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GrottoSteelKlaw
2020-01-16, 04:34 PM
So to get prepared for unforeseen consequences that happens when DM'ing, I was told to improv, pull from my mind, thing is my mind is usually empty, like tv static empty, nothing goes on and I usually think vocally or through text (which most of people who could be my players arn't too keen on, a text based game; and I can't be vocal being the DM's thoughts arn't supposed to be heard you know?)

Well I tried one time with a mock game and honestly it felt like pulling teeth with the players who where waiting for me to think of something.

Anyone have any tips on helping generate ideas for improv?
especially since I've wanted to do a sorta fly by the seat of your pants Adventure.

(Also forgive me for asking this so much but is there like a DM's crashcourse? or flowchart of if x then y, something to make things way simpler than I'm probably making them seem to be being I've long since lost any love or want for reading a DM's handbook.)

Cygnia
2020-01-16, 04:43 PM
We bought a copy of this last year that may come in handy: Improv For Gamers (https://www.amazon.com/Improv-Gamers-Karen-Twelves/dp/1613171544)

Is this a tabletop game or a forum game you're having trouble with?

GrottoSteelKlaw
2020-01-16, 04:55 PM
online, a roll 20 game.

Cygnia
2020-01-16, 05:08 PM
A couple tips then. Disclaimer: I am an improvisor. I'm trained and do it professionally. I also tend to improvise when I GM -- however, my game of choice is 7th Sea. I've yet to GM other systems.

1. Set up the platform. In a scene, you need to establish on your end the Who (your NPCs), the Where (where's it's taking place) and the What Are They Doing (always be doing something). This helps give the PCs something to react to. It also helps you get into character

2. "Yes, And...". You may have heard of "Yes, and" in improv.. Try not to say NO to your players. Build on what they're giving you. If you wanna be REALLY Evil, monkey-paw it. Caveat being, if your players being offensive no-selling murder-hobos, feel free to nip that in the bud.

MoiMagnus
2020-01-16, 05:38 PM
So to get prepared for unforeseen consequences that happens when DM'ing, I was told to improv, pull from my mind, thing is my mind is usually empty, like tv static empty, nothing goes on and I usually think vocally or through text

First, I'd like to differentiate "on-the-fly creation" and "improvisation".

When doing "on-the-fly creation", you're like when you're preparing your scenario / game session / ..., except that you're doing on-the-fly. This is the part where you need ideas. But this is also the part where you can get help from random-encounter-tables or flowcharts. Also use your PCs. The PCs have motivations and goals. There are some adventures the characters will willingly do when they are not under "end-of-the-world pressure". Do they want to become rich? Do they want to become renowned and/or reach some high grade/position? If your players essentially don't have characters, you can also ask your players to secretly give you two words/sentences describing a monster/place/treasure/character/... they want to be part of the session, and that you will try to make one of each player appears during the session.

When doing "improvisation", you're no longer at the back-seat thinking "what should I do next?". You're just doing stuff without thinking and unfolding what's happening. Improvisation essentially relies on "what your brain expect to happens" right now. It gets better with experience, but especially when you are a beginner DMs, it gets better when you have some ground to stand on:
1) You need to know what your relevant NPCs want. What motivate them. What stereotype they're associated to in your mind. You need to be able to answer to "Here is my friend Bob, he will join us for one session and just want to RP some NPCs -- he's actually and actor! Can you quickly sum them up to him so that he can interpret them, don't worry?"
2) When you prepare your session, on top of asking yourself "what happen if the PCs have the expected behaviour?", ask yourself "what would happen in-universe if the PCs just did nothing at all?"

Also, don't hesitate to make "cuts" and ellipses. Some scenes are just dead ends where you won't find anything to do.

Kraynic
2020-01-16, 06:25 PM
Just to expand on what Cygnia has said, knowing the environment the characters are operating in is everything. The better you know that, the easier it will be to come up with something "on the fly".

If you want to start running something totally your own, I would start with a small (very small) town. Figure out who the primary townsfolk are: smith, trader, tanner, etc. Decide what kind of law there is there, or at least who is likely to step in if something gets out of hand. Since this in Roll20, make a handout for each npc that you describe this way. Give them a portrait and a short description the players can read, including notes on quirks or family members. If you can give that character a quirk or 2, that might make them more real in your mind, which will help you present them well. If there are rivalries or dislike between certain people, make a note of that. You could even include a rumor or 2 about an npc (true or not). In the GM notes put any info that you think of on this character that the players won't know unless it comes out in play at some point, but things you might need to remember for things happening behind the scenes.

Now that you have that, you can think about what sorts of problems this batch of npcs can handle. What sorts of problems will they not notice the start of? What sorts of problems might they ask the player's characters to check into, because obviously the pcs are layabouts that need something to do (or whatever)? At this point, you have a working little community. Since you made them all, you will know (or have a good basis to guess) how they will react to different situations. You can apply this to anyone then. You don't need to know much about random bandit number 4, but doing something similar with the bandit leader would be good. How successful has this npc been? If fairly successful, has it been due to planning, number of followers, or just plain good luck? The answer to that last should help you shape how encounters with this batch of bandits goes, especially in their home camp/base/whatever. But that leader didn't just come from nowhere. Do you want there to be some sort of connection back to an npc in town, or maybe in the next town you expect your players to discover? After all, the "I'm going to get you because of what you did to cousin X" is a pretty basic story element right? Or maybe the bandit leader was a black sheep of the family and they are grateful for the pcs removing a family problem. Whatever seems more interesting.

I started a game over a year ago doing something like this. The "town" was primarily only 15 npcs, with a few faceless helpers and I think I ended up only giving names (no portraits) to 2 of those. There were outlaying farm/ranch operations that each had nearly as much population as the town for most of the year, and I just gave those a family name. Twice yearly the town swelled with traders coming up the river and prospectors and trappers coming down out of the mountains. This was the base that the characters operated out of for quite a while. The whole game started with the leader of the community asking the pcs to travel down the road and see if they could find a specific batch of traders in trouble along the road. While the local innkeep had some passable ale, anything fancier was imported and that was the missing trading company.

Basically what I am saying is to start small. Just going through this sort of thing for a specific batch of npcs is an exercise that will make creating any npcs later on easier. Even if it is someone you just thought of, and are now improvising them into the story. Create their handout later if they are important enough to warrant one. Pay attention to things the players say, because they outnumber you. They are likely to say things you can use later. Tweak their ideas a little and use them after a few weeks and they may not even recognize their own ideas coming back around. But if you know something is on the player's minds and it will fit somehow, try to use it.

Something else I would recommend is to make use of some of the features of Roll20. Some people on the Roll20 forums really disparage the rollable tables as being useless or too limited, but I have found them incredibly handy. For instance, I have put together a macro that spits out names. It does this by calling on a number of rollable tables. I have (over time) collected some pdfs of various random tables. Some of them deal with names in different languages. For each language, I have 3 rollable tables. 2 of them are for first names (male and female) and the third is for family names. I have tables for Greek, Roman, French, German, English, etc. There are 10 languages in all, as well as a name generator for "savage" (orc, goblin, etc.) names that uses a prefix, suffix, and another ending syllable for female names. There is also a rollable table for clan/tribe names and epithets (The Cruel, The Petulent, etc.). I don't have common names on there at all, since I think I can come up with Bob, Larry, and Sue all on my own. Most of the tables have over 80 possible results, meaning that I get very few repeats. This also means that I don't need to use my imagination for names. Just click the macro that is set up to whisper to gm, and no one knows I am using it but me. I have another one for general personality traits and yet another for pet peeves, likes, and dislikes.

Basically, in some things, you can trade preparation for imagination and your players will never know the difference. The more you create things, the easier it will become. Or maybe it won't. It may be you just aren't very good at improvising, and that is fine. I expect it will get easier the more you do. I have never run a published module (although that will change in a week or 2), so coming up with my own stuff is normal for me. If nothing else, I expect you will find there are ways to at least partly prepare for reacting to the unexpected.

Hopefully there is something useful in all that rambling. Good luck with your games!

Droid Tony
2020-01-17, 12:12 AM
The first big step is to get some Crunch. Online is really the best place. Even just a hour of searching will turn up a TON of pre made cruncy characters, monsters or even encounters. Save some, or print them out. Also look through any books you have and make notes.

Next, read and watch some fiction. Take notes if you must. Even just a single season of a single show or one novel is full of all sorts of things you can use. You need to do something or make something happen: just do that.


After that....take it slow, very SLOW.

Pro Tip: All you need do is engage or distract the players. Anything that will make them stop and think and talk. Anything to give you lots of time. If you know your players, you can push their buttons....or just go for the obvious ones.

Say the players wander into a cave and you need to improv quick. You say: " just inside the cave is a large closed wooden chest covered in spider webs". See, the players will stop and try and open the chest. Or make it more intresting: " Floating inside a circle of blue light is a closed chest". Oh, will they stop for that.

Of course, a basic monster attack always works too.....''you guys see three owlbears!"