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<blockquote data-quote="hastur_nz" data-source="post: 7154033" data-attributes="member: 40592">Lesson #1: if the DM isn't really into the game, chances are it will fall flat.&nbsp; So don't do something you're not excited about...I've only ever run one or two one-shots, and played in one or two, but the one I remember (many years ago) was a published adventure on the Isle of Dread, where it started with everyone shipwrecked, and finished with them encountering the local zombie master and doing some kind of mission for the villagers.&nbsp; The key to success was making sure the PC's were all ready to go before we started the game, and having a nice adventure that started well and the middle could be flexed somewhat to make sure we got to the end-piece with an hour or so left, so we actually finished it properly.&nbsp; In my game, the ship-wreck served its main purpose in terms of explaining how a somewhat random collection of adventurers ended up together, and the exotic locale served to focus them on survival (they might have assumed it was possible to escape the island, but in this case, no, the adventure was about 'can you survive').Even for newbies, I'd favour a one-shot with PC's around 3rd level, because they will not level up and that's just enough power and definitive class abilities without being too complicated.&nbsp; Sure, start a campaign at first level, but for a one-shot, you want people to have fun this session because there is no next time.&nbsp; If your players are not experienced enough, feel free to use or make pre-gens, but make sure people have a choice in who plays what.&nbsp; Also, make sure whatever background info they might have is the bare minimum and is actually relevant to the session.For an adventure, make sure it's god a solid beginning, and that it basically just asks a single question.&nbsp; So the one-shot game is all about answering that single question.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="hastur_nz, post: 7154033, member: 40592"] Lesson #1: if the DM isn't really into the game, chances are it will fall flat. So don't do something you're not excited about... I've only ever run one or two one-shots, and played in one or two, but the one I remember (many years ago) was a published adventure on the Isle of Dread, where it started with everyone shipwrecked, and finished with them encountering the local zombie master and doing some kind of mission for the villagers. The key to success was making sure the PC's were all ready to go before we started the game, and having a nice adventure that started well and the middle could be flexed somewhat to make sure we got to the end-piece with an hour or so left, so we actually finished it properly. In my game, the ship-wreck served its main purpose in terms of explaining how a somewhat random collection of adventurers ended up together, and the exotic locale served to focus them on survival (they might have assumed it was possible to escape the island, but in this case, no, the adventure was about 'can you survive'). Even for newbies, I'd favour a one-shot with PC's around 3rd level, because they will not level up and that's just enough power and definitive class abilities without being too complicated. Sure, start a campaign at first level, but for a one-shot, you want people to have fun this session because there is no next time. If your players are not experienced enough, feel free to use or make pre-gens, but make sure people have a choice in who plays what. Also, make sure whatever background info they might have is the bare minimum and is actually relevant to the session. For an adventure, make sure it's god a solid beginning, and that it basically just asks a single question. So the one-shot game is all about answering that single question. [/QUOTE]

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