Do you guys usually plan in advance which monsters the pcs will face in your session or do you just kinda go with what they tell you? Like asking the fighter “what kind of dangers do you expect to find here”?
Does this question depend also on where you are in your campaign?
I plan a few and if they don’t work out, they get used later.
I like human villains, though. So I make powerful NPCs.
I note, and stat up if need be, monsters and NPCs I know are in the area. It’s up to the PCs whether or not they encounter them. 😉
I just work with the PC’s answers to questions and tend to follow
The ‘environment’ categories to pick and choose.
The 4th ed monster manual is a great resource for this too – fairly easy to stat monsters up on the fly and with a pretty picture and associated factions to boot.
I have monsters that they are likely to come across ready. But some times your players do the unexpected so I’m always ready to improvise
I usually make them up as I go on.
I don’t plan which Monsters the PCs will face in the session, necessarily. but if i know that they are interested, as players, in pursuing a specific threat, i like to have at least a few sample dangers that are reasonably associated with that threat, or at least have in mind which creatures from the book are in the area.
When i’ve tried to fully improvise a Monster on the spot, only writing down its attack damage and tracking HP, i’ve never done that well. I tend to make the same moves over and over again, mainly dealing damage and maybe breaking a thing or two.
Even if i improvise a Monster now, i make sure to put down at least an instinct and a couple of moves before we get too far into interactions, even if that means taking a short break. Having a list of Monster moves in front of me helps me diversify my responses as a GM, making each scene stand out from others, as the Monsters move through their interactions, combative or not, in accordance with their instincts and moves.
For intelligent Monsters (which includes humanoid NPCs) that gain enough PC attention to become interesting, i also like to have the players roll on Instinct and Knack charts. I don’t necessarily tell them what they rolled, but i commit myself to making WHATEVER they rolled relevant. This has led to some fun challenges, like a crusty old sea captain they hired for passage, that we then rolled an instinct and a knack for. He turned out to have a silver tongue and a desire to commit an atrocity. That sea captain ended up being a lot more fun for me to play as GM, and a lot more fun for my PCs to interact with, once i realized just these two facts about him.
On the fly most the time.
Only exception to this is if I have an idea that excites the crap out of me, then I’ll try to find a way to include it. Just to note it I might write something like this.
At least
Fear eating storm drake.
At most:
Storm drake(instinct: to feed off fear)
cause a thunderstorm
spit lightning
make a deal with a worthy being