Designing the Perfect One-SHot Dungeon

[Reynard]

In a few weeks, I am having various members of a couple different groups I game with over for an all-day one-shot (designed to 'test drive' my campaign-setting-in-progress; see the link in my sig). The plan is a good old fashioned dungeon crawl.

So, I have a few questions:

1) What's the optimum level for such a thing -- and by the I mean, where's the 'sweet spot' for capable characters, a variety of encounter types, and general playability.

2) What's a solid method of dungeon design; i.e. should I go open, or linear or some mix of the two?

3) Should there be a 'point' or 'goal', or should the PCs just be there to raid for fortune and glory?

4) I am planning a mix of combat, traps and puzzles (plus a couple diplomatic encounters). What ratio between those works best for a one shot?

Right now, all I know is that the dungeon is called the Hellstair and is a ruin of the Babyrast, empire of demon summoning wizard kings. Everything else at this point is open to change.

Thanks.

EDIT: Oh, yeah -- if you live within reasonable travel distance to southwest Connecticut, USA, are free september 9th for 10 to 12 hours, and want to go on a 'classic crawl', drop me a PM. I am always looking for new people to game with.

 

[Dagger of Lath]

1) 10th to 12th.

2) Some mix of the two. Mostly open in the centre with branches becoming more and more linear as they spread out. Strong hints as to what lies in different areas so players can make meaningful navigation choices.

3) Several points or goals from which the PCs may select. Or choose to have none of them.

4) Proportionate to the class balance traps for rogues, combat for fighters, puzzles for wizards and diplomacy for clerics. Modify to suit the personality of players involved. Include one "situation" specifically for one player or character to solve (don't stop others from solving it, just design it with one person in mind). The rest, try to design situations which require all the characters working together in some way. (The rogue disables the trap while the fighter holds off the goblin horde, etc.)

 

[Kormydigar]

1) It varies according to taste but I would recommend 6th-8th level as a good middle level range for a day of dungeon crawling.

2) In a one shot, the goal is to be able to complete the adventure in one session. If there are too many options, then this might not happen. Pay attention to the number of encounters vs. the available playing time. This is especially important if you throw puzzles that the players have to solve into the mix.

3) If there is a goal, then it should be really simple, and obvious. You don't have time for a lot of complication plot wise in a single session.

4) See # 2 above. I don't know what your playing time is like but if you want a really spiffy difficult, end encounter then some of the other encounters need to be able to be handled rather quickly. Diplomatic encounters are lot of fun but beware- they can eat up a lot of game time.

There is nothing worse than running a one shot that you don't get to finish, especially if you can't get the same group together again for the sequel.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dagger of Lath]

Stuff

Despite him saying the near direct opposite to me, I find myself agreeing with Kormydigar. You should be conscious of the ammount of time you have and keep things simple.

...Though still, throw in just a little bit of mystery and side-plot just to spice things up.

 

[ender_wiggin]

Below 9th. Once players get teleport it makes things harder to manage.

Oh, and agree with most of the above. The one thing is the simplicity of the plot. Nay, I say put in a plot twist. One-shots have no sequels, thus, it lends itself to the "omg, nothing is what it seems and we're all so screwed" turn of events.

For example, in this one-shot I ran, the players had to clear out a dungeon to serve as a defensive fortress for a city-state against the invasion of a greedy empire seeking to secure the city-state's military resources. The Empire claimed that they needed these resources to prepare for the onslaught of massive undead armies hidden just under the surface throughout the world. The city-state had called this bluff and was ready to fight for freedom.

So guess what the PCs found at the bottom of the dungeon.? A big-ass undead army.

 

[Stormborn]

Agreement with the above: 6th-8th level with a closed and easilly definable goal. I would add, if this is a one shot plan a thematic game that allows the PCs to really emphasize their specialities. Like have a party gathred by a temple of a good pantheon (with a paladin, cleric, ranger w/ favored enemy undead, holy or undead bane weapons, sorcerer with celestial bloodline, etc.) go into a crypt filled with undead and demons. Or have a stealth oriented party do a Covert Ops style theft. Or take something like Dragonomicon and Races of the Dragon and use lots of races,spell, and PrC to raid a dragon' lair. Create a party that might not come up in regular play and put them through their paces and let the special abilities shine. Note, however, that an optimized party might need a slightly higher CR to compensate for their specilizations.

 

[Pyoor]

1) 2) In a one shot, the goal is to be able to complete the adventure in one session. If there are too many options, then this might not happen. Pay attention to the number of encounters vs. the available playing time. This is especially important if you throw puzzles that the players have to solve into the mix.

3) If there is a goal, then it should be really simple, and obvious. You don't have time for a lot of complication plot wise in a single session.

4) See # 2 above. I don't know what your playing time is like but if you want a really spiffy difficult, end encounter then some of the other encounters need to be able to be handled rather quickly. Diplomatic encounters are lot of fun but beware- they can eat up a lot of game time.

I can't agree more about being mindful of time versus number and complexity of encounters. I ran a one shot dungeon crawl before one of my players moved to Europe. Some of the encounters ran too long and the guy who was moving had to leave just as the group met the big bad guy. It was anti-climactic to say the least. In hindsight, it would have been a better game if I would have eliminated some of the "fluff" encounters in the beginning of the dungeon and finished the adventure early with all of the players.

However you never exactly know how your players will react and it's difficult to perfectly time an adventure.

Good Luck!

 

[Piratecat]

Good thread on one-shots here:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=171536&page=1&pp=40