IMPROV!!


Advice


Hey everyone! New to the Pathfinder Game but not new to Table Top RPGs. Been DMing since i was 13 (22 now) and i know, as much as every other DM/GM knows, that there is always more to learn. My fault in GMing is im not the best at IMPROV. I mean right off the top of yer head, no idea where its gonna go, holding on to your seat for dear life, IMPROV haha. So i would like to ask people to post some IMPROV tips. My tip:

1)Get on youtube and watch some IMRPOV videos from colleges or acting classes. They can help you realize how to tie things together.


2) Get some friends together and tell a story round-robin style. Also helps to loosen you up if you have any self-conscious tendencies (pretty common in the tabletop RPG community).


3.) Fake it. Prepare short lists of NPC names, adventure ideas, rumors going around town, etc. Then when you need one of those names, it will appear to your players that you just thought of it off the top of your head.


Tormsskull wrote:
3.) Fake it. Prepare short lists of NPC names, adventure ideas, rumors going around town, etc. Then when you need one of those names, it will appear to your players that you just thought of it off the top of your head.

This is probably the most valuable tip given to me when i FIRST started DMing. From the years of it ive built up entire notebooks of names and random encounters and things of that sort.

Awesome Tip!


One of the biggest tips I have is: learn how to add rather than distract from the flow.

Improv combat is a great way to learn this, as there's two ways to react to being hit (also familiar to anyone involved in pro wrestling)

Example:

When throwing a punch, swinging a sword, or otherwise describing a move - explain your part, and not that of the opponent. Cut off at explaining what you did, don't be selfish and include that the move connects and knocks your opponent over - leave that part to them.

When being on the receiving end, do your part and sell the move. Don't just go with the selfish cop-out "and he misses" - explain how the move knocked you off your feet, left you gasping for air, etc.

If you can master it in that simple combat environment, you can translate it into full storyline RP - taking someone else's suggestion and working on it rather than ignoring it to start your own thing. Move on to more complicated non-combat examples. Always remembers it begins with someone establishing something, and others chipping in and expanding upon it rather than going "but I'd rather...."

When done properly, it illustrates perfectly the difference between real improv and "make-believe" games.


+1 on fake it. You will learn with some practice. Make something up and modify it as your go. If you throw out a group of monsters and it proves to much for the heroes, have some of them stay back, run to get reinforcements, help their hurt allies, initiate a grapple, etc. If you think a full attack will slaughter the party then don't full attack. Just act like it was your plan the whole time.


Improv: Give NPCs (monsters and farmers alike) one distinguishing trait when you describe them. Bad Acne, Wheezing cough, high pitched voice for size, just one something and make it up on the spot. You don't need to have them fully fleshed out, nobody will care about the eye color or ranks in appraise that the critter has, but they'll remember the orc with the half moon scar on his jaw. Just make something up every time. Sometimes when you're going on the fly, it ends up being stupid, but there are so many encounters that you'll end up ahead in the imagery department.

Fake the improv with random tables. Have them tagged, bookmarked, hotlinked, whatever, but just have some names, places, weather, and monsters on a list. roll if you need to or just choose whatever you want.
I often roll a die, look at the table, and ignore the dice result and just pick something interesting and different. It makes you look magical as a GM.

If you have a battlemat that you can draw on with dry erase markers, practice slamming down some terrain really fast. Dungeons don't need much, but add a fireplace, a rubble pile, a desk as appropriate to make terrain. Outdoors, get some bushes and a tree down, and maybe a little hill and an old wall. A little bit of terrain goes a long way in making encounters tactically interesting. also it becomes something that the players end up helping with. You draw a green 10 ft circle and say it's difficult terrain, and one player might call it a briar patch instead of a bush like you were thinking. Go with briar patch then. They helped you tell the story so use it.

Also for encounters, if you're rolling random, just get in the habit of asking yourself, "what is this guy doing here anyway?" It helps you decide whether the critter will try to talk or fight initially, or if it will fight to the death or flee at first injury.

I had an overland random dragon encounter last night that turned into a toll booth argument and was defeated with some bluff checks. Swords weren't even drawn. That was fun because it was completely different than the last 10 encounters that ended in fights.

Another thought: Involve the PCs into the world's story. If they meet a random giant, have the giant call one out by name for revenge and refer back to some previous encounter where they killed something random like a worg. Why is the giant out for revenge for the worg? I don't know! but it's fun.


Fantastic Tips you guys! Keep em comin. :D


The biggest saying in improv is "Yes, and ... " meaning that you take whatever your players give you, and you build on it.

But a couple more mundane things:

1) Buy a copy of Hero Lab along with the Bestiary and NPC Codex addons, and have it running at your table. This is one hell of a tool if you need to whip up a quick encounter.

2) If you want something to generate quick ideas, grab Paizo's Plot Twist Cards. They can be used any number of ways. One of them ... if you, the GM, are stuck, draw a plot twist card and run with it.

3) Returning to "Yes, and ...," I've found that the players themselves are great idea sources. I'll be running an adventure (even an AP!) and one of my players will say something like, "Well, I think that NPC is doing this because ... " At my laptop and binder, I go ... "Hmm. Not a bad idea ... "

4) Have fun along with your players.

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