How to create simple one-shots when starting out?

question
one-shot-adventure
new-gm
#1

Hey folks! I’m new to GMing, and would love to be able to discuss with other people as I go making my silly little stuff! Today, I have a question I’ve been struggling with since starting to create my first IRPG one-shot campaign.

Now, the Core book and the Runehammer videos talk about world building and a lot of great resources, but what I still can’t quite grasp is how to translate this to a 2-3 hour session.

I expect to do a lot of improvising, which seems like part of the fun! Because I’m not planning everything, I just want to make sure the content is limited in my one-shots, especially now as I’m starting out.

How can I:

  • Make something fun while limiting the amount of mechanics?
  • Avoid creating a super epic advanced adventure that begs for more sessions?
  • Cut down on mechanics and content without reducing the heart of the story?
  • Use world building techniques for one-shots?

To provide more context, I’ll share where my head’s at right now. My first project is about a demon overlord’s mansion (definitely not inspired by the Overlord anime…nope. :innocent:).

Master of the House
The players are demons, loyal maids and butlers to the demon overlord. They are strong and wield massive weapons. But now the mansion is overthrown by traitors! Fellow servants have started attacking each other, fighting for control over the mansion.

The players might slay the traitors or deal with them otherwise, but something is amiss. They might find out that the servants didn’t do it of their own volition; they were being mind controlled!

By the time the players reach the demon lord’s chambers, they have to face his mind controlled bodyguards. Further into the room stands the true villain, a female albino seer (a demon subset I made, which has increased magic and charisma but no actual sight) is currently casting a powerful mind control spell onto the demon lord, making him unable to move.

The game ends depending on how the players solve this problem, with a timer in place to add pressure to the situation. If they can break the traitor demon’s concentration, the demon lord overpowers her. If the demon lord is mind controlled, it’s game over. He’s too powerful for the players, or the seer overpowers and mind controls them herself.

world%20building%20brainstorming%20sheet
world building brainstorming sheet.jpg3767x2486 1.36 MB

  • I don’t know how they’re gonna come to these conclusions if at all, but making the players fast comerades and loyal to the demon lord, I hope it’ll be enough to at least steer them in the right direction.
  • It would be pretty awesome to give them some badass gear to start out with, and then an even more badass milestone reward right before facing the final boss.
  • I’m also considering doing a pre-session to have the group come together, create their characters and figuring out the character connections before things start going wrong at the castle.

If you’re still here, wow!! Thank you so much for reading through this, hopefully beause you found it interesting or enjoyable. I’ll be even more thankful if you have some advice or ideas I can apply on my GM journey!

#2

Very nice

I have a few questions and/or suggestions

  1. what if the players decide they’d like the demon lord’s power for themselves and try to kill him/her?
  2. does the albino seer have any loyal, not mind-controlled servants? - possibly someone who can give the players a bit of knowledge on what’s going on
  3. what kind of interesting stuff is going to happen before the final encounter?
  4. is there a way to break the mind control? Or other way to reward smart thinking?
#3

Ok, answer a few questions, and move on.

1 who is your audience?
2 how long is the story?
3 do you want to repeat it?
4 Is this the start of something bigger?

As long as the answers to 2 3 and 4 are this is all a self contained single session story, you are almost done.

Make premade characters with special powers “spells” that each one is unique. Have a back story that they are all allies. (So they don’t start killing each other). Let the choose names and describe their characters and have 4 build points to customize.

Plan 3 combats…first one easy but many targets…to learn their abilities, second one hard but they win and get back to full power and get some cool upgrades, 3rd one is a 50/50 fight where a couple of them is probably killed.

Have a scooby doo aspect to the story where they explore and gather everything.

As to clues…they need to be obvious and easy…not a roll or fail. Just let them learn what they need to know. If they come up with a better reason than yours, go with the better reasons.

If you want to allow for the story to continue, make the last fight hard but not deadly…but just before the enemy dies, she explodes with a miasma of angelic gas…they are all now making saves but are scared with angelic essence, and know that they will be killed by other demons if they survive the gas.

If the players do everything to save their characters…next session, if there is one, they are escaping the only world they ever knew.

Same thing happens after a deadly boss fight, but most of them have died.

Stat rolls and their 1~3 powers,
Not epic, just a look into an eventful day.

#4

Hmm, good questions! I’m just making this up as I go but yeah:

  1. If they try to kill the overlord while he’s restrained by the seer… they will still have to face the seer. With bad odds. But sure, if they can do the charisma check and the rest of the party doesn’t want to kill the player for killing the overlord and they manage to take down the seer… They’re the new rulers.
  2. I actually haven’t thought of this. But it would make sense to have someone, but if they’re loyal to her they sure won’t tell the players what’s going on.
  3. No idea! Defending against traitors most likely. Possibly a side quest in the kitchen or meeting the vampires, but not sure how much you can fit into 2-3 hours yet.
  4. Pass a charisma check before the control, or get a really good unconscious-hitting smack in the face.
#5

Thank you for your advice!

  1. The audience is a few friends I know pretty well, who I’m comfortable DMing for.
  2. I plan on one evening, so 2-3 hours.
  3. If my regular dnd group wants to try it sometime, I’d gladly repeat it. But mostly, I want to make more unique one-shots.
  4. The closest I’d get would be to re-use the universe for other one-shots.

Definitely will do my best making them allies.

I really like the 3 combats you’re suggesting, so I’ll try writing/sketching something using your base later this week. I’ll also need to make a list of cluest they can find/overhear/uncover, so that they can stumble over the plot regardless of how they decide to act.

#6

Great, it’ll be a great game or great learning experience :japanese_ogre:

Let us know how it goes!!!

#7

Will do! I’ll be setting a date soon to add much needed pressure to just run with it, but I’m already very excited for it.

#8

I like your drawing of the seer, and I desire more pictures! Please post more art when you create it :+1:t3: Everyone here loves seeing creations of all kinds.

#9

One advice I can give you from GMing A LOT in conventions and other time-straint environments is to just accept the premature end of your session and let the rest of the content you created and didn’t use retreat into your GM drawer for later recycling!

A one-shot doesn’t need to be conclusive, specially when you start and have no clue of how much freaking time something takes (which is usually a lot because you’re still learning everything up). The CORE rulebook states that “In time, you’ll know how much time a session is” related to your prep and mechanics, so just go around and have fun creating stuff.

Also, One-Shots are awesome for improvising and get crazy, because you don’t suffer from “plot holes” and inconsistency as you’ll do with a campign.

Make what you think is enough, you’ll provably be waaaaaaay off in the upper side (having too much content), and as the hour of end game approaches, roll for END-SESSION and let everyone imagine how it could’ve ended… without fear.

#10

Hey, thanks! I’m thinking of making a new post when I’ve runned the one shot for the first time, and including the other drawings and groundwork I’ve done for it there. :smile:

#11

Thank you so much for this, it makes me feel a bit more at ease, and my gut is telling me I’m definitely going in the right direction here.

#12

Heck ya, I’d love to see that.

#13

Very cool art!!! I like it! :+1: