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<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 8205069" data-attributes="member: 63"><p>Sounds neat.</p><p></p><p>The three bits of advice I try to always keep in mind for short adventures are:</p><p></p><p>1. <strong>Two motivations.</strong> Give the pregen PCs two motivations: one shared by the group, so they all want to 'beat the baddy,' and one that is personal, to motivate a bit of roleplaying.</p><p></p><p>In this adventure, maybe one PC has a friend who had their boat burned down by a henchman of the Primo [wants revenge], and another is the sibling of a different henchman [wants to keep them safe], and another works with the navy's trained aquatic creatures [might recruit the Primo], and another is friends with a pub owner [and the henchmen in scene two are busy smuggling fancy liquor that the PC might filch for his friend]. I think those could be played humorously.</p><p></p><p>2. <strong>Narrow-wide-narrow.</strong> There's nothing wrong with linear narratives, but one of the strengths of tabletop RPGs is the freedom that video game RPGs can't match. I like to make sure each scene doesn't have a definite conclusion, and that there is at least one decision point where the party feels like their choices in the middle of the session affect the climax. Like maybe the minions know where the lair is, but also know where they were going to meet the boss, so the party could lay an ambush. Something small like that.</p><p></p><p>3. <strong>Quirky Details.</strong> It's not easy to have mechanically complex foes in a one-shot, but giving them a tiny bit of flair can make them memorable. Maybe the Primo's lair is under a bar, and their big scheme is to smuggle fancy alcohol, so one of the perks each minion gets is a trio of potions that come in tiny liquor bottles. When the party gets to the lair, maybe the other minions who are there have colorful cocktails, and the bartender quickly pours a 'shot' worth of potion into each cocktail. (I'm partial to Kraken Rum.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 8205069, member: 63"] Sounds neat. The three bits of advice I try to always keep in mind for short adventures are: 1. [B]Two motivations.[/B] Give the pregen PCs two motivations: one shared by the group, so they all want to 'beat the baddy,' and one that is personal, to motivate a bit of roleplaying. In this adventure, maybe one PC has a friend who had their boat burned down by a henchman of the Primo [wants revenge], and another is the sibling of a different henchman [wants to keep them safe], and another works with the navy's trained aquatic creatures [might recruit the Primo], and another is friends with a pub owner [and the henchmen in scene two are busy smuggling fancy liquor that the PC might filch for his friend]. I think those could be played humorously. 2. [B]Narrow-wide-narrow.[/B] There's nothing wrong with linear narratives, but one of the strengths of tabletop RPGs is the freedom that video game RPGs can't match. I like to make sure each scene doesn't have a definite conclusion, and that there is at least one decision point where the party feels like their choices in the middle of the session affect the climax. Like maybe the minions know where the lair is, but also know where they were going to meet the boss, so the party could lay an ambush. Something small like that. 3. [B]Quirky Details.[/B] It's not easy to have mechanically complex foes in a one-shot, but giving them a tiny bit of flair can make them memorable. Maybe the Primo's lair is under a bar, and their big scheme is to smuggle fancy alcohol, so one of the perks each minion gets is a trio of potions that come in tiny liquor bottles. When the party gets to the lair, maybe the other minions who are there have colorful cocktails, and the bartender quickly pours a 'shot' worth of potion into each cocktail. (I'm partial to Kraken Rum.) [/QUOTE]
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