What happened with true one-shots?

[Betote]

It happened with 3.x, and it is happening again with 4e. As much as I like long term campaign play, I find it refreshing playing adventures which last just one session. Much of my high school time was spent (wasted?) playing many different rpgs, each one of them in the form of 3 or 4-hour one-shots.

But now, those are gone. The best you can get is an adventure which lasts something like 10-20 hours.

Do you miss those truly short adventures, or am I a minority?

 

[Nebulous]

But now, those are gone. The best you can get is an adventure which lasts something like 10-20 hours.

How are they gone? Do you mean a published Dungeon adventure that is only like 2-3 pages? Any DM can design an adventure that can be completed quickly. I'm not sure i understand. I like short one shots, yes, but i like longer ones better personally. But i DM and don't play.

 

[Betote]

How are they gone? Do you mean a published Dungeon adventure that is only like 2-3 pages? Any DM can design an adventure that can be completed quickly. I'm not sure i understand. I like short one shots, yes, but i like longer ones better personally. But i DM and don't play.

I think one of the main reasons is the game focus' shift on combat as the main game event. A 3.x or 4e combat usually lasts about 30min-1hour, so there's no space for much else.

Also, I like longer games better, but that's no reason to ditch one-shots entirely. The fact that I like coffee better than tea doesn't prevent me from enjoying a nice cup of tea from time to time, and when I do that, I'm not asking myself why I'm not drinking coffee instead

 

[Bullgrit]

Also, I like longer games better, but that's no reason to ditch one-shots entirely. The fact that I like coffee better than tea doesn't prevent me from enjoying a nice cup of tea from time to time, and when I do that, I'm not asking myself why I'm not drinking coffee instead

But you are asking, "What happened to all the tea?" Answer: it's in the same place it's always been in -- brew it yourself.

It happened with 3.x, and it is happening again with 4e. As much as I like long term campaign play, I find it refreshing playing adventures which last just one session. Much of my high school time was spent (wasted?) playing many different rpgs, each one of them in the form of 3 or 4-hour one-shots.

But now, those are gone. The best you can get is an adventure which lasts something like 10-20 hours.

What were the 3-4 hour adventures for early D&D? One of the shortest ever AD&D adventure modules was White Plume Mountain, and it was not something that could be completed in a single 3-4 hour game session. If I remember correctly (and I'll check when I get home and can look at it), doesn't the text in the module even say it will probably take more than one game session -- I'm pretty sure it at least says it will take more than one adventuring day.

A 3.x or 4e combat usually lasts about 30min-1hour, so there's no space for much else.

Most of my D&D3 combats last about 4 minutes per round -- so a 30 minute combat would be 7-8 rounds of fighting. Straight combat, my games could cover upwards of a dozen battles in a 3-4 hour game session.

Bullgrit
Total Bullgrit

 

[Nebulous]

I think one of the main reasons is the game focus' shift on combat as the main game event. A 3.x or 4e combat usually lasts about 30min-1hour, so there's no space for much else.

Well, for the sake of argument, a 4 hour time slot with a 30min-1hour fight leaves 3-3.5 hours for roleplaying and story development. I suppose if you wanted 2-3 fights in that same 4 hour period, you would have a problem. I haven't played 1e or 2e in such a long time i can't even remember how long battles were back then. All i know is that high level 3.x combat sucked. Our 4e games have been pretty fluid and fast so far though.

We actually ran a game a few weeks ago, a four hour session with no combat. It was the first time we had done that in 4e, and i was surprised that it was fun.

 

[Storminator]

I think one of the main reasons is the game focus' shift on combat as the main game event. A 3.x or 4e combat usually lasts about 30min-1hour, so there's no space for much else.

Also, I like longer games better, but that's no reason to ditch one-shots entirely. The fact that I like coffee better than tea doesn't prevent me from enjoying a nice cup of tea from time to time, and when I do that, I'm not asking myself why I'm not drinking coffee instead

I've been thinking of that. I run all my Mutants and Masterminds games as one-shots. There might be a recurring villain (or two or three!) in an issue, but each one stands alone.

I think you could do it in 4e, since the combats are pretty predictable in length, and are likely to all be satisfying.

Intro - 10 minutes RPing
Kick in the door - 30 minute combat
problem solve/loot/decision point - 30 minutes RP
Interesting minor fight, a couple of different ways depending on step 2 - 1 hour combat
problem solve/loot/decision point - 30 minutes RP
Boss fight - 1 hour combat
Wrap up - 20 minutes

I think that kind of outlines the issues with a one shot campaign - not a lot of RP time, 3 combats max, no time to be indecisive.

I don't know if there's a business model there tho. Maybe if some pregens were included?

PS

 

[Kheti sa-Menik]

I played in the RPGA's Living Greyhawk campaign for a while. 90% of it modules played in LG are modules designed to be run in 4 hour convention/game day slots. The modules are usually parts of bigger arcs but each module stands alone as well. There are hundreds if not thousands of these modules.
See if you can..ahem..find any of them.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Most published adventures for D&D have been written for multiple
sessions of play. Some short ones in Dungeon and Dragon magazines
could be done in a session. Writing adventures designed for a single session of play is hard to do as a generic published product.
How long should the session be?
How familliar are the players with the game system? Will the players be
running familiar characters or pre-gens? These are just a few non-edtion
specific questions that affect one-shot play.

The trick with one-shots, and it doesn't matter what edition you
play or even if its D&D or another game, is flexibility and allowing
for multiple ending points. Without scripting an adventure there isn't a
truly reliable way to know how long a given segment of a game will run.
Knowing the players and how they operate helps a lot but preparing a one
shot for a group of unknown players is possible.

A few guidlines for one shots:

1) The sandbox is not your friend. A strong story and sense of direction
are more important in a one-shot game. False leads, multiple plot threads and twists should be saved for campaign play. You have one session to wrap up the entire adventure so every minute counts.

2) System knowledge. If the game system is rather involved and the players are not experienced with it, allow time for questions and explanations.The adventure will have to be a little shorter than one run for an experienced group.

3) Limit the number of key encounters. By this I mean try to avoid too
many points within the adventure that are vital to bringing it to a conclusion.
The adventure should contain some built in shortcuts for reaching the final
encounter. Secret doors and passages that only exist if the DM is pressed for time can be session savers.
Thinking ahead and allowing for shortcuts in the initial design helps a lot.

4) Overprep is your friend. Having extra material on tap in case the players manage to blow through parts of the adventure quicker than expected never hurts.

 

[Qualidar]

I'm with Storminator: my preferred M&M adventure length to run is one night/3-4 hours. I also use that for Game Days, so I've done it for HEX, d20 Modern & Future, and played in many other systems.

That's all stuff that I've written myself, however (or the GM did, if I was a player). And it wasn't D&D (the last thing I generally want to run or play in at a game day is D&D, as we play it all the time). So I think that you have to really write them yourself.

The only pre-written ones I can think of are tournament scenarios, so off the top of my head: Living (whatever) adventures for D&D, as well as free scenarios for Shadowrun and Witchunter.

I think that there's a bonus in writing them yourself over running pre-packaged: if it's short enough to be run in 4 hours, it's really showcasing your idea, and lets you both explore something to your satisfaction and discard something that isn't working for you without too much investment. You also get to run through a bunch of different genres, approaches, styles, whatever in the time that longer campaign arc uses to get comfortable with one. The shorter length makes the actual game prep feasible for me: I rely on pre-written adventures for longer scenarios. I just don't have the time.

That said, I switch it up between one-shots and longer campaign arcs with my regular players, as too much of a good thing can kill it's appeal.

 

[Hellzon]

I'm surprised noone's mentioned the upcoming Dungeon Delve book. And then there's the strategy of signing up for the RPGA and getting short adventures from there. (Edit: Kheti sa-Menik beat me to the latter.)
But no, Dungeon Magazine isn't optimal for one-shots.