One-shot advice?
Moderators: DJ LaBoss, michaelcurtis, finarvyn, Harley Stroh
-
jtsavage
- Ill-Fated Peasant
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2012 4:08 am
- Location: New Jersey, USA
- Contact:
One-shot advice?
I hope to run a one-shot for a gathering of old friends from our first D&D group back in the 70's. I really like the idea of giving them "rules sort of like we played back then, but wait until you see THIS." The rules aren't in my hands yet but they're on the way. Although I'd like to run it for the family several times before the get-together, I'll still be a novice to the system and the players will be totally uninitiated. Any advice, including a good module to run and if we should start at 0-level, is appreciated.
JT's Game Blog
http://jtsavo.org
http://jtsavo.org
-
finarvyn
- Cold-Hearted Immortal
- Posts: 2600
- Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 3:42 am
- FLGS: Fair Game, Downers Grove IL
- Location: Chicago suburbs
- Contact:
Re: One-shot advice?
A couple of things come to mind:
1. Select a low-level adventure from "the day" if possible. Maybe an old TSR or Judges Guild module. Some of the B-series TSR modules were written for D&D Basic and probably would be good choices.
2. Start 'em out as zero-level dudes and run 'em though the funnel. It gives them a feel for the game without your having to master some of the trickier rules.
3. Go to the resources thread and print out the refernce tables packet. It's a great resource to have handy so you don't need to check the book so often.
4. Instead of giving monsters names, describe them. Maybe even change things up, so that orcs (in your module) don't sound like orcs (in the game). If players don't know what they are facing, it makes the game more mysterious.
1. Select a low-level adventure from "the day" if possible. Maybe an old TSR or Judges Guild module. Some of the B-series TSR modules were written for D&D Basic and probably would be good choices.
2. Start 'em out as zero-level dudes and run 'em though the funnel. It gives them a feel for the game without your having to master some of the trickier rules.
3. Go to the resources thread and print out the refernce tables packet. It's a great resource to have handy so you don't need to check the book so often.
4. Instead of giving monsters names, describe them. Maybe even change things up, so that orcs (in your module) don't sound like orcs (in the game). If players don't know what they are facing, it makes the game more mysterious.
Marv / Finarvyn
DCC Minister of Propaganda; Deputized 6/8/11 (over 11 years of SPAM bustin'!)
DCC RPG playtester 2011, DCC Lankhmar trivia contest winner 2015; OD&D player since 1975
"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own."
-- Gary Gygax
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!"
-- Dave Arneson
"Misinterpreting the rules is a shared memory for many of us"
-- Joseph Goodman
DCC Minister of Propaganda; Deputized 6/8/11 (over 11 years of SPAM bustin'!)
DCC RPG playtester 2011, DCC Lankhmar trivia contest winner 2015; OD&D player since 1975
"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own."
-- Gary Gygax
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!"
-- Dave Arneson
"Misinterpreting the rules is a shared memory for many of us"
-- Joseph Goodman
-
Roderick Usher
- Ill-Fated Peasant
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 10:46 am
Re: One-shot advice?
I think Finarvyn raises some good points, but I would be wary of running a funnel as a one shot. In my funnel attempt, it was surprising how quickly folks became attached to their "team" members, even though they knew going in they were going to die. I think the funnel is cool as the starting point of a campaign...I am less sure about doing it as a one-off. I will say, though, it was the newer players (those who weren't used to daily TPKs in the 70s), who took the death of Henry the Woodcutter the hardest. Maybe your group would get a kick out of the nostalgic aspect it. 