At this weekend’s D&D game (in which I’m a player), our group took the game in a completely unexpected direction right out of the gate — and our GM wound up improvising the entire session. Virtually nothing he had prepped wound up seeing the light of day, and he improvised like a champ.
While there’s nothing at all wrong with letting your players know that you’re winging it, it’s much more satisfying to pull it off so well that they have no idea you were improvising at all. And that’s what our GM, Sam, did: At the end of the night, when he told us he’d improvised the whole session, I was surprised — it was smooth, it felt planned and we had fun.
From a player’s perspective, Sam nailed his improv not just because he’s a good GM, but because he did these five specific things.
• Didn’t tell us he was winging it. Not a must, as noted, but more fun for everyone when it works. He didn’t miss a bit when making his wing it/don’t wing it decision.
• Bought time on the sly. As it happened, the kickoff for the session was an encounter that naturally led to us doing a bit of careful planning (just not the planning Sam expected). That gave Sam plenty of time to figure out what to do next without needing to do any stalling.
• Kept things simple. When you’re winging it, it’s best not to be too subtle, or to over-complicate things. Sam created a handful of fun scenes, and we never got bogged down in improv-cruft.
• Used his resources wisely. Apart from time, I’m willing to bet Sam’s laptop came in handy — my guess is that he was looking at monster stats and notes from past adventures while fleshing things out on the fly. That would have been a lot more obvious without the laptop.
• Delivered a kickass climax. The best improvised sessions end with a bang, and ours was a tough fight against a red dragon. For a party that’s fought mainly illithids, the dragon was also a nice change of pace.
When you’re a player, what do you look for in a well-improvised session? And as a GM, what tricks do you use to deliver this kind of experience?
Would it have been so bad if he had told you he was winging it?
Whenever I improv (which is pretty common in my adventures) I never let the players know. A lot of this is going to depend on the system that you are playing in. Playing a system that is rules lite will be easier to improv without letting your players know. Playing something that is rules heavy will require a lot more lookup time on the part of the Game Master, and it will be easier to tell that they are improving.
I think players might tend to be sympathetic to a GM when the person is knowingly improvising. I know I felt like doing it in the DND game I played in last. When the DM was at a loss for what to do next, and I knew it, I was less likely to try something different or out there because I didn’t want to make it any tougher on him.
Yes. A GM telling you they are winging it causes player anxiety and the feeling that you’ve screwed up somehow. Unless you operate from straight improv, never tell your players what you had prepped and what you made up on the spot.
I think the main key to good improv is simply knowing your setting very well. Like all creativity, you need a fertile ground to work with. The better things fit together in your head, the better your improvised ideas will fit with the overall picture.
Hell, pretty much all my sessions are largely improv – I may go in with an idea or two, but I almost never plan anything out in advance. It certainly has it’s pros and cons!
As a GM, the biggest trick I have in the book is to stop the game for a few minutes.
I usually have a good handle on the adventure and how things are supposed to shake out. When the players do something unexpected, I used to roll with it, only to smack my head afterwards as I thought of a better way to have improvised things to get them back on track.
For me, stopping the game means taking a bathroom break or grabbing some coffee or food. Just stepping away from the game for those few minutes is enough to clear my head and make the mental connections I need.
My second weapon is the subplot. My players usually have personal things going on, and when they take the game in a different direction a subplot is a good stalling tactic that can turn improvisation into next week’s prepared adventure.
My third weapon is pre-made stat blocks. I loved d20 Star Wars because of all the NPC stat blocks they gave me. It’s much easier to improvise encounters when you know you can pull stat blocks out of thin air.
My fourth weapon is villain reaction. If the PCs go off in an unplanned direction, they may get noticed. The villain may actively pursue them, leading to the scrapping of the original plan but constructing a new, fun one, especially if the villain wants to take them alive and bring them to his secret base.
I don’t play often, but when I do I don’t mind if the GM is improvising. If I know he’s floundering, I’ll often suggest courses of action that foster character development. Sometimes there’s nothing players like better than to take their PCs out for a night on the town 🙂
I don’t often run improv adventures. My group tends to pick up on hooks and stick with them. On the few occasions when they veered off on a tangent, I was able to run some fairly well improvised adventures. Having certain things prepped definitely makes improvising an easier task. I keep old maps and stat blocks on hand, just in case I need to come up with something quickly. I also keep NPC and treasure lists in easy access.
When I do improvise, I don’t like to tell my players. I’ve heard this is the case for others, and I think it would be the same for them. That is, if the material isn’t prepped ahead of time with their specific characters in mind, it somehow makes it less real for them.
I don’t have a problem with a GM telling me he was winging it afterwards. Nothing makes you worry that the next three hours are going to suck than doing something and seeing your GM pause and say “uuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” and bury his head in a book for five minutes.
It’s called a Bluff check, people. USE IT!!! 🙂
I thought it was pretty clear we were in improvised territory when a player put forth an idea (move the town) that caused Sam’s eyebrow to raise and a “Hummm” to escape. When we singularly pursued this avenue at the exclusion of the others it seemed logical that we were charting new territory.
However, when it came to the “hows” of executing this plan and our first destination “failed” (rather quickly I might add) and we were forced to use the second, it seemed like we were placed back on track by the DM.
It was well done either way, which speaks more to the improvisation skills of Sam. I wasn’t worried while sitting at the table and we started doing our thing.
When I normally DM, about 80% of a session will be improvised. I know what monsters I want to throw at them, sure, but everything else about a game will be fluid. I don’t use a screen or notes, aside from index cards with monster stats. It always brings great joy to hear of another DM use it sucessfully.
Because my only notes are statblocks, what I’ve found to be most effective while playing is actually not sitting at the table: having the group enclose the playing surface while I walk around them with a clipboard. My players have told me that hearing “The Voice of Fate” coming from up above them really helps them get into the game.
I’m with JasonA. I almost always improve my games. I have some NPCs with some Beliefs/goals and a few bangs to keep the players interested when things slow down. I generally start with a planned bang that kicks off the session then wing it from there.
–Victor
I have to disagree that it’s best to hide the improv. As a player, I have just as much fun participating in a game where I know that the GM has no set destination in mind. In fact, I’d rather play under (or be) a GM whose improv skills are a little clumsy than play under a GM who sticks rigidly to a prepared scenario.
The trick is the difference between skillful and clumsy improvisation. A GM who is able to smoothly move between prepared and improvised encounters, and keep it all straight, is great. One who stops frequently, stares off into space, or confuses which NPC is which isn’t.
Mike Kenyon, your idea intrigues me immensely… i think i may have to try that sometime…
(James Jeffers) Would it have been so bad if he had told you he was winging it?
Nope. Like I said in the post, telling your players you’re winging a session is just fine. I do think it’s generally less enjoyable, though, and from a GMing standpoint it’s certainly more fun to pull it off without sharing that little tidbit.
If Sam had told us he was going to wing the rest of the session, I’d probably have written a post about how that turned out instead. 😉
I always impro. But, generally speaking, if I have to refer to a game book when playing, the game is too heavy for me. (Burning Wheel being the big exception because it is so good.) I’m pretty open about this. Improing a lot is likely to make one better at it.