Immersive Gaming in an Emergency

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I'm going to tell you how I run on-the-fly games with little to no prep. I've done this a couple times, and they have been stellar sessions, on par with sessions for which I have more (or any) prep.

If you want to run this with a particular system, have the pdf on your phone before hand. It should involve minimal dice, or use your internal RNG (your brain). I have also run these types of sessions with no particular system before, and it works just as well.

Have a Cool Idea

Just have a bunch of these. Rip these off from where ever you would like. A movie, a book, a video game plot. Literally anything. The last Wikipedia article you read. Index your brain for all the media you can remember and think of something that fits the crowd and what they want.

A quick tip: think of some recent media, then ask "what if a certain aspect was different?", then think of if it would still be cool. What if a dragon slaying quest was in the future? Then you can suddenly take the future version of a dragon, a giant alien monster. What if we play Scooby-doo but the monsters are real and terrifying? Mix and remix ideas, combine, splice, and multiply the elements.

Feel free to ask the players for a setting. Most cool ideas are malleable enough to fit into any setting due to intrinsic coolness. That cool sci-fi plot would probably work just as well if the android was a steampunk robot in your fantasy setting. Or that goblin can be a little gray man alien in Roswell, New Mexico. Evil rich guys have always existed, as kings or as heads of corporations.

If you fail at this step, call off the game. Or fish for ideas from your players. Or just think harder.

Decide Character Details

Let the players come up with as much or as little as they desire. If you think gear will be important, let them decide. Have a clear role of each character: a soldier, a scientist, a wizard, etc. If magic or technology is in play, ask players what the thing does in an in-world sense (i.e. not appealing to mechanics).

Come up with a strong suit for each character, if not using a specific system. It could be a specific skill (e.g. languages) or some general ability (e.g. intelligence). Everyone should be on the same level of specificity on these.

Give a Clear Goal and Direction

You're likely running a one-shot. Based on the setting and characters, let them know what's going on and discuss why they are all involved. Let  them form connections between characters and the world.

Then, give them a clear thing to do, investigate, and/or defeat. It should be easily understood and concrete. Examples might be: slay the dragon, find out why the androids are going haywire, root out the aliens in Roswell. 

If appropriate, give them a starting location, or let the players decide where they are starting.

Run the Game

It's in the title that this is an emergency, but don't fret. You'll be fine. Just describe the consequences of actions. Don't be too stressed about pleasing your players. After all, they probably sprung this on you. Be OK with impromptu character detail inserts, as long as they are not outrageous.

Location: New Jersey, USA

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