Wed 24 Nov 2021, 12:18
All these posts sounds like very good suggestions. I'll tell you what I have found as helpful as a GM. Almost all of my games have been semi-improvised / character driven rather than using pre-baked modules. As an idea, you can get your hands on 2nd edition twilight modules if you are interested on drivethrurpg as pdfs - these might be helpful.
I'm also assuming you are doing more face to face games?
First things first I think improv games need some basic prep - you need to have some tools at hand to help quickly fill in some gaps. What you need will depend on what your strengths are, but for me it's
- random generators for things like names (I can NEVER think of a name on the fly). Even the backers list in the covers of the book can be handy in a pinch! e.g. a "polish name generator" might be helpful
- some maps you can use for villages etc - for me - I tend to get some big-sized sketch pads and lay them in the middle of the table. Then, if there is an encounter etc, I draw a map quickly so that everyone has a sense of what's where
- some form of "oracle" (omnipus) has mentioned such things in a few posts. There's one in the GM book. My favourite is the Mythic Game Master Emulator (really all you need is one page from that whole book with the fate questions and thread generators). I actually got the Mythic Game Master card deck since then - but the original method was more than fine. What an oracle will do, is allow you to ask questions and they generate ideas that you wouldn't normally think about - the Mythic one is a nice balance of ease and interesting outcomes
For prep, I suggest you have some ideas or encounters already mapped out. For me, I might sit down one morning and search the internet or just come up with some ideas, and I summarise key points of the potential encounter. Maybe 3-6 ideas. I don't go into huge detail because 1) I don't have the time, 2) the players may never actually use the encounter, and 3) I may want to tweak it based on what the characters are doing. Regardless I write down the list of the adventure ideas (more "adventure seeds" with a tiny bit of fleshing out) in a notebook and I use these ideas if and when they are appropriate to what the players are doing. Importantly, because I have mapped out these ideas before hand I can seed rumours and side adventures related to these to make the whole thing feel more connected to the world - i.e. "foreshadowing". If I think that one adventure idea might lead to another then in my notebook I draw a line connecting the two to remind me that this can be structured like a mini-campaign. \
In this way I am railroading players slightly without them strictly knowing it because they are hearing rumours about 2-3 adventure seeds and getting to choose which (if any) they are interested in investigating. By subtly giving hints of things they can do that might be interesting they are making their own choices but 80% of the time within what I have very loosely prepped for.
e.g. an encounter with a band of marauders could be foreshadowed by sightings during the day. Rumours with locals about the trouble this band is causing. Intercepted radio chatter overheard. Then maybe a small ambush or fight can be set up, perhaps the PCs come across a few marauders looting bodies - depending on what happens then the PCs may have prisoners, may have the option to pursue / track the fleeing marauders etc. Even if all the marauders are dead, perhaps a villager who was hiding comes out and thanks the PCs - maybe this leads to a nice event in the neighbouring village, maybe the PCs learn that the marauders have taken hostages - now what to they decide to do with that info ?? etc etc. Perhaps they now want to learn where the base is. Then track it. Then get some good equipment. Stage an ambush. Scout them. Attack them. Before you know it you have 3 sessions of play based on one idea that just took root and grew!
It's also important to get the tone right of the game and to understand some of the area in which the PCs. Again, Omnipus has mentioned he's working on modules for this very reason. There's a few ways of managing this - all the normal advice you get from the GM section of rpg books. Describe sights, smells, sounds, etc from a scene. For me I find it useful to take something that I have adopted from Fate and other rpgs - it's the idea of environmental "aspects" - or maybe traits / truths / descriptions are a better name for it. In every area, including the overarching part of the map that the PCs are in, I write down 2-3 of these "aspects" (I use small posit notes on the map). These posits describe the key features of the game area currently (and can and do change over time and due to the PC actions).
e.g.
the area around Kalisz might be 1) overrun by Russia troops hunting stragglers ; 2) drenched by persistent drizzle ; 3) devastated by the war. Stick these on the map and the PCs can immediately see what kind of things are a threat or opportunity in the area. e.g. when they enter the village, maybe the village is 1) busily preparing damaged defences ; 2) once beautiful church lies in ruins ; 3) suspicious of strangers. etc etc
I find this super helpful as it helps set up the tone and creates some common understanding of the scene / area.
Some other fairly useful GM hints:
- ask the players what they expect to see when they enter a new location - e.g. you see the village just down the road and you will enter the village soon- what do you expect to see when you get there, do you expect it's bustling or do you think it's silent? Something else? This throws the improv back on the players, you can always overrule if you don't like it, you get some feedback about what they are thinking and what makes sense to them given the version of consistency in the world
- my favourite from apocalypse world games is the "what do you do?". So, they fight the marauders - but two escape and are running into the woods - you don't ask "the two remaining marauders turn and start running into the woods, do you give chase?" you ask "the two remaining marauders turn and start running into the woods, what do you do?" ok - this is a bad example BUT in general, the open ended what do you do? opens up more options from the PCs because they think of things you haven't.
So ...... in summary !!!
1) get some basic tools to make prep on the fly
2) prep a few ideas or locations that might be interesting
3) seed these ideas from time to time - try to semi railroad the PCs without them feeling like their options are cut off
4) use a few scene / area descriptions to set the mood and theme of the game
5) when the action actually starts, don't railroad at all - use "what do you do?"