Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Need help for 4 hour one shot D&D game
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 1973276" data-attributes="member: 99"><p>I'm hardly the expert that Piratecat is, but I'm getting a pretty decent amount of experience designing and running my own one-shot games for the NC Game Days (we're about to have number 6 next weekend). I'll give a few short bits of advice with more to follow in the morning when I hopefully don't have this headache:</p><p></p><p>1) Feel free to do something quirky and offbeat for a one-shot. If the GM is really good then any adventure will be memorable and fun. But I find that it helps me keep some enthusiasm if I'm doing something out of the ordinary. I've run a homebrew version of "Return to the Dungeons of the Slave Lords" where I stripped the PC's of nearly all their equipment, having them scavenge gear from trash heaps as they hurried to escape from a rumbling volcanic island (this was particularly cool since the time limit on the game was when the volcano actually blew). I've also had a lot of good response from my "Orcz!" games wherein the players run a murderous and quirky band of Orcs through an adventure that somewhat reverses the typical D&D schtick. I won't belabor the point further except to say that you should feel free to abandon the typical stuff and do something wacky.</p><p></p><p>2) Railroad the players. This is almost always considered "bad form" for typical, ongoing campaign play, but I consider it a must for a one-shot. You only have 4 hours! You've got to get the players into the action and do it fast. And you also need to make sure that the story can progress regardless of whether the players pick up on any clues you put in. Give them a clear path to follow or give them some strong incentive to keep pushing forward (remember that volcano?...).</p><p></p><p>3) Have at least one and probably two "throw away encounters". These are encounters that are not absolutely essential to the primary plotline that you can keep or get rid of based on time constraints. I usually try to come up with about three "essential" encounters and get a good grasp of the links between them that will take the party from A to B to C. Then I figure out a good place between A and B or B and C and put in one of my disposable encounters there (between B and C is best if it can be added and still make sense). I'll figure out an estimate of how long I think that the big, climactic encounter will take and maybe pad it a bit. Then I back that out of the end of the session and that will give me an idea of whether I can keep the disposable encounter based on when they get to the point in the adventure that calls for it.</p><p></p><p>4) Playtest if possible. You're up against the clock here but if you can get your adventure settled quickly and get a chance to run it for some friends then it really can help things go smoother at the actual event. It will give you an idea as to whether what you've got planned is too long or too short and where it might tend to drag or go off track. I recommend it.</p><p></p><p>If you are interested in basic plotlines for any of the adventures that I've mentioned then I can provide them as well as the PCGen files for the Orcz PC's.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rel, post: 1973276, member: 99"] I'm hardly the expert that Piratecat is, but I'm getting a pretty decent amount of experience designing and running my own one-shot games for the NC Game Days (we're about to have number 6 next weekend). I'll give a few short bits of advice with more to follow in the morning when I hopefully don't have this headache: 1) Feel free to do something quirky and offbeat for a one-shot. If the GM is really good then any adventure will be memorable and fun. But I find that it helps me keep some enthusiasm if I'm doing something out of the ordinary. I've run a homebrew version of "Return to the Dungeons of the Slave Lords" where I stripped the PC's of nearly all their equipment, having them scavenge gear from trash heaps as they hurried to escape from a rumbling volcanic island (this was particularly cool since the time limit on the game was when the volcano actually blew). I've also had a lot of good response from my "Orcz!" games wherein the players run a murderous and quirky band of Orcs through an adventure that somewhat reverses the typical D&D schtick. I won't belabor the point further except to say that you should feel free to abandon the typical stuff and do something wacky. 2) Railroad the players. This is almost always considered "bad form" for typical, ongoing campaign play, but I consider it a must for a one-shot. You only have 4 hours! You've got to get the players into the action and do it fast. And you also need to make sure that the story can progress regardless of whether the players pick up on any clues you put in. Give them a clear path to follow or give them some strong incentive to keep pushing forward (remember that volcano?...). 3) Have at least one and probably two "throw away encounters". These are encounters that are not absolutely essential to the primary plotline that you can keep or get rid of based on time constraints. I usually try to come up with about three "essential" encounters and get a good grasp of the links between them that will take the party from A to B to C. Then I figure out a good place between A and B or B and C and put in one of my disposable encounters there (between B and C is best if it can be added and still make sense). I'll figure out an estimate of how long I think that the big, climactic encounter will take and maybe pad it a bit. Then I back that out of the end of the session and that will give me an idea of whether I can keep the disposable encounter based on when they get to the point in the adventure that calls for it. 4) Playtest if possible. You're up against the clock here but if you can get your adventure settled quickly and get a chance to run it for some friends then it really can help things go smoother at the actual event. It will give you an idea as to whether what you've got planned is too long or too short and where it might tend to drag or go off track. I recommend it. If you are interested in basic plotlines for any of the adventures that I've mentioned then I can provide them as well as the PCGen files for the Orcz PC's. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Need help for 4 hour one shot D&D game
Top