I'm going to be running a One-Shot for my family soon, some have never played D&D before. I've never run a One-Shot before either. I planned on getting everyone together to "hang out" and have some "cousin time", but was going to surprise them with: "yay! a magical adventure I made up myself!"
I like surprising people and thought it would be more exciting to find out that day... But I'm worried this isn't practical. Should I realistically let them all know before so there's adequate time to do everything and they can pick characters beforehand?
Has anyone out there ever surprised people with a One-Shot the day of? I'm nervous that I may be trying too hard to keep it all under wraps.
D&D is really hard to make as a "surprise party", there's a lot of setup and exposition that happens before you sit down to roll the dice.
That said, if everyone is aware that you'll be playing D&D, then you can still pull a surprise with your one-shot by creating a tailored game. Start asking them what they want from an adventure, what they expect from the game, what type of character they might want to play, get them hyped on it. Then when you sit down you can have characters crafted for each of them, and a setting/adventure that takes each of their desires put in to the game. You could tailor an entire evening based on the input that they've given to you prior.
I would not get people who have never played D&D before on a table to play without letting them know what they are supposed to do. I have avid board gamers among my friends, who don't like the RP aspect at all. I know people with experience in theatre who got overwhelmed by rules. And you will encounter competitive players, who will have a problem with the cooperation of players with the DM (because you play WITH the Dm, not against him).
The easiest way to go with a one shot with adults is to go very light on rules (look at the one shots the cast of Critical Role has done the past months, like Honey Heist or Crash Pandas). You have very little stats, roll d6 and you have abilities written down on a piece of paper in front of you. I use a similar system when playing "one hour adventures" with the kids of my friends (while the adults are preparing dinner). The play animals, like a clever fox, who gets advantage on "thief things", like opening locks and stealing stuff. The badger is strong and gets advantage on lifting and endurance related tasks. And they have special abilities in form of small playing cards they have to discard when used (like a "nut of healing").
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Hey All!
I'm going to be running a One-Shot for my family soon, some have never played D&D before. I've never run a One-Shot before either. I planned on getting everyone together to "hang out" and have some "cousin time", but was going to surprise them with: "yay! a magical adventure I made up myself!"
I like surprising people and thought it would be more exciting to find out that day... But I'm worried this isn't practical. Should I realistically let them all know before so there's adequate time to do everything and they can pick characters beforehand?
Has anyone out there ever surprised people with a One-Shot the day of? I'm nervous that I may be trying too hard to keep it all under wraps.
Any feedback is appreciated! -Siena
As far as surprising people with a one shot day of goes, I wouldn't unless the group was already gathering with the intent to play d&d that day.
D&D is really hard to make as a "surprise party", there's a lot of setup and exposition that happens before you sit down to roll the dice.
That said, if everyone is aware that you'll be playing D&D, then you can still pull a surprise with your one-shot by creating a tailored game. Start asking them what they want from an adventure, what they expect from the game, what type of character they might want to play, get them hyped on it. Then when you sit down you can have characters crafted for each of them, and a setting/adventure that takes each of their desires put in to the game. You could tailor an entire evening based on the input that they've given to you prior.
I would personally let them know ahead of time
I would not get people who have never played D&D before on a table to play without letting them know what they are supposed to do.
I have avid board gamers among my friends, who don't like the RP aspect at all. I know people with experience in theatre who got overwhelmed by rules. And you will encounter competitive players, who will have a problem with the cooperation of players with the DM (because you play WITH the Dm, not against him).
The easiest way to go with a one shot with adults is to go very light on rules (look at the one shots the cast of Critical Role has done the past months, like Honey Heist or Crash Pandas). You have very little stats, roll d6 and you have abilities written down on a piece of paper in front of you. I use a similar system when playing "one hour adventures" with the kids of my friends (while the adults are preparing dinner). The play animals, like a clever fox, who gets advantage on "thief things", like opening locks and stealing stuff. The badger is strong and gets advantage on lifting and endurance related tasks. And they have special abilities in form of small playing cards they have to discard when used (like a "nut of healing").