I’m not used to improvising this much.
I’m not used to improvising this much. We ran our first session last week; two players had never done any tabletop roleplaying games and the other two were fairly inexperienced. Roleplaying was minimal when I didn’t prompt them or push them, but I’m not worried about that; as they learn and their characters grow from vague ideas into solidly defined people that will get better.
I’ve only run Pathfinder and 5E before, and this game plays so differently than anything else I’ve done. I knew I shouldn’t plan too much, so I kept things minimal, and it really really stretched my improvisation ability (in a good way). I had a few takeaways that might help others running the game:
1. Take notes during and, more importantly, just after play. I had a bunch of things I had decided on the fly in my head that there was no way I’d remember a week later. This one I will do so so so much better in the next session.
2. Have a list of names ready for when you need to create an NPC/Bystander on the fly. Write down who they are and check them off the list so you don’t re-use them. Make sure it’s a diverse list.
3. You won’t think of everything. This first mystery involves the murder of a security guard at a museum. My players immediately asked about security cameras and security gates. I recovered quickly, but was so used to fantasy settings that those hadn’t even crossed my mind. Now they have become a key element of how the players are going to solve the mystery.
4. Remember the Hunter names. Write them down if you need to. I struggled with this one. My mind was preoccupied with rules I am still not 100% confident on without reference and trying to keep all the npcs and their motives and jobs in my head. There probably would have been more roleplaying if I’d consistently addressed the hunters by name.
5. Set the scene. I thought I did this one well, and the players responded to it. I based the main location in this mystery on the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, which I expected most of the players to have visited. None had. So, I had to describe not just how it looked, but how it felt, especially at night when it was empty. This put them in the right frame of mind to play a horror themed game.