Day 13 of #RPGaDay, and the primary word was "FLOOD". I don't really Noah guy who can help out with this, so I looked further down and saw "IMPROVISE"
After going over all the planning and plotting I try to do, sometimes you just gotta shoot from the hip.
PBTA games are completely revolutionary, but when I listened to my first Spirit of '77 game and the GM (DJ) asked his players, "Why are you guys in the back of a speeding ice cream truck?" it blew the doors off of some GMing techniques.
The idea of taking instant player input for the game/campaign is dangerous, but in the hands of a seasoned GM, those players might never realized you kept generating new ideas as you went along, you tweaked your existing plot, or it had zero effect on the planned storyline. At least one player had extra influence and has bought further into the game because of it.
Still, not every player likes being put on the spot. Some, like my daughter, who's 12, and my friend Jim, whose 50+ but new to role-playing, thinks RPG are a purely analytical exercise with a "right" answer, and process and try to explain their actions. I'm working on getting them to make better and faster decisions, even if they aren't the best. I'll also need to break out more of the Rory's Story Cubes to help with Maja's improvisation.
And don't think that improv is some 21st Century new-age concept for RPGs. I've used random encounter tables for D&D and Hackmaster for campaign exploration, especially if they're not tiered towards character levels. Band of orcs? Ogre Slavers? Middle-Aged Iridescent Crested Dragon? Perfect opportunities to keep the battle mat rolled up a few minutes longer and put together a different story with different opportunities for new characters, experienced adventurers, or epic legends.
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