Last week I discussed how and why being flexible is not only a great skill to have as a GM, but can also be required with some of the stranger scenarios GMs will inevitably encounter.
Sometimes you're just not prepared for what the players did, and you're not sure exactly what to do. Today's article should help with situations like these, and parties that don't always go where you expect them to.
Some GMs plan very meticulously, and make sure every possible scenario is accounted for. This is, in my opinion, a waste of time. Players are cunning bastards, that often come up with insane ideas that could have only come up in the heat of the moment in-game. Sure, it's possible to plan for these situations, but I feel that time can be much better spent on other things. I like to plan using a method I call Island Planning.
Island Planning is a method of crafting stories that allows the GM to worry less about the minor details and tend to the bigger plot points that need to happen. The way it works is pretty simple - First you set up a few important points the party needs to get to, or an event the group needs to witness. For example, let us say that a party needs to resurrect a dead man for information (or just talk with his ghost), and the last important event was them seeing this man burned alive in a building by a blightress.
Well the plan looks like this - Seeing blightress kill NPC and run away --> Resurrect him/talk to his ghost --> He explains where the Blightress was from and why she killed him. Each point is called an island, and as far as the overall lot is concerned, they are the only things that matter (although the antics of the party and growth is important in other ways).
It doesn't matter how the players get from the first point to the second one. Maybe they hear of a healer in the swamplands who turns out to be a normal non-magical healer, wasting their time. It isn't important how they get from point A to point B, as long as they get there eventually.
This type of planning can be scary for newer GMs, but once you get used to it you can do some fun things with it. I've had occasions where a few islands didn't need to be in any specific order, so I threw them at the party as they got to an area where each event would fit the best. They don't know what story you have planned, or in what order, so you can shape and mold it as you please.
This style of storytelling allows for a lot of freedom on the GM's part, and on the player's part. Because the road is light and not always obvious, newer players tend to be scared making their own decisions without GMs to hold their hand. In an experienced playgroup, it all depends on the expectations on said group.
Basically, this technique allows the GM an amazing tool that can get around the most stunning, outrageous players, all while keeping a consistent and (hopefully) engaging story. It takes a lot of practice, and some experience with improv to pull off well, but when you do it can allow for amazing results.
GM --> Get Mad Bitches --> GM More
Taylor Shuss
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