A few tips on bullshitting improvising your way through a gaming session.
We've all been there before. Despite our best efforts -- or, more likely, because we just couldn't be arsed, we don't have any material ready for the next gaming session. On top of that, everyone's turned up early so any hopes you had of getting a few notes jotted down have been dashed to pieces and you're left with fewer ideas than a TV programme planning executive.
Well, if you're going to pull an adventure out of your arse, you might as well stand up. Let's take stock of the situation. If you're relying on your own material, chances are anything you come up with out of sheer desperation will screw your campaign over pretty badly. We've all had moments of weakness where, stuck for something to do, we've given our characters far too much treasure or led them on a six-hour killathon through the contents of every bestiary going. If there's a first rule to consider, it's this: get away from your regularly scheduled adventure. In your present state, never mind the players; you're not to be trusted with the campaign. Step away for a session, take the party elsewhere.
But where shall I take them, I hear you ask? Well, ideally, playing something else might be an idea. Claim you could do with a break for a week. Appeal to their decency, to their consideration for their fellow human beings and their poor old burnt-out referee. Chances are it won't work, players are notoriously immune to such appeals, but there could always be an exception to prove the rule. Still -- a side trek is what's called for. Get the PCs out of the action: perhaps a minor quest for a hitherto unconsidered faction might be an idea. If that's the case, the characters may have to provide proof of their credentials. The dwarves / gnomes / Denebian slime devils / Silurians / delete as appropriate won't let just anyone recover their artifact. Subject the heroes to an in-character interrogation which just happens to involve getting them to recount their life stories. You can pretend it's character development if you like, but deep down we all know it's just a delaying tactic.