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D&D 5E How do I one-shot?
- Thread starter Fralex
- Start date
Pre-generated characters save a LOT of time: here's the pile of characters, pick the one you want to play. There are things you can ONLY do when you're all in one room at the same time. Use that time for those things. Character generation is not one of those things.
If all the PRE-GENERATED characters are (a) already on a team together, and (b) all have a motivation towards a shared goal, then the "in media res" can go more smoothly. "Wait, *why* have I spent the last week travelling towards this castle, why am I now at its gates?" - "Look at your character sheet, buddy. See your Bonds and Flaws? That's why."
More important point:
If one of the players says "Hey, I want to go off into the woods to gather some herbs to make some potions", then ask, bluntly, "Is that going to help us reach a satisfying story ending, within three hours of session time?"
Keep asking that question. Ask the question even when you think the action IS pointed at reaching a satisfying ending.
If they insist on doing stuff that isn't advancing the story, then shrug, and decide whether or not YOU are willing to spend three hours of your life DMing someone's side quest for herbs for potions.
Of course, you can also say "Okay, you do that. Write out a note with all the potions you think you can make. Pass that note to another player. If the other player agrees that it's fair and reasonable, then pass the note to me."
That delegates and shares the burden of sorting what's fair and reasonable. If they're all happy letting each other have dozens of potions, then they can have the satisfaction of easily destroying whatever threat you prepared. If they like playing on EASY, then let them play on EASY. But point out: if they reach the end and they say "Wait, is that all?", then that's a consequence of choosing to play on EASY.
The idea that players have a large effect on the game's pacing, and that having a share of control means having a share of responsibility, is sometimes a new idea to TRPG players. It's also one of the most important aspects of TRPGs.
If all the PRE-GENERATED characters are (a) already on a team together, and (b) all have a motivation towards a shared goal, then the "in media res" can go more smoothly. "Wait, *why* have I spent the last week travelling towards this castle, why am I now at its gates?" - "Look at your character sheet, buddy. See your Bonds and Flaws? That's why."
More important point:
If one of the players says "Hey, I want to go off into the woods to gather some herbs to make some potions", then ask, bluntly, "Is that going to help us reach a satisfying story ending, within three hours of session time?"
Keep asking that question. Ask the question even when you think the action IS pointed at reaching a satisfying ending.
If they insist on doing stuff that isn't advancing the story, then shrug, and decide whether or not YOU are willing to spend three hours of your life DMing someone's side quest for herbs for potions.
Of course, you can also say "Okay, you do that. Write out a note with all the potions you think you can make. Pass that note to another player. If the other player agrees that it's fair and reasonable, then pass the note to me."
That delegates and shares the burden of sorting what's fair and reasonable. If they're all happy letting each other have dozens of potions, then they can have the satisfaction of easily destroying whatever threat you prepared. If they like playing on EASY, then let them play on EASY. But point out: if they reach the end and they say "Wait, is that all?", then that's a consequence of choosing to play on EASY.
The idea that players have a large effect on the game's pacing, and that having a share of control means having a share of responsibility, is sometimes a new idea to TRPG players. It's also one of the most important aspects of TRPGs.
1. Ask them what kind of characters they'd like to play. The player should choose name, race, and class, or you may suggest a class that fits their concept.
2. Stat up those characters yourself using the default array, tell them they can modify as desired.
This gives the best of pregen and self-created.
3. Use a dungeon. This site creates decent random ones - http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/dungeon/ - or make your own, possibly using that for inspiration. Make sure it has choices, exploration, roleplay opportunities, and combat. 5e combat is very fast at low level so it can have plenty of rooms, but no more than about 25%-30% of those rooms should be 'unavoidable fight' stuff.
4. Do start players as a group, in media res. At entrance to dungeon with a mission is good. I recommend something like 'rescue the prisoner', or perhaps an escort mission - having an NPC in with the group is good for roleplay, especially if there is friction, incompatible goals etc.
5. Above all, do not create a linear railroaded experience. This wastes the strengths of 5e.
2. Stat up those characters yourself using the default array, tell them they can modify as desired.
This gives the best of pregen and self-created.
3. Use a dungeon. This site creates decent random ones - http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/dungeon/ - or make your own, possibly using that for inspiration. Make sure it has choices, exploration, roleplay opportunities, and combat. 5e combat is very fast at low level so it can have plenty of rooms, but no more than about 25%-30% of those rooms should be 'unavoidable fight' stuff.
4. Do start players as a group, in media res. At entrance to dungeon with a mission is good. I recommend something like 'rescue the prisoner', or perhaps an escort mission - having an NPC in with the group is good for roleplay, especially if there is friction, incompatible goals etc.
5. Above all, do not create a linear railroaded experience. This wastes the strengths of 5e.
delericho
Legend
For a one-shot, pre-gens are definitely your friends. By all means ask the players what they'd like to play, but once that's done create the characters yourself. And tie those characters into the adventure you're running, so that there's no question of why they're doing what they're doing - it's on the sheet.
Secondly, as others have said, everything will take longer than you expect. So, if you think you can get through five encounters in five hours, that means you can actually get through three.
(Unfortunately, 5e is a bit of a different beast from 3e and 4e, so doing that estimation may be difficult.)
Keep the characters low-level, but not so low-level that they'll die instantly with one critical hit. In general, I would recommend 3rd of 4th level - somewhere near the top end of that "low level" tier. That gives them a bit of sticking power, and gives some variety of powers, but it doesn't bog down the game with lots of minutae.
I disagree about not including mysteries, and discoveries, and the like. Bear in mind that the game has three pillars, and try to include something for all three. That said, avoid any necessary discoveries - try to set things up so that if the players solve The Riddle of the Sphinx then they get some cool easter egg; but if they don't then they can complete the adventure nonetheless.
Finally, take a look at the free preview for Weird Discoveries, and use that as a basis for your preparation - a central map (or node diagram) with appropriate bullet-point notes for what may happen in particular areas.
Have fun!
Secondly, as others have said, everything will take longer than you expect. So, if you think you can get through five encounters in five hours, that means you can actually get through three.
(Unfortunately, 5e is a bit of a different beast from 3e and 4e, so doing that estimation may be difficult.)
Keep the characters low-level, but not so low-level that they'll die instantly with one critical hit. In general, I would recommend 3rd of 4th level - somewhere near the top end of that "low level" tier. That gives them a bit of sticking power, and gives some variety of powers, but it doesn't bog down the game with lots of minutae.
I disagree about not including mysteries, and discoveries, and the like. Bear in mind that the game has three pillars, and try to include something for all three. That said, avoid any necessary discoveries - try to set things up so that if the players solve The Riddle of the Sphinx then they get some cool easter egg; but if they don't then they can complete the adventure nonetheless.
Finally, take a look at the free preview for Weird Discoveries, and use that as a basis for your preparation - a central map (or node diagram) with appropriate bullet-point notes for what may happen in particular areas.
Have fun!
JWO
First Post
This is such a great idea!
Gilladian
Adventurer
Since your new group has experience with playing RPGs, I would NOT do pregens; I would simply tell them that they need to come with a finished character - tell them to do point buy or rolls, and whatever else. Suggest, possibly, that if they don't have a Player's Handbook, that using the free player's guide download is acceptable. Make sure they have your email for contacting you with questions. Also, tell them you'll be starting in media res, and that you expect them to already know that they're a functional group of friends. Ask them to work that out among themselves, and maybe give them bonuses for doing so (double inspiration or something similar).
With your 5 hour time slot, a 5-room dungeon, or similar plot, still sounds like your best plan. It doesn't have to be super railroady, and I would try to have at least a basic draft of a small region for your campaign world, if you hope to run one later, started. A town name, a kingdom name, some NPC townsfolk, and a shop or two, an inn, are nice things to have as a fallback. Random encounter tables for the roads and the nearby woods/hills aren't a bad idea, either. That way, when they do go off on a tangent, you've got something ready. But mostly, if everyone knows it is a one-shot, they should be willing to at least TRY to stay "on track".
When I do one-shot games, I generally give them a specific goal; one scenario for newbie players was to go from just outside the front gates of a walled estate to the front (or back) door. They were new initiates to an adventurer's school, and this was their entrance exam. I had larded the whole estate with tricks, traps, illusions, dangerous plants, etc... and also equipment in the form of a garden shed, stables, and a couple other things they could pillage to make their job easier. It was a VERY fun afternoon. They started by catapulting the rogue halfling over the wall at the back, nearly breaking his neck; things only got worse as they went along. Quicksand, a burning garden hut, and spiders in the orchard...
Another scenario involved them all being pixies (of a sort). This was for a group of women who had never played an RPG before, and likely never would again. They discovered that their wizard friend had "fallen asleep" and was in trouble (his cat familiar essentially hired them to rescue his master). They had to travel across several miles of terrain, including through a human village, to reach the cottage of a friendly witch whom the cat was certain would help the wizard. Again, it was a fairly freeform exercise in figuring out how to avoid a series of obstacles; everything from a berry bush full of fermented fruit, to a vicious dog to a tinker who wanted to capture one of them and sell her to a passing menagerie. That adventure was mostly played for laughs, but it could have been much more serious. Or it would have worked for kids if slanted correctly.
With your 5 hour time slot, a 5-room dungeon, or similar plot, still sounds like your best plan. It doesn't have to be super railroady, and I would try to have at least a basic draft of a small region for your campaign world, if you hope to run one later, started. A town name, a kingdom name, some NPC townsfolk, and a shop or two, an inn, are nice things to have as a fallback. Random encounter tables for the roads and the nearby woods/hills aren't a bad idea, either. That way, when they do go off on a tangent, you've got something ready. But mostly, if everyone knows it is a one-shot, they should be willing to at least TRY to stay "on track".
When I do one-shot games, I generally give them a specific goal; one scenario for newbie players was to go from just outside the front gates of a walled estate to the front (or back) door. They were new initiates to an adventurer's school, and this was their entrance exam. I had larded the whole estate with tricks, traps, illusions, dangerous plants, etc... and also equipment in the form of a garden shed, stables, and a couple other things they could pillage to make their job easier. It was a VERY fun afternoon. They started by catapulting the rogue halfling over the wall at the back, nearly breaking his neck; things only got worse as they went along. Quicksand, a burning garden hut, and spiders in the orchard...
Another scenario involved them all being pixies (of a sort). This was for a group of women who had never played an RPG before, and likely never would again. They discovered that their wizard friend had "fallen asleep" and was in trouble (his cat familiar essentially hired them to rescue his master). They had to travel across several miles of terrain, including through a human village, to reach the cottage of a friendly witch whom the cat was certain would help the wizard. Again, it was a fairly freeform exercise in figuring out how to avoid a series of obstacles; everything from a berry bush full of fermented fruit, to a vicious dog to a tinker who wanted to capture one of them and sell her to a passing menagerie. That adventure was mostly played for laughs, but it could have been much more serious. Or it would have worked for kids if slanted correctly.
JWO
First Post
'Oh yeah sorry, I didn't get round to making a character in the 2 weeks between us deciding to do this and today, I'll just make one quickly now.' *Proceeds to spend the next 40 minutes making a character and the 20 minutes after that making adjustments.
I can guarantee that if you don't do pregens, between 1 and all of your players will do this...
AverageCitizen
Explorer
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