There is no easier trap for a Dungeon Master (DM) to fall into than to prepare a 20 page module for game day and the players either ignore every hook the DM uses or go in an entirely different direction.  It’s ruined more than a few DMs.  Having played with DMs who have a difficult time adjusting their game on the fly, I’ve watched it ruin not only the session, but run players away from the table and the game itself.  It doesn’t have to be a bad thing though when things don’t go as planned.

     Games usually consist of a DM and between 1-6 other players.  A good DM has to realize the more players that are at the table, the more chance of a game going off script.  The more chance someone will figure out the riddle the DM spent hours working out, or figuring out the trap.  Each player has the ability to go and do things as his or her player sees fit.

     Sometimes, this is a simple solution, moving an encounter from the local tavern where a fight was to ensue, to the road, where the same thugs end up being bandits.  Sometimes it’s matter of letting the party do what they wish and brining them back to the original planned adventure at a later in the session or at a later date.  Perhaps the module just moves from one city to another.  Random wilderness or road encounters can be derived from various encounter tables.  Sometimes, the adventure goes off into a one shot or side adventure, and the DM works in another hook which is set and the party goes back and the adventure moves forward after the detour.  Sometimes, the party never goes back to the original prepared adventure.

     However the DM handles it, the flow of the game shouldn’t be interrupted.  Going with the flow, being flexible is key.  As a DM, one can not take it personally when the players go in a different direction.  Remember the game will go where it’s intended to.  Perhaps the thief has no inclination to venture into the outback and delve into some long forgotten ruin.  The mage may not want to hit the road for weeks on end, and may chose to find a portal or purchase a teleport scroll thus negating all the prepared encounters along the road.  So be it.  Shazam and the entire party is outside the ruins.  Or perhaps the spell doesn’t work as well with the entire party holding hands, and they teleport only part of the way.  Or perhaps the price of the teleportation is too costly for the party.  Everyone at the table has a voice and different ideas when presented with adventure circumstances.

     Random encounters, and a brief overview of where the campaign is headed is often all that is needed for preparation before a session.   Having a few key non-player characters as allies and villains is a good start.  Random encounter tables can be divided into various areas, such as urban, rural, forest, mountains, swamp, plains, hills, jungle, deserts, etc.  These tables can either be custom built or a DM can utilize numerous tables either from core rule books or any number of tables available from other publishers.  There are also a number of free resources available on the Web.  This can negate the need to have prepared encounters, or limit the number of prepared encounters.  It’s important to remember as the DM, your players won’t likely know if the encounters are prepared or random.  The main goal is for everyone at the table to have fun.  If the players look forward to the next session, I’d say the DM is doing something right.