Some of the best moments in a TTRPG emerge organically through play, instead of careful preparation and plotting.

I’ve talked at length about using random prompts to procedurally generate content for your games. This time, though, I’d like to just talk about natural developments that come out through play, without the aid of things like Mythic GME.

This is almost always player-driven. They seek out an NPC the GM didn’t consider, or ask interesting or strange questions of them. They have abilities or tools that let them approach a challenge from a unique angle. They have clever ideas to overcome a challenge in unexpected ways. Whatever the case, go with it. Like I said before, work with them to make it make sense. Let their actions and ideas reveal new and exciting stories.

More than that, what if the game you play, its rules and systems, help you and your players reveal new information and narrative beats as part of play?

Blades in the Dark has a Flashback mechanic, that lets players introduce new elements and facts into a story by flashing back to a time before the current events to explain how they prepared for what they’re facing now. It’s a game about crime and heists, inspired by media of the same persuasion, where flashbacks are commonplace. Maybe they run into a guard out on patrol, and a player creates a flashback to when he bribed that guard the night before after their shift, hanging out in a bar to unwind after work. That scene alone could reveal new insights into their score, into the guard, and the relationship to that player. And if they fail that roll to bribe them, well, wouldn’t that be fun? Now the guard they run into in the current scene isn’t alone. They’re just the first to round the corner, as they increased security after the attempted bribe.

Likewise, Spire’s Fallout mechanics of its Resistance system turns failure and consequences into narrative, revealing new and exciting terrors for the player characters as their stress eventually breaks. Fallout can cause the story to take wild twists, forcing the players to change their plans as new details and threats are revealed.

Even a game like Daggerheart has its Fear mechanic, which helps the GM establish interesting and new threats based on player dice rolls.

Whether it’s game mechanics, or player action, when there’s a chance to let the narrative emerge organically, let it. Let the story tell you what it wants to tell. It’s worth it to listen.