One ofDungeons & Dragons’most significant selling points is that virtually anything can happen. You can go from dungeon crawling and dragon fighting to awkwardly socializing with a sentient bird that can help you with your quest. The reason for that is our beloved Dungeon Masters, who, unlike AI in video games, can improvise consequences for all the odd things players want to pull off during the campaign.
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Improvising can be a challenging task, however. Getting used to that takes time and practice, but it can be learned. Still, there are ways to optimize your improv skills.
10Practice
Like any other skill, you’ll get better as you use it. Put yourself out there, and try using the things that come from the top of your head. Your players will ask if they don’t make sense, and you can adjust accordingly.
It’s okay to make mistakes as you learn. While taking a few seconds to absorb the situation is okay, try avoiding stalling the game because you’ve started thinking in great detail about what is happening. As time passes and similar problems happen, you’ll also have previous knowledge to help you with quick thinking.
9Use Humor
Your improvised reaction didn’t make sense, or you don’t know what the NPCs should do. Well, remember that this is a game, and the intent is for you and your friends to have fun. So, you can just be stupid about it and have a great laugh.
Did the players do something ridiculous in front of the BBEG? The villain can literally stare and try to understand what they’re doing, just like you are. NPCs can react in funny ways to players' going off the rails and make the whole situation hilarious. If everyone is having a good time, it’ll be hard to tell if inconsistencies are happening.
8Use References
If you need to develop a quick NPC backstory, side-quest, or anything that relies on extensive lore details, you can steal that from somewhere else. For example, an older NPC the players just met seems unhappy. They talk to him, and you say he did terrible things in his past he wishes to atone. The players keep pushing it, and you mention he killed his own father, who tried to kill him before, and the NPC wants to be a better father figure for his child. All of that is a vague telling of Kratos' backstory from the God of War series.
Just think of a character who should behave similarly to the NPC and go for it. The same can be used to inspire you with quests, places, items, or even organizations within your world. And don’t worry if your players noticed it. They’ll enjoy the reference if they also like what you’re referencing.
7Have A Databank
Here is where creating lists comes in handy. As they enter the store, one of the players asks the owner, “What is your name?” - and then you freeze. Luckily, you have an extensive list of names - and surnames, if need be - to answer about this guy you just came up with because you weren’t even expecting the players to enter such a store.
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If you have the time, you can create simple NPCs with names, descriptions, and behaviors without associating them with anything. Thus, if a player goes somewhere you didn’t think they’d go to, you can randomly pick and use one of these NPCs.
6Online Generators
In case you’re playing online - or using a Laptop as your DM screen - you can use the mighty powers of the machines to your service. It’s easy to find name generators online, and virtual tabletop tools such as Roll20 always give you a random name,maps, or even complete characters every time you create a new character sheet.
Sure, online take the fun out of it, and you won’t have time to read NPC backstory suggestions on the go, but it’s useful for quick things such as names.
5Don’t Worry About All The Details
Just because you need tocreate an NPCon the fly doesn’t mean you have to come up with their entire life stories. Sometimes Bob, the innkeeper, just needs to be Bob, the innkeeper. You only need to think about hobbies, life struggles, or personal motivations if these things actually become conversation topics. And, if your players are asking personal questions out of nowhere, you can have the NPC uncomfortable and not answer.
If said character becomes more relevant to the story for whatever reason, you can use the time between sessions to work on the character a bit more. But for the moment, you can simply have them there doing their thing in the background.
4Be Straight With Your Players
It’s okay if your players realize you are improvising. If they pull something off so absurd it even breaks a plot twist or a part of the story that needed to happen, it’s okay to say, “Hold on guys, I might need some time here to think things through.”
The idea is not to pressure the DM; good players know that. Proper communication between you and them will save everybody a lot of trouble.
3Allow Player’s Input
You’re not writing a book. You’re not the only person responsible for the story. Players may not create the world around them, but they have complete control of the main cast, which is a lot. If you have no idea what should happen, they can suggest options and remind you of important details.
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Have them help you in these moments, and since you know details they don’t, you can analyze their ideas and see if they make sense and can be implemented.
2Flesh Out Important NPCs
At first, this might seem like a contradiction to a previous entry. But there’s a difference between creating an NPC on the fly and dealing with your BBEG, for example. Though you don’t need to go too hard on their backstory,having one along with a clear motivationfor your baddie and a good notion of their behavior and personality will do wonders here.
Because of all that, they won’t be just a character to you, but a person. A fleshed-out person where you can easily improvise whenever the character is around because you’ll know exactly what a person like them would do in whatever situation is happening.
1Don’t Overthink
Easier said than done, we know. But regardless of how serious you like your world and lore to be, remember that this is a game between you and your friends, and the goal here is for everyone to have fun, including you. It’s okay to mess up from time to time, and trying to avoid that at all costs will only build your anxiety up.
You don’t need to have all the answers prepared. Call yourself out when you get lost in your chain of thoughts. And take a break if DMing is hard on you. The experience is meant to be fun and not a burden.
