One-Shot scenarios

[Dan Sellars]

I didn't want to try an hijack the "One-Shot - Angry Assassins" thread so I thought I would start a new one.  

I want to run a scenario to a couple of friends in order to introduce then to TROS.  We are only going to have one day really to run the scenario as they live quite a distance away and it is going to involve meeting up for a weekend.

I would like to run a scenario to them that is interesting (to best show off TROS) and also can be completed in the time (assuming they survive...)

I am not really a very experienced GM and was wondering if any one had any tips on how to scope the scenario and what pre-setup is good etc.  

I don't really have a scenario idea in mind yet I was just wondering what information is usesful to get a One-Shot scenario going.

Hope this made sense ;-)

Dan.

[Brian Leybourne]

Dan,

If it's going to be a one-shot, it's probably best to pre-gen characters, and also pre-gen SA's for your players. That way you can ensure that the SA's will be firing (and conflicting, which works well) constantly, which will give your players a real taste for how the system works. Make it something fairly simple, but with the opportunity to develop into more if the players like it.

One concept that several of us have used is that the players are caravan guards, and the caravan gets attacked. This gives you a good chance to show off the system and to let them roleplay (as they accompany the caravan) and then later to have a really good hack 'n slash and learn the ins and outs of the combat system (when it gets attacked).

The usual outcome of this scenario is that the PC's get killed, but that's of course up to you. One follow-on that seems to work well is to kill off the PC's, then when you start an actual campaign, make each character be related to one of the caravan guard pre-gen characters. This gives them a focus early on and a reason to be together all rolled into one.

Just my 2c of course.

Brian.

[Judd]

I used a contrivance in my first game of the Riddle that I am kinda proud of.  The PC's started the adventure at a dueling bridge, watching that week's legal duels.  I made up stats for a bunch of NPC's:  Some farmers with staves, two heavily armored knights, two noble boys vs. a master swordslinger and two professional duellist to first blood.

The players got to take NPC's and try out the combat system without their PC's getting hopeless mangled, getting the hang of the Riddle's amazing new combat system.  I threw in some of the NPC's SA's just to show how important they are to surviving combat.

The two noble boys had allegedly raped a young local girl and the family put their savings into hiring the master Swordslinger.  The 'slinger got a sword to the face and died.

Woops.

The PC's stepped up, not able to stand for such an injustice.  They killed one of the noble boys and mangled the other one's hand.

The adventure was afoot as those noble boys' fathers sought revenge.

Even if it doesn't launch your campaign, it is a nice way to take the system out for a spin.

[Dan Sellars]

Thank you,

Both ideas look really interesting.  I've got a while to think on it as we won't be able to get togeter for a month or two, but I'll definatly keep both of those in mind as a starting point.

Is there anywhere that ideas like this are collected together?  I seems like it would be quite a good resource, not just for introducing new players but also to provide inspiration for larger scenarios.  I know that the forum is for "brainstorming ideas" but after a while things get lost on previous pages.

Thanks again,
Dan.

[Bankuei]

Hi Dan,

Sorry to hear about your group.  Like Brian, I fully recommend some pregens with some pregen SAs.  Although, I usually make the scenario something totally personal, like a family feud(ala romeo and juliet) in order to keep those SAs flying about.  You can also put PCs on opposing sides if you'd like as well.

Chris

[Dan Sellars]

Thanks it's not really that bad ;-) they're friends from uni who now live in different parts of the country to me.  I have a regular (well semi-regular, but it is the summer) group at home.  I just want to spread the word about tros so to speak ;-)

I'm not meaning to press a point here I've just got a little more time at the moment to (hopefully) make what I'm asking a little clearer.

Is there anywhere, the web site for instance, that we could group ideas like this together?  

It would be a good starting point for adventures, I'm not suggesting fully scripted scenarios but just jumping off points.  I showed a friend the idea about starting off with pre-gens as caravan guards (and killing them to teach respect for the combat ;-), then jumping in with characters they had created themselves to carry on.  What happend? why did it happen etc...  and he really liked the idea and thinks he might use it himself.  

He had an idea himself a while ago about having a group of pre-gen knights that had been questing for the holy grail and had just reached where (they thought) it was hidden, add a few interesting SA's to the mix an intersting location and you've got the start of a scenario (his version was a little more eloquent ;-)

It would be a for people to miss some of the great ideas that are brought up on this forum, just because they don't have the time to hunt through it all.

I was am just wondering what other people think to this idea.

Dan.

[Mike Holmes]

It's a cool idea. What we usuall do here with cool ideas is to publish them. A TROS one-shots/quickstarts, would be a really neat product, I'd think.

Other than that, these fora serve as an archive. The appropriate thing to do would be to put all the ideas or links to the ideas in one thread, and then list that thread in the "where to go first" sticky at the top of the forum.

Mike

[Bankuei]

Hi guys,

I would recommend if anyone ever does do a 1-shot or adventure idea supplement, to include advice on non-linear scenarios.  I mentioned it way back in my Unstated thread, and it has cropped up as an issue again in the most recent rpg.net review of TROS.  For any of these ideas to work well, it helps if the GM comes in with a little more "play" or slack than the typical list of "possible events, force PCs to pick one" type play.

Chris

[Dan Sellars]

At the moment I don't have time to search through the forum but when I do I might give it a go.

Does any one have any ideas then?  Scenario ideas they've tried? or want to try? would you be interested in a brainstorming thread? we could open it up and see what people come back with.  Worry what to do with it later ;-)

Dan.

[Judd]

In the campaign trailers thread I had some ideas that were specifically written to be one-shot scenarios, much in the line of my Angry Assassins idea.

Here are a few that seem geared best for one-shots:

The Holy Order of X*

You are all members of the Holy Order of X* and the temples have all been secured against the infidel for now. On a glorious day you find a majestic hawk feasting on a dead raven. Upon further inspection you find a note attached to the raven's foot, in the fashion of your Order.

The note is the head of your sect, petitioning the Grandmaster to declare you heretics and so he might burn you at the stake.

Is it an elaborate infidel trick?

Was it left here by the powers of X*?

The sun is going down and in the First Temple they will be expecting you and after nightfall the hills will seeth with unholy armies.

Gird your faith and your steel, it is time for action.

*X will be a religion and holy order of knights created by the players as they make up characters together.


Thieving Bastards

You are the leader of a group of heartless bastards. You're the head of your guild, chief of your ninja clan, captain of your pirate ship or just leader of the gang back in your home town.

But out here on the edge of a mountain range where the Gods were supposed to have been born, all that doesn't matter. What matters is that you have a piece of the map and the map leads to the Dragon's lair.

Entering a Dragon's lair can mean whatever you want it to. A dragon can be a dangerous god, a revered spirit or just a big monster sitting under a mountain on a hoard of gold.

There's a sit-down at the Dragon Pass Inn with all of the other bastards with the map and then you'll plan the biggest B & E job since Prometheus stole fire.


Planar Viking

Your father went viking into the Abyss and brought back horns of Demons and damned souls for thralls.

Your uncles swept into the Eternal Forest and returned with pelts of unnamed monsters and strange eggs.

Grandfather sailed his black ships for Arcadia and came back with a beautiful bride, chests of rings and gems from the Dwarvholdts and a family curse.

Now spring is approaching and it is your turn to look at the maps and find a land to plunder. No lands in all of imagining are beyond your ships reach. Grow your face's first beard, take your father's axe and be off with you.

Bring back a piece of your glory or don't bother returning at all.

I didn't feel like I did this one justice in the write-up. I'd allow the PC's to roam the village the night before their first viking. They could talk to all of their living relatives about their firsts, the skald could talk about the great ancestors' first.

Then the Chieftain would come forward and lock them in a lodge all night with the map of their forefathers. The players would open the map and it would be entirely blank.

The PC's would then draw a map of where they wanted to go, as vague or as detailed as they liked...the future, the past, the never-when's and the maybe-were's.

Wherever, heaven, hell, Asgard.

Only on your first reaving can a young raider sail down the roots of the Nine Worlds. After that they are bound to earth...unless they do great things and leave their mark on the One Tree, securing a path for their return.

But if they can't see that, they aren't ready...

Anyway, that's the entire pitch.

[Brian Leybourne]

Nice. Keep them coming if you like, guys, and I'll link to this topic in the "read here first" sticky.

Brian.

[Spartan]

A variation on the Caravan one-shot, sort of.

The royal family has fallen in a coup, and you (being castle men-at-arms, servants, minstrels, whatever) have to help the surviving members espcape the castle before they can be found and executed by the usurpers forces who are at the gates... the castle is covered in Greek Fire, catapults are pummelling the towers, and a traitor has let down the drawbridge... what do you do?

It's just a caravan under pressure with a different cargo, really.

-Mark

[Sneaky Git]

A variation on the Caravan one-shot, sort of.

The royal family has fallen in a coup, and you (being castle men-at-arms, servants, minstrels, whatever) have to help the surviving members espcape the castle before they can be found and executed by the usurpers forces who are at the gates... the castle is covered in Greek Fire, catapults are pummelling the towers, and a traitor has let down the drawbridge... what do you do?

It's just a caravan under pressure with a different cargo, really.

-Mark

I was thinking along these lines, myself.  Planning on running a variation on the MacBeth theme...only the PCs will be retainers of that particular Scot.  They won't be privy to the opening acts (Murder, etc.), but will be there for the eventual slide into insanity (could just be back story) and the attack by the "usurper's" army.  It will, from this point, follow your idea.

Chris

[Tywin Lannister]

In my first (and as yet, only) TROS campaign the player characters were all linked to a ruling House, all connected to that Houses' castle. One was the son of the ruling lord, another a house knight, a third the son of the castle's weaponsmith etc. They were all approximately the same age, allowing them to be friends from the start.
For combat "education", the players had their characters train with wooden weapons in the courtyard, while certain "political" plots and subplots kept running in the background.
Eventually, training turned into far deadlier business as the campaign's antagonists appeared.

Lol, I'm getting ahead of myself. The antagonists haven't appeared yet (only in mentioning). We've spent six months building up character and story, so I guess the players will be quite attached to their characters...could be dangerous.

Anyway. I digress.