I know that everyone has a different approach to GMing, and there are no wrong ways as long as your players enjoy themselves. This is not an attempt to promote one style of running a game against another, but instead just an attempt to generate some comparative discussion about what ways there are.

Specifically I am talking about planning an adventure. How much of the adventure is planned ahead of time? Is it simply a series of scenes laced together by an overall plot like you see in the published adventures? Or is it rather a general idea of the situation and perhaps a few notes as to possible player choices and then letting the thing run wild?

The former would seem to allow better prep, more detailed environments and fleshed out NPCs for example while the latter gives a better impression of full freedom of choice on behalf of the players and doesn't risk wasted time by the GM working on an element of the story they decide to avoid.

Ive known guys that use either and have myself used both from time to time and varying degrees of something in between. Ive also heard players complain about both. Some resenting a simple linear storyline they are more or less chained to while others have complained that a completely freeform game feels more like the GM telling a story rather than running a game.

Lets say the GM is considering the following major points in his next session.

• PCs are hired by an underworld figure to move a shipment of illegal goods to another system.
• PCs are informed on to local law enforcement
• PCs are pursued by officials and captured.
• PCs are incarcerated
• PCs are offered freedom in exchange for doublecrossing original underworld figure.
• PCs accept conditions and escape is arranged.
• PCs doublecross underworld figure and must flee the system from underworld and law enforcement.

Now - this could be scripted, complete with locations, encounters, NPCs descriptions etc. but....

Should they be captured automatically? Should it be possible for them to avoid capture and thereby avoiding the entire plot. Should they have the choice to ignore the Law Enforcement deal, doublecrossing the cops instead?

If you played this adventure freeform, all, some, a bit or none of it could happen. That's fine actually, and many play that way but if the encounters and such were geared toward this plotline, the game is going to end or go off in a very different direction the GM will most likely not be ready for. If he plans instead on every possible change in the plot, he is going to be extremely overworked with dozens of encounters and such never used.

Now some will claim they allow freedom of action and merely move the various encounters or plot elements around to fit the player's choices. If that's the case, Ive had some players claim its really not a choice at all. If the Players avoid the Cops only to run into some underworld goons that use the same stats, then it wasn't free choice but an illusion of freedom.

So what do you guys think? There cant be anything wrong with scripting, every published adventure is done exactly that way and you would think, because of them, most GMs would consider that to be the way its done. Lots of GMs don't like scripting, calling it railroading if the PCs have to follow a given storyline. They choose to lay out very general guidelines and challenge themselves to somehow not only come up with the story elements but all the details of the setting and characters on the fly. These guys are either incredibly resourceful or BS their players into believing the impromptu adventure was actually planned that way all along and the spur of the moment encounters are actually well thought out and prepared.

Like I said, there are a hundred ways to play. Whats yours?

I use both, depending on the session/adventure but I have a few comments the first of which is that too much of either is likely to leave the players wanting a little bit of the other. In the span of a year and a half of real time i've run 10 session (about 4-5 hours of at the table time per session)... out of those I think the 3 that my players would select as being the most fun... 1 was entirely scripted and my PCS chose and rolled exactly according to the script (except for 3 despair that were unanticipated but didn't effect the session plot line in a significant way), the other two follow my "heist formula" which is

1) a semi scripted here's the objective (players of course get to ask questions which you can't predict 100%)

2) a scripted here's an encounter/scene about how you get the information you need to plan the heist OR here's this guy who will just give you what you need to fulfill the objective but first you need to do a job for him and here is the job

3) PCs plan and execute the job which is almost entirely sand box, there tends to be 2 phases to these a prep phase and a main objective phase, the prep phase frequently involves completing one or more minor objectives that weakens or helps to overcome the security protecting the major objective... in fact there can be 2 or even 3 prep phases (sometimes the have to prep to accomplish the minor objective that is protecting the major objective and then do a 3rd prep phase just before the major objective) but that is almost entirely player driven... but it still helps to prep the major objective encounter (you pointed them in a general direction, they figured out how to get to the major objective encounter complete with a map, and then you run the planned major objective encounter, unless they manage to sneak past the last line of defense which means your prep work to set up something that they HAD TO sneak past was NOT wasted)

I avoid scripting, even so far as not assuming that the PCs will succeed. I would never have them automatically captured, but I wouldn't have them automatically avoid capture either.

I avoid scripting, even so far as not assuming that the PCs will succeed. I would never have them automatically captured, but I wouldn't have them automatically avoid capture either.

you know we haven't even clearly defined "scripting"

we generally all have some sort of plan for each session

Is a plan for the session "scripting" if you've asked the PCs what they wanted to see and your plan for the session is for them to make progress towards THEIR narrative goals for their characters? (Which BTW is a good way to get them to CHOOSE to do what you planned for the session without telling them what you planned for them to do)

Does it mean that you designed NPCs so that the dice roll odds + talent selection means that the outcome that you planned is likely to occur if the PCs choose to act in a certain way? Does it matter whether that desired outcome was chosen to be in favor or against what the PCs want?

Does "scripting" mean writing a monologue for NPCs to say if a planned event actually happens

Does it mean having some *suggested* bad ass one liner comebacks for your PCs to say in their moment in the spot light if they can't on the fly think of something at the dramatically appropriate moment?

Does it matter whether the scripted dialogue builds player characters up or tears them up (of course that's important, the question is does it distinguish between whether something is classified as scripting)?

So in order to be clear what we all advocate/avoid in terms of "scripting" we need to define what "scripting" means because it really is a ambiguous/poorly defined term.

If you are going to run a sandbox game you have to put toys in the sandbox... Which means you need to throw a bunch of potential adventure ideas. Then you develop the story the players grab on to. So really sandboxes have to have scripts. As Players need to have something to act on or react too. The difference is the players choose from many options vs. The players getting the one story the GM has.

There's no such thing as a truly sandbox RPG and if you give the players too much freedom I find they end up wandering directionless.

You're right when you talk about the illusion of freedom that's what you have to create, the trick is to do it without seeming to force them through the plot anyway, giving them open choice when it will work for both players and GM or give them structured choice when it doesn't.

For instance you mention the idea of the players avoiding the cops only to run into a bunch of goons with the same stats.

Why do the cops and goons have the same stats?

Why does avoiding one fight have to turn into another at all or if it does why do the players need to know that wasn't the intention all along

You can't write for every contingency, I had to ignore huge amounts of the second act from Lure of the Lost with my F&D group after they went completely out of the box with their brilliant scheme but what I was able to do is take parts of it and rework it into the adventure.

Having a rough script is necessary to keep the pace but you have to be willing and able to either think on your feet when the players start going off reservation or the time to plan for it.

My statement about the goons was in reference the practice many GMs use of just retexturing encounters to save time. Stormtroopers become pirates, crime lord becomes planetary governor, customs patrol ship turns into sector rangers etc. They just move their plans around in front of wherever the players go and recolor them. Looks like free will but actually is still a script.

I've tried to sandbox with my 2 players, but they just don't like it. They kind of freak out if I give them free reign to decide what we do next. Seriously it's like looking at deer in headlights. Two pudgy, middle aged deer in headlights. They have trouble with the concept of character motivation, so deciding things like "Well, my character is a shipjacker, I'm in a starport, let's see if there is a ship to steal!" is just alien to them. They don't have that kind of initiative and agency. So I have to railroad them a good bit to get them moving. They are more reactionary than anything.

My statement about the goons was in reference the practice many GMs use of just retexturing encounters to save time. Stormtroopers become pirates, crime lord becomes planetary governor, customs patrol ship turns into sector rangers etc. They just move their plans around in front of wherever the players go and recolor them. Looks like free will but actually is still a script.

Great GMing technique. Be ready for lots of wiggle room.

If you're scripting, think of scenes as interactions with broad results. It's not actual scenery (that's just the backdrop), but what is achieved in the drama.

Scene A might be an interaction with a Crime Lord with an offer they can't refuse.

Scene B with local Law Enforcement. The players might have gone there themselves, or been pulled in for questioning after observation, or offered a job as a CI by a Marshal for a share of the reward.

Scene C is the Cargo Drop - Was the cargo delivered? Was it the right cargo or was there a switch by Boss/PC's/Other parties? Was it all just a distraction while the real cargo was moved elsewhere?

Scene D is the inevitable betrayal, where find out the Cops/PCs/Crimelord/ISB/Rebellion has been playing everyone. Maybe local law enforcement stumbled onto an ISB/Rebel fundraising Operation and things go weird and hint at the larger campaign arc.

Most Convention or Beginner scenarios I've run in the last few years run along the lines...

Scene A - Set the scene, preamble, Exposition

Scene B - Transition - Players make a clever guess at the direction of the adventure.

Scene C - Exploration - Where ever the players decided is the clever place to be offers clues to find the final event for the sessoin

Scene D - Confrontation - Finish the session boss/event

Scene E - Denouement - Epilogue

Sometimes there are more scenes, more steps, but rarely do I do more than sketch a rough map for a setting, and a paragraph describing the scene. Important NPC's get a paragraph each too.

I ran one Con game of Victorian Martian exploration with 14 teams (two extra teams also run by a friend) and every session had a different backdrop for the final "Boss", and every "Boss" was different in some way. From Tripods, to Martian Apes, to Cannibal natives, Feenians, Anarchists, and crooked plantation overseers. Every team congratulated themselves on how clever they were too. I just had a big list of possible bad guys and plots and scenery and worked from that.

Good points all above. I especially identify with the notion that typically players 'need' direction. Left completely to their own devices they tend to struggle. One particular player of mine I recall used to go on and on about how he hated the obviously scripted published adventures and yet when arriving at a point in the game where the next step wasn't obvious he was first to sort of flail around and ask "what is there to do?"

To me as a player, and Ill admit openly my experience as a player is very very limited, I want quality of experience over the notion of freedom or what have you. Give me a well thought out, well developed and well detailed story line complete with rich environments, interesting and multifaceted characters and lots of local color and background and Im thrilled. Even if I know that each scene is tacked on to the one before in a linear script as long as there is the illusion that I have options then Im good.

I tend to assume this with my players when I GM but understand it is not always the case.

The vast majority of the time if you were to peak in my GM notebook you would see the next session planned something along these lines.

Scene 1 - Emerging from Hyperspace at XXXXX, cleared by authorities for Spaceport XXXX then held in orbit to allow priority shipping planetfall. Ships identified as Imperial customs Patrol ship and Compnor Vigil Corvette.

Scene 2 - Landing bay 108 at Spaceport XXXX - while unloading and refueling hear news that Imperials are inspecting (shaking down) another spaceport. Several arrests, some violence, a half company of troops are hitting the port door to door. Messenger arrives asking the captain to meet with an agent by the name of XXXXX at a local cantina later than night.

FREE TIME - crew free to visit any of the bulleted locations available near the spaceport. (ie cantina, repair dock, supply trader, casino etc.)

Scene 3 - Cantina meeting - night time - cantina is crowded. Agent XXXX is waiting in a corner booth, offers drinks then is interrupted by Customs Agents storming the place in search of someone. Several customers run, troops in pursuit. Agent XXXX advises they leave now, and quietly.

Scene 4 - Alley - as they run several rough looking goons appear and fire on them from a distance, begin a chase through the back alleys and side streets. At some point run full into several Customs troops arresting two men. They interrupt the arrest and allow the men to escape, troop's attention focuses on them while goons drop back. Heated exchange but they resume looking for the prisoners. In the process Agent XXXX disappears into the shadows.

Scene 5 - Goons are gone, troops withdraw and the Agent has fled. Return to ship to find it has been ordered grounded by port authorities under order of Customs officials until it can be searched.

Etc... that's very much the way I plan my games only with a great deal more detail in each scene and notes to other sheets of information that include location descriptions, NPCs, perhaps rough maps to run a chase or the interior of a building etc.

Some have said this is total railroading. I suppose the players may deviate at any point but why would you want to if the story if following a given logical path. Sure, they could have chosen not to go with the Agent, or maybe start a fight with the customs guys or even try and take off without clearance in defiance of the grounded order and I would have dealt with it but you have to have a plan, don't you?

I usually write an outline of where I anticipate (not always correctly) things will go. I'll do a few sentence writeup on NPC's they'll probably encounter, and a brief description of the major places. The outline will include a description of what I anticipate the badguys doing and events that will occur. If there are people who will be involved in direct conflict I'll stat them out (or grab a predone NPC.)

My notes are generally anywhere from one to twelve pages, with lots of spaces, depending on the length of the scenario.

I don't do much with maps ahead of time, usually making up the exact layout on the spot. It means I can be surprised sometimes, but can craft a location/fight to the exact scenario that occurs.

I also usually have a "NPCs of Note" section at the start of the notes and list out the main people they'll be running into. So I don't have to fumble through my notes looking for names or prominent features of individuals.

I like to think I'm a pretty good GM, but I definitely focus more on story then the exact details, so there are occasional errors. I also work a full time job and have a family with 2 kids, so can't always dedicate quite as much time as I'd like. Sometimes prep takes a hit and things are a little more loose.

I do a hybrid of both. Since starting, I've been cannibalizing FFGs published adventures, and restructuring them to development my sessions and so far it has been a pretty great success. Sometimes I omit stuff, completely change npcs, factions, even plot points and sometimes the player's do that with their actions. You have to be quick on your feet when GMing any game, but this one especially so, because of the narrative dice. Those dice give players more control and input into the direction of the story than other table top games, and I find it both refreshing and to my taste, superior to most other systems. It really feels like a collaborative effort, and that is the reason why I leave tons of wiggle room to go, for lack of a better term, off-script.

With your particular list, you have an option that does both.

You can simply start the session with the PCs in Jail and then being offered their freedom in exchange for being informants and then let them go on with their original mission.

A step up with this is to start the session with them in Jail and set the mood with a montage description of them being interrogated by the locals and then wait for one of them to say "Just how did we get here?" Then you can go back to them meeting the crime lord and doing the leg work and let them get picked up by the fuzz. You may need to make the encounter a bit tougher and put them in a situation where they cannot easily run away (make sure the cops are using stun settings).

Preparing a scripted story has failed me 5 minutes into sessions with my current group; so since we were making it up anyway, I opted to go that route. However, just sitting there waiting for them to come up with something is a recipe for disaster as well. Might as well end every session with a cliffhanger and start every session in media res .

I took a great deal of time to familiarize myself with the setting. Sure, we all probably know a lot about Star Wars, but when you go down that Wookieepedia rabbit hole, one finds out how much one doesn't really know. So that was the hard first step. I had to learn the setting well enough to feel comfortable improvising them on the fly. To say I've attained any sort of mastery would be arrogant. I feel like I know enough, but it's still but a small piece.

I do actually have stories, usually 3 in fact, that are ongoing and with which the characters interact. Things happen behind the scenes, and their actions/inactions inform those. This gives me a setting that feels alive and in motion. But to keep my free time and sanity, I leverage Dungeon World's "Fronts" and "Grim Portents" mechanics - tried and true GM techniques boiled down to their essences so as to make building them a 30-second job.

Next on the prep list is to borrow or create a bunch of re-skinnable Set Pieces - basically, generic locales that can be quickly adapted for use elsewhere. Then I do the same with NPCs, although there are exceptions to this and I will craft custom ones of each. The reasoning here is that if my players zig when I anticipated a zag, I have a toolbox for improvisation right at my fingertips.

What about published modules? Well, those I do try to stay on script, but I actually take each bit and chop it up to suit my particular group.

Keeping all this data organized is in fact a chore. I have an old macbook air I use for this, it's small and quiet on the table and it'll get done what I need it to do.

With your particular list, you have an option that does both.

You can simply start the session with the PCs in Jail and then being offered their freedom in exchange for being informants and then let them go on with their original mission.

A step up with this is to start the session with them in Jail and set the mood with a montage description of them being interrogated by the locals and then wait for one of them to say "Just how did we get here?" Then you can go back to them meeting the crime lord and doing the leg work and let them get picked up by the fuzz. You may need to make the encounter a bit tougher and put them in a situation where they cannot easily run away (make sure the cops are using stun settings).

Normally I would think starting the session with the party in jail, stranded after a crash or other such dismal circumstances to be the very height of railroading as they had no chance to avoid it but.... I rather like your idea - ALOT actually. The flashback play and no way to avoid the eventual capture is kind of cool and wont feel like scripting persay, cuze well it happened already!

Preparing a scripted story has failed me 5 minutes into sessions with my current group; so since we were making it up anyway, I opted to go that route. However, just sitting there waiting for them to come up with something is a recipe for disaster as well. Might as well end every session with a cliffhanger and start every session in media res .

YEP BEEN THERE!

I took a great deal of time to familiarize myself with the setting. Sure, we all probably know a lot about Star Wars, but when you go down that Wookieepedia rabbit hole, one finds out how much one doesn't really know. So that was the hard first step. I had to learn the setting well enough to feel comfortable improvising them on the fly. To say I've attained any sort of mastery would be arrogant. I feel like I know enough, but it's still but a small piece.

OH SO TRUE. IT IS A HUGE GALAXY OUT THERE THAT HAS BEEN AROUND A LONG TIME. HONESTLY I DONT SEE HOW ANYONE CAN LEARN THE SETTING THAT WELL. EVERY SYSTEM IS DIFFERENT, DOZENS OF DIFFERENT AND VERY UNIQUE ALIEN SPECIES. MAKING STUFF UP? SURE, THATS EASY... BUT MAKING STUFF UP THAT ALREADY EXISTS IN THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE? THATS WAY TOUGHER.

I do actually have stories, usually 3 in fact, that are ongoing and with which the characters interact. Things happen behind the scenes, and their actions/inactions inform those. This gives me a setting that feels alive and in motion. But to keep my free time and sanity, I leverage Dungeon World's "Fronts" and "Grim Portents" mechanics - tried and true GM techniques boiled down to their essences so as to make building them a 30-second job.

Next on the prep list is to borrow or create a bunch of re-skinnable Set Pieces - basically, generic locales that can be quickly adapted for use elsewhere. Then I do the same with NPCs, although there are exceptions to this and I will craft custom ones of each. The reasoning here is that if my players zig when I anticipated a zag, I have a toolbox for improvisation right at my fingertips.

YEAH, THERES THAT "RESKIN" THING I MENTIONED ABOVE. I KNOW IT WORKS FOR SOME, MAYBE A LOT, BUT I CANT BUY IT. IF I MAKE UP A FULLY FLESHED OUT DESERT WORLD WITH TRIBAL NOMADS, THERE IS JUST NO WAY THEY ARE GOING TO TURN INTO SPEEDER BIKE GANGS ON A URBAN WORLD. ID RATHER LEAVE THEM AND THEIR WORLD WHERE IT IS AS PART OF MY UNIVERSE AND MAKE UP SOMETHING UNIQUE TO THE ONE THE PLAYERS ACTUALLY VISIT.

What about published modules? Well, those I do try to stay on script, but I actually take each bit and chop it up to suit my particular group.

Keeping all this data organized is in fact a chore. I have an old macbook air I use for this, it's small and quiet on the table and it'll get done what I need it to do.

CHORE IS RIGHT. I HAVE A THUMBDRIVE FILLING FAST WITH DOCUMENTS ON LOCATIONS, HISTORY, NPCS, NEW SHIPS & VEHICLES, EQUIPMENT, ORGANIZATIONS AND COMPANIES, AND ON AND ON AND ON. ITS CRAZY THE AMOUNT OF STUFF IT TAKES TO RUN AN ADVENTURE!

OH, IF ANYONE CAN TELL ME HOW TO BREAK UP A POST INTO SEPARATE QUOTES TO COMMENT< PLEASE DO... THIS SUCKS.

With your particular list, you have an option that does both.

You can simply start the session with the PCs in Jail and then being offered their freedom in exchange for being informants and then let them go on with their original mission.

A step up with this is to start the session with them in Jail and set the mood with a montage description of them being interrogated by the locals and then wait for one of them to say "Just how did we get here?" Then you can go back to them meeting the crime lord and doing the leg work and let them get picked up by the fuzz. You may need to make the encounter a bit tougher and put them in a situation where they cannot easily run away (make sure the cops are using stun settings).

Normally I would think starting the session with the party in jail, stranded after a crash or other such dismal circumstances to be the very height of railroading as they had no chance to avoid it but.... I rather like your idea - ALOT actually. The flashback play and no way to avoid the eventual capture is kind of cool and wont feel like scripting persay, cuze well it happened already!

Some things in life, you can't avoid. You can only try and escape/survive it. That's not railroading, that's just how things are. Not everything that happens is in the player's control.

Rgrove0172, you'll probably have an easier time breaking up quotes in "code mode" which is the little grey switch icon in the upper left of the reply tools. Right above the "bold." Still, there's a lot of copy & paste to do to position tags in the right place.

I'll tackle your points without a quote:

Making stuff up in a thoroughly fleshed-out universe: You're right, definitely harder. That's why I spent a lot of time and energy trying to become familiar with what's out there. I liken it to being able to describe the place I lived for 30 years from the place I just moved to - familiarity as the result of mass consumption. So I continue to consume and digest, pretty much daily.

Reskinning : Yup, agreed that it's not going to work everywhere. But if you've planned planned out your story with key "stops" then you can make those as fancy as you like with all the detail you like (with the caveat of Chekov's Gun being considered of course.) What these Set Pieces allow me to do is go with the flow when things go awry, and they're gonna go awry - we both know that all too well. It does take a bit of one's committed Star Wars brain power but if you've done your homework, it'll get easier. I could always improve: my NPCs tend to be male and from a select half dozen of species. While I try to eschew over-inclusiveness I could definitely mix it up better.

Keeping it all together : I use Evernote as my second brain, and I use Scrivener as my "run book" for playing. Snippits, NPCs, they go in Evernote. Plot points, important NPCs, those go in Scrivener. I make use of application interoperability (Evernote allows you to link to notes) because I can then leverage neato whizbang tools with a click. For example, Evernote has checkboxes that I can add on the fly to count NPC's strain. If I need 4 minion groups of stormtroopers, I just take my one note, copy it 4 times, and off we go! Having a corpus of reskinnable NPCs (mostly based on adversaries from the book) means I'm never more than a few clicks away from the action. Is it a lot of work? Sometimes! For the first couple months it was like a part-time job!

I would also like to call out that my GMing style has changed radically in the past 2 years, mostly due to this very game. What I describe now is the result of a lot of critical thinking, research, and reading/listening to others to bring new tools to me. A couple years ago I thought I had it down, I thought I was good. Now I feel like I'm standing on a vista overlooking all the gaming greatness there is to be had and I'm building myself a ladder so I can come on down and join the fun. At first I was a little daunted and reluctant, but I dove in head first and I feel like my games are better for the experience.

If I may be so bold, I'd like to suggest Play Unsafe as the key that unlocked this door for me. There are plenty of great books out there ( Play Dirty , Robin's Laws , The Lazy DM ) that helped formulate this modus operandi but that one put it all together for me.

[edit: of crud, I forgot all the Gnome Stew books! Those are all great as well! I could probably fill a volume with things I've forgotten to mention that merit inclusion. ]

I know that everyone has a different approach to GMing, and there are no wrong ways as long as your players enjoy themselves. This is not an attempt to promote one style of running a game against another, but instead just an attempt to generate some comparative discussion about what ways there are.

Specifically I am talking about planning an adventure. How much of the adventure is planned ahead of time? Is it simply a series of scenes laced together by an overall plot like you see in the published adventures? Or is it rather a general idea of the situation and perhaps a few notes as to possible player choices and then letting the thing run wild?

The former would seem to allow better prep, more detailed environments and fleshed out NPCs for example while the latter gives a better impression of full freedom of choice on behalf of the players and doesn't risk wasted time by the GM working on an element of the story they decide to avoid.

Ive known guys that use either and have myself used both from time to time and varying degrees of something in between. Ive also heard players complain about both. Some resenting a simple linear storyline they are more or less chained to while others have complained that a completely freeform game feels more like the GM telling a story rather than running a game.

Lets say the GM is considering the following major points in his next session.

• PCs are hired by an underworld figure to move a shipment of illegal goods to another system.
• PCs are informed on to local law enforcement
• PCs are pursued by officials and captured.
• PCs are incarcerated
• PCs are offered freedom in exchange for doublecrossing original underworld figure.
• PCs accept conditions and escape is arranged.
• PCs doublecross underworld figure and must flee the system from underworld and law enforcement.

Now - this could be scripted, complete with locations, encounters, NPCs descriptions etc. but....

Should they be captured automatically? Should it be possible for them to avoid capture and thereby avoiding the entire plot. Should they have the choice to ignore the Law Enforcement deal, doublecrossing the cops instead?

If you played this adventure freeform, all, some, a bit or none of it could happen. That's fine actually, and many play that way but if the encounters and such were geared toward this plotline, the game is going to end or go off in a very different direction the GM will most likely not be ready for. If he plans instead on every possible change in the plot, he is going to be extremely overworked with dozens of encounters and such never used.

Now some will claim they allow freedom of action and merely move the various encounters or plot elements around to fit the player's choices. If that's the case, Ive had some players claim its really not a choice at all. If the Players avoid the Cops only to run into some underworld goons that use the same stats, then it wasn't free choice but an illusion of freedom.

So what do you guys think? There cant be anything wrong with scripting, every published adventure is done exactly that way and you would think, because of them, most GMs would consider that to be the way its done. Lots of GMs don't like scripting, calling it railroading if the PCs have to follow a given storyline. They choose to lay out very general guidelines and challenge themselves to somehow not only come up with the story elements but all the details of the setting and characters on the fly. These guys are either incredibly resourceful or BS their players into believing the impromptu adventure was actually planned that way all along and the spur of the moment encounters are actually well thought out and prepared.

Like I said, there are a hundred ways to play. Whats yours?

A sufficiently strong group of pursuers can effect the capture. Just make certain the players hear that it's stun damage.

If you really want to leave the capture out of their hands, simply declare it, and set the destiny pool to all white... and say, "As you wake up from that stun you didn't see..."

I would also recommend the GM Holocron Episode of the Order 66 Podcast, Episode 11 i think... In it it talks about making a bunch of stuff. Namely have a bunch of generic NPCs that are stats and type only. These can be reskinned as lots of things. Make a bunch of set pieces. These also are generic. Like Bar, Docking Bay etc. These are also reskinable. So that you can pull what you need when you need it with little planning.

I *generally* don't script anything. I learned the hard way, a long time ago, that players will do things I never anticipated while I was planning. So now I just not down ideas. I DO, however, create places and NPCs that the characters are likely to interact with at some point, and sometimes I'll write up an encounter and then sit on it until the time is right to use it.

Even if I wanted to script it may players would burst out of it at the first possibility given.

So within my 16 years of GMing I found for myself the best is to not overdo it with the Scripting.

First the Campaing Setting and Story:

player are force sensitive, era of Rebellion, Enemys: 1.Empire (Common Enemy) 2.two jedaai awoken from a cryostasis (Main Enemy and Final encounter)

Main Goal: stop the Jedaai from finding all 5 Force relics to activate the Anti-Force-Wave-Generator on Thytos.

First (Main) Chapter:

1. The meeting of the Heroes in a cantina (may be an BH is in the cantina but not on theire Trail...yet).

2. getting in the first trouble (unrelated to the main objectiv) Enemy ether Empire or local thugs or with the BH(from 1.)

3. in conclusion let them find a holocron with information about some mighty relics and two coordinates to choose.

Second (Main) Chapter:

1. Starting where ever the last story ended (hyperspace, jail, or what ever)

2. Search for the relict, finding an ancient temple, first meeting with the BBGs jedaai and first clue to theire evil sheme.

3. fight with an acient beast awoken by the jedaai (since they won´t bother fighting the young wannabe jedi right away.)

Alternate Chapter after a despair on astronavigation:

1. crashlanding on dathomir.

2. getting involved into the evil sheme of the Great Mother of the "Nightsister" to steal away an force relict from the clan of the "singing Mountain"

3. IF they do so: get involved on an civil war among the tribes.

4. finding the destroyed empereal prison and get the chance to find some valuable allies (an sniper and a commander or a rocketeer)

5. try to end the civil war in a big battle or a sneaky reoccupiing of the relict.

6. lose the force relict to one of the BBGs and get the first clue to the evil sheme.

7. repair the ship and take of to the known coordinates.

Each chapter can be 1-4 sessions depending on the behavior of the players,

e.g. They needed 2 sessions for the first chapter since they wanted to get some money in an casino first, and one got jailed up after showing her training glowstick.

furthermore I had to come up with an entire extra chapter since they went of with to less gas and support onboard an have to reach the next destination,

Espacially since both players wanted to try to find a job on the next planet to pay the bill at the spaceport.

So my bestfriends are an always open Jedipedia (german version of Wookipedia) and my charts with the important NPC they may meet.

All NSCs got stats that are important to them, a short sentence on theire Motivation, if needed how much money they can spend as a maximum and how they behave and speak, and if they are Rival or Nemesis.

All goons are made on the Fly.

Only important Maps are made in preparation.

And the rest is playing in an sandbox... playing until reach chapter two final stage than start thinking what chapter three will look like in combination the PCs actions before.(like look which NPC is still alive, which will be pissed off, which will be of future assistance and so on.

I would like to reinforce that scripting can be beneficial if player agency isn't squelched too badly, or ideally, at all. Like that couple fighting at the market - there's a story there, but are you going to get involved? What could the PC's interaction with that plot mean? The plot continues despite the PCs - it was happening before they witnessed it and it'll happen after.

If I have 2-3 of these per session and run them in the background (yay, GM story time!) and keep track of them, then I have the appearance of a living world.

A sufficiently strong group of pursuers can effect the capture. Just make certain the players hear that it's stun damage.

If you really want to leave the capture out of their hands, simply declare it, and set the destiny pool to all white... and say, "As you wake up from that stun you didn't see..."

LOL... oh a couple of my regular gaming buddies would throw a fit on that. They resent the GM taking obvious God Like powers and just proclaiming they missed, lost, forgot, were noticed, broke down, etc. If it happens by die roll, its accepted but otherwise ...