3 MAJOR Problems With Improv DMing No-one Tells You (From an Improv DM)

[@Marcus-ki1en]

Improv or Fully Prepared, players will always do something unplanned for that will totally throw you a curve. In the end, always keep in mind that having fun is the ultimate goal. I think improv is harder for a long campaign. One shots or short runs are much easier to improv.

[@utku1441]

I think it’s the opposite, because one shot had to start and end in one session so I need to plan everything on it so it can finish in a session while I do some prep for my long term campaign it is usually 80-85 percent improv for me. I pretty much only do the world building and leave rest to my players

[@Marcus-ki1en]

@@utku1441 I think just the opposite. With a one shot you can wing it and not worry about consistency. In a campaign, things that come up early will come up again later so consistency is very important, hence preparation. The world building is the prep, the players will write the story. Our job as the DM is to provide the details as they travel through our world. My vote - more prep than less.

[@utku1441]

​@@Marcus-ki1en world bulding is part of the prep but I had some DMs prepare basically everything before the session like; "they start here, then this guys comes in and tell them that, then they do that, if they don't I will do this to make sure they do, after that these guys will ambush them on the way, then one of the ambusher will excape and the castle they arte going will be in a high alert..." and so on. I never did that, there is a world which I build according to myself not players' levels and if they try to assult a way higher lvl place I wouldn't change the whole place for them, just the other day they tried to attack a high lvl goblin cave (I had some homebrew mutant goblins there) they used most of their stuff on the guards at the gate but they didn't do much noise so rest didn't hear them, after that they decide to fall back and ask for reinforcement from neighboring lords and ladies, one of the players write the latters, and I don't mean rolled for it the mad lad literally wrote 12 letters for each lord and lady and now they are sending reinforcement, if I prepared the cave for their lvl I wouldn't had the chance to withness that.

[@joshholmes1372]

@@utku1441 agreed.

[@priestesslucy3299]

@@Marcus-ki1en The key to consistency in an improv campaign is notes. Encourage your players to keep a simple journal of things that are memorable to them and share them with you, and make your own notes as well. Back when I was GMing my storytelling was almost 100% improv and my worldbuilding was collaborative, drawing the players into the process (primarily through their respective homelands as the cornerstone the world was built out from, as well as a collaborative atmosphere where I encouraged players to feel free to fill in details in the world as they explored it. (One could say that for areas aside from their homelands, I improvised the lines and together we improvised the coloring of a work of art.)

[@yonikut5245]

I completely understand the excitement of a player surprising you. In a campaign that I ran The players had to stop a coronation ritual/execution from happening so One of them decided to use the ring of the ram on a major support column and to attempt to bring down the roof on the Execution. It was about seven seconds of me just staring at the blinking and then I came up with a pretty fun scenario that honestly made one of the best fights in the entire campaign as they were trying to escape the crumbling Castle while fighting a number of villains and rescuing their allies. And never would’ve happened if they went by the plan I had for the fight

[@PlayYourRole]

Exactly! Those kinds of things can be so exciting!

[@eafesaf6934]

For me it was a warehouse robbery by a huge gang and the PC finding - through my loot table - a handgrenade to then almost Oneshotting the Boss making a huge difference in combate strength and momentum. Rolled amazing stealth skill checks and managed to skillfully take out important key points while the Boss recharges and then gets finished of but he escaped. Still an amazing breakthrough as I have intended to tpk them in this fight.

[@neerGdyahS]

Wait the whole place crumbled?

[@neerGdyahS]

@@eafesaf6934 Had *intended* to tpk?

[@eafesaf6934]

@@neerGdyahS have intended* Tpk = Team Party Kill. Or let's say I intended to wipe them at the fight.

[@CompactCowboy]

I build a skeleton and use that as loose details, I dont want my players to spend an hour and a half searching some dudes house only to find nothing because he’s not related to what I prepared. He should have something interesting in there so that things don’t feel empty, or like a slog. It might not be directly related to why they we’re looking for, but it’s suspicious, and it gives me openings elsewhere to put hints or npcs somewhere to gently nudge them towards what they were trying to find.

[@PlayYourRole]

Ohhhh that's such a good point! What you plan HAS to be flexible enough to follow the Narrative and keep pacing decent

[@commandercaptain4664]

Another way to circumvent a waste of time is to get ahead of the players in a useless area… DM: How long do you intend to search this area? Players: One hour. DM: You search for one hour and find nothing you need (or add the detour here to get them going). Waste PCs’ game time all you want, but cut to the chase to not waste players’ real time.

[@CombatMagic]

An hour and a half of game session or an hour and a half of the PCs time? There is *no* reason the players should be on a place doing nothing for an hour and a half unless you made it into it. DM-"You spend a good ten minutes looking around, superficially nothing jumps to sight or it's interesting" Player-"I want to check for x, y, and z" DM-"After.. hm.. after half an hour you find a glass jar with a 15 copper at the bottom in the kitchen, beyond that you are pretty certain that the place doesn't hide anything interesting." Boom! Done in 2 minutes.

[@OnboardG1]

Great point, and that's mostly what I do! The nice thing about improvising is also that if the players are getting lost, you can improv an encounter (or move one) that sends them the right way. If the players need to talk to Captain Blood to find out where the buried treasure is, and Captain Blood is in a different town that they're repeatedly failing to work out, then I can decide that Captain Blood is in town to trade some whalebone to the corsetry and hang that as a hook for the players to stumble onto.

[@colbyboucher6391]

This. When people talk about sandboxes, the KEY is to have some border the PCs cannot pass, and the space within needs to be something you can manage to fill with interesting stuff. So long as you have the bones, the details will become clear as players mess with things.

[@AtomicRiftYT]

It's always so surprising how small your channel is. Every video that has come out has been so well produced, and I have watched every single one of them from start to finish. I love how you delve so much into concepts rather than specific game mechanics-- I have Pack Tactics for that. This channel has been a wonderful tool to me

[@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8]

I would agree with most of them, except for his minmaxing video where he suggested DMs only let the people with subpar builds do interesting stuff

[@cheesy_87]

When I started watching, I think it was about a year ago, this channel had less than 10k subs. He is growing very quickly. Which speaks to the quality of this channel's content

[@CatDuckChu]

40k is small?

[@joekvam1951]

Ah a fellow kobold enjoyer

[@peterrasmussen4428]

For all my fellow improv DMs, I have a little tip for you. If you are stumped, tell your players "I didn't expect that, let us take a 10 minute break, then I will figure it out". I had some pirate players once, that just decided to land on an island and go hunt kobolds. I was tototally unprepared for that. So I told them. The players chatted. I sketched out a quick dungeon, and we were playing again 10-15 minutes later, and it we all had a great time.

[@seutary]

I think this is amazing advice! Rather than fall into a downward spiral from panic, take time and have an enjoyable time. I hadn't thought of this before. Thank you!

[@revelationmd]

I believe they call that a DM loading screen. A perfectly acceptable phenomenon. 😉

[@Kaotiqua]

@@revelationmd I absolutely love this name. :D

[@revelationmd]

@@Kaotiqua thanks!

[@chadchristian6084]

Something I've learned as a DM: immersion and cohesion and flow of the game are great. Improve on it all as you can. But unless you're a professional DM touting yourself as a master storyteller, there really is nothing wrong with stopping for a second when you get an unexpected curveball and telling your players, "Ok hold ona minute, let me think of the best way to handle this." Good players should understand that this means the DM wants to provide them with a quality response, not just spit out BS for the sake of their precious immersion. If you're DMing for players that get upset when you can't flawlessly freestyle bars for 4 hours, I personally suggest finding another group. I don't like DMing for a game that makes me feel like a lesser human being, but then again, it's tough not to take things hard when the campaign is your baby.

[@Draeckon]

A good bit of advice I heard from WebDM went something like: Prep the things you really don't want to improvise on the spot. I think it's a nice, succinct nugget. Where that line of what you do or do not want to improv is going to be different for every DM.

[@jossypoo]

I use this for plot reveal points. I know the plot, but i don't know who or how it will be revealed. My prep notes will say something like "players discover object left behind by so-and-so, directing them to here-or-there"

[@megaman02468]

I DMed for the first time a couple years ago and only prepped for ~1 hour before each session. I had a lot of fun with little prep and learned a lot from that about what I SHOULD be preparing. Something cool that I made with one of my players was a crossbow modified to shoot potions that he got from a black market vendor, and a d100 table of effects. That was chaotic

[@HowtoRPG]

Location based adventures are easier to improvise. Event based adventures with set plot points make it much more difficult.

[@affsteak3530]

It's also a lot easier to reskin unused locations!

[@priestesslucy3299]

I don't even like set plot points lol. For me I prefer the idea that the world is rolling along and every character PC or otherwise is doing their own thing. If the PCs get involved in something, great. If not, then it's going to plod along and either get resolved or get changed according to those characters that are involved.

[@malachicolson2492]

Nice! Earliest I've been so far. I just had this debate with my DM that's also one of my players because we switch off on a rotating schedule. It seems to work for him but being super prepped for everything means I have all the answers lol.

[@PlayYourRole]

It REALLY comes down to what the DM themselves feels confident with tbh!

[@JasonV_DM]

Whats your goal with improvisation? a). Is it to make up the game as you go along. OR b). To flow around what your players choose to do. I think you might be choosing a). Try out b). It changes what you plan and the way you improv. I think it will really help your game.

[@ZhongliArchonofSwag]

This. Solidly this.

[@drago939393]

Well, I think the DM and the players improvising "at" each other is the cornerstone of the collaborative emergent storytelling that is the essence of TTRPGs. As long as neither party (chiefly the DM) forces their vision too much and leaves enough room for the other, it can work and thus indeed lead to some surprising outcomes. Surprises aren't everything tho, mutually reaching narrative conclusions that "feel right" in a natural way is a great feeling.

[@demonderpz7937]

I tend to uh… i tend to forget things I did in previous sessions. My notes are things from my sessions, not for next sessions, for this reason

[@DYMTWrecks]

I hate to promote another channel under your video, but always wanna share resources where I can! Dungeon Coach has a playlist of videos recapping his sessions almost immediately after they plan and how he preps for the next. If you’re a new DM or struggling with planning, he has a lot of solid ideas in linking ideas together.

[@EllingOftedal]

As a fellow improvising DM I have not struggled with this yet.

[@harrywompa]

This is great advice! The thing I've learned about improv is that you don't have to be super smooth and poignant. Good players are more than willing to work with you, you just need to make sure you take a breath and go with it. Anxiety and imposter syndrome suck, but if you run your games with this kind of prep and flow, you can absolutely shine. No one remembers the details of a ttrpg anyways, they remember the moments someone comes up with something completely random, so be kind to yourself as dm; it helps those moments happen.

[@SuperGoose42]

You mentioned that dungeons should be planned out entirely so they feel lived in. I've only ever run one dungeon, and it was entirely improvised (barely a dungeon anyway). Could you perhaps do a video on how to make dungeons?

[@JasonV_DM]

I dont run 5e dungeons either. The 5e Dungeon Masters Guide does not really describe how to run a dungeon.

[@Snaitycake]

Would love multiple vids on this! Regular dungeons, BBEG lairs, maybe a huge mega dungeon 👀

[@KhaosTy]

It's really sad that dungeon building in a game called Dungeons and Dragons is kind of a lost art. I actually recommend running a few sessions of an OSR game like Old-School Essentials to see how dungeons were built in the past and get a feel for how they flow. It really helped my dungeon design!

[@priestesslucy3299]

@@KhaosTy can you describe what it is you like about dungeons as a game construct? Aside from small ones that are a fortification for a specific group, I've never appreciated them tbh.

[@garrettbrand1226]

Check out the dungeon dudes, they have amazing videos on everything you could want dm tip wise, including dungeon design

[@chamomilecraft]

I guess I’ve finally found a channel by a DM I relate to! Idk why I’m only just now finding your content, but I’ve always felt most D&D advice videos don’t relate to the way I enjoy the game, and so they end up less useful than I’d like them to be. “I make plans so that my players can break them.” 👌🏻

[@APyralis]

Good video. (short)storytime: I'm a brand new DM and thought I needed to memorize and plan out every meticulous detail, and started up the beginner Phandalin campaign with a newbie group with one seasoned player. Anyhow, each player had a "secret" or goal to achieve in the campaign. So they were heading into the Redbrand Hideout, and the party assessed the next room where I had placed a number of townsfolk and a family members of one of the characters as part of their secret. The room, they could tell, had a number of guards in it. The Warlock thought he'd be flashy, and so he burst in and cast Arms of Hadar... ended up nuking most of the room including townies (teenager, one of them) and the family member of the character with no chance for resurrection. I was shocked, so was the table, and it made for some great dynamics later in the campaign. I learned here (this was our third session, I believe) that while prepping is great, "rolling with it" so to speak is a valuable skill. No matter how much we prep, it could all go sideways with a roll of the dice or an unexpected character moment. That moment defined this character, and my letting it happen (with permanent benefits, my prep to the character's secret be damned) really changed things. Suddenly, PCs knew that there were stakes to actions... that it wouldn't be sunshine and rainbows... and for their characters it could mean real development. So, I guess be prepared, and be prepared to improv as well. A mix of both will be best for the players and yourself!

[@cturner5338]

Thank God, someone has finally said it all. I fully agree with all three points here, the "oh sh*t" moment, the lack of cohesion and everything becomes a lot less surprising. As a DM who probably is about a 70/30 split on Improve vs planning, I am so glad you brought these things out to the wider world, friends of mine who are looking to get into DMing always come to me for advice and I tell them I really can't help them because the way I do things is sooooooo very hard for a newer DM to pull off, it's why I always start with a pre-written adventure so you can get a grip on your style of DMing.

[@wolorpg]

I'm an Improv DM myself, so this was good to hear, that others have similiar problems. Those 25% preparation are solid gold. In Most systems I do not have a good grasp on what is a good antagonist. So I do take care to note down 3-5 Standard Monster I'm going to adapt. Narrative Coherency is one problem I often run into, but try to circumvent with a little more Prep. I need to make notes on the shenningans of the players. So I can bring up the shopkeeper they stole empty 5 or 6 sessions later. As on loosing exciting, I can feel you. I was told that I'm a good DM when I plan more ahead. So I recently started Preping more.

[@ianpaulkenchington4311]

I love to have finally bumped into your channel, as I share your DMing style. I love the improv part of the hobby and I usually prepare world instead of preparing specifics so I always feel ready for everything my players may throw at the game. It is great to watch you articulate the learnings I have acquired but never managed to reflect upon. Great channel mr PYR!

[@r_v1v1d21]

Mad props to working two full time jobs and running this channel. Your hard work is appreciated and definitely helps! Keep it up!

[@LocalMaple]

Sees thumbnail: Hide Armor on Barbarians? That’s right, the armor that barbarians wear in the item description doesn’t work with their natural armor.

[@unknownentityenthusiast6765]

But also, Barb’s unarmored defense is only good if you have the stats to spare on dex as well. If you only have 2 good stats, putting them in Str and Con, and grabbing armor like Hide or Half-Plate is an entirely valid strategy.

[@PlayYourRole]

Technically correct although that isn't a barbarian! It's actually a monster known as Anchorite of Talos

[@darienb1127]

Glad someone made a video like this. I've learned a lot of these things the hard way.

[@zourin8804]

Preparation is just improv in advance. You can still have blind spots in your preparation, and still have that deer-in-a-headlight moment when you end up in a situation you didn't anticipate. The biggest thing that gets lost in 'improv' is detail. You're spending so much effort keeping up that it's easy to skip or lose details, particularly sensory information. A DM isn't just the world, but the players' senses. Everything they see, hear, feel, smell, and taste is the DM's responsibility, information about the world that shouldn't be locked behind a skill check. Details liven the world, and not everything you say becomes a Chekhov's Gun 'because that's the only thing in the room he mentioned'. Prepare: Plot points, hooks, people, places, rooms, encounters (planned and random), handouts, rewards, and their descriptions in detail.

[@Hypericus2]

Excellent video. Help me clarify much of what I was thinking. In summary, (1) Narrative Cohesion is vitally important and that requires some kind of structure to the story. This can only be planned. (2) The most enjoyable moments come from surprises. You can only be surprised if you have expectations. Thus, counter intuitively, if you want more surprises, plan more; if you want less surprise improv more. 😃

[@lazerbunny491]

Much love to you brother. As one impro dm to other!

[@WaterTheBoy]

My default setting is Improv Sandbox games, and I enjoy dm'ing that way very much. When I finally sit down to plan something in advance, either because I think I'll forget or because I'm strongly inspired, I often think "how do I make this wordly conflict intractable for my players." Example: I add a gang against the local Baron or something, as to make the world feel like there's important things going on. But I also want the players to get in on that action, either siding with the Baron or Gang. I don't want to throw in an aggressive plot hook that'll make the players think "this is the plot. Let's go this way." At the same time, I want them to feel like they could get something out of it if they do and I want them to see ways to get involved. You know what I mean? No? Maybe? Oh well.

[@llg193]

My main problem when it comes to improv DMing, is I can often forget what I made up in the previous sessions. Luckily I have a player that takes extensive notes haha

[@Anzy.99]

Great video. I'm fairly new at DM'ing (playing too, but I dm'd way less than I've played and both numbers aren't high). At this moment I'm commenting I'm still planning the second session for the solo game I have with my sister, so since it's just 1 player and I'm VERY new, I was glad to have Ginny's video out in the week we had our first game, cuz all of what she said really helped me out. I don't have enough experience to pull things out of my ass and, honestly, no matter how many times I've read that page, still no idea how difficulty works, so I use a site instead. "Railroading" and having 95% of things planned to me has actually been very helpful. I don't exempt my sister of options and following her own path, but I pretty much tell her where I want her to go, and because she is also new and I'm the one showing her the game, I made that very clear to her, because it's our story and not mine, and she can do whatever she wants with it. And because I know my sister and I've played one-shots with her, just telling where to go all of the time won't cut it, so I still have "paths" that most of the time lead to the same place if I need her to (like in if I had clues in a path and she doesn't go there, I make sure there's clues on the other path so she still learns something), but I 100% don't let myself be constricted by these ties I made myself because in d&d rules are actually guide lines and not the law. The first time I tried to DM that really bit me in the ass because I planned everything, and when I ran the game for my sister and 3 strangers, they all wanted to do things I was not accounted for and kinda panicked, and again when DM'd for her and my cousins and they killed the monster way too fast and I didn't know what to do so it just because a boring game. What I've now been doing is: 1 - Plan NPCs I know she'll meet, but only a few lines to guide me. If I need something specific I'll write dialogue cuz I have bad memory, otherwise, I don't. If I need random npcs I'll just randomize in a app and take the characteristics I like the most and improvise. 2 - Plan the possible encounters and loot 3 - Plan without developing much the 2 possible big "plots" even though I haven't quite presented yet just so I have something to choose from according to her choices and play style 4 - Make sure to have different things in specific shops (having them being more specialized) just in case I'll need it for a storyline Doesn't matter how many times you watch all the videos on youtube on how to DM no one will actually tell you anything step by step which is very much not helpful for someone that doesn't know where to start. For the moment, that's what I'm doing and SEEMS to be working

[@Ch0mpyBitz]

I too am an Improv DM and I agree with your points, but one thing I would say is that "deer in headlights" moments are ok and will happen regardless of if you prep more or not. It's ok to tell your players that you weren't expecting something and to take a moment to decide how you want to proceed.

[@lorigulfnoldor2162]

It's so good for you that you have run enough games to know how to pull things out of thin air!!!! Glad you have this skill honed by practice. Say, have you got any advice for any improv DMs who have NOT yet ran enough games to be good at pulling things out of thin air? Would this advice be "don't improv yet, prepare"? Would such advice be kinda like "you can still improv, simply prepare A LOT, for anything you can foresee and then for some extra things you don't expect to happen"? When you already know how to pull things out of thin air, it's very good, but you did not START DMing being already like that, did you?

[@Wulf6491]

I am an improv DM as well. I made some homebrew, and I focused on the history, the technology, the wars that happened, the civilizations involved, the politics. Not story. I put almost no planning into, "What are my players going to do?!" I made a living world. I did this, this way, because now I know my world. I know what happened, I know the feelings between civilizations, the goals of the common people. So now, as my players move through the world, sowing chaos as is there wont, I can react organically, because I know how my npcs would think, based on history.

[@makdrumz]

I took up DMing 5e on February 2022 (have been an ad&d player for over 15 years). Everything was overwhelming in addition to preparing. Session 0…I started with my plot line, when I suddenly got the urge to improve and went with it…players acted and I reacted the world around them…have been improving ever since and we are all having a blast. My tip is that you should write the general idea and let players flow through that…bonus tip at your free time, study the monstrous manual and spells in phb…

[@weaponlover32]

I plan a small number of ideas in the direction that my players could take the session and when something novel is done I do my best to adapt. I feel by discussing with your players their character motives and desires, you can provide material for most things. But when a character does something that steers away from what you expected, but remains in the nature of the character, the real magic of roll playing happens. Those are the moments we build that we remember and learn from. Those moments next to the rails are why we Master the Dungeons.

[@JustmiracleLive]

I write one line my players be like. “This is about three hours of content.” Me: it’s just three goblins.

[@Kaotiqua]

😆That's the fuel that we thrive on, isn't it? You do like 10 minutes prep, and the players are all "omg, you're amazing!" (Meanwhile, in other sessions, you work for hours on a village, with every cottage and its residents planned, right down to the wart on cousin Rabnigar's nose, and the players decide they'd rather scale a cliff and head off in a completely unplanned direction...

[@JustmiracleLive]

@@Kaotiqua In my game i made the all planned out town their home base so it won't all go to waste.

[@kvici]

I GM in FATE from time to time. I usually come in with 1/2 A4 paper of notes on BBEG plan, personality, and intentions, and let the rest roll. Players have Fate Points, that they actively spend to change the narrative, twist the story, add elements that make sense to them and their characters. It does require more trust among everyone at the table, but it ensures that the scenario GM sketched will never end up as initially intended. And, with FATE being rule light, it is much easier to improv than in DnD. A game lead this way brings the GM confidence for "winging it " when it comes to improv in Fully Planned game, it helps to decide outside the box of what you've pre-planned.

[@ronwisegamgee]

Planning is not the only alternate to imrpovisation, when it comes to DMing. Another option to consider is using randomization tools (plural) to help you generate content on the fly. If you need to randomly generate names/locations/encounters/settlements/etc., there are products that are made for just that sort of thing. You can also use yes/no questions, determine the odds of a "yes," and make a d100 roll. Doubles make the results exceptional in some way. For open-ended questions concerning goals or mysteries, have charts for actions and nouns to form a two-word phrase to extrapolate from. For open-ended questions about details or descriptions, have charts for adjectives and nouns to form a two-word phrase to extrapolate from. Consider the GM Mythic Emulator or the content-generating mechanics in the Quick & Dirty RPG System or Ironsworn to reduce the cognitive load of improv as well as to reduce time spent with prep. Last but not least, ask your players how they'll go about achieving their goals step-by-step and piggyback off of that to move the narrative forward.

[@Kaotiqua]

That last is definitely not least! Encouraging your players to describe their goals, and also how they intend to achieve them can help in a big way toward getting them to engage with the content you offer, whether it's improv'd or pre-planned. What's more, it can get them _talking_ which can be a surprisingly difficult thing, especially with new players, or players who are simply new to each other.

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

To Improvise and let them improvise in between expected points I find the most comfortable. They can change the expected points with their actions and decisions whether they know it or not and letting them know it allows them to decide what they want to face

[@Forever-GM-Dusty]

As an improv heavy dm myself, though probably heavier than even you (like 85/15), I most strongly resonate with your 2nd point. Basically all the prep work I actually do goes towards remedying that. I least strongly resonate with 3. I can generally react pretty quickly to what my players are trying to do and work around it. 3 is also a very good point, but my playing group happens to be smart enough to make it fun for me anyway

[@zetazimmer4769]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a strong preference for improv running a campaign.

[@kookiefear6724]

As a newish dm, and am starting to do my first home-brew, this has help on how much I should go into and how much not quite, I love to improv but I love it when my players work round what was planned, and having that shock and awe or surprise is great cuz it also then opens alot of improv also

[@allenyates3469]

I improv when I DM as a way to get better at DMing in general. It works.

[@xananax21]

I feel like video games have convinced a lot of people that you NEED a big boss fight or that the BBEG needs to have a huge confrontation that takes an entire session to defeat. I GM'd super planned out sessions for 2 years with players that actively sought out ways to destroy my campaigns, followed by 1 year have 50/50 Improve and planning, followed by being slowly pushed over the next 4 years into near 100% improve GMing. The only thing I prepare is my folder that has a few thousand images for characters they could come across as I need them, organised by fantasy race, plane of origin, general vibes, and items separated into magic, mundane, held, weapons, armour, and worn. I have started to do the opposite of planning for games. I found the app Obsidian and AFTER my game is over I go back and type out things that happened during that session to help solidify the session in my mind so I can pull previous events from my memory during a big moment later down the line. I do think that planning could be helpful but whenever I sit down to do so I just start feeling anxiety from the first few years of GMing. BUT I am 27 and I've been purely Improve GMing since I was in my teens and I haven't had a complaint about my games in over a decade. So I guess it's working out.

[@CharalamposKoundourakis]

Have been seeing this channel recenlty and I'm liking the content! Can I ask, have you been doing this for long? As per the videos topic, best thing I did was take two full courses of improv, it was amazing :D

[@Kaotiqua]

40-year GM way of handling this: Plan absolutely frickin _everything_ ... then set it aside and improvise, with all your plans as your reference.

[@DaDunge]

My thoughts on Improv is summed up by the old Eisenhower quote "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable." I generally plan bu making abunch of tables which I roll a lot on and improvise from there.

[@gavinruneblade]

You don't need things planned out to be surprised. At every moment you are projecting forward what you think will happen, where you think the players are going. And they can deviate from that. This is surprising. And it is fun, the game becomes a process of discovery.

[@joshholmes1372]

Yeah, in a recent session I didn't plan how it would go, but I had an idea and the players did it way different and they fed off my improv of the situation and it worked really well.

[@RyanNerdyGamer]

I once had a similar experience in my early days as a DM. It was session #3 of a campaign following a mini-hiatus, and I made sure everything was ready for the regroup. That is, of course, until I opened the box containing my minis… only to find a bunch of Bakugan figures instead. My mind went into [404 ERROR] mode, before gradually realising what had happened as it rebooted: I’d brought the wrong container! 😱 All the prep I did the night before was swiftly undone as I scrambled to figure out what to do. Fortunately, I tend to be creative at the best of times, and after sifting through the proto-ideas in my noggin, I picked one, iterated, and rolled with it (pun not intended). Just like that, the party woke from an extended rest to find themselves in a bizarre demiplane, in spherical form, and worked to find their way out of the shared lucid dream gone rogue, with plenty of discussion as to precisely *where* they were (the majority figured it was a Far Realm offshoot). Interestingly, the ordeal helped inspire new ideas for how the laws of reality work in all my homebrew settings, as well as the ways in which they’re all connected with each other. This even influenced a paradigm shift in the cohesive structure of my online series, which takes place in these universes; if it weren’t for my epic blunder, the worlds of the Chromaia likely wouldn’t be what they are today. ✍🏻

[@thegreatandterrible4508]

As an improver, I am interested to hear what you say.

[@PlayYourRole]

I too, indeed improv

[@NMcG07]

You just read my stat block as a DM. I don't know how to process this. Yes. All of these points.

[@envytee9659]

I'm seeing people say that improv is easier on one shots or short campaigns, rather than long ones..... but from my experience it's always been the opposite. I'm currently running a homebrew campaign, heavily based in the lore of One Piece, meaning the adventures basically span multiple towns, islands and seas across an entire globe. This campaign has lasted for 2 years and is still going strong (level 15 PCs right now, for those curious), and over those 500+ hours of actual play I've done improv for atleast 80% of it. This is by far the most improv I've ever done, and it was a bit nerve wracking at first but the experience taught me alot and vastly improved my abilities as a DM to think on the fly. On all other short campaigns and one shots, I'd say that I tend to fully prep much more like 60-80% of everything. But, for a massive campaign, the amount of work required to fully prepare is exponential. I do create a basic skeleton for the various areas, groups etc. and I establish things like stat blocks, shops, NPCs, quests and relationships... but even that takes me dozens of hours each month on top of our long, weekly sessions. I would have literally no time for myself or for my extremely time-consuming medical degree if I even tried to prep any more than I do.

[@papamojo2904]

I think the crux of this is knowing WHAT to improv and what to plan. I don't know why people still say to plan out or even loosely think about future plot points. I just don't see how that can make sense in a game like D&D and I think it confuses more than it helps. NPCs and their drives and motivations are probably the best thing to focus on in your prep. Picture your villains making a to do list of their evil plan (i.e. what would happen if the players had never entered the picture, or if they did nothing) and that's most of what you need. The PCs will throw a spanner into their works, that's their job, but that's fine because you didn't make a plan for what was going to happen, your villain made a plan that these infuriating interlopers derailed so now they're going to have to make a new plan that accomplishes their goals and takes care of the party. A lot of storygames like Powered by the Apocolypse put this kind of prep right in the manual but enforces the principle of playing to find out what happens, which means you don't know how the elements (heroes, villains, setting, etc.) will play out, but that doesn't mean you don't have to know what the elements are. You can kind of tell a story like a scientest putting a bunch of dramatic mice in a cage and seeing what happens when you introduce an inciting incident.

[@thewolfstu]

3:06 A situation I never seen coming? All my improv is based on things I never see coming. XD I am a beast walking a valley of chaos and the fire has somehow become my strength.

[@KarnodAldhorn]

1:15 "Watch the video by Ginny Di" Now I want them to collab

[@leshpar]

I am an improv DM as well, with about the same 75/25 split. Basically I plan NPC names and stat blocks (but not personalities), dungeons and bosses, and absolutely the most basic story points. Everything else is improv. I actually find I absolutely can be surprised regularly as an improv dm. One time my players befriended a black dragon and one thing led to another and the dragon burned down an entire city that the party was supposed to save. That surprised the hell out of me but it was ALL improv. The black dragon was not even planned at all.

[@Zakiel97]

I'm also a mostly improv DM (I basically improv stuff and take notes, building on the basis of those notes to structure my world and prep my games and repeat that process, it's lead me to interesting places creatively) and thankfully the moments where I can't cope with a situation have been very, very few so far. Surprise on the other hand happens all the time, most of my players were pretty new when I started my campaign so learning how the gears in their heads worked has been a process. Just last week a PC ate an item I placed for the players to use for their purposes or even fight over but she was the first to find it and just...ate it, making sure she's the only one aware of it's whereabouts. Even if you don't have solid plans like me - my plans are pretty malleable usually as they take form during and between games - stuff like that can really pull the rug out from ya lol.

[@RustyMerc4Hire]

The trick is half planning, half improv. Build the structure then allow the story to play itself out, things don't always go the way you expect it to after all. You plan the setting, locations (at least partially, give yourself something to work with if the need ever comes up), & allow the players to explore the world, give consequences to actions & inactions. You don't have to know it all, just a general rough idea & how something might affect other things, that's all. You're allowing the players to make a choice/explore in the world you've built for everyone to enjoy, you don't have to know how it'll all play out, you can come up with something to show the world has changed in response to them after whatever it is has happened for the next session(s). But also don't forget, the more things change, the more they stay the same, it sounds weird but that's literally history in a nutshell.

[@Kaotiqua]

Another helpful tip for the gm who feels inclined to plan to the point of over-preparing is to channel that energy into preparing tools to make improving easier: lists of names and traits for on-the-fly characters, for example, or setting descriptions. Create your own versions of random loot tables and random possible wandering monster encounters.

[@gstaff1234]

Fitting for you to say that balance is key when you play your role as a DM

[@MisheardMetal]

Do the ol' reversal if someone assassinates the bbeg suddenly; switch the roles of your villain and his right-hand man. "You fools, you thought HE was behind this the whole time? hahaha!"

[@Olav_Hansen]

I am someone that trends close to 50/50 with improv. When I make a dungeon I want the layout predrawn (I like to create challenging structures) and when I anticipate a town being visited I prepare some shop names, their general location and the name and a quirk or 2 of the store owners. I struggle coming up with names, and if to much is happening I might forget to make characters stand out. But I never make my prep more then a skeleton. My favourite session was when my party entered a pirate city, and I had prepared a bit about how the city was divided between vampires leading undead (physically walled to prevent escaping zombies), a part with dark elves and a part with orcs & goblins. The idea of such a town is unique (and I actually had some justifications on why each group was pirates), but I couldn't expect what the party would do. One of the guys was always trying to do drinking games with everyone, so he went of in a drink off against orcs. That guy ended up having a drinking game with the orc captain. I came up with the game on the spot: 'the one who empties their glass first smashes it in the face of the loser'. So of they go, both get a nat 20 for their con check, so they both chug it down in a record time but... the chief edges it out. He smashes the glass on the fighter's face (like 5 bludgeoning damage) and out of respect for the best opponent he's ever had he asks if there's any way he could show his respect. The guy thinks for a second, and suddenly remembered that he wanted to brew his own liquor. So he wanted to have the "secret ingredient" of the grog he'd been drinking. And for some reason, within seconds I know the perfect orky logik ingredient. So he calls one of his crew in and commands to show him 'da shroomz'. They walk to the edge of town, and behold there's a brewery. And below the brewery there's a cellar growing weird fungi. And those fungi are grown on the orks' own excrement, because ofcourse orcs would. Ultimately half this session turned out to be me ork speeching this nonsense while he was pirate talking his part, but the other party members were having the time of their lives out of character because of the absurdity of the entire situation.

[@spencerpommier806]

Really hoping there's a twist here I'm doing my first one shot tomorrow in this video title is the last thing I needed to see lol

[@rotoplumper]

The more prep I do, the easier i can improv the results of players actions whilst keeping consistency in the game world. You have got to know your NPC's, their motives and reasons and that will help in applying players actions across the board.

[@AxeMan808]

I've had a player party completely miss the climax of a quest. They went another way while the finale took place. I tried to invite, hire, and eventually sent thugs to lure them; didn't happen. I don't force anything. That not forcing anything has led to 6 person parties splitting into a trio a duo and a solo for a while...

[@occultnightingale1106]

I don’t like to prep *everything* my players come across, but I feel like a well-prepped and planned encounter is just better. I’ve improvised encounters, and they kind of fell apart for me, but I crafted a recent battle with a group of pixies, and I felt so much more comfortable as a DM, because I knew what was going to happen, how to describe it, and most importantly, I had a lot of wiggle room for player action. Just because I wanted something to happen didn’t mean it was going to, and because the players surprised me with their strategies, I gave them that opportunity to change the nature of the encounter. All in all, I feel like improv works better for RP-heavy moments at my table, but combat encounters need to be planned out, because otherwise it grinds the pacing to a halt.

[@commandercaptain4664]

Depends on the combat system. Some are more stringent and exacting than others.

[@DeadlyApples666]

I am new to dming but my approach is a basic plan, improvise as I go and the things I improvise become canon / part of the plan so the improv is like a method of in real time building / plotting and planning. Then after a session I would go through the improv elements and where appropriate develop them into better parts of the world / story.

[@pdonettes]

I improv, and my players surprise me constantly.

[@duck_entertainment]

It’s like the players are playing an RPG and I’m playing an RTS lol

[@Cosmic_K13]

They way I see it, the only things I prepare are what I've told the players. if they bring up something out of left field, I then will try to think of a logical reason as to how this could work. Sometimes the players circumvent danger. I agrue it's the mark of a good player when they can solve problems without resources being used, ie spell slots, abilities and limited use magic items.

[@michaelmurphy748]

Improv DM'ing is the best way to DM. If the DM has a plan and the characters are expected to follow the 'plan', then the GM should just write a book and and the players should just read it. Giving the characters full agency within the story means the character are the focus of the story AND the players are making the story. I view my job as the GM (very rarely do I play) to be a 'Set Director', I paint the background scenes that the characters are interacting with. However, the characters DRIVE the narrative.

[@zendikarisparkmage2938]

I try not to improv too much. I always come to the session with a plan to EAT YOUR BEANS.

[@davidmc8478]

Great video. I light-heartedly disagree with Ginny and that is because she did not define over preparing. For Over prepping to be a disorder it needs to affect function either of the game or the DM. So overprepping is extensive pre game preparation to the point that (one or more of the following): A) sessions are delayed or deferred Or B) the ability of the DM to run a session is impaired in that they are no longer able to relay pertinent information to players in a timely fashion Or C) the ability of players to make in game choices is significantly restricted to the point their enjoyment is reduced Or D) the DMs normal functioning is impaired in terms of work, sleep or relationships

[@theinsanity3445]

Ideally, it makes more sense to build a full story. In reality, it's better to have an outline for a game, develop a world(or the area that you plan to base your game), and have list of the important characters that will be featured in a game. Everything else should be improvised. More often than not, players will usually drive the game to it's exciting conclusion.

[@nicolaezenoaga9756]

Thanks.

[@Av3ntur1n]

Alternative title: Finding the right balance between improv and prepping is hard. Here are 3 arguments against improv. I don't like polarizing/ baity video titles or thumbnails, but I do like the video. Please don't let the thumbnail and the video contradict themselves. I know it attracts more viewers but at the same time hurts your credibility. Love your videos

[@gianni.sacciloto]

It doesn't really hurt his credibility and It helps with KZbin. His channel already is small, give the man a break.

[@Amaiguri]

?? This video is exactly what I expected???

[@AetherRiddick]

Less than 1% of my games are prepped. I'll have a basic idea of the bbeg(s), basic spine of story, and the world building, though it's all in my head, cause I can never write it down. I keep track of every npc everywhere, where they are, what they're doing, in the off chance any of my players comes across them. I also keep track of things like black holes, stars, stars dying, being born/reborn, what's happening with the gods, and more, all in my head, at all times, while still being able to rp. Like, I can make extensive combat maps in less than 30 seconds, involving thousands of digital minis. I started with trying to plan, and I just kept getting lost in too much, and it just did not go well, and the next session, I just improved everything, and it went so well, 1nd I just stuck to that ever since.

[@druid_zephyrus]

I agree with most points, but strongly disagree with the surprise factor. I, too, am mostly improv DMing in my games, outside of battlemaps, monsters, key NPCs and over arching background story(s); not background of players but what is going on that the players aren't always directly interacting with. And I am surprised more than half of every session. Maybe it is just the great amazing players I have, but there has YET to be a session where I don't need a second to process and ofc there are the ones where I need to walk away just to comprehend what has just occurred and how drastically it changes everything. The best ones are when you have to seperatly message a player after the session to make sense of it all and their actions. I improved a NPC being a celestial druid, casting feign death, because the PC used Hallucinatory Terrain on their bosses tent (in a desert) to make a grassy field AND part of a mountain. I never saw ANY of that coming. Nor the skull with a modified demigod of the Gith I improved that NPC was looking for. That skull is now about to become a magical Maul for another PC and everyone is having dreams of the past. There is ZERO way I could have expected any of that nor prepped it. I'm still surprised just thinking about it and those original events have cascaded into 4 sessions. The PCs are all archeologists for Moradin's sake!!!! TLDR: you can totally still be surprised by your player's and you own improv. -Your Friendly Neighborhood Druid

[@tieflingrouge6000]

I have never had analysis paralysis ive been surprised by what my players choose to do but there story continued. For me in my games its i give them a hook if they dont take it thats fine the game gose on i dont make my games like a book its more about what the players want to do for me and its them that tell the story its knowing how to run with things and keep it moving aslong as you and your players are having fun

[@Nikimoney86]

As an improv DM, I don't really agree entirely with any of these problems being major. Or at least not in the way or to the degree that was described. I tend to say I improv basically everything, because I do - I barely do any prep whatsoever, nothing more than looking at the list of monsters to figure out which could go together (theme-wise, balance-wise, narrative-wise etc.). That said, the line between improv and planning is hard to spot and feels a little subjective even, because what comes natural to me, what is ingrained, internalized and memorized, may differ (a lot even) from what comes to you or someone else. For example I'm great with empathy and emotions and I can come up with a deeply thought out character off the dome, when the idea for making that particular character wasn't even a thing 5 seconds ago. But that's because I have a background of examining characters, personalities, etc. figuring out what it's like to be in a person's shoes. But if I needed to, idk, come up with some kind of puzzle or something, that'd take me more planning beforehand, because I haven't really done many such things and lack the experience of having previously planned or dealt with such a thing. That's why I find it to be a bit blurry, cuz I think improv might be seen as being an expert planner (for a given thing/topic) who at this point can plan in a matter of seconds or something like that. That's why, for example, the second issue - the coherency - is likely from something like a lack of keeping such things in mind, such as character backstories and how to tie them into what you're doing. And with such an issue at hand, one would need to dedicate more focus to make sure that doesn't happen, and with time would eventually learn to do so habitually without much forethought. It's like learning to drive a car or a bike or whatever. At some point you stop thinking about balancing or at least it stops feeling like you are thinking, it becomes a background process that your mind ignores, but does, only now it's much faster and easier, due to the experience.

[@FoulFoxTV]

He said "do do" LOL

[@MalevolentLoki]

:smirk: ... he said Do Do

[@marcusstusek5843]

Don’t be so hard on yourself about point 1. No amount of prep can prepare you for every eventuality. In fact, I would say that your ability to improvise (and your tendency to improv a lot of your game) actually makes you better prepared to handle those “deer in the headlight/WTF?” moments than a DM who has prepared and prepared. You’ve practiced the required skills that will keep your game running when a player inevitably does something unexpected. I actually think you’ve got this one flipped. It’s not a danger, it’s a strength. Being an improv DM makes you better at dealing with the unexpected situations, not worse.

[@hitsugatatsuro9978]

Maybe you can put markers for the 3 problems along the video?

[@Wraithing]

Improving everything can create a lot of very repetitive stories and story elements relying on familiar (to self and group) cliché. Often the "new" idea you've thought-up to introduce is the only innovation and PCs engage with it in a way that drags it back to the hackneyed tropes they've become used to - no matter how novel they were when you started GMing the group. Definitely need a good mix of planning in there. Glad you got beyond the click-bate.

[@jeffreyschon]

You said doo doo! -> 4:25

[@gamemasterreviews630]

I'm generally a very improv oriented DM but in the most recent campaign I was running I decided to try planning out the majority of the campaign I created pages and pages of plot lines and branching paths the setting was a kingdom I made up bordered by mountains on the other side of the mountains was a conquesting kingdom ruled by a warlord this was the first game we were running with a new player upon starting the game the players found themselves in a small town and upon speaking to an npc they were informed the king was looking for volunteers to help fight the enemy kingdom I had planned for them to do a couple quests earn rank in the military and embark on an epic journey to defeat the opposing kingdom but upon hearing of the kings search for volunteers the new player screamed "f*** the patriarchy" and proceeded to climb the mountains and run around the enemy kingdom aimlessly without any sense of direction so I'm back to complete improv we're three sessions in and they've run from an ogre and his pet dire wolf lobbing torches at em in a crash bandicoot style boss chase fight murdered half a town to gain access to a bath house without paying and nearly been sacrificed and failed to prevent the summoning of a demon who knows what will happen next

[@commandercaptain4664]

A guaranteed approach is to design the people in the places and affecting the things in your world. That way, if the PCs don’t interfere, then the plot runs as ascribed, but if they do, you’ll know how to change what ripples those consequences have in the world. The PCs can’t be everywhere at once, and they’ll have to decide what leaks need plugging however they can.

[@anthonyd.1428]

I think I ruin more DM plans than I can recall.

[@meowfulsoul2450]

Improv has been something I've been leaning into more and more and sure while I do roll with many things, my players somehow still surprise me with some of their actions. And this is my first campaign so I suppose that helps a lot in me being surprised. x3 But yea, I have been trying to plan more, its just with how my party is...planning is...lets just say, VERY difficult. I mean, I had a whole plan for them to go up against a 'bbeg' in Waterdeep and pointed at her by others...only for them to RUN THROUGH THE TOWN SCREAMING HER NAME...so you know, surprise. x3 Love my party though. ♥

[@VTimmoni]

And then there was that time my entire party decided one NPC who fled from them absolutely had to die and hijacked 2 entire sessions for operation F**ck the Dwarf. Or the time our mage dropped a meteor on the city killing the entire party, the city, and causing a cataclysm for most of the continent.

[@joshuaalleman1755]

I had a deer in the headlights moment a week ish ago. I plan out my battles but 95% of the RP is on the players. My players were in a battle tournament and it was the finals. Literally the last 1v1 of the final battle. I had a plan if they win and I had a plan if they lose. But they tied. They both fell at the same time. The players loved it and they understood that I didn’t know what to do about the prizes (which their McGuffen was the prize for 1st place) I told them I needed a couple minutes to figure it out. Left the room, came back, and used the story to say why they got the win, but couldn’t tell anyone. And gave hints as to them having a 5th PC that they don’t remember but all have a connection with. Spoiler alert: false hydra.

[@Tom-bb3fm]

How to you deal with battle maps while being an improv DM? Do you preper at least the map in which the scenario will develop or do you have generic maps for each ambient (caves, castle dungeons, wizard tower etc). Or do you purely fight in TotM?

[@miosandwhirl6393]

Actually, I cannot completely agree with you. I am an improv DM myself. One reason for this is, that I don't have the personality to plan everything, the other is, the sessions I actually try to plan most of the things, so I don't have to improvise that much, the group runs into the only direction, I didn't prepare, cause I didn't think of them doing that. You need to get an item from a nobles house? There are people you can ask for help, you can break in, you can talk to him. Oh. You wanna kidnap him? Sure, I guess. So even if I do plan, I improvise anyway XD Also, you can still be surprised by not planning. It's the random little things, a party can do, even just a joke, that makes me go silent for a moment to think of what to do next, cause none of that crap was in my thoughts. Great video though, it is interesting to see other DMs playing the way I do (I thought it is because I am still new to DMing and thus too inexperienced to plan) and what they struggle with

[@DanielKA1996]

"you dodo" >

[@TaylorLopez412]

4:26 lol

[@elden_lord22]

Same i want to write the important details i consider important but for the most part i love throwing curveballs as a writer lureing you into a false sense of safety ( no i am not winning D&D I want to have fun to and if the players are not having fun thats when i've lost D&D in my eye)

[@mr.perish6799]

What do I prep when running a game?

[@PlayYourRole]

That VERY much depends on your table! Important NPCs, encounters, and important places that the players may go in your session would be my immediate suggestion. But it very much relies on what your players like doing, how long your game runs, and if it is a homebrew world or not!

[@natev580]

Great video! Thanks for putting it out there. I do want to ask something of the community that I am having difficulty with in my games. Does anyone have some advice for a new-ish DM (I've never been a player and am only half way through my second campaign) when it comes to having both experienced veterans and completely new players at the same table? I am finding it difficult to keep my games in a happy medium spot where both sides of that spectrum are engaged. Maybe it's just something that will come with experience?

[@Kaotiqua]

I started the same way, 40 years ago. Whether you've had a chance to be a player yourself or not, being new to GM'ing can be daunting, especially when some of your players have much more experience in the game. My two suggestions would be, first, of course, make sure your players know that you're new to this. Generally, they'll be sympathetic. We all benefit from having another person willing to step up and run the game! Second, ask the more experienced players to assist in your sessions. They can help less experienced players, and even more, they can help with navigating confusing rules, even mid-session. Just make sure they understand that once you've taken in their advice, you will still expect them to abide by your rulings, even when they might conflict with by-the-book rules as written. But I've found experienced players are always happy to step up with advice when there's confusion with combat, magic, etc, and they appreciate that you trust them enough to look to them when you're unsure.

[@DaDunge]

I like Ginny Di's RP videos I think she's great at that stuff but I don't really feel her DM advice in general is great. She might have gotten better over time but back when I did watch them felt she mostly just restated the same platitudes as everyone else, even ones I think were bad or even problematic.

[@alteredveggie1495]

Serious question, has anyone improv'd a whole campaign? Like literally zero prep. If there's combat you just find the stat block on the spot, etc.

[@alteredveggie1495]

Like I'll accept taking notes as you go for cohesion