The other day I posted a link to the blog that I wrote
about my first experience with Dungeon World to the
Google community and in response I was asked about my methods
for improvisational GMing. As my response got longer it seemed like it might be
easier just to blog about it.
First, let me say that I don't claim to be any kind of
expert on the subject. I'm absolutely certain that there are others who do it
better than I do. Nor is it the only way that I GM. For me it's all
situational. If I have the time to do prep, I usually do, and my games are
generally better for it. Right now however I have work and school and four kids
at home. That kind of time is precious, and very rare.
That said, even when I have plenty of time I've never
been into super heavy prep. I think that games run best when they incorporate
the ideas and plot seeds woven by the players, and too much prep makes that
harder to weave in. In general my prep revolves around world building and
finding ways to fit the character in to what is going on around them, to mix
their ideas with my own.
All of that aside, that's not what this post is supposed
to be about. It's about how I improv without any prep in general, what
techniques I used in my Dungeon World one-shot in particular, and what kind of
tools the game gave me that I used to generate setting in play specifically.
Let's start with general tips.
The very first thing I like to know about a game is: Who
is the bad guy, what do they want, and what will they do to get it. I ask
myself these three questions first any time I start thinking about a game,
regardless of how much prep time I have. If I have those three questions
answered, I have what I need to play. From here, I simply play the bad guy like
my PCs might run their characters. They don't get screen time of course, but I
work from the assumption the bad guys are going to get what they want unless
the PCs intervene, and then rely on the players to come up with a plan for how
they intend to spoil things. Once that happens the bad guy reacts to the new
circumstances, and the cycle begins anew until the PCs eventually win. That's
very simplified of course, but it works very well.
Of course, for that to help you already need to have some
sort of inspiration.
And by inspiration I mean, of course, a willingness to
steal good ideas. Bonus points for stealing them from the players, but any
source of media will do. In my actual play I mentioned that the government was
called the Federation, that it had outlawed magic, and implied that it would be
a major long-term threat within the setting. Every bit of that was ripped whole
cloth out of the Heritage of Shannara series by Terry Brooks, which I am in the
process of re-reading. I needed a villain, and it was what came into my mind so
I grabbed it. You don't have to be that obvious and direct, but there's no rule
saying you can't be. A long time ago I ran a two year campaign of DnD 2nd
edition where the players had to gather pieces of a mysterious artifact that
would expel the demons who had been invading their world that was inspired by a
cartoon called The Pirates of Darkwater and no one ever noticed. The key is to
make a choice quickly, move on, and be willing to adjust it later as needed. As
long as the game keeps moving few people are going to second guess where your
inspiration comes from so long as you don't use obviously stolen names.
As for making choices quickly and moving on, that can be
the real hard part. For that I recommend that you find some excuse to give
yourself a breather when you need it. Time only passes when everyone is sitting
there staring at you, waiting for you to say something. Very few groups need
much of an excuse to take a short break, get a drink, and tell a few bad jokes,
and so long as you're not in 'game time', no one even notices if 5 or 10
minutes pass. Give yourself what time you need, move away from the table and
out of range of whatever questions people might be asking. Allow yourself a
quiet moment to just think without being responsible for anyone else's
entertainment. I like to grab a drink and step outside for a little fresh air,
but sometimes it's easier to make a quick trip to the bathroom if you don't
want anyone following you or trying to talk to you (which you really don't if
you need to think). Worst case you can always just tell them why you need a
second and excuse yourself. Players get it that you sometimes need to process.
The real key here is to do it sooner rather than later. Don't wait until you're
stumped or you run the risk of creative block from frustration. Take a break
right after characters are all together or right after the initial action to
put at least the outline of what you think is going to happen together in your
mind.
Next, think of a couple of generic openings. The kind of
things you see in movies that aren't really related to the story at hand, but
introduce the protagonist. James Bond movies are great at this. A lot of times
the movies start at the end of his last assignment, just to show off what a badass
he is. Personally I like to start with action. This serves a huge number of
functions: It helps the group to learn the system, introduces all of the
characters, let's them stat to gel as a team from the very beginning, and shows
you as the GM how they interact with one another. Also, it buys you time. For
most systems an opening combat is low enough impact that you can start to link
character histories, and think about who that bad guy should be. Do they look
like they are enjoying beating these guys up? Are they making up good reasons
why they're in this fight? Ask them. If they are, then maybe these bad guys are
related to the larger plot. If they're not, move on to something that hooks
them better and just treat this one as a warm up.
Speaking of asking them, don't try and do it all
yourself. Got a detail you don't know or care about? Ask someone. I recommend a
single player, rather than the group at large. Point to somebody and say
"Why are these guys trying to kill you?" This is not a time for
discussion. If they hesitate, or don't seem to have something quickly, point to
someone else. If it's weak, have another player expand on it. "We stole
something from them," should be followed up with: "What did you
steal, and why?" Spread it around the table though, the game shouldn't be
any one player's story, not even your own. If it is a player asking a question
("Does the Federation have somewhere they could keep a prisoner in
town?") let them answer it themselves ("I don't know, you tell
me."). They're obviously the ones most interested in the answer.
Finally, keep notes. I'm all about running games with
little or no prep beforehand, but you really need to write things down
afterwards. It doesn't have to be anything big or extensive, but at least
enough to give you an idea of what happened and any important names that you
should be remembering. It's ok to come up with something on the fly and just
throw it out there, but sooner or later it needs to be integrated into the
overall plot or explained away. Not every random encounter with a goblin horde
needs to become a major storyline, but by explaining it later in a way that
makes sense ("Hey, did you hear that someone took out those goblins that
have been raiding the King's Highway? Seems like they finally messed with the
wrong group, maybe trade will start flowing again.") adds to the sense
that the world is lived in, that what the players do matters, and ties up loose
ends. For me personally I think this is what makes playing improv games work in
the long term. Their biggest weakness is that they can feel random, like a
monster-of-the-week. By taking a few minutes after the game is over to remember
important things and integrate them in you r mind you can avoid the worst of
that.
Ok, I promised to get into some specifics, but it's
getting late and this has gotten really long. I'll have to wrap up how all of
this fits into Dungeon World tomorrow.
