Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="kiznit" data-source="post: 4216807" data-attributes="member: 3994">So since we're wrapping up the Dark•Matter short campaign and we've got a few weeks before we're starting the 4e campaign, and with the coincidental timing of a certain fourth-in-a-series adventure movie coming out next month, I'm putting together a one-shot HEX (Hollow Earth Expeditions) adventure for my group. I've been brushing up on the rules and I'm interested in trying it out.But I have absolutely no idea for an adventure scenario - just the Pulp Adventure tropes; 1936, nazis, mummies, Zeppelins, maps, angry natives, sky pirates, ruins, dinosaurs, traps, twists, and so on.So I thought, okay, we'll start with creating the pre-generated characters, which will help me familiarize myself with the rules (none of my players know HEX), and then maybe something will occur to me as I'm visualizing them.And then I thought, "Hey that's not a bad strategy for designing any sort of one-shot".Step 1: Build intriguing characters with easy (even blatant) stereotypes that the players can work with right off the bat. Step 2: Identify possible "Spotlight scenarios" where each character's skills and motivations will give them their moment to shine. Step 3: Use the Spotlight scenarios to link together encounters and set pieces with the standard tropes of the adventure, (Maybe doing Step 1 and Step 2 for a villain character as well) which will help figure out the plot. Step 4: Don't forget the token adventure Twist™! Step 5: (Gaming) Profit!!HEX character design has a very nice character concept system - pick an Archetype (sort of a loose class), pick a Motivation (what drives them), and then pick a Flaw (what gets them style points for getting into trouble).So I could use some help fleshing out the spotlight moments and scenarios for the handful of character types I've whipped up:Quintana Smith, the Treasure Hunter - Archetype: Adventurer, Motivation: Truth    Partnered with curator. Flaw: Impulsive    spotlight moment: Jumping onto moving vehicles, shooting, being outnumbered and saving the dayWang-Chung Ki, the Scrappy Kid - Archetype: Criminal, Motivation: Duty    Treasure Hunter's understudy. Flaw: Dwarf (just a kid)    spotlight moment: getting into tight places, crawling somewhere to solve a puzzle or rescue the group, pickpocketing or lockpicking something crucialMiss Fiona Devereaux, the Forensic Scientist - Archetype: Doctor, Motivation: Fame    Dian Fossey meets Bones, has a pet monkey. Flaw: Shy    spotlight moment: Finds clues, heals party members, Villain probably falls for herUmbutu the Fearless, the Native Shaman - Archetype: Occultist, Motivation: Faith    Clarice's first mate, bodyguard, interpreter. Flaw: Primitive    spotlight moment: Diplomatic with natives, fighting, able to tame beasts, able to understand/control a relicClarice Montagne, the "Black Swan", the Fearless Captain - Archetype: Explorer, Motivation: Greed    Hired by Professor, gone everywhere, faced everything. Flaw: Callous    spotlight moment: Knowing where to go, fighting, having the cool ship, pilots the narrow escapeProfessor Samuel Cavendish, the Museum Curator - Archetype: Academic, Motivation: Survival    in over his head, but knows a lot. Flaw: Absent-minded    spotlight moment: Has to make a crucial decision, knows the Villain's weakness, understands the historyBut above and beyond any help I'd gladly appreciate regarding coming up with a scenario for these guys, what do you think of this sort of One-shot design methodology? Think it works? Has it worked for you?</blockquote>

Verification