign... THIS is exactly why I very rarely toss anything... If they wander "off book" I at least have a resource handy from "old unused notes" for some inspiration... Often it's a perfectly good fit to "just stick in the game" and run wherever it takes us.
You are right, though. Improv' only gets better with practice. It takes a critical mind to go back and note where your weak points are, learn not to be scared sh*tless of the word "no" (with or without suffixial support), and accept that you don't have to "land everything" you toss into a Game Session. Taking notes prolifically in-game is also key, or you'll forget how many times you've sent bad-guys to kidnap one PC's family members to the neglect of even threatening someone else's. Personally, threatening and kidnapping "relative NPC's" tends to smack "weak" to me, and it threatens the PC-GM trust... SO not "completely evil" but best used very sparingly.
Finally, even as the GM, it's highly underrated how important it is to LISTEN and allow "Table Chatter". There's no better way to really understand your Players, and what they'll happily engage in... SOOOOoooo much work saved that way. ;o)
Jim’s example of a short list of plot points is how I DM. I like having three to five of these, and then I focus on preparing monsters, names, and maps. That’s it! Let your players fill in the gaps. If they are good they will follow plot hooks as long as you make those obvious
One of my biggest worries as a DM is not having enough information for my players questions. The other day my players were asking questions about their air ship that can also travel through space, these questions were all about whether if space is a vacuum or if they can breath and if not does the ship give us air by having its own atmosphere and things like this. I had an idea but it was not in depth and as I was thinking I felt like I had failed them. It was very obvious that my mind was blown and they told me not worry about it as it is a fantasy world and we don't need to make a science out of the world. Yet, the whole foundation of my world was to make the laws of the world scientific. After that session I kind of realized that I put myself in a creative corner where I feel that I have to have an in depth expiation on everything that happens. I almost feel that there is a 'Mercer' expectation to my campaign. If my game is not like critical role, then it is not good at all.
There are pretty much two ways to prepare for D&D improv:
1. Experience playing with a particular group, or various groups.
2. Understand how your players think, and knowing them get ready.
The only other ways you could prepare for the unpreparable is, ironically, to prepare random make shift side stories for every location they can possibly explore. Sure in your original story you planned that mine shaft to be a simple setting where some miners were going to go on strike, but now that they want to prematurely explore it (and there hasn't been any real action), it now will be a setting for Goblins who've taken the local mining town hostage, and you need to save them. Now incorporate this in to the entire story, and see where it takes them.
Ultimately it's important to remember that the point of D&D is for EVERYONE to have as much fun as possible (assuming some try hard isn't going rogue and ruining the experience for the rest of the players). If you can't make D&D fun, then you're doing it wrong.
The cold opens are always top notch.
This is every session I have! Improved plot and the party ignoring my plot lines.
All I wrote down was, Ignatious Firehead. I rolled and landed on it. I told the players they hear someone screaming over the hill. I had no idea what I was going to do, but because of player input amd reaction I made it into a cursed jinn that they just needed to give a drink of water to. He's going to make a return for sure.
Snow Crash is a great recommendation. My favorite novel as well.
A tip. If u have to say no to a player decision, especially a badass or creative one, give them inspiration for it. While u don’t get to go through with your idea the fact you get rewarded for your creativity is kinda awesome to keep the spirit up.
Honestly, this video is just what I need to hear! Thank you :)
Glad to help!
Love your guys's show, would you be able to do a full episode on osrs and new ttrpgs callbacks to 1st edition style gaming?
Thats a pretty good idea, they have talked about it on the show before like in the Random Encounter episode where they brought up that OSR has really perfected the art of interesting random encounters, but a whole episode talking about why a group would choose to play in an OSR game over a 5th edition game could be interesting
We are working out the best way to do that.
In high school when I was first playing AD&D, we almost never prepared for a gaming session. One person would offer to DM, and they would spend about an hour thinking up an adventure. Then we would play for 4 - 8 hours depending on our availability as a one shot adventure. We obviously never experienced campaign play, so we missed out on that. And the quality of the plots were pretty low. But it also helped us practice improving to a greater degree, so that now I feel fairly confident improving a situation when it comes up. If you mostly plan sessions ahead of time, you should try throwing together some adventures on the spot to force yourself to improv, and you can find out how that works with the play styles of everyone involved. Future games where improving comes up will thank you for it.
I have been a Dungeon Master for 46 years (Yes I was 7 when I started in 1974) and I couldn't disagree with you guys more about hitting a wall eventually. I ran an unscripted improvisational Campaign that lasted for 5 years, that eventually became the bases of my homebrew world that my players still reside in to this day, it's what I refer to as "organic world building". A skilled storyteller can accomplish this feat, I did, and I can't be the only DM that has been successful doing so.
I loved the intro!
You mean that improve is not the only way to DM?
You should always try to improve
That’s all I do. It’s gone fine so far...
The structures mentioned at 34:00 is what I want most to hear you guys breakdown! Tools for use behind the screen.
I float like lead on the river of life.
I have a world set up in which all the key points have been s ripted, and then the prep gets less and less specific as it goes out. I was prepared to avoid derailing at all costs, but so far it has been good
If I’m unprepared, no one knows until it’s over.
There's a big difference between "Improving A Situation/Character", and "Not Preparing At All".
I like to write out a page or two of dialogue, actual quotes that a new NPC would sound like in conversation, like in comics about Captain America you expect a certain type of dialogue coming from Cap. He shouldn't sound like Spider-Man or Hulk. Make your NPCs talk like themselves.
Also, I have spent countless hours watching TV and movies and can pull out any number of small bits of information from the dim recesses of my memory; characters, places, motivations, etc. I don't write these down as they are stuck in my head because it's old info, and my short-term memory needs help.
The correct answer, is the one that reflects your gut honest reaction when you think about the fictional world. Sometimes that means shit just happens. Sometimes it means saying no. Often, it means saying sure - and then trying to figure out why later on.
Love the show's brief existential crisis there at the end.
Jim's rocking the Hulk Hogan, I see.
When it comes to "Yes and", while its important to say no sometimes, its also important to keep track of who you say no to. If one or two players always get a "no" or a "yes" consistently, you might need to check in with those "no"s, or at least jot them down to think about. They might be a player letting you know that they are dissatisfied with how things are going, or an indicator that you're accidentally playing favorites.
Thanks for another great episode. I don't what what I expected from the video but I'm happy that the information you shared was essentially "you have to prep to improv, you can't avoid hard work if you want success." It's simple and obvious advice that still sometimes needs to be said even if you already know the answer yourself. However it's not just that advice, you offer some tips for what to actually prepare and practice for which is very helpful. I know you both are kind of unfamiliar with playing on digital tabletops but I'd really appreciate some advice if you have any on how to get the most bang for your buck in that environment in terms of prep time. I hand draw my maps by digitally painting them before hand and I find I have to make assets that I use later for improvisation. Some examples include a burrowing hole that I can drop in and make visible whenever I want to start an encounter. Or sometimes adding a trap, or having a folder of ready but unplaced NPCs.
It just feels a little bit more difficult than at the table though because it's very obvious when I'm improvising maps and other stuff like that because I just don't have anything actually prepared and I have to draw very basic chalkboard style sketches during play because I'm just like "sorry guys there's no map." Sometimes I make the mistake of re-using a generic map without changing it up a bit and then they know "wait a second we've been here before, this is where we fought those one guys." It takes a lot of effort and time and I'm just always looking for tips.
There are ways to do it! Dungeon Fog is our sponsor of ours for the rest of the year and they've got some great ones ready to go that you can use on VTTs .