So by this I am referring to one which comprises of a series of oneshots, with win/lose criteria beyond "you die", and which lead to the finale which is influenced by the previous oneshots?
I am considering making one like this, where the PCs are informed of an impending event (as yet undecided, probably a big bad coming to wreak havoc of some sort who needs punching into insensibility) and then informed of a number of magic items which they can seek out to deal with the threat. They might get a list of 20 magic items, and have to pick one to go for each session/shot. Each shot they play through, the event gets closer, so they have a limited number of quests they can go on to gather these items. When the event arrives, they use the items they have gathered to try and win.
I intend to make 20 oneshots with a magic item at the end, and 20 items, and randomise the oneshot each time. This should make for replayability, especially if I repeat locations but not the contents.
But anyway, has anyone ever structured a campaign like this? IE pick 5 of these 20, and then fight the Big Bad? did it work?
Doesn't this require you to write 20 one shot adventures, of which 15 don't get used?
Why not just write 5 one shots and use your best 5 ideas?
Honestly I don't think that this allows for very good role play, and it's a mini campaign with no significant story. A storylined 6 part adventure would be more fun to most players I think.
Doesn't this require you to write 20 one shot adventures, of which 15 don't get used?
Why not just write 5 one shots and use your best 5 ideas?
Honestly I don't think that this allows for very good role play, and it's a mini campaign with no significant story. A storylined 6 part adventure would be more fun to most players I think.
I suppose it does... Perhaps the approach will be to write 5 oneshot adventures and it "just so happens" that these are the ones the magic items they chose are at the end of.
The lack of significant story is indeed an issue, but then I've not given it much thought yet. I was considering this for my local club, where people drop in and out each week, so I was thinking of doing these 5 oneshots and letting the players know when the finale is so they can decide if they are coming back for it!
Doesn't this require you to write 20 one shot adventures, of which 15 don't get used?
Why not just write 5 one shots and use your best 5 ideas?
Honestly I don't think that this allows for very good role play, and it's a mini campaign with no significant story. A storylined 6 part adventure would be more fun to most players I think.
I suppose it does... Perhaps the approach will be to write 5 oneshot adventures and it "just so happens" that these are the ones the magic items they chose are at the end of.
The lack of significant story is indeed an issue, but then I've not given it much thought yet. I was considering this for my local club, where people drop in and out each week, so I was thinking of doing these 5 oneshots and letting the players know when the finale is so they can decide if they are coming back for it!
Part of being a crafty DM is making your players think that they have an open sandbox but in reality it’s a scripted event.
Some tricks I use:
1) Have the party decide on which way they want to go next week at the *end* of the session this week. That gives you time to prepare the next one-shot. If it’s all new players next week, just treat it like the initial plot hook and dive right in.
2) For your five one-shots, have them all tie back to each other as much as possible. Have the plot hook at the end of adventure A lead to B or C. Adventure B plot hooks leads to A or C. Etc. This way, if the players start with B and then A, you can still convince them to go to C. This makes it seem like a sandbox but doesn’t require you to flesh out every branch.
3) In the same vein as #2, add some optional one shots that only happen if you complete A, B, and C in a specific order or with a specific victory condition.
4) Adjust difficulty as they play - make adventure B way stronger if they’re a higher level. Add a bigger boss. Add more minions. Throw in a puzzle.
Hope that helps!
Edit for more shenanigans:
5) Create 7 one-shots: 5 adventures, 1 end boss cave, and 1 end boss fight.
Make it time-sensitive by only letting the players play 4 out of the 5 first adventures. After they play the 4th adventure, an event happens that necessitates going to the boss cave. This is *so* important because the players will *definitely* notice that they couldn’t do one of the 5 plot hooks they came across.
Use that one plothook they missed to really spice up the boss cave. They didn’t take time to rescue the Village from Zombies? Now there’s a Necromancer in the boss cave. They skipped escorting the Merchant caravan safely? An Orc ransacked it and now they have a Wand of Fireballs.
So by this I am referring to one which comprises of a series of oneshots, with win/lose criteria beyond "you die", and which lead to the finale which is influenced by the previous oneshots?
I am considering making one like this, where the PCs are informed of an impending event (as yet undecided, probably a big bad coming to wreak havoc of some sort who needs punching into insensibility) and then informed of a number of magic items which they can seek out to deal with the threat. They might get a list of 20 magic items, and have to pick one to go for each session/shot. Each shot they play through, the event gets closer, so they have a limited number of quests they can go on to gather these items. When the event arrives, they use the items they have gathered to try and win.
I intend to make 20 oneshots with a magic item at the end, and 20 items, and randomise the oneshot each time. This should make for replayability, especially if I repeat locations but not the contents.
But anyway, has anyone ever structured a campaign like this? IE pick 5 of these 20, and then fight the Big Bad? did it work?
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Doesn't this require you to write 20 one shot adventures, of which 15 don't get used?
Why not just write 5 one shots and use your best 5 ideas?
Honestly I don't think that this allows for very good role play, and it's a mini campaign with no significant story. A storylined 6 part adventure would be more fun to most players I think.
I suppose it does... Perhaps the approach will be to write 5 oneshot adventures and it "just so happens" that these are the ones the magic items they chose are at the end of.
The lack of significant story is indeed an issue, but then I've not given it much thought yet. I was considering this for my local club, where people drop in and out each week, so I was thinking of doing these 5 oneshots and letting the players know when the finale is so they can decide if they are coming back for it!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Part of being a crafty DM is making your players think that they have an open sandbox but in reality it’s a scripted event.
Some tricks I use:
1) Have the party decide on which way they want to go next week at the *end* of the session this week. That gives you time to prepare the next one-shot. If it’s all new players next week, just treat it like the initial plot hook and dive right in.
2) For your five one-shots, have them all tie back to each other as much as possible. Have the plot hook at the end of adventure A lead to B or C. Adventure B plot hooks leads to A or C. Etc. This way, if the players start with B and then A, you can still convince them to go to C. This makes it seem like a sandbox but doesn’t require you to flesh out every branch.
3) In the same vein as #2, add some optional one shots that only happen if you complete A, B, and C in a specific order or with a specific victory condition.
4) Adjust difficulty as they play - make adventure B way stronger if they’re a higher level. Add a bigger boss. Add more minions. Throw in a puzzle.
Hope that helps!
Edit for more shenanigans:
5) Create 7 one-shots: 5 adventures, 1 end boss cave, and 1 end boss fight.
Make it time-sensitive by only letting the players play 4 out of the 5 first adventures. After they play the 4th adventure, an event happens that necessitates going to the boss cave. This is *so* important because the players will *definitely* notice that they couldn’t do one of the 5 plot hooks they came across.
Use that one plothook they missed to really spice up the boss cave. They didn’t take time to rescue the Village from Zombies? Now there’s a Necromancer in the boss cave. They skipped escorting the Merchant caravan safely? An Orc ransacked it and now they have a Wand of Fireballs.