MNblockhead
A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
I am probably going to come across as a grumpy grognard, but I'm feeling a bit miffed about the lack of single-session or "mini-series" games in modern Dungeons & Dragons. While this may be a "General RPG" topic, it is more pronounced in DnD for me.
First, some background, to see where I'm coming from. I am in my mid-40s. I started playing DnD in the 80s, moved on to other games in the late 80s and stopped playing TTRPGs in '90 or '91. I started thinking about getting back into TTRPG after moving back to my home town. I was regularly playing board games with old high-school friends and we would talk about our old campaigns and I got nolstalgic. Then DnD 5e came out and it was awesome, so I bought it and started building my own world. My campaign has been running for over two years now.
The trouble is that with work and family, that I don't have time to commit to a regular campaign outside of the one I DM, but I would still like to play now and then.
But nobody seems to do one-off adventures any more. At my local Convention I've played in Adventurer's League games and had fun, but since I don't regularly play AL games throughout the year, I always have to play at first level.
What happened to the old tournament games? I remember going to Gen Con and being able to sit down for a mid-to-high level adventure using pre-generated characters. It was great. I did not care about "winning", I just enjoyed a one-off game and having to role-play a character I might not have played in a campaign (there are lots of characters that are fun to try out, but that you would not want to be stuck with playing for many months). Also, the adventures can be more experimental and the challenges can be better tailored if the players are playing with pre-gens.
I know that at Conventions you can find DMs running games like this but I've had bad experiences. My first DnD game after 25+ years was for a game where the DM was hung over and only two people showed up so he cancelled it. Luckily I was able to get into an AL game with a great DM...but playing a 1st level character. I wish WoTC would offer some non-AL games. Or, allow a player to join an Adventurer's League game with a pre-gen. Let me play a 5th level character and just rip it up after the game, I don't care. I'm never going to have an AL character get up high levels.
Still, while allowing one-shot pre-gens in an AL game would go a long way, it still isn't the same as the old tournament module experience. The DM never knows who they are going to get for an AL game and sometimes the party chemistry just isn't great for the adventure. Having to design adventures around all the contingencies that can arise from a random mixed bag of characters constrains the writers. You can do a lot of great challenges and story telling in a one-shot module with pre-gens made specifically for that adventure than you can with a bring-your-own-character game.
Outside of conventions, I avoid AL games at my FLGS because (1) I will always be at low levels since I can't play regularly and (2) it can be hard to find a seat at a table, especially if you are only going to be there for one session. Really looking for opportunities to play the occasional 6-8 hour one-off session with a mid-to-high level pregens. DnD Encounters seems to be designed for the exact opposite experience.
The obvious solution is to find DMs doing their own one-shots. But the message boards and Meetup.com seem to be people looking for players to commit to longer campaigns.
First, some background, to see where I'm coming from. I am in my mid-40s. I started playing DnD in the 80s, moved on to other games in the late 80s and stopped playing TTRPGs in '90 or '91. I started thinking about getting back into TTRPG after moving back to my home town. I was regularly playing board games with old high-school friends and we would talk about our old campaigns and I got nolstalgic. Then DnD 5e came out and it was awesome, so I bought it and started building my own world. My campaign has been running for over two years now.
The trouble is that with work and family, that I don't have time to commit to a regular campaign outside of the one I DM, but I would still like to play now and then.
But nobody seems to do one-off adventures any more. At my local Convention I've played in Adventurer's League games and had fun, but since I don't regularly play AL games throughout the year, I always have to play at first level.
What happened to the old tournament games? I remember going to Gen Con and being able to sit down for a mid-to-high level adventure using pre-generated characters. It was great. I did not care about "winning", I just enjoyed a one-off game and having to role-play a character I might not have played in a campaign (there are lots of characters that are fun to try out, but that you would not want to be stuck with playing for many months). Also, the adventures can be more experimental and the challenges can be better tailored if the players are playing with pre-gens.
I know that at Conventions you can find DMs running games like this but I've had bad experiences. My first DnD game after 25+ years was for a game where the DM was hung over and only two people showed up so he cancelled it. Luckily I was able to get into an AL game with a great DM...but playing a 1st level character. I wish WoTC would offer some non-AL games. Or, allow a player to join an Adventurer's League game with a pre-gen. Let me play a 5th level character and just rip it up after the game, I don't care. I'm never going to have an AL character get up high levels.
Still, while allowing one-shot pre-gens in an AL game would go a long way, it still isn't the same as the old tournament module experience. The DM never knows who they are going to get for an AL game and sometimes the party chemistry just isn't great for the adventure. Having to design adventures around all the contingencies that can arise from a random mixed bag of characters constrains the writers. You can do a lot of great challenges and story telling in a one-shot module with pre-gens made specifically for that adventure than you can with a bring-your-own-character game.
Outside of conventions, I avoid AL games at my FLGS because (1) I will always be at low levels since I can't play regularly and (2) it can be hard to find a seat at a table, especially if you are only going to be there for one session. Really looking for opportunities to play the occasional 6-8 hour one-off session with a mid-to-high level pregens. DnD Encounters seems to be designed for the exact opposite experience.
The obvious solution is to find DMs doing their own one-shots. But the message boards and Meetup.com seem to be people looking for players to commit to longer campaigns.