Planning Every Detail vs. Winging It

[Tejma_Muhog]

I'd like to hear from other GMs about their experiences and/or preferences with the two extremes of GM preparedness: total or none.

I ask because my GM style has evolved into an almost-totally-prepared,
borderline-control-freak style which -- while not disliked by my players -- does result in a lot of prep time and, occasionally, headaches for me. And, of course, there's the common phenomenon of developing a whole set of locations and NPCs that the PCs, on account of their creative thinking, completely bypass.

Recently it has been proposed to me that I try a campaign in which I basically wing it all the time, and consciously prepare as little as possible in advance. I'm not uneasy about the notion -- it's what I did when I first started GMing, and I can improvise well -- but I'm curious about which one I'll prefer after all these years of being accustomed to hyper-preparedness. I'm also curious about what other GMs have done, perhaps with some specific anecdotes.
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Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.

[Gry Sarth]

I think I stand somewhere in between. I find completely winging an adventure to be too troublesome. It weighs a lot on the GM and it usually results in a "thinner" adventure. On the other hand, I hate fully scripted adventures. If the GM plans EVERYTHING, then he'll be resistant to allowing the PCs to skew it in a different direction.

What I do is plan with some amount of depth some key points. Be it encounters, NPCs or plot points. If you know what's the driving force between each NPC and what key events must happen, then you can wing the in-betweens, and allow some freedom even in the key points. I'll only map a few very crucial areas where I imagine battles will take place, and I only stat very important NPCs.

Of course, on the preparedness extreme, there was one time when I had a few months to prepare an adventure, and I created a full intro 3d animation for it. Complete with text crawl and a few minutes of animation of the PCs shuttle in action, linking directly into the adventure.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[masque]

I've been going in between. I make an rough outline, really more of a list, of certain goals I want to accomplish throughout the adventure (ex.: smuggle load of bacta from the Rebellion to the Trianii Resistance) and sketch out a few NPC's, and then I wing it from there. If the PC's do something where I need an NPC I haven't prepped, I leaf through the templates in Heroes and Rogues and use one of those, and I handwave their rolls. I figure this gives the players definite goals to accomplish, but also leaves enough room for side trips and what not.
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Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

[Chabit Rane]

Personnal, I'm somewhere between that as well. I plan out very specific encounters in detail, as well as my storyline. But the rest is "winged" as needed. I feel that is the best approach. At least it works for me.

[Tahlorn]

Okay, EVERYONE prefers to be between. But the poll asks if you were FORCED to an extreme, which would you choose?

I went with winging it, as if I have every detail planned iether the palyers won't have fun as there are no big options, or it will all go to hell if something unsuspected happens.

[Jedi Skyler]

I have to agree on the middle of the road approach. It lets you as GM have the fewest headaches during preparation, and reduces the time you must spend getting the adventure ready. But to completely wing it (and be completely effective) you have to possess an improvisational ability level just this side of God Himself, and since I don't personally know anybody with mad skillz like that, the end result is indeed a seeming thinness to the adventure, and it can also seem to the players as a very thrown-together piece, which then makes the players feel like they're not worth the effort of a well-planned out campaign. So I'd recommend going in the middle, with a good general outline, excellent stats for anyone the party might encounter (see ANY of Gry's Stat books), and plenty of patience and flexibility as your players (if they're worth their salt) take you all over the galaxy and back!

However, if you do have the time (and the ability), I, as a player, have ALWAYS enjoyed and appreciated those times when the GM went above and beyond to create extras like Gry mentioned with the 3D intro, animation, and the works! Efforts like that can really help set the mood for the rest of the night, if not the entire campaign, and are truly to be commended.

Makes me wish I were in Gry's gaming group... Kudos to you, dude!

[Gry Sarth]

Yeah, that adventure with the intro was a historical event. It was played over six years ago, and my players still talk about it as the finest ever (although the Fall of Coruscant, which I GMed last year, also claims that title now).

My players didn't have the slightest idea I had prepared that intro. So when I gathered them all around the PC, they didn't know what to expect. When the Star Wars theme started playing and they noticed that the crawl text was talking about THEIR exploits and adventures, they went crazy. And when the text faded and they realized there was still more, with a brief scene of their shuttle exiting hyperspace, being hit by an asteroid and falling into a nearby planet, they were all very excited and already fully in character. As the video stopped, I immediately started, without giving them any time to process it all: "So, you're crashing on an unknown planet"....

And on top of the intro, the adventure itself was very special, with a full commando operation to free a planet from a military dictator. And at the very end, the players realized they had been used by the Empire, the dictatorship they just helped overthrow was a rebel one which had just toppled the previous Imperial rule. The players were incredibly angry at that turn of events, but they really enjoyed the surprise of it.

They all developed a very intense hatred for the Imperial villainess who used them, which set the basis for a great long-term adventure, which only ended a few months ago, with the death of said villainess.

Sorry to bring this all up....

..and, Skyler, you're welcome in my group.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[garhkal]

If forced one way or the other, i would have to say i prefer to be a 'write out as much as possible' type of person.

Some 'winging it, i can handle. But the few times i tried to do the entire session that way, let alone multiple sessions, i had problems.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[hisham]

[Utinni]

So far, any game I've played in where there was no preperation at all has failed terribly. I vote for middle of the road. Too much prep and the GM runs the risk of alienating his players. No prep and the GM can really blow it.

Sounds like I could learn alot of Gry though! How do I get in his game!

I've played around a little with doing an intro in PowerPoint, but I never seem to have the time to do it correctly. No time means I won't be in the overly prepared category though!

[Jedi Skyler]

[Boomer]

I myself, if forced to choose between the two extremes, would go with winging it all the way. All I need to truly be prepared is a very good understanding of the rules, and some concrete changes that I think might better help me simulate the environment.

Pretty much, I can make an entire adventure or story up on the fly. Plus, since I now have nothing needed to devote to preparing the adventure, I have time for other things, like maybe the adventure itself.

But I do enjoy preparing.
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My backpack has jets!
I'm Boba the Fett!
And I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt,
to finance my 'vette!

[beaumont sebos]

I basically have a rough outline, with a few notes for things that I consider essential to not forget, and then fill it all in as I go along.

I'm much more of a "winger".
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Beaumont Sebos

"Saving the multiverse, one Gamorrean Ale at a time."

[adamlumina93]

I would have to say that I have a different approach. First all I have no problem completely winging an adventure but there is something to be said for preparation. For the adventures that I run most of them are based around a basic outline and I improvise as to what the players to. But when it comes down to my universe I spend time creating and developing places, people and adventures. I have adventures planned for different areas and certain events. I know that at some point in time I can introduce things I have planned maybe months ago. I personally try to run as much time as I can in my own drawn up systems and planets as I find it gives me much more freedom as a GM because I am not limited to sourcebooks and the such. So to answer the question on any one adventure I am probably 75-80% winging it but over the course of my campaign I would say my that most of the backround info is probably about 2/3 planned out and about 1/3 made up on the go.

[Orgaloth]

I have an idea, and will have notes about major events, NPCs ect, but wing it, because my PCs will never ever go where suggested. Damn pain in the neck when you play with people who are always trying to out think each other.
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"I take orders from just one person: Me!"

"You know, sometimes I amaze even myself."
Du Cass' Dream