I had an idea for running a series of interconnected one-shots to test my 5e, realms based homebrew world.
Here are the titles of the one-shots I was planning.
EP1 - RISE: Emerald Falls
In the world of Eos, The Kingdom of Eorzea and The Empire of Niflheim has been at war for generations. Determined to rid themselves of their foes, The Magisters of Eorzea and the Imperium of Nifelheim construct Ultima Weapons in secret. When Ultima is unleashed upon the world, it is up to the most unlikely heroes to save as much of Eos as they can before the Everstorms consume all.
As their beloved Emerald City begins to fall from the sky, the heroes must put aside their differences and unite, becoming the first warriors of light if they are to save the people of Eos from the calamity.
EP2 - RISE: In The Shadow of The King
The raging Everstorms have changed Eos forever. Now, a once lush green world teeming with life has become a hot arid desert, prowled by monstrous creatures, storm demons and undead. The people have fragmented into semi-nomadic tribes struggling to survive, but there is hope. From the ruins of an ancient city, a new King has risen. One who promises to lead the people of Eos into a new age, but all is not as it seems.
The King has plans to harness Ultima's power and use it to rule all of Eos as an immortal.
For the sake of Eos and her people, heroes must once again rise to draw a line in the sand against the coming of the endless night.
Before they can defeat the false King, however, they must first take a difficult journey and seek the knowledge, wisdom and blessing of the prophet.
EP3 - RISE: Eyes of The Prophet
Two hundred years ago, the warriors of light, aided by the immortal prophetess Safiyyah quelled the rising darkness, and after defeating the false king, ushered in an age of prosperity that Eos has not known since Ultima was unleashed upon the world.
Darkness can never truly be defeated, however, and shadowy forces have begun attacking outposts and travelling caravans, and what's worse, Safiyyah is missing. When the Brass Blades of the Immortal Flames receive a package containing a pair of eyes and a lock of Safiyyah‘s hair, they petition the newly formed heroes guild to send a company of heroes to ascertain the fate of the prophet and bring those responsible for kidnapping and harming her to justice.
EP4 - RISE: A Realm Reborn
Many generations have passed since the disappearance of Safiyyah, and now a strange blind woman, claiming to be a seer, has summoned a new band of heroes to the ruins of A’mraa. Using all of her magic and the last of her life force, she opens a gateway that leads far into the past.
Passing through the gateway, the heroes find themselves once more in the city of A’mraa, only now it floating above the clouds. Upon exploring further, they discover the surface of Eos is no longer a desert but a lush green tropical paradise, and that magitech spoke of in legend are everywhere.
After stumbling across a much younger and not yet immortal Safiyyah, the heroes at first mistake her for the Safiyyah they know from their time but quickly realise that she is not.
Intrigued about how the heroes arrived in A’mraa and about the claims that she sent them from the future, however, Safiyyah promises to use her scholars pass to allow them to freely move around the city, as long as they allow her to accompany them on their journey.
As the heroes learn the truth about their past and Safiyyah learns of her future, they all realise that the only way to save Eos is to destroy Ultima before the weapons' construction is completed.
Together the new warriors of light and Safiyyah must battle friend and foe for the future Eos.
----
What do you think about running interconnected one-shots l like episodes in this way, and also, from the titles, what king of games would you expect?
There is nothing wrong with running your game like this. It is the basis of many (most?) popular show series. It might be fun to have a thread joining them all together but you don't have to have one. If the players think there is, roll with it, they will think you're a genius.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
What do you think about running interconnected one-shots l like episodes in this way, and also, from the titles, what king of games would you expect?
I have done this in the past myself (though usually running 3-shots on each). It really helps address concerns of players being unable to commit to a full campaign and allowing for scheduled points where players can join or leave before the next chapter starts. Breaking a full campaign into this format provides an easier introduction for newer players without "falling into" an established party or campaign arc.
I think this will be an enjoyable experience. Keep us posted!
Finding a creative narrative to connect a series of smaller, generally unrelated adventures together into a whole campaign is actually the way D&D was done for decades. Those massive campaigns that take a party from levels 1-11+ on a single story are a newer way to play.
If I read the OP right, the different episodes are centuries apart. I don't think we should rightfully call that a campaign (not unless timetravel was involved anyway, which doesn't appear to be the case until the last episode) - there'd be new characters for every episode regardless of what happened in the previous one. It really is more a series of one-shots.
Which I like: it's easier for the DM in terms of prep time, it's not as big of a commitment for anyone and the throwback connections should be fun and flavourful. The individual characters will have less of an arc arguably, both in terms of character development and level span, but that's not a bad tradeoff.
I'm a little unsure on the one-shot nature of the episodes though - they seem like they have a lot of ground to cover even for a couple of sessions.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
If I read the OP right, the different episodes are centuries apart. I don't think we should rightfully call that a campaign (not unless timetravel was involved anyway, which doesn't appear to be the case until the last episode) - there'd be new characters for every episode regardless of what happened in the previous one. It really is more a series of one-shots.
Note: This episode background/plot information was edited in about 30 minutes ago. I would agree after reviewing this new data.
If I read the OP right, the different episodes are centuries apart. I don't think we should rightfully call that a campaign (not unless timetravel was involved anyway, which doesn't appear to be the case until the last episode) - there'd be new characters for every episode regardless of what happened in the previous one. It really is more a series of one-shots.
Note: This episode background/plot information was edited in about 30 minutes ago. I would agree after reviewing this new data.
Sneaky!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Sorry everyone, while attempting to preview my post on a mobile, I accidentally published it. I had always intended to include the background info and wasn't trying to be sneaky.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Sorry everyone, while attempting to preview my post on a mobile, I accidentally published it. I had always intended to include the background info and wasn't trying to be sneaky.
No worries, I was just kidding.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
These are all interesting concepts, but the problem you might find is conveying the rich lore of each one shot in a meaningful way other than lore dumps. One shots tend to be lore light as so to let the players gear into our quickly and smoothly
If I read the OP right, the different episodes are centuries apart. I don't think we should rightfully call that a campaign (not unless timetravel was involved anyway, which doesn't appear to be the case until the last episode) - there'd be new characters for every episode regardless of what happened in the previous one. It really is more a series of one-shots.
Which I like: it's easier for the DM in terms of prep time, it's not as big of a commitment for anyone and the throwback connections should be fun and flavourful. The individual characters will have less of an arc arguably, both in terms of character development and level span, but that's not a bad tradeoff.
I'm a little unsure on the one-shot nature of the episodes though - they seem like they have a lot of ground to cover even for a couple of sessions.
This says it all to me. This looks like a campaign that would take characters to level 20 or so, over a long time.
If I read the OP right, the different episodes are centuries apart. I don't think we should rightfully call that a campaign (not unless timetravel was involved anyway, which doesn't appear to be the case until the last episode) - there'd be new characters for every episode regardless of what happened in the previous one. It really is more a series of one-shots.
Which I like: it's easier for the DM in terms of prep time, it's not as big of a commitment for anyone and the throwback connections should be fun and flavourful. The individual characters will have less of an arc arguably, both in terms of character development and level span, but that's not a bad tradeoff.
I'm a little unsure on the one-shot nature of the episodes though - they seem like they have a lot of ground to cover even for a couple of sessions.
This says it all to me. This looks like a campaign that would take characters to level 20 or so, over a long time.
The only problem that I have with running an entire campaign is I don't have much of the world done. However I want to use what I already have created to test whether or not people will enjoy the lore and the world and get feedback.
The other issue is that I can't commit to a regular campaign schedule right now, so I wanted to make one-shots that I would tie together into a seemingly consistent story, but which were stories in and of themselves—allowing me to run them as and when I have the time and not requiring a regular party.
I would also be able to turn the actions of the players who join my one-shots, the “warriors of light,” into lore for the world.
Those people who play in the one-shots would help me flesh out Eos' parts that I currently have and give me a more solid foundation upon which I can expand the world of Eos.
Essentially, Eos would currently exist In the Umbral Era, which is The 6th age and thus is known as the 6th Umbral Era. After the last one-shot episode, “A Realm Reborn, ” Eos would move into the Astral Era, known as the 7th Astral Era since it is the 7th age.
The 7th Astral Era is one of tremendous technological advancement, but the world's magic begins to decline due to the heroes actions during a realm reborn. All but cut off from a source of magic, the magitech of Eos starts to fail, and magic becomes far less common. What magic remains also becomes extremely expensive, and various factions begin to horde magic items and other forms of magic. Without easy access to cheap healing magic, adventuring also becomes a hazardous profession, with adventurers relying on low-level magical items given to them by their factions or employers and mundane technology.
Magic above the 5th level is scarce during the Astral Era and would cause immense fear and confusion to anyone who saw it.
In the Astral Era, the focus shifts from saving the world to the search for relics and magical items, as well as a new source of magic and the development of technologies that do not rely on magic cores. That means lots of dungeon exploring and chasing down stories and rumours. For which the various factors are willing to pay those who will risk their lives. The governments are also willing to pay significantly for significant finds. So it's not usual to find members of various factions working together in a party to track down some government bounty and then sharing the spoils.
Some seek relics and lost knowledge for their gains, either because they are misguided or evil beings who seek to use forgotten knowledge to control others. Darkness and evil never die. Even in the Astro Era, where most seek to recover what was lost, some seek to destroy all that remains.
Anyway, I only have a minimal amount of the world creates right now. That is why I wanted one-shots that could stand as stories on their own, and also why there is so much time between each one.
Also, I forgot to mention that the Astral Era would come into line with the official D&D timeline, meaning Eos' date would be the same as the official date in the forgotten realms. Eos is positioned as a forgotten world but still exists within realm space.
A series of adventures connected together is the bones of a campaign. Or just a longer adventure. Either way, no need to define it. Just run it.
Also, never world-build more than you need.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Remember there are Rules as Written (RAW), Rules as Intended (RAI), and Rules as Fun (RAF). There's some great RAW, RAI, and RAF here... please check in with your DM to determine how they want to adjudicate the RAW/RAI/RAF for your game.
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Hi,
I had an idea for running a series of interconnected one-shots to test my 5e, realms based homebrew world.
Here are the titles of the one-shots I was planning.
EP1 - RISE: Emerald Falls
In the world of Eos, The Kingdom of Eorzea and The Empire of Niflheim has been at war for generations. Determined to rid themselves of their foes, The Magisters of Eorzea and the Imperium of Nifelheim construct Ultima Weapons in secret. When Ultima is unleashed upon the world, it is up to the most unlikely heroes to save as much of Eos as they can before the Everstorms consume all.
As their beloved Emerald City begins to fall from the sky, the heroes must put aside their differences and unite, becoming the first warriors of light if they are to save the people of Eos from the calamity.
EP2 - RISE: In The Shadow of The King
The raging Everstorms have changed Eos forever. Now, a once lush green world teeming with life has become a hot arid desert, prowled by monstrous creatures, storm demons and undead. The people have fragmented into semi-nomadic tribes struggling to survive, but there is hope. From the ruins of an ancient city, a new King has risen. One who promises to lead the people of Eos into a new age, but all is not as it seems.
The King has plans to harness Ultima's power and use it to rule all of Eos as an immortal.
For the sake of Eos and her people, heroes must once again rise to draw a line in the sand against the coming of the endless night.
Before they can defeat the false King, however, they must first take a difficult journey and seek the knowledge, wisdom and blessing of the prophet.
EP3 - RISE: Eyes of The Prophet
Two hundred years ago, the warriors of light, aided by the immortal prophetess Safiyyah quelled the rising darkness, and after defeating the false king, ushered in an age of prosperity that Eos has not known since Ultima was unleashed upon the world.
Darkness can never truly be defeated, however, and shadowy forces have begun attacking outposts and travelling caravans, and what's worse, Safiyyah is missing. When the Brass Blades of the Immortal Flames receive a package containing a pair of eyes and a lock of Safiyyah‘s hair, they petition the newly formed heroes guild to send a company of heroes to ascertain the fate of the prophet and bring those responsible for kidnapping and harming her to justice.
EP4 - RISE: A Realm Reborn
Many generations have passed since the disappearance of Safiyyah, and now a strange blind woman, claiming to be a seer, has summoned a new band of heroes to the ruins of A’mraa. Using all of her magic and the last of her life force, she opens a gateway that leads far into the past.
Passing through the gateway, the heroes find themselves once more in the city of A’mraa, only now it floating above the clouds. Upon exploring further, they discover the surface of Eos is no longer a desert but a lush green tropical paradise, and that magitech spoke of in legend are everywhere.
After stumbling across a much younger and not yet immortal Safiyyah, the heroes at first mistake her for the Safiyyah they know from their time but quickly realise that she is not.
Intrigued about how the heroes arrived in A’mraa and about the claims that she sent them from the future, however, Safiyyah promises to use her scholars pass to allow them to freely move around the city, as long as they allow her to accompany them on their journey.
As the heroes learn the truth about their past and Safiyyah learns of her future, they all realise that the only way to save Eos is to destroy Ultima before the weapons' construction is completed.
Together the new warriors of light and Safiyyah must battle friend and foe for the future Eos.
----
What do you think about running interconnected one-shots l like episodes in this way, and also, from the titles, what king of games would you expect?
Thanks.
Forge
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Isn't a series of connected one shots a campaign? Those seem to work well ;)
Also, it's hard to say if it's a good idea based on title alone.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
There is nothing wrong with running your game like this. It is the basis of many (most?) popular show series. It might be fun to have a thread joining them all together but you don't have to have one. If the players think there is, roll with it, they will think you're a genius.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
I have done this in the past myself (though usually running 3-shots on each). It really helps address concerns of players being unable to commit to a full campaign and allowing for scheduled points where players can join or leave before the next chapter starts. Breaking a full campaign into this format provides an easier introduction for newer players without "falling into" an established party or campaign arc.
I think this will be an enjoyable experience. Keep us posted!
Finding a creative narrative to connect a series of smaller, generally unrelated adventures together into a whole campaign is actually the way D&D was done for decades. Those massive campaigns that take a party from levels 1-11+ on a single story are a newer way to play.
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Content Troubleshooting
If I read the OP right, the different episodes are centuries apart. I don't think we should rightfully call that a campaign (not unless timetravel was involved anyway, which doesn't appear to be the case until the last episode) - there'd be new characters for every episode regardless of what happened in the previous one. It really is more a series of one-shots.
Which I like: it's easier for the DM in terms of prep time, it's not as big of a commitment for anyone and the throwback connections should be fun and flavourful. The individual characters will have less of an arc arguably, both in terms of character development and level span, but that's not a bad tradeoff.
I'm a little unsure on the one-shot nature of the episodes though - they seem like they have a lot of ground to cover even for a couple of sessions.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Note: This episode background/plot information was edited in about 30 minutes ago. I would agree after reviewing this new data.
Sneaky!
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Sorry everyone, while attempting to preview my post on a mobile, I accidentally published it. I had always intended to include the background info and wasn't trying to be sneaky.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
No worries, I was just kidding.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
These are all interesting concepts, but the problem you might find is conveying the rich lore of each one shot in a meaningful way other than lore dumps. One shots tend to be lore light as so to let the players gear into our quickly and smoothly
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
This says it all to me. This looks like a campaign that would take characters to level 20 or so, over a long time.
The only problem that I have with running an entire campaign is I don't have much of the world done. However I want to use what I already have created to test whether or not people will enjoy the lore and the world and get feedback.
The other issue is that I can't commit to a regular campaign schedule right now, so I wanted to make one-shots that I would tie together into a seemingly consistent story, but which were stories in and of themselves—allowing me to run them as and when I have the time and not requiring a regular party.
I would also be able to turn the actions of the players who join my one-shots, the “warriors of light,” into lore for the world.
Those people who play in the one-shots would help me flesh out Eos' parts that I currently have and give me a more solid foundation upon which I can expand the world of Eos.
Essentially, Eos would currently exist In the Umbral Era, which is The 6th age and thus is known as the 6th Umbral Era. After the last one-shot episode, “A Realm Reborn, ” Eos would move into the Astral Era, known as the 7th Astral Era since it is the 7th age.
The 7th Astral Era is one of tremendous technological advancement, but the world's magic begins to decline due to the heroes actions during a realm reborn. All but cut off from a source of magic, the magitech of Eos starts to fail, and magic becomes far less common. What magic remains also becomes extremely expensive, and various factions begin to horde magic items and other forms of magic. Without easy access to cheap healing magic, adventuring also becomes a hazardous profession, with adventurers relying on low-level magical items given to them by their factions or employers and mundane technology.
Magic above the 5th level is scarce during the Astral Era and would cause immense fear and confusion to anyone who saw it.
In the Astral Era, the focus shifts from saving the world to the search for relics and magical items, as well as a new source of magic and the development of technologies that do not rely on magic cores. That means lots of dungeon exploring and chasing down stories and rumours. For which the various factors are willing to pay those who will risk their lives. The governments are also willing to pay significantly for significant finds. So it's not usual to find members of various factions working together in a party to track down some government bounty and then sharing the spoils.
Some seek relics and lost knowledge for their gains, either because they are misguided or evil beings who seek to use forgotten knowledge to control others. Darkness and evil never die. Even in the Astro Era, where most seek to recover what was lost, some seek to destroy all that remains.
Anyway, I only have a minimal amount of the world creates right now. That is why I wanted one-shots that could stand as stories on their own, and also why there is so much time between each one.
Also, I forgot to mention that the Astral Era would come into line with the official D&D timeline, meaning Eos' date would be the same as the official date in the forgotten realms. Eos is positioned as a forgotten world but still exists within realm space.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
A series of adventures connected together is the bones of a campaign. Or just a longer adventure. Either way, no need to define it. Just run it.
Also, never world-build more than you need.
Remember there are Rules as Written (RAW), Rules as Intended (RAI), and Rules as Fun (RAF). There's some great RAW, RAI, and RAF here... please check in with your DM to determine how they want to adjudicate the RAW/RAI/RAF for your game.