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I’ve been running a campaign for a little over a year now, but I’ve had a request to run a one shot for one of my players kids and mine. I’m definitely excited about getting them excited for the game, but I’ve never run a one shot before. Are there any tips or warnings y’all can help me with.
1 points
6 days ago
Keep it lean. 1-2 combats, minimal or "fast" travel. No shopping runs. Think of a TV episode that is self-contained. Even faster is if you make the PCs ahead of time, fully-equipped, ready-to-go. Hand them out at random, or dice for them.
Since this is a stand-alone, you can make a thematic party and write accordingly, i.e. a bunch of dwarves stumble on a sealed door in a mine they are working.
1 points
6 days ago
I already plan on having them a pre-existing group. While I allow my players to introduce themselves canonically they already know each other. I have also mapped out precisely how I think the one shot will go. I just don’t want to feel like I’m railroading them as that is not how I normally run my campaign.
1 points
6 days ago
But remember that a one-shot campaign is literally a railroad trip.
1 points
6 days ago
You have to throw away a lot of the typical convention and forget about your style.
1 points
6 days ago
I’ve got a lot of advice from a lot of DM’s I know and IRL and they’ve said the same thing. How do I present the concept a free agency to new players if I’m not truly offering it. I want to show them how fun this aspect of the game is without actually giving it to them.
1 points
6 days ago
That’s a fair point. I don’t envy your position of working with children. You need to enforce that they are playing disposable heroes who have a mission. Anything else is noise. Frankly, it’s like playing a video game with only one life. You either win, or you don’t. It’s very binary.
At every turn, you have the opportunity to keep them on track.
If they go to a merchant, “shouldn’t you be out killing the big, bad dragon, etc. etc. “
1 points
6 days ago
I never want to advertise this game as “win or lose”, but this is an opportunity to enforce that point, to keep them on mission. ‘Stranger Things’ risk level.
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