Improv!

The best part of role playing games is that you never know what's going to happen next. Once I started playing tabletop games, I realized that this is what I had been seeking for years. Video games bore me these days because they are so painfully limited. The story is determined. The path is often linear. And the ones that boast their multiple endings don't give you real choice; they give you different sets of hoops to jump through. You can see this truth by realizing that most games now come with achievements for doing 100% of the possible things in the game.

The most beautiful thing about a good role playing game is that you can interact with anything. In a video game, you may see a building, but if you aren't supposed to go into it, then it's really just a giant painted brick. You can't open a door or break a window. In a role playing game, it doesn't matter how trivial a building might be, if the players want in badly enough, they're getting in.

This leads us into the subject for today: improv! I often say that the GM creates the world and the cities and puts all the people in it, and they do, but that doesn't mean they've planned for everybody before the game starts. Because the players have complete autonomy, and because the Dice Gods favor no mortal, some incredibly unpredictable situations often arise.

Both as a player and as a game master, you need to be able to improvise. Think on your feet when you're in a bind. When a direct plan fails, come up with an alternative. Pay attention to every detail you're given in case you might be able to make use of it later, and ask if something is around if you have a plan that is missing one piece. And as a GM, let practicality be your guide. A castle is likely to be adorned with fancy paintings and pottery and statues. A bar is likely to be filled with gullible people. You may not have placed them in their when you came up with the scene, but if it would make sense for them to be their, then say yes when the players ask about it.

In improv comedy, the first rule is to always say yes. In role playing, that rule does not hold true. However, the more that players and GMs can work together and agree that a decision is fair (even if it's not favorable), the better the time everybody has.

With good enough improvisational skills, disagreements should be kept to a minimum. But if a player and a GM cannot agree on something, then let the dice make the decision. They are always the great equalizer.