6th level one-shot HELP!

[d12]

Okay I'm running a 6th level one-shot oon July 19th. The session should last 6-8 hours but 10 hours would be acceptable. I would like to run a dungeon crawl for various reasons but I would also like to work in a small amount of role-playing and puzzle-solving along with it. Here's what I have in mind.

At the beginning of the session the characters have become trapped in a "dungeon." The dungeon could be a castle, mansion, tunnels, or some three-dimensional structure from the movie Cube. The characters must fight the monsters inside, perhaps find some allies, solve puzzles, avoid deadly traps and at the end of the night, escape or die trying.

As for the origin of the dunegon I'm thinking it was either built by Githzerai as a proving ground for their warriors or by a mad wizard as amusement. The creators are either dead or have lost control of the place. Any better ideas.

So, please shoot some ideas about any of this. I'll post stuff as I come up with it. Thanks.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

A three-dimensional cube? Get outta here!

Ahem. Sorry.

Going with the "mad wizard" idea:

The PCs end up in the lower sections of a castle built by said mad wizard. Perhaps they were captured, perhaps they got in through a portal or something similar. The lower levels of the the castle are a combination of labs, holding cells for experiments, and psychotic little playground. The wizard hasn't really posted any guards, since there's enough monsters and other strange things to keep people away. The party can run afoul of failed experiments, insanely loyal apprentices, hostile prisoners, etc. If you want to throw in some puzzles, perhaps they can track down some clues as to who the wizard is and what sort of weaknesses he has.

Eventually, they make it to the castle proper. Here's where things shift: the mad wizard is still very much alive and in command of things. The castle is chock full of guards and other sorts who would recapture or otherwise hinder the PCs. There's some sort of wards, spells, or other things that keep the PCs from escaping until the wizard is dealt with.

But, the wizard has a family, and this family isn't so friendly toward him. Perhaps he's been around too long, and some of his descendants are getting impatient. Or his spouse could be seeking to do away with him. Or someone actually objects to the horrible things he's been doing, but can't gather enough support among the family to stop him.

The PCs get this info somehow (a captured guard, a sympathetic servant, whatever) and sneak back and forth between the factions trying to figure out who to back. They'll need to find someone they can trust, and someone who's powerful enough to help them when they make their move, and then deal with all the rivalries between the factions. And then, of course, the factions that they don't side with could easily turn them over to the wizard.

In the end comes the big climactic battle agains the wizard, of course. Prefaced by a few special missions such as getting keys, creating distractions for the guards, sabotaging the wizard's plans, etc.

 

[d12]

Thanks. I'll run with that.

yeah - three dimensional cube. I gotta cow made of beef too.

 

[Rastfar]

Well, although Byrons_Ghost has several cool ideas that I think uoy could work into a campaign, we are talking about a one shot here. Which, of course, is always a difficult thing to plan. It's hard to anticipate tempo, character interaction, role-playing opportunities, development, etc. But the one thing you can plan on is, the players not being attached to their characters. And assuming that this one shot is like most others it will closely follow real-time. Thus you don't want to throw too many HP draining encounters at them before the big climactic battle (if there is one) - There wasn't in the Cube.

I agree that role-playing with transient loonies, problem-solving, and puzzles are the way to go. Also, to 'build' towards the ending suspense is necessary. Trying to develop paranoia is key, hard, but key. This is best done through raving NPC lunatics who think that they know what the end climactic battle may hold in store.

Let me know how it turns out. I liked that movie and would be curious to know what you did with it.