Hey all,
I've been doing some thinking. I've been doing the blog thing for a while, and, honestly, I'm not sure what I'm hoping to accomplish here. I've still got some thinking to do going forward, and this isn't a "farewell", but I want to be intentional about letting this be a more sporadic thing. Maybe I'll go back to a harder schedule on this later, but for now, I'll just be chiming in when I've got an idea I like.
Monday, January 16, 2017
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Prepping a One-Off
Hey all,
Welcome back, and here's hoping you had a great Christmas and New Years.
I thought to kick things off this year with an idea that turned out to take a little longer than I'd anticipated, but I think it's an idea worth going into: how to prepare for a one-off tabletop game.
Firstly, what do I mean when I say "one-off game". A one-off is a game intended to be played in a single tabletop session instead of played over the course of several weeks, months, or even years. This longer format is more common, and most players would call it a campaign. A one-off is a single story, meant to be told over the course of roughly 2 to 6 hours, depending on the time available for your session.
Secondly, why would you want to prepare a one-off game? There's several good reasons to want to get into this format. Convention games are best prepared as one-offs, as are attempts to familiarize a party with a new system before committing to something bigger. The best reason I can think of, though, is to have a story ready to run if your regularly scheduled RPG group misses a night but still has the players to make something happen. Whether this is to fill in for a missing GM, or to replace a session that's down to half-attendance for a week, this can keep the ball rolling when it might have come to a stop.
That out of the way, let's look at how we can plan a one-off. Some of these guidelines will apply broadly to any RPG game planning, but they are specifically important when bringing the format down to a single sitting. A year-long campaign might include a bad week for one player that doesn't spoil the whole experience, but the same can't be said for one-offs.
I'll be going into a few specific things I look into when preparing one-offs.
Premade Characters
It is critical to start by establishing premade characters for one-off sessions. With a longer session, you can begin with a character creation session, but no one's going to want to spend one week making characters to play as in the next week, and then never look at again. Even if they wanted to, the best use of one-offs won't leave time for that.
This is also your chance as the GM, if you're not yet familiar with the system, to figure out how it all works. Making half a dozen characters is a great way to learn what the system is good at, and prepare for the central mechanics of what player characters CAN do.
Work to include only the spells, skills, mechanics, etc. that you know you understand. Not needing to continually consult the rule book will smooth out the gameplay, and help make sure you finish inside of your time window.
. . . But What Makes a Premade Character Good?
Or, since you're making all of the PCs, what makes a premade party good? Since you can't predict just how many people you will be GMing for, (most of the time) you won't be able to assemble the perfect team. Think about Q in the James Bond movies. That near-clairvoyant ability to put the right tool in the right place may seem like just the thing you're capable of, as game master and character designer; but that kind of thinking can hammer the rails down hard. If you decide that this puzzle will be Penelope's moment, while this puzzle over here is where Rick's combat skills will be showcased, then you lock down alternate solutions to your problems. As a rule for all tabletop gaming: NEVER plan for a single solution to any problem you present the players. Instead, plan out the world, and be prepared for a multitude of solutions to the same problem.
That said, the characters should be very different from one another. I like to try to include one of each class and one of each race in classic d20 systems, while dividing characters between primarily mental, social, and physical archetypes in classless systems. Lean a little more toward the Jack of all Trades than you normally would, to allow players to act outside their archetypes when they have a fun or cinematic idea. That said, do design the characters to be strongly differentiated from one another. I like to include character sketches on the backs of the character sheets to help players made snap decisions about who they'd like to play. This is a good time to do BRIEF write-ups of the characters' backstories and also to plan motivations that will lead them to say "Yes" when the call to adventure comes.
All that to say, DO plan to create slightly more characters than you think you'll need, and DO go into the event with a very specific plan for deciding who gets which character. A random drawing is a very fair way of doing things, but can pair players with characters they really don't connect with. A selection-style means players choose which character they want, but this can be tricky as far as arbitrating whenever players argue over a specific character. The method you pick is less important than that you have a method picked and ready to go.
Module Preparations
Now, we come to the crux of it. You've got your plan, you've got a pool of characters from which your party will be drawn, and it's time to put together your module. One thing I like to do at this stage is try to think through what a linear, non-game story would look like, and parse that down to the barest bones of narrative direction. So, if the plot of a traditional "the artist is absent" story would involve a character getting into a fight with a giant monster, chop that down to simply be an encounter with said giant monster, to open the field back up into sneaking options, combat options, high-adrenaline chase, or even social options if someone can manage to soothe the beast.
Keep the structure of your plan simple, and vary the types of challenges faced. If one challenge is crossing a river, another is an encounter with a vicious tribe, another is an encounter with a wild beast, and another is a fact-finding mission at a local watering hole, this gives players and characters of all skill sets a chance to step to the forefront of the story.
In general, I like to plan for two or three smaller events, followed by a climactic end. This usually fits in the 2-3 hour window that I operate in for these types of one-offs. However, you may have to dial this in as you become experienced as a GM, and you may also have to tweak it slightly to find the length that best fits your session time.
Beyond this, it flows about like planning a normal campaign. So dive in, get something ready, and turn up with an adventure in your pocket the next time it looks like your game night might fall through. Happy gaming, all.
Welcome back, and here's hoping you had a great Christmas and New Years.
I thought to kick things off this year with an idea that turned out to take a little longer than I'd anticipated, but I think it's an idea worth going into: how to prepare for a one-off tabletop game.
Firstly, what do I mean when I say "one-off game". A one-off is a game intended to be played in a single tabletop session instead of played over the course of several weeks, months, or even years. This longer format is more common, and most players would call it a campaign. A one-off is a single story, meant to be told over the course of roughly 2 to 6 hours, depending on the time available for your session.
Secondly, why would you want to prepare a one-off game? There's several good reasons to want to get into this format. Convention games are best prepared as one-offs, as are attempts to familiarize a party with a new system before committing to something bigger. The best reason I can think of, though, is to have a story ready to run if your regularly scheduled RPG group misses a night but still has the players to make something happen. Whether this is to fill in for a missing GM, or to replace a session that's down to half-attendance for a week, this can keep the ball rolling when it might have come to a stop.
That out of the way, let's look at how we can plan a one-off. Some of these guidelines will apply broadly to any RPG game planning, but they are specifically important when bringing the format down to a single sitting. A year-long campaign might include a bad week for one player that doesn't spoil the whole experience, but the same can't be said for one-offs.
I'll be going into a few specific things I look into when preparing one-offs.
Premade Characters
It is critical to start by establishing premade characters for one-off sessions. With a longer session, you can begin with a character creation session, but no one's going to want to spend one week making characters to play as in the next week, and then never look at again. Even if they wanted to, the best use of one-offs won't leave time for that.
This is also your chance as the GM, if you're not yet familiar with the system, to figure out how it all works. Making half a dozen characters is a great way to learn what the system is good at, and prepare for the central mechanics of what player characters CAN do.
Work to include only the spells, skills, mechanics, etc. that you know you understand. Not needing to continually consult the rule book will smooth out the gameplay, and help make sure you finish inside of your time window.
. . . But What Makes a Premade Character Good?
Or, since you're making all of the PCs, what makes a premade party good? Since you can't predict just how many people you will be GMing for, (most of the time) you won't be able to assemble the perfect team. Think about Q in the James Bond movies. That near-clairvoyant ability to put the right tool in the right place may seem like just the thing you're capable of, as game master and character designer; but that kind of thinking can hammer the rails down hard. If you decide that this puzzle will be Penelope's moment, while this puzzle over here is where Rick's combat skills will be showcased, then you lock down alternate solutions to your problems. As a rule for all tabletop gaming: NEVER plan for a single solution to any problem you present the players. Instead, plan out the world, and be prepared for a multitude of solutions to the same problem.
That said, the characters should be very different from one another. I like to try to include one of each class and one of each race in classic d20 systems, while dividing characters between primarily mental, social, and physical archetypes in classless systems. Lean a little more toward the Jack of all Trades than you normally would, to allow players to act outside their archetypes when they have a fun or cinematic idea. That said, do design the characters to be strongly differentiated from one another. I like to include character sketches on the backs of the character sheets to help players made snap decisions about who they'd like to play. This is a good time to do BRIEF write-ups of the characters' backstories and also to plan motivations that will lead them to say "Yes" when the call to adventure comes.
All that to say, DO plan to create slightly more characters than you think you'll need, and DO go into the event with a very specific plan for deciding who gets which character. A random drawing is a very fair way of doing things, but can pair players with characters they really don't connect with. A selection-style means players choose which character they want, but this can be tricky as far as arbitrating whenever players argue over a specific character. The method you pick is less important than that you have a method picked and ready to go.
Module Preparations
Now, we come to the crux of it. You've got your plan, you've got a pool of characters from which your party will be drawn, and it's time to put together your module. One thing I like to do at this stage is try to think through what a linear, non-game story would look like, and parse that down to the barest bones of narrative direction. So, if the plot of a traditional "the artist is absent" story would involve a character getting into a fight with a giant monster, chop that down to simply be an encounter with said giant monster, to open the field back up into sneaking options, combat options, high-adrenaline chase, or even social options if someone can manage to soothe the beast.
Keep the structure of your plan simple, and vary the types of challenges faced. If one challenge is crossing a river, another is an encounter with a vicious tribe, another is an encounter with a wild beast, and another is a fact-finding mission at a local watering hole, this gives players and characters of all skill sets a chance to step to the forefront of the story.
In general, I like to plan for two or three smaller events, followed by a climactic end. This usually fits in the 2-3 hour window that I operate in for these types of one-offs. However, you may have to dial this in as you become experienced as a GM, and you may also have to tweak it slightly to find the length that best fits your session time.
Beyond this, it flows about like planning a normal campaign. So dive in, get something ready, and turn up with an adventure in your pocket the next time it looks like your game night might fall through. Happy gaming, all.
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