I started Wormwood Mutiny about two months ago, and the party is finally at the end. They handled things differently than how my part did when I played three years ago, such as
Often, I find that there is not enough explanation about an event or an area for me to follow like a script. I feel unorganized which leads to a lack of confidence. I don't know what to do to make the sessions more enjoyable and more fluid.
Any help on this matter is greatly appreciated.
A fair amount of feeling organized is practice and reading ahead. There are a few guidelines that help me out:
Are they having fun? Look up at your players. Are they excited about how the mutiny is going? Cool, then keep going. That should give you some confidence.
Find your focus. When you read an encounter and you're not sure how to run it, start by looking for the goal of the encounter. What are the PCs supposed to learn? What is the enemy here trying to prevent? Then figure out what kind of challenge the PCs need to face to accomplish their goal. The players are going to be unpredictable anyway, so focusing on where you want them to end up makes it easier to adapt.
Yes, and... This rule comes from improv, which is what you're doing anyway when something is off script. The idea is that keeping the game moving is easier when you embrace people's suggestions, then add your own twist. So they have a ship and want to attack some shipping lanes. Then they can, and the first ship they chase runs away, towards an uncharted island, which happens to be where you thought they were going. That's not to say that the PCs should always succeed, but they have the option to try.
Remember, they will be back for more. If you miss something, that's okay. If it's important, make a note of it for the next session. Then, you can figure out how to bring that up next time. For example, if you forgot to give them a spooky magic item in the treasure of the enemy they just defeated, maybe it appears in someone's bag overnight.