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 Contents
IntroduCtIon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. ImprovIsed Adventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Recommended Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 C2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Consistency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
About GURPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Causality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
“Between Game Sessions” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1. ImprovIsed enCounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Importance of Note-Taking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Roles, Not Rules: Improvised NPCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Read the Room. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Names and Voices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Goals and Goalposts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Having Doubts About “Roll and Shout”? . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Maybe a Few Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Improvise an encounter . . .
Random vs. Improvised. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 introduce a clue . . . do something
You Open the Door and See: Improvised Locations . . . . 8
Place Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 to get things back on track.
What’s There? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 – GURPS Basic Set
Maybe Some More Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Napkins and Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Spontaneous Stats and Made-Up Modifiers: 3. ImprovIsed CAmpAIgns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Improvised Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Collaborative Creation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
What Are They Carrying? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Session Zero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
What’s in the Box (Room, Palace, Chronicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Pocket Dimension, . . .)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 The Character-Creation Feedback Loop . . . . . . . . . . 20
All the Other Stuff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Collaborative Worldbuilding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Random Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Aim Big, Start Small . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Combat by the Seat of Your Pants: Save Some Surprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Improvised Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The Two-Way Street. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Abstract Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Theatre of the Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 glossAry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Emergency Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Black Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

2 Contents
 IntroduCtIon
Roleplaying games – GURPS included! – often assert that that will let you ad-lib more fluidly. How to Be a GURPS
planning is the surest path to success. The bare minimum is GM: Combat Encounters goes into detail on many of the
establishing generalities like genre, tone, and realism level techniques suggested here for improvised combat situa-
before starting play, and maybe before finding players. Most tions, making it an excellent companion volume for action-
advice tells the GM to create NPCs and locations as far in heavy campaigns.
advance as is practical, and to design encounters and care-
fully construct adventures from them, guided by the vision
of a campaign. There’s a bias toward worldbuilding: Crafting ABout the Author
societies with cultures, languages, laws, customs, politics, and Sean Punch set out to become a particle physicist in 1985
technologies; providing geographical and geophysical data, and ended up as GURPS Line Editor in 1995. In that role,
and potentially astrophysical or even metaphysical details; he has written, edited, or contributed to hundreds of GURPS
and creating maps. This approach is presented as the best way releases, revised the game into its fourth edition (2004),
to keep everything consistent. and been a regular contributor to Pyramid magazine. From
Those are excellent practices . . . for the GM with the time, 2008, he has served as lead creator of the GURPS Action and
inclination, and skills. For many gamers, especially those with GURPS Dungeon Fantasy series; work on the latter led to his
families and jobs, time is at a premium. And veteran GMs with design of the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game, released
all the inclination and skill in the world know a dark truth: in 2017. Sean has been a gamer since 1979, but devotes most
“Nothing survives contact with the players.” Players can undo of his spare time to Argentine tango (an improvised dance!).
weeks or months of planning in seconds with a move you He lives in Montréal, Québec with son amour, Geneviève.
didn’t predict – because you can’t read minds! Then you’re
scrambling to improvise.
One alternative is to buy published adventures and
worlds. However, available content doesn’t always suit
a group’s tastes – it wasn’t tailor-made for them – which
necessitates adaptation. Even if it’s a perfect fit, it costs
ABout GURPS
Steve Jackson Games is committed to full sup-
money to acquire and takes time to read. All of which port of GURPS players. We can be reached by email:
returns us to limited resources. Moreover, anybody can [email protected]. Our address is SJ Games, P.O. Box
buy game supplements to learn their “GM only” secrets; 18957, Austin, TX 78760. Resources include:
so, sneaky players can still force you to improvise.
A different alternative is not to plan to this extent. New supplements and adventures. GURPS continues to
Specify a genre and realism level, make sure the PCs are grow – see what’s new at gurps.sjgames.com.
created with suitable points and cash budgets, and then Warehouse 23. Our online store offers GURPS print items,
. . . play it by ear. If the players do something strange, plus PDFs of our books, supplements, adventures, play aids,
ad-lib a suitable comeback. Since they can’t read your and support . . . including exclusive material available only
mind, you’ll always be a step ahead. The catch is that on Warehouse 23! Just head over to warehouse23.com.
GMing on the fly takes practice. How to Be a GURPS Pyramid (pyramid.sjgames.com). Starting in 2008, PDF
GM: Improvising can’t replace that, but it aims to give magazine Pyramid has provided new GURPS rules and arti-
you a head start. cles, systemless locations, adventures, and more. Warehouse
23 offers the entire 122-issue library of Volume 3, plus the
Important: Improvising doesn’t remove all need for special Volume 4 issues. For more gaming goodness stretch-
Advance Preparation (p. B490). You must set up the play ing back to last millennium, check out Volumes 1 and 2
area, regardless of whether anything is written down or as well!
mapped. And since ad-libbing is customizing the game Internet. To discuss GURPS with our staff and your fel-
to your players and their alter-egos in real time, you low gamers, visit our forums at forums.sjgames.com. You
still need a control sheet and copies of the character can also join us at facebook.com/sjgames. The web page
sheets – you’ll be referring to these often to invent peo- for How to Be a GURPS GM: Improvising can be found at
ple, places, and events that suit your audience! gurps.sjgames.com/howtobeagurpsgmimprov.
Store Finder (storefinder.sjgames.com). Discover nearby
reCommended Books places to buy GURPS items and other Steve Jackson Games
products. Local shops are great places to play our games and
How to Be a GURPS GM: Improvising doesn’t meet fellow gamers!
require anything if you’re amazing at improvising – but
if you intend to play GURPS, you’ll want the GURPS Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the
Basic Set. How to Be a GURPS GM and How to Be a GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition. Page references that
GURPS GM: Managing Expectations, while optional, begin with B refer to that book, not this one.
offer explanations of the game’s rules and assumptions

IntroduCtIon 3
 ChApter one

ImprovIsed
enCounters
The building blocks of all improvisation are Improvised are losing interest despite this and you aren’t ready to get back
Encounters (p. B502): usually NPCs – but also locations, to the main event yet, whether because you have more plan-
objects, or situations – that weren’t defined well or at all until ning to do or because you require more inspiration. In that
someone or something rendered them too important to dis- situation, improvising anything – even gaming out “a day in
regard. They’re enthusiastically recommended (see Having the life” or making a big deal out of a stray cat showing up – is
Doubts About “Roll and Shout”?, p. 5) and often genuinely better than doing nothing.
necessary on otherwise-planned adventures, as the play-
In all three cases, improvising is a reformulation of
ers surprise you, the GM, with ideas or solutions – or prob-
Chandler’s Law: “When in doubt, have a man come through
lems! They’re inevitable if a campaign runs for long enough,
a door with a gun in his hand.” Maybe it’s ninjas, or the Kool-
because no reasonable amount of worldbuilding can account
Aid Man, but whatever it is, countering the unexpected with
for everything.
more of the same fills “dead air,” while a sudden jump can
All of this hints at the three main motivations for
revitalize a flagging plot or inject excitement into a natural
improvising:
gap in a healthy one.
The Story You Didn’t Know. The most obvious reason to The rest of this chapter – and supplement! – offers tricks
improvise is to respond to unanticipated actions. The heroes and tools for doing all this. Be aware that all of them rely on
might talk when you were positive they’d fight, or vice versa; this advice from p. B497:
ignore an obvious trail, or pursue a phantom one; or wan-
It’s a good idea not to let the players know when you are
der off to explore, even if you haven’t offered a sandbox. You
improvising. Let them think you had it all planned in advance.
might make a person, place, thing, or action more attractive
to the players than anticipated, whether because you were
inspired while describing something incidental, uninspired To succeed, planning alone
while planning the “real” encounter, or already improvising
and didn’t have a plan. Whatever the case may be, reacting to is insufficient. One must improvise
player enthusiasm with “dead air” can kill the game session, as well.
the current adventure, and possibly the campaign, rendering
it imperative to concoct something – however wild. – Isaac Asimov, Foundation
The Story You Did Know. As important, if somewhat less
obvious, is the need to bring a lagging or sidetracked story
back into focus. If the narrative is planned, this resembles the
previous case in its origin: a distraction disrupted the plot, and roles, not rules:
you want to recover from it. If the narrative is improvised, the
resemblance is in the end goal: to avoid a loss of momentum ImprovIsed npCs
that can snuff out player interest. Even if neither is true and Most worlds are so populous that you cannot prepare
everyone stays on message, bad dice rolls can block progress, notes on everybody the PCs might meet. Thus, improvising
player-GM miscommunications can send people down blind NPCs is inevitable unless the game is all about sneaking
alleys, and real-world interruptions or long gaps between ses- around and interacting with as few people as possible, or
sions can break concentration and blur memory. In all of these the “world” is a spacecraft, tiny colony, desert island, etc.,
cases, improvising a reason to move to the next step in the or a desolate hellscape, where each new person represents
story – despite everything! – can save the game. a massive leap in cast size. In those unusual cases, it’s best
The Pause in the Story. Dramatic pacing sometimes calls to plan encounters with people in advance – including mak-
for a gap within or between events. This “intermission” is ing at least partial if not full character sheets – because the
expected and perhaps even planned; so, the problem isn’t that ramifications are too profound to leave vague. Do the same
you aren’t sure about how to respond to the unexpected, as for anybody really important who shows up in person to do
in the first case above. The plot is still in progress and hasn’t stuff; even in a fully improvised campaign (see Chapter 3),
been disrupted, as in the second. The issue is that the players the World’s Ultimate Warrior needs stats.

4 ImprovIsed enCounters
the ImportAnCe they’ll often catch things you missed. Plus, what your players
choose to record hints at what they deem important, helping
of note-tAkIng you Read the Room (pp. 16-17).
Look out, honey, ’cause I’m using technology. Typing notes
A single improvised encounter can be a throwaway distrac- into a computer or phone might be faster for you – or slower,
tion, which is fine for – and often the entire point of – “The so be careful. Voice recordings yield a near-perfect record of
Pause in the Story” (see p. 4). When you link several such events that can help you make or outright replace notes, espe-
encounters into an improvised adventure, though, the princi- cially alongside voice-to-text software. If you game on a virtual
ples of C2 (pp. 14-15) require you to remember ad-libbed peo- tabletop, it can keep an automatic log!
ple, places, and things in case they reappear, along with
any events likely to affect future ones. Otherwise, you
have a series of random scenes, not a story.
So, take notes as you run your game, much
as Napkins and Envelopes (p. 10) counsels you to
draw as you describe. As writing is a record of your
words, not a complement to them, it doesn’t add
exposition so much as workload – but as anyone
who has spent time in a classroom knows, you can
train yourself to do this while paying attention to
what’s going on. Practice makes perfect!
Some tips can help, too:
• Use session numbers, bullets, and page numbers.
At the start of each game session, write something
like “Session 00,” possibly centered or underlined.
During that session, make each note a bullet point
under this heading, in the order in which things
happen. When the page is full, start a new page
and number it. This creates a natural record of
Causality (p. 15).
• Record only essentials. Take notes only when
something happens: an NPC or item appears, a place
is visited, a significant action occurs, or there’s
another important plot development (oath sworn,
deal made, mystery solved, person killed, etc.). This is
key to Consistency (p. 15). Including occasional in-game
times or dates helps maintain causality. reAd the room
• Be brief. Write only enough that you’ll understand what The most important trick for success at improvised adven-
you meant when you revisit your notes. However, always tures – and campaigns (see Chapter 3) – is to remain mindful:
include all names of people and places, and any improvised
stats – be they an NPC’s skill level, a place’s bad footing pen- Listen to what your players say in response to what happens.
alty, or an item’s weight. In particular, be mindful of the four “cons”:
• Make marginalia. Use the margin(s) next to your notes
to record secrets that the players don’t know about regarding Confusion. If the players’ words suggest that they’re in
those notes, and any ideas for future events those notes spark. the dark about what’s going on – they decide that something
This separates player and GM knowledge with minimal effort. meaningless is a clue (always a risk when inventing things on
• Keep sketches and maps. All impromptu drawings should the spot), fail to find actual clues, make plans that threaten to
become part of your notes. Insert them near the session when derail the adventure with futile courses of action, or otherwise
you made them. Although you needn’t number them as pages hit a dead end – and you didn’t intend that and don’t want to
or key them to specific bullets, that’s extremely helpful. run with it, improvise encounters that get the adventure back
• Read your notes! Skim the notes for the previous encoun- on track by offering conclusive evidence or tying off loose
ter or adventure before the next one, and let them inform and ends. If you actually want bafflement, or prefer the players’
inspire you. This is essential to consistency. Even the improvi- vision of what’s important to your own, add encounters that
sational GM who eschews planning beforehand is counseled to shift the story in that direction.
do such “planning alongside.” Conjecture. If an unresolved story element – e.g., a mys-
tery, a new location the PCs are voyaging to visit, or a major
If note-taking feels overwhelming, consider labor-saving upcoming battle – prompts the players to speculate out loud,
measures: then you still have time to adjust future encounters so that the
Bribery. You can’t require players to take notes for you, but adventure offers what they expect. That is, if you think they’d
you can tempt them to do so by offering anyone who turns enjoy that. If their words drip with trepidation, you can avoid
in notes on a session an extra bonus character point for that things that sound like they’d be no fun. Nothing says “impro-
session. Player notes won’t include secrets or many stats, but visation” better than real-time fluidity in adventure direction.

16 ImprovIsed Adventures
 glossAry
Improvising adopts narrower definitions of many gaming plot: Conflict, climax, and resolution of a story.
and literary-analysis terms, and coins new ones. plot token: Clue or item needed to advance the plot.
realism level: Degree to which the setting resembles reality.
adventure: Plot the length of an act, chapter, or episode in
resolution: Ending of a conflict.
fiction; mission or quest in gaming. Made up of encounters.
Rule of Cool: Principle that fun or drama overrides every-
campaign: All adventures and story arcs in a setting featuring
thing – even game mechanics.
recurring heroes.
sandbox: Game in which the players, not the GM, initiate
chronicle: The stories of a campaign, retold in rules-free prose.
most stories.
cinematic: Pertaining to low realism level.
scene: In-play moment that offers exposition by introducing
climax: Point in a story where the conflict starts toward
a conflict, delivering a plot token, portraying a climax or
resolution.
resolution, etc.; meaningful encounter.
conflict: Anything that initiates a plot by spurring the heroes
session: One meeting of GM and players to play the game.
to action.
Session Zero: Session prior to character creation, for cam-
encounter: In-play moment where the heroes interact with
paign planning and worldbuilding.
the setting’s people, places, things, or situations.
setting: Physical, temporal, and social backdrop; game world.
exposition: Revelation of story or setting information.
story: Narrative told by encounters, adventures, story arcs, or
genre: Cluster of conventions and tropes found together in
entire campaign. Requires a setting, heroes, themes, and at
fiction.
least one plot.
gritty: Realism level that exaggerates bad consequences and
story arc: Plot the length of a film, novel, or season in serial-
danger without exaggerating good consequences and
ized fiction; a multi-part adventure, or one series of linked
heroes’ capabilities.
adventures among several.
hero: Player character.
theme: Dramatic subject matter, especially if important or
line: Boundary – often of theme or tone – a player doesn’t
recurring.
want crossed.
tone: Mood or voice in which stories are told, including any
meta-game: Pertaining to a rule or ruling that affects the story
borrowing across genres.
but doesn’t exist in the setting, only at the gaming table.
TPK (Total Party Kill): Encounter that leaves no heroes alive.
outcome: Situation that a resolution causes in the setting.
veil: Promise that something – usually a theme – won’t appear
planned moment: Encounter or adventure that isn’t impro-
explicitly.
vised when most are.
worldbuilding: Creating a setting.

glossAry 23
Action, see Combat.
Index
GURPS, 3, 5, 10, 12, 15; Action 1: Heroes, Motivations for improvising, 4, 14.
Adventures, causality, 15; consistency, 15; 12; After the End 1: Wastelanders, 12; Notes, chronicles, 19, 22, 23; how to record,
definition, 23; engagement formula, Basic Set, 3, 5; Bio-Tech, 10; City Stats, 16; how to use, 7, 16; importance of, 3,
17; features of, 14, 17; flashbacks, 15; 10; Creatures of the Night, 12; Dungeon 7, 14, 16, 18; labor-saving tips, 16; rough
goals, 17; improvised, 14-17; player Fantasy, 12; Dungeon Fantasy 1: sketches, 10, 16, 18; see also Planning.
contributions, 16-17; random elements, Adventurers, 12; Fantasy-Tech, 10; NPCs, adventure causality, 15; adventure
15; reasons for improvising, 14; “Roll and High-Tech, 10; High-Tech: Adventure consistency, 15; capabilities of, 6-7;
Shout” advice, 5; when to plan, 15; see Guns, 10; High-Tech: Electricity and combat abilities, 12-13; fixing combat
also Campaigns, Combat, Encounters, Electronics, 10; High-Tech: Pulp Guns imbalances, 13; giving personality to, 5;
Items, Locations, Notes, NPCs, Players. 1, 10; High-Tech: Pulp Guns 2, 10; improvised, 4-7; items for, 11; names, 5-6;
Campaigns, character-creation feedback Horror, 12; Infinite Worlds, 10; Low- random vs. improvised, 7; reactions, 6;
loop, 20-21; chronicles, 19, 22, 23; Tech, 10; Low-Tech Companion 1: stereotypes and, 5; voices, 5-6; when to
collaborative creation, 14, 18-21; Philosophers and Kings, 10; Low-Tech prepare, 4.
collaborative worldbuilding, 20; Companion 2: Weapons and Warriors, Planning, between sessions, 15; campaigns,
definition, 23; features of, 18, 21; 10; Low-Tech Companion 3: Daily Life 18, 21; chronicles and, 19; collaborative
improvised, 18-22; planned moments, and Economics, 10; Magic, 10; Monster creation, 14, 18-21; limitations of, 3; need
18, 22, 23; “Roll and Shout” advice, Hunters 1: Champions, 12; Monster for with improvising, 3; see also Combat,
5; Session Zero, 19-20; starting, 21; Hunters 3: The Enemy, 12; Psi-Tech, Items, Locations, Notes, NPCs, Random.
surprises, 22; when to plan, 15; see also 10; Realm Management, 10; Reign Players, adventure goals and, 17; being
Adventures, Combat, Encounters, Items, of Steel: Will to Live, 12; Space, 10; mindful of, 16-17, 20; character-creation
Locations, Notes, NPCs, Players. Zombies, 12. feedback loop, 20-21; collaborative
Chandler’s Law, 4. How to Be a GURPS GM, 3; Combat creation, 14, 18-21; collaborative
Chronicles, 19, 22, 23; definition, Encounters, 3, 12; Managing worldbuilding, 20; engagement formula,
23. Expectations, 3, 18. 17; game notes by, 16; improvisation
Combat, abstract balance, 12-13; Items, adventure causality, 15; adventure expectations by, 5, 18, 22; knowledge of
fixing imbalances, 13; helpful game consistency, 15; as clues, 11-12; as GM improvisation, 4, 5, 7, 22; Session
supplements, 12; improvised, 12-13; distraction, 12; as extraordinary or Zero, 19-20.
obstacles, 12; locations and, 10, 13; unusual, 12; as obstacles, 12; helpful Preparation, see Planning.
maps, 13; NPC abilities, 12-13; NPC game supplements, 10; improvised, 10; Random, elements, 15; encounters, 7, 12;
ability levels table, 7; purpose of, 12, 13; random, 12; rolls to find, 11; sources of items, 12.
theatre of the mind, 13; Total Party Kill inspiration for, 11. Realism level, 19; definition, 23.
(TPK), 12, 13, 23; when to improvise, 12; Lines, definition, 23; establishing personal “Roll and Shout” advice, 5.
when to prepare, 12; wrapping up, 13. boundaries, 20; player feedback and, 20; Rule of Cool, definition, 23.
Encounters, as building blocks, 4; Chandler’s worldbuilding and, 20. Sandbox, definition, 23; overview, 14.
Law, 4; definition, 23; improvised, 4-13; Locations, adventure causality, 15; adventure Session Zero, 19-20; definition, 23.
inspired by players, 17; random vs. consistency, 15; combat and, 10, 13; Tables, NPC ability levels, 7.
improvised, 7; “Roll and Shout” advice, 5; contents, 9; general tips, 8; helpful game Tone, deciding on, 19; definition, 23;
when to improvise, 4; when to plan, 15; supplements, 10; improvised, 8-10; in- lines and veils and, 20; player feedback
see also Adventures, Campaigns, Combat, world function, 9; items for, 11; meta- and, 20; worldbuilding and, 20.
Items, Locations, Notes, NPCs, Players. game function, 9; obstacles, 12; physical Twist endings, 17.
Expectations, see Players. features, 9; place names, 9; rough Veils, definition, 23; establishing personal
Flashbacks, 15. sketches, 10, 16, 18; stats of, 9-10; boundaries, 20; player feedback and, 20;
Flashbangs, dramatic, 10, 12, 18. when to prepare, 8. worldbuilding and, 20.
Gear, see Items. Maps, improvised combat, 13; rough Weapons, see Combat, Items.
Genre, deciding on, 19; definition, 23. sketches, 10, 16, 18; see also Notes. Worldbuilding, collaborative, 20; definition,
Glossary, 23. Meta-game, definition, 23. 23.

24 Index
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