I'm looking for suggestions on how to write a non-combat oriented one shot. My players have been through the combat wringer in our main campaign and I wanted to give them (and our DM) a little break and let everyone flex their creative muscles without a need to worry about optimization or fear character death.
I had started with the idea to do a sort of treasure hunt/underwater dungeon sort of thing, but am game to adapt the one shot or any of your greatly needed suggestions. Really, anything would help!
A live show where the teams of challengers have to make it through a variety of challenges. Sort of like Crystal Maze but where more of the challenges involve the whole party.
The tricky thing is going to be that this will ultimately lean towards testing the players more than the characters, with any riddles or puzzles testing a players ability to solve a riddle or puzzle. Detracting from this would result in all the tests being mere ability rolls. That said, combat also tests a players tactics - you don't hear DM's telling players that their fighter is unlikely to want to charge in screaming to a pit full of monsters without backup, so there's that.
I'd make a set of rooms for them to get through, in 6 categories to reflect the 6 skills, in equal amounts. Each room would contain a puzzle of some sort with a crystal to collect (what the hey, let's go full crystal maze!) and a time limit to do so. Then make the crystals instrumental in completing a final challenge.
I was definitely leaning towards doing a puzzle-based challenge...but that’s sort of where I need help, haha. I’ve been scouring forums for ideas, but a lot of puzzles I find (and many I’ve done in the past) seem to be poorly-suited for online d&d
A few campaigns back we had a short story arc where a thieves guild was raising money for the BBEG and we had to uncover their plot and try to stop them. The thieves guild had taken control of a riverboat casino (like - a mississippi paddleboat type of floating casino thingy) that they were using to raise revenue. Well, we didn't want to alert them to our plan, so the party had to go undercover on a riverboat cruise and suss out the plot and the leaders of the guild. It was a lot of perception checks, deception checks, sleight of hand checks, stealth checks, etc, but the DM at the time was really good at making us feel like we were on some Mission Impossible type undercover mission.
I'm a big fan of non-combat scenarios - especially in 5e, where there's so much freedom to try innovative and creative approaches.
A few things to consider, especially as this is a one-shot, is to not make anything too complicated or time-consuming.
An idea I've used before to good effect, was something similar to an Escape Room. The players were trapped in an ancient library, with the door magically sealed by a gnomish tinkerer. They had to solve a series of challenges and puzzles within the 3 hour session, or the door would be sealed permanently.
It worked, because I didn't have to design a whole dungeon, with multiple different (and potentially unused) areas. It also meant the players couldn't wander into unplanned situations, which meant I could focus on designing tight, clever puzzles for them to solve.
What's really important, is ensuring you design puzzles and challenges not just around the characters skills (i.e. deciphering arcane runes using Arcana, or understanding a divine text with Religion) - but also tailor it to the Players as well. Have riddles for those that like that sort of thing, or mathematic brain-teasers for the more analytical of your group.
I'll see if I can find the notes from the one-shot I did. It was a few years ago, but I should have them around somewhere.
I'm looking for suggestions on how to write a non-combat oriented one shot. My players have been through the combat wringer in our main campaign and I wanted to give them (and our DM) a little break and let everyone flex their creative muscles without a need to worry about optimization or fear character death.
I had started with the idea to do a sort of treasure hunt/underwater dungeon sort of thing, but am game to adapt the one shot or any of your greatly needed suggestions. Really, anything would help!
A live show where the teams of challengers have to make it through a variety of challenges. Sort of like Crystal Maze but where more of the challenges involve the whole party.
The tricky thing is going to be that this will ultimately lean towards testing the players more than the characters, with any riddles or puzzles testing a players ability to solve a riddle or puzzle. Detracting from this would result in all the tests being mere ability rolls. That said, combat also tests a players tactics - you don't hear DM's telling players that their fighter is unlikely to want to charge in screaming to a pit full of monsters without backup, so there's that.
I'd make a set of rooms for them to get through, in 6 categories to reflect the 6 skills, in equal amounts. Each room would contain a puzzle of some sort with a crystal to collect (what the hey, let's go full crystal maze!) and a time limit to do so. Then make the crystals instrumental in completing a final challenge.
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I was definitely leaning towards doing a puzzle-based challenge...but that’s sort of where I need help, haha. I’ve been scouring forums for ideas, but a lot of puzzles I find (and many I’ve done in the past) seem to be poorly-suited for online d&d
A few campaigns back we had a short story arc where a thieves guild was raising money for the BBEG and we had to uncover their plot and try to stop them. The thieves guild had taken control of a riverboat casino (like - a mississippi paddleboat type of floating casino thingy) that they were using to raise revenue. Well, we didn't want to alert them to our plan, so the party had to go undercover on a riverboat cruise and suss out the plot and the leaders of the guild. It was a lot of perception checks, deception checks, sleight of hand checks, stealth checks, etc, but the DM at the time was really good at making us feel like we were on some Mission Impossible type undercover mission.
That was fun.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
I'm a big fan of non-combat scenarios - especially in 5e, where there's so much freedom to try innovative and creative approaches.
A few things to consider, especially as this is a one-shot, is to not make anything too complicated or time-consuming.
An idea I've used before to good effect, was something similar to an Escape Room. The players were trapped in an ancient library, with the door magically sealed by a gnomish tinkerer. They had to solve a series of challenges and puzzles within the 3 hour session, or the door would be sealed permanently.
It worked, because I didn't have to design a whole dungeon, with multiple different (and potentially unused) areas. It also meant the players couldn't wander into unplanned situations, which meant I could focus on designing tight, clever puzzles for them to solve.
What's really important, is ensuring you design puzzles and challenges not just around the characters skills (i.e. deciphering arcane runes using Arcana, or understanding a divine text with Religion) - but also tailor it to the Players as well. Have riddles for those that like that sort of thing, or mathematic brain-teasers for the more analytical of your group.
I'll see if I can find the notes from the one-shot I did. It was a few years ago, but I should have them around somewhere.