Preparing for the Unexpected! (Game Master Tips)

Come hither as Critical Role’s Matt Mercer tells you how to be a better GM / DM. Today’s episode shows you how to roll with the unexpected player choices!

[ArdanTheHalfDragon]

David's backstory goes from 0 to 100 real quick

[mommamayhem]

Matt's way of dealing with unexpected events "Well I mean...you can try..."

[gamerfellow]

"I would like to turn into...a triceratops." -Scanlan Shorthalt (Sam Reigel) 2016

[jonahdrake]

"Can I help you? I'm David."
I have no idea why I found this in particular so hilarious.

[Ebolson]

In our latest session-

Party: we want to go to Neverwinter

DM: No

Party: why not

DM: I haven't created it yet

Party: but it's on the map

Followed by a 10 minute discussion on whether or not there is winter in Neverwinter.

[Girr]

"You can defiantly be comfortable pulling things out of your ass."

Matthew Mercer 2016

[AndsenPhren]

The wizard of oz was really just a failed gm that broke the immersion when they looked behind the curtain xD

[mothssmeat]

C A N I H E L P Y O U M Y N A M E I S D A V I D
oh god why is that so hilarious?

[zoeg.]

"I get most of my fun when I'm thrown off"

The cows.

[jesseastaples]

I was so inspired by critical role, myself and a buddy went out and bought the D&D 5e books, and I asked around to see if anyone in my area wanted to play a campaign. To my surprise, six people jumped aboard the role-playing train, with another two to come. We've been at it for four weeks or so, and to my delight everyone has been fairly comfortable actually role-playing their characters, voices, and (most of) their choices. I have run in to several unexpected party choices thus far, and have had to come up with loot, NPCs, and places on the fly due to lack of preparation. This gaming experience has been exhausting, sometimes overwhelming, and one of THE BEST things I have ever been involved with. Thanks to Matt Mercer and Critical Role, I find myself always looking forward to Monday nights and our next gaming sesh. I think 'fun' has been a key element this past month. Good times, with more to come! :)

[AdellRedwinters]

I love these tips, but I think they would be even more effective for Matt to talk about specific examples from the show too, of moments where the players completely caught him off guard and had to work around something unexpected, or going over how he modified the beholder for the boss fight with it. It would be pretty awesome.

[rahlforge]

An ability to instantly create a completely new story based on something your players did that you hadn't planned for (improv) is probably the most useful skill, in my opinion. My wife knows me so well, after one game in which she threw a curveball at me, she told me "I know when you're making up stuff on the fly!" I asked how, and she responded "you blink twice really quick and say 'here's what happens'!" I realized that the double blink was me taking the player input and refocusing it into a cohesive plot point, and figuring out how that affects the story. Was kind of a cool realization. Nobody else caught it, she just knows me that well!

[AndrisStafeckis]

We've gotta find Dave's arm! Who's with me?

[edwardmccartney]

dave the nurse who had his arm stolen by a demon yes

[CaptainFlintthePirate]

I make a "newspaper" with local to World wide stories in it to help bait the players and give them some "off" quest options.

[NickPReview]

My first time being a DM I had a great experience when it derailed into a small side-quest in town, the party had just gotten to the town I decided there were going to be three things of interest, so I decided on a general store and a tavern but I couldn't think of a third building so I said that they also noticed a shady looking guy go into an alley, one of them followed which I wasn't fully prepared for that to happen so I made it a drug deal. He decided to sneak and follow the guy and when he was standing in front of a building he knocked him out and took the drugs off of them, he tied him up in front of the police office he looked around for the guy who sold the drugs and saw him go into the tavern he got one of the other party members to go in with him(note: this other party member is guard in another town) so the party member he brought in went over and told the man he was under arrest and grabbed him to start dragging him. The man tried to hit his hand away but failed and accidentally hit him in the face, the party member took the man by the jaw and slammed his face against the bar and dragged him out by the hair and threw him through the window of police office. Then the party member that had the drugs went to another alley and sold them for 110 gold(note the man who they arrested bought them for 100 gold).It was the most fun thing and the funniest thing that happened that session.

[MarvelX]

I am a GM and I never prepare anything except for some baddys, general ideas, NPC's and settings. So, it turns out that even I, as the GM, never know what is going to happen. The game is all about the players. If the players aren't having fun then you are failing as a GM/DM. Freedom to do what you want as a player is the best thing for a game I have found. Your experiences may differ.

[Aksuloid]

Yeah :D My party is so gonna have a quest to find Dave's arm.

[eji]

lmao, fumbling with characters and backstories as a DM sounds pretty fun. Reminds me a lot of the process of creating fleshed out characters in more regular scenarios that I'm familiar with (writing stories, short comics, etc), but with the added bonus of having to create on the fly as well. Pretty neat.

[NightSwift]

I remember studying these videos years ago and since then I've been running one main campaign and many one shots for over 4 years now.

I love these vids and always recommend them when a friend wants to get behind the screen!