Interesting Scenes

[Stormborn]

Here the OP talks about a cool encounter that he feels he didn't run well.

I too am thinking about running a one-or-three shot in a few weeks to give the current DM a break. I want it to be memorable and not just a sorta-time-filler-while-the-DM-finishes-reading-Expidition-to-the-Demonweb-Pits.

So what are some of your most intersting scenes? Why? How did you run them? What would you have done differently? IF there are unique mechanics involved please share.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

Talk with whomever is going to be DMing the campaign after your brief stint, and see if there's anyway your "mini-campaign" can serve as a prequel or the like.

For example, say the upcoming campaign is about the finding and destruction of an evil artifact. Your games can then be about how and why the artifact was forged, or lost, or why the BBEG turned from the Path of Light. Think epic, like the scenes at the beginning of the LotRs movies: monumental battles, desperate excursions into Hell to retrieve lost souls, stuff like that.

Heroes of Battle and/or Heroes of Horror might be very helpful.

Oh, and use in media res. Players tend to be uneasy with the device in an ongoing campaign, but fine with it in one-shots or mini-campaigns. It's such a powerful storytelling technique, DMs should use it as often as they can get away with.

 

[Stormborn]

Talk with whomever is going to be DMing the campaign after your brief stint, and see if there's anyway your "mini-campaign" can serve as a prequel or the like.

We are currently playing in the "prequel" so I dont want to tie it to the campaign after in anyway. However, your suggestions about looking into Heroes of Battle/Horror are well taken.

Anyone else?

 

[Doug McCrae]

Oh, and use in media res. Players tend to be uneasy with the device in an ongoing campaign, but fine with it in one-shots or mini-campaigns. It's such a powerful storytelling technique, DMs should use it as often as they can get away with.

As a player I hate in media res, whether it's in a oneoff or campaign. I like to have some idea what my character is doing in a scene and how he got there. What's wrong with build up and foreshadowing, increasing tension? You don't get that if you go straight into the action. The times I've felt most excited in a gaming session were just before a big encounter or fight, the moment when we smash through the skylight. That's build up.