One-offs and a sixteenth wedding anniversary.

[lathany]

Friday was bateleur and my sixteenth wedding anniversary. We celebrated in the usual way - with food and alcohol. Food was little savoury tarts, then prawns, fish, stuffed courgettes and three grain rice followed by bananas and sultanas fried in rum and served with cream. The alcohol was Pimms, a rather nice bottle of white and Grand Marnier. Sixteen is the first anniversary in my Book of Lists that doesn't have an associated material and it suddenly feels like a big number.

From having had a relatively quiet year last year, 2011 has been full of roleplaying games. Last week we had two on.

• Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick Manor - This is a supplement to Monsters and Other Childish Things being run by smiorgan for chrestomancy, TheHattedOne, triskellian, bateleur and me. We play eight and nine year old mutant orphans who no-one loves. We've had two sessions to date, the first of which involved everyone picking on us (although we were eventually saved from The Bad Guys by a psychotic car) and the second of which involved us finally making a friend and watched other people have bad things happen to them.
• Meteor - This was with the party who have just completed their fourth pilgrimage (of four). They spent the session critical-failing magic tests and fighting minions of the Diseased Ones. I'm now heading for a session involving both parties. And a few gods. I'm hoping that they'll get to reach some agreement about the Diseased Ones. Or at least agree that they are A Bad Thing.

It's been a while since I ran a one-off, but there's a Con next year and I'll be planning something for it. I recently read an entry (over here) about one-offs and I agree with the points raised:

• Signpost the plot clearly.
• Character attributes should fit on an index card.
• Maximum of 2 fights, preferably 1.
• Individual character information should fit on a sheet of A4.
• Stick to 1 scene per hour (on average).
• Give the PCs a reason to work together.
• World - keep 1 location per scene maximum, plus outside the sandbox as one location.
• Assume your PCs will never sleep until the game is finished.

I would add three points to the general list and one for Con one-offs. Firstly, the better one-offs I've seen tend to work on a strong concept which can play out in a few hours (this is in the same way that constructing a short story is different from constructing novels). Secondly, one-offs almost always want pre-defined characters. I have seen player-generated characters for one-offs that worked, but they tended to work because it was impossible not to rather than because they were well-chosen. Thirdly, make sure that the characters all have a role; this is equally true for other types of game but arises particularly in one-offs because the characters have less time over which to establish niches for themselves; such things have to be pre-established. Also, for Con one-offs, it's important to be aware of the number limitations (ie. don't write for a party of four if the Con needs six). So:

• Strong, one-off suited concept.
• Pre-gen characters (or a very strong steer for players).
• Ensure that there's a role for everyone and it couldn't equally be done by some subset of the party.
• Check limitations - such as number of players - for the Con.

My past solo one-offs have been rather hit-and-miss - Working With Children went well whereas the BadgerCon Athory one-off wasn't particularly memorable. My main failings are usually that I don't run with a good one-off concept (it tends to be too big) and that the party has come unstuck. It is perhaps no co-incidence that I've generally had more success with mini-campaigns (such as Kaleidoscope and From The Cellars of Xanadu).

Much of my spare time has been spent on Twin Peaks episodes (which I'll review at the end of the season). But not all.

• The Lies of Locke Lamora - This was recommended by al_fruitbat and _alanna and I really loved it. It's a very clever plot set in a fantasy background about thieves who become confidence tricksters. Technically, it's the start of a series but the book is fairly stand-alone (although there's at least one character you expect to meet and then don't and another whose exit isn't detailed). About my only whinge is that the book is very light on female characters.
• Brighton Rock - We watched the remake, which is worth it for Helen Mirren alone (and a bit of Gollum). However, the film itself isn't a masterpiece and is generally a bit too dark for my tastes.

I don't have much work news to report. However, the next time I want to take a long lunch break at work, I think I might spend it poking round the British Museum. I've finally figured out that it's just round the corner from where I work. And it's free.

Comments

[smiorgan.livejournal.com]

Good points you raised there - I may add a supplemental post to make note of them.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping that they'll get to reach some agreement about the Diseased Ones. Or at least agree that they are A Bad Thing.

They are! And I'll turn the lot of them into carrots.

Good points about one-offs; I've been clumsily logicking my way towards similar conclusions recently. Very much something I intend to bear in mind when (if?) I run a one-off next con.

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

Sixteen is the first anniversary in my Book of Lists that doesn't have an associated material

That means you get a free choice (and, presumably, three more free choices coming up...) - you can have a Games anniversary if you want one!

Many, many more years of happiness together to you both!

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking a lot lately about systems that are designed to just work for one-offs, rather than running a one-off of what could system-wise be a normal open-ended type of RPG. So what I mean is, the actual system includes character setup, sharing of attention, scene structure and narrative closure which will naturally fit a one-off's timescale.

If the one-offness is designed into the whole game from the start, not just into the scenario, then you much reduce the risk of scenes over-running, players wandering off into side-alleys or dawdling on the main plot, etc.