Question about '' 1 shot game ''

I have never been in one. I want to create one. Question : I am not sure what it is about ... I mean, 1) Do I make a story? 2) Do player only go there to do battle? 3) How much time it's usually last? (Overall) 4) Any other information I should know?

a "1 shot game" is (i think) where you do the full campaign in one game in other words, after one game, the story is over. it basically the reverse of a repeated game

An ongoing campaign is like a serialized novel series/comic book. A one-shot is more like a short story. You have to wrap everything up in the session, one way or another. A good example of one-shots in he D&D vein are those old tournament modules from 1e like White Plume Mountain, where the party gets a canned exposition (crimes against the crown blah blah, go get the MacGuffins for me blah blah) and get dropped right into the action. They're either dead or through the adventure by the end of the session. Rackdam said: 1) Do I make a story? Not necessary if it's just a fight, but sure if you want. It's got to be tight so you can get exposition, action, and resolution/denoument out of the way within your time constraints. Don't go overboard or you'll find yourself drowning in narrative and never get through it in one session. "Kill those guys over there" or "Make me a sandwich" are more what you want. Rackdam said: 2) Do player only go there to do battle? Up to you. Mostly they're fighting/dungeoneering stuff, but they don't have to be. There's an episode of One-Shot which is a mystery that counts as a non-kill everyone one-shot adventure: <a href="http://peachesandhotsauce.com/podcasts/scooby-doo-" rel="nofollow">http://peachesandhotsauce.com/podcasts/scooby-doo-</a>... Rackdam said: 3) How much time it's usually last? (Overall) Up to you and your group. Plan it for more time than you think you'll need (you think it will take two hours, plan for four). Rackdam said: 4) Any other information I should know? Keep your prep light; this is more true for a one-shot, where any time spent on adventure prep is even more wasted than it would be in a continuing campaign, since you won't reuse the material. If you like it, run it a few times. Above all just keep everything moving. My guys in my ongoing campaign like to occasionally sit back and just have absurd conversations for a whole session, but unless your one-shot is specifically about absurd conversations.. Make sure everyone knows it's a one-shot and have some pregenerated characters ready. I once did a one-shot (actually the one-shot of all one-shots) and warned everyone, and still this one player spent hours building his character, sketching, backgrounding, etc. At least he didn't burn up a lot of time telling everyone at the table about himself and his abilities for an hour like in X-Men.

Rackdam said: I have never been in one. I want to create one. Question : I am not sure what it is about ... I mean, 1) Do I make a story? It depends on the game system. For example, if it's D&D, no; if it's White Wolf, yes. The reason is because those are the roles of the game masters in those respective games. 2) Do player only go there to do battle? It depends on the premise. The premise largely depends on the genre. It'd help if we knew what game system you're using. 3) How much time it's usually last? (Overall) My experience with them (I've made and hosted a ton of one-shots) is 4 to 6 hours. This is for D&D 4e, Gamma World, and Dungeon World. 4) Any other information I should know? We need more information from you to make specific recommendations, such as what game system you're planning on using.

I've run a lot of one shots at game conventions. D&D, Battletech/Mechwarrior, James Bond, Traveller, Conspiracy X What you need are: A compelling situation with a clearly defined goal, so that it feels complete in either success or failure by game end. The scenario should be evocative of the genre; If you are having a fantasy scenario there should be wizards and a keep and a small ruin or dungeon, with lots of setting flavor. If you are playing a wild west game, you'll need a small town, horses, some kind of conflict, cattle men vs sheep ranchers optional. Cyberpunk you'd need a bad guy corporation, lots of guns, cyberwear, and some kind of thing involving sneaking around hacking etc etc. All of the above to set the scenes as set dressing, but you want your adventure to feel original or at least not generally a copy of a movie or something that the players might have seen. A set of pre-generated characters, at least as many as max players you have set up for. A good mix of races, classes and skills unless your game is something like: "Warrior Monks of the fist of Shao-lin against the Dragon Ninja" via Legend of the five rings RPG or something. Don't have it be all battle but don't have it be all narration, either. Make sure you get right to the story: the character have worked together or are all friends, already on the road to wherever, boom something happens, they meet minions or servants of the enemy and are propelled into conflict. Then something else then something else. They are sort of learning what is happening but not enough to cut right to the climax of the adventure. They need tools or gear or skills or something that they have to earn. Then it gets tough: a tough combat, a glimpse of the main bad guy (you set up a bad guy as a specific challenge over time because fighting cold weather means "I put on a coat. Done." Finally, they muster their resources and fight the last fight or overcome that least challenge. By the skin of their teeth, they make it...or don't. But if they have played smart and worked and thought, and used everything they have, they make it, even if some of their characters died. Whether they do or not depends on the flavor you want. Nice to have: Extra pre-generated characters so that there is some skill overlap among them and lots of choices of who can play who. The characters and situations could over time form an adventuring group, if you decided to extend it or keep going. In my own history I used to run a Traveller one shot every year in Ohio at a game convention. Each year the scenario there built on what had happened in game that year prior, so that the whole thing was a linked story. I had two guys drive 100 miles to be at the con yearly, and along with the other games they played, year after year, they played my game, along with 4 others who just joined at random. It was really neat to have a few guys really rooting for the game, even if it ran once a year. Good luck.

Felix said: In my own history I used to run a Traveller one shot every year in Ohio at a game convention. Each year the scenario there built on what had happened in game that year prior, so that the whole thing was a linked story. I had two guys drive 100 miles to be at the con yearly, and along with the other games they played, year after year, they played my game, along with 4 others who just joined at random. It was really neat to have a few guys really rooting for the game, even if it ran once a year. Origins or something more local? My birth state is Ohio and I went to various conventions over the years that Ilived up there and game so you mentioning Ohio caught my attention. I'm planning on running one shots games soon also so all the tips and advice people mentioned will come in handy.

Here's an interview that contains some little nuggets of wisdom that I ran into a while back <a href="http://www.critical-hits.com/blog/2011/03/24/inter" rel="nofollow">http://www.critical-hits.com/blog/2011/03/24/inter</a>... He has good advice for setting up a one shot adventure and encounter design in general. As a note, unless you are competing, you don't need to spend that much time on it, so some of it might not apply.

Thx for all the anwser =) I am using Pathfinder.

Rackdam said: Thx for all the anwser =) I am using Pathfinder. In that case: 1. No, you don't create a story. You create a premise-based situation that is unfolding right now in which the PCs find themselves for reasons you or they are free to create. (I recommend you let them figure that out so it comes with their buy-in.) A premise-based situation might be something like Princess Lilac about to be sacrificed by the Scions of Dispater in a ruined temple complex. Or a city that is under siege by the goblin horde. You could create a plot, if you wanted, but it's more work than a situation and more problematic to run. 2. Depends on the premise. If you're testing Pathfinder, I would recommend three main conflicts: (1) battle, (2) non-combat social conflict, and (3) non-combat exploration conflict. An example of (2) might be negotiating with the duke to lend his forces to aid the neighboring city against the goblin horde. An example of (3) might be finding your way through a cursed forest while fey creatures seek to lead you astray. 4. The game system is predicated upon the simulation of a living world and the PCs are non-protagonist characters that explore it. In a one-shot, that means you won't have time for a whole world and will need to scale it down significantly to a closed location like a city or a dungeon. Because a city can often be bad for pacing if you're not experienced at keeping the pace up, you might want to go with a dungeon.