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Planning Out an Improvised One-Shot for Tonight!
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<blockquote data-quote="BookTenTiger" data-source="post: 8559305" data-attributes="member: 6685541"><p>Most of the players can't make it to the game tonight, so I offered to run a one-shot for the one remaining player and the DM. Rather than plan out something in advance, or use a published adventure, I'm going to improvise the game tonight. BUT I'm going to create a structure in advance to help my improvised game!</p><p></p><p>I'm going to be using my <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-dragons-hoard-how-i-create-character-centered-adventures.682859/" target="_blank">Dragon's Hoard System that I detailed in this thread here.</a></p><p></p><p>I've got this structure written down in my notebook. Once I've established who the characters are, I will take a few minutes to jot down loose ideas. I'm planning out three scenes, knowing I might just get to two of them. Each scene might be a social, exploration, or combat scenario, depending on how the characters approach it. The goal tonight is to create a satisfying narrative with a definitive ending.</p><p></p><p>Right now I'm just planning the structure, but I will update this after the adventure to let you know how it went!</p><p></p><p><strong>One-Shot Adventure</strong></p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152592[/ATTACH] <strong>Dragon's Hoard:</strong> What is the goal of the adventure, or the win condition?</p><p></p><p>________________________________________</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152593[/ATTACH]<strong>Dragon</strong>: What is preventing the characters from achieving their goal?</p><p></p><p>________________________________________</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152594[/ATTACH] <strong>Cave:</strong> Where do the characters need to be in order to achieve their goal?</p><p></p><p>________________________________________</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152595[/ATTACH] <strong>Sword</strong>: What object or information do the characters need to access the Cave, defeat the Dragon, or find the Hoard?</p><p></p><p>________________________________________</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]152596[/ATTACH] <strong>Old Man in the Tavern</strong>: Who or what is the source of information that launches the adventure?</p><p></p><p>________________________________________</p><p></p><p>Once I've written down an idea for each of those, I will then translate it into a loose three-act structure, with a brief phrase idea for how it could play out as a Social, Exploration, or Combat scenario. For example, if the characters need to get a magic axe from an ogre, it could lead to Tricking the Ogre (social), Sneaking Past the Ogre (exploration), or Fighting the Ogre (combat). I don't need to plan much more than that, because I can just follow the lead of the players.</p><p></p><p>For each scene though, I want a brief plan of what will happen if they succeed, and what will happen if they fail. Since this is a one-shot, I want to focus on <em>failing forward</em>. So in the above scenario, success means they get the magic axe. Failure might mean they get the magic axe, but it's broken and will shatter after its first use!</p><p></p><p><strong><u>Scene 1</u></strong></p><p></p><p><em>Social:</em></p><p><em>Exploration:</em></p><p><em>Combat:</em></p><p></p><p>Success:</p><p>Failure:</p><p></p><p><strong><u>Scene 2</u></strong></p><p></p><p><em>Social:</em></p><p><em>Exploration:</em></p><p><em>Combat:</em></p><p></p><p>Success:</p><p>Failure:</p><p></p><p><strong><u>Scene 3</u></strong></p><p></p><p><em>Social:</em></p><p><em>Exploration:</em></p><p><em>Combat:</em></p><p></p><p>Success:</p><p>Failure:</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BookTenTiger, post: 8559305, member: 6685541"] Most of the players can't make it to the game tonight, so I offered to run a one-shot for the one remaining player and the DM. Rather than plan out something in advance, or use a published adventure, I'm going to improvise the game tonight. BUT I'm going to create a structure in advance to help my improvised game! I'm going to be using my [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-dragons-hoard-how-i-create-character-centered-adventures.682859/']Dragon's Hoard System that I detailed in this thread here.[/URL] I've got this structure written down in my notebook. Once I've established who the characters are, I will take a few minutes to jot down loose ideas. I'm planning out three scenes, knowing I might just get to two of them. Each scene might be a social, exploration, or combat scenario, depending on how the characters approach it. The goal tonight is to create a satisfying narrative with a definitive ending. Right now I'm just planning the structure, but I will update this after the adventure to let you know how it went! [B]One-Shot Adventure[/B] [ATTACH type="full" width="31px"]152592[/ATTACH] [B]Dragon's Hoard:[/B] What is the goal of the adventure, or the win condition? ________________________________________ [ATTACH type="full" width="36px"]152593[/ATTACH][B]Dragon[/B]: What is preventing the characters from achieving their goal? ________________________________________ [ATTACH type="full" width="37px"]152594[/ATTACH] [B]Cave:[/B] Where do the characters need to be in order to achieve their goal? ________________________________________ [ATTACH type="full" width="31px"]152595[/ATTACH] [B]Sword[/B]: What object or information do the characters need to access the Cave, defeat the Dragon, or find the Hoard? ________________________________________ [ATTACH type="full" width="33px"]152596[/ATTACH] [B]Old Man in the Tavern[/B]: Who or what is the source of information that launches the adventure? ________________________________________ Once I've written down an idea for each of those, I will then translate it into a loose three-act structure, with a brief phrase idea for how it could play out as a Social, Exploration, or Combat scenario. For example, if the characters need to get a magic axe from an ogre, it could lead to Tricking the Ogre (social), Sneaking Past the Ogre (exploration), or Fighting the Ogre (combat). I don't need to plan much more than that, because I can just follow the lead of the players. For each scene though, I want a brief plan of what will happen if they succeed, and what will happen if they fail. Since this is a one-shot, I want to focus on [I]failing forward[/I]. So in the above scenario, success means they get the magic axe. Failure might mean they get the magic axe, but it's broken and will shatter after its first use! [B][U]Scene 1[/U][/B] [I]Social: Exploration: Combat:[/I] Success: Failure: [B][U]Scene 2[/U][/B] [I]Social: Exploration: Combat:[/I] Success: Failure: [B][U]Scene 3[/U][/B] [I]Social: Exploration: Combat:[/I] Success: Failure: [/QUOTE]
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