Question on how you prep a one shot. I am worried I’m over thinking it but would you prep it just like any adventure with your fronts and threats and grim portents and all that? Any articles of youtube videos on the subject would be most helpful
Question on how you prep a one shot.
Question on how you prep a one shot.
I dont prep one shots, apart from a story hook.
“You are in an iron cage on a wagon driving through the city. Crowds of people follow, pelting you with rotten vegetales, and shouting curses at you.
▪Why are you in this predicament? What led to this moment?
▪Where are you being taken?
▪Why do the crowds hate you so much?
▪Tell me about this city?
▪Who is your biggest enemy in this city and why?”
▪What do you do?
Thats all you need: 2 minutes of thinking up some desperate but very open ended situation.
Google John Aegard and Dragonslaying on a Timetable. It is an excellent excellent treatment of running a one shot with step by step instructions.
Or, follow Wynand Louw’s advice because it’s gold.
You can find my doc at http://tiny.cc/tight-dw-oneshots
Ray Otus thanks!
Thanks guys. I have John Aegard’s document and it’s good. What I need, which Wynand Louw helped with, was questions. I like the “set the hook and ask questions” method. It’s asking the right questions. But I think all this advice is helpful. Thanks again.
I normally also have a note book with a few NPC’s with names and a couple of sentances outlining them.
I find it can be one less thing to worry about at the table.
Just had a look at John Aegard document, not seen it before, but iom off to have a good ready now.
no prep at all needed. Just ask your Players about everything.. enemys, Locations, Story Hooks, items ect.
Than start and about half way through just let them Level up on a rest (so they see how easy and fun it is) you dont need to track XP for a one Shot and no grim portents or similar stuff.
Just journey towards your goal, achieve the goal. The end. Just adjust to the time you and your players have.
I tried it once and had an awesome session with vampire bats fished out of the sky by a player and an heroic bossfight inside a crysta cave versus the great Vampire lord. It was short and fun, the players had never played this game before and they learned character creation, level up and how to play while playing it.
Start the game in the middle of a battle!
Joshua Faller – agreed. I think do that and start with, “how did you come to be here?”
I like having them mid journey , escorting a goods merchant to a city they were heading towards for some pittance pay and the mutual protection.
Elves and a bear attack, wounding the merchant and killing the other guards in the surprise.
Ask a few questions here – one of them has experience with elves, what about this encounter seems off or forced? What secret do they have which, if the others knew about, they wouldn’t be allowed to travel with them. Etc.
If they beat back the attack and follow the elves to their camp, they’re being led by a hideous nosferatu bat eared leader. Elves don’t have souls so they can’t rise as undead and don’t understand that he’s a vampire.
If they escape, they have problems with the black market mob boss expecting the merchant’s delivery.
If they beat back the attack and continue on, the mob boss introduces himself and offers them protection and places of power in the city, while providing increasingly large tasks he expects them to fulfil.