Favorite One Shots You Have Played or Run

[Reynard]

This came up in another thread but I think it deserves one of its own:

One shots are awesome and don't get celebrated the way they should. So, what are some great One shots you have played in or run? What were the circumstances i.e. at a con, a fill in game, testing a new system, etc? And separately, any one shot advice for other folks out there more inclined to longer form games? Are there systems you think work better for one shots than others?

Hands down, the best one shot I ever ran was a Fallout game using All Flesh Must Be Eaten (criminally underrated as an all purpose toolkit). We were at HenCon and I bought a copy. My friends and I couldn't find anything we could all get into,so we sat down in the Open Gaming area and I created a Fallout adventure off the cuff. For anyone who hasn't played it, AFMBE has a zombie creation system si robust you can use it to make essentially anything.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

For published stuff, I've had a really good time with 13th Age's "Strangling Sea" several times, and from both sides of the screen. Neat little adventure with an unusual setting - although it did tend to run a bit long and slop into a second session sometimes, so maybe not the Platonic ideal of a perfect one-shot.

Paranoia's "Me and My Shadow Mk IV" was another great one to play through, although I've never run it. I forget which book it was published in, unfortunately.

I'll skip homebrew one-shots, which are fun but have a bit of the "you really had to be there" problem for folks reading about them online after the fact.

What were the circumstances i.e. at a con, a fill in game, testing a new system, etc?

Not so much at cons, but replace that with store demos and that's a yes to all of the rest. Pre-COVID I really liked running store demos, but the spark's kind of gone for me now.

Are there systems you think work better for one shots than others?

Not sure its systems as much as genres. You want bite-sized stories with satisfying endings. Stuff like comic books superhero issues, short heists (think TV episode not film), literal cartoons (TOON or Cartoon Action Hour style), the old 4e style dungeon delves with 3-4 fairly linear encounters, maybe even something as simple as a chaotic action movie scene that sprawls over a couple of setpieces divided by a chase or social scene? Fairly low crunch at the table is best, but if you've got pre-gens or the players have their own characters done (possibly from earlier one-shots) the actual character generation system can be pretty crunchy as long as it turns invisible in play (ie I wouldn't be shy about using Hero or M&M for a one-shot as long as the character sheets are strightforward).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Buried in the Bahamas for Pirate Borg is a delight. Other than ship to ship combat (which requires minis or a VTT in the system), the adventure includes everything else you'd want in a supernatural pirate adventure, including swordfights on deck against skeletal pirates during a storm, shipwreck on an island that the players will soon realize their characters have to get off of and quickly, a perilous journey by raft, a possible side trek to a den of scum and villainy and finally, a visit to an island and a tomb crawling with undead.

I've run it twice, to both learn and teach the game, and each time, everyone laughed so hard, our faces hurt.

 

[jdrakeh]

I've run Witch Burner in a few different systems as a one-shot and liked it quite a bit. The most fun I've had with it was using Clinton Dreisbach's (formerly Clinton R. Nixon) Paladin, sans the rule that paladins can sense witches nearby.

 

[Wolfpack48]

Oh dear me. The Haunting for Call of Cthulhu. Love that scenario. So simple, so good. The knife!

 

[payn]

Machine Tractor Station Kharkov-37 for Call of Cthlhu. This was my first experience with CoC and we all had a blast. The story is great, there are plenty of spare characters, just all around creepy mythos fun!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've run Witch Burner in a few different systems as a one-shot and liked it quite a bit. The most fun I've had with it was using Clinton Dreisbach's (formerly Clinton R. Nixon) Paladin, sans the rule that paladins can sense witches nearby.

Wow, it seems like a really intense adventure, especially with the twist. How do your groups respond to it?

 

[jdrakeh]

Wow, it seems like a really intense adventure, especially with the twist. How do your groups respond to it?

It has been well received. Especially the Paladin run, as players were most familiar with stereotypical D&D Paladins and so played their characters that way.

Spoiler: Spoiler!

It was pure confirmation bias at work but, of course, they didn't realize that until it was too late.

It opened some eyes.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I am thinking it might make a good, if grim, Halloween adventure some year. Thanks!

 

[jdrakeh]

I am thinking it might make a good, if grim, Halloween adventure some year. Thanks!

You're welcome! I haven't ever run it on Halloween, but all three outings were during "spooky season" (September and October).