I like to game. More specifically, I like role-playing games such as Pathfinder, Dungeons & Dragons, Shadowrun, Savage Worlds, and others. I look forward to Wednesdays when the Mid-Week Geeks get together to roll some dice. With all that said, I HATE it when a game gets canceled.
That’s what happened this week. The GM canceled, and we were faced with having to wait another week to game. So, I panicked, and posted that I would volunteer to run a one-shot.
And then fail happened.
[I’ve run several successful campaigns over the course of two decades, so this one-shot shouldn’t have been a problem.]
I had only a couple of days to get ready for the game, so I tried to squeeze as much as I could. I had been mulling over a new fantasy setting in my head for awhile, one that was influenced heavily by religion, so I figured that this was a perfect time to test it out. Unfortunately, it was the beginning of a long list of mistakes…
I wrote out a setting page (two pages, actually). It explained the religion and how society was wrapped around it. Character concepts were heavily influenced by this as well.
Mistake #1: I spent way too much time developing the setting for a one-shot. I should have used an established or generic setting. Time was wasted, and the snowball effect began.
The Mid-Week Geeks have a Facebook page, and we use it a lot. It’s very helpful in communication between us and I can’t see us ever abandoning it. This is where I announced that I would run the one-shot, and that I would have pre-gens ready. I didn’t really use it again after that.
Mistake #2: This was the perfect opportunity to post all of the information on the setting. However, I did not do that. I did not post a primer what-so-ever, and I should have. Basically, I forgot, and then later I figured it would take only a minute to explain at the gaming table. In actuality, I spent several minutes at the table explaining the setting, several minutes well-wasted.
I told everyone that we would be using Savage Worlds -“Fast, Furious, Fun!” (something we haven’t played in a while), and that I would have pre-gens ready for them to use. When making the characters, I was tweaking a few of the powers so that they would better fit the new setting.
Mistake #3: Tweaking anything. I spent wayyy too much time making characters. Making new powers (and then printing those new powers on power cards) just took forever. In the end, I was able to complete only three out of six characters. When everyone showed up, I had those players with the most experience make up their own characters.
In order to really get the feel of the setting that I had created, I had the characters play at a high level. It was an epic story with epic characters pitted against epic foes (Pit Fiend, anyone?).
Mistake #4: With the characters at high levels, it took longer to get them made. On top of that, these player characters were brand new to the players, so there was some slow-playing as people were trying to figure out which powers to use, and then trying to figure out how to use them.
Since we were down a player, that brought our group count to one GM and five PCs. At the last minute, one of the players asked if he could bring along a friend. I said, “Great! The more the merrier!”
Mistake #5: This was a one-shot. We didn’t have a lot of time to play, and the spotlight already has trouble getting spread around the table. Add to the fact that this new player was a new player to roleplaying, and it slowed things down even more. Oh, and he needed a character made for him.
For this one-shot, I elected to use Savage Worlds. I like Savage Worlds – it’s lite, fits everything, and is easy to play.
Final Mistake: I used Savage Worlds. Savage Worlds is great, but I’ve never really had any success as a GM with it. I don’t understand why. I’ve run several adventures and campains using other systems, so what’s my problem with Savage? I don’t know, but (luckily) someone who is very familiar and comfortable with it acted as referee for the night.
In the end, I think everyone had a great time. We managed to stop demons and devils from forming a pact, blocked their doorway to the underworld, and helped a player character fulfill his destiny. I just wish that we had more time to do it. After wasting time on all of the failed prep work, and then throwing a birthday party for one of the players, we ended up with three hours of game time, three very short hours.
While our gaming night was a blast, I felt that my running of the game was a disaster. Everyone had fun, but I was completely flabbergasted inside.
I think I’ve learned my lesson. I think that running a one-shot takes up more prep time than for your regular game. And I think that the next time I run a one-shot, I will approach it much more wisely. +1 Wisdom!
Chris Stevens
In Chris's opinion, the very best vices are dirt bikes, rock music, and gaming, while the very best medicine is fatherhood. If he could just learn to balance them all, he'd live forever. He's much more creative than intelligent, often wakes up belligerent, and ponders many things insignificant. Lastly, in an effort to transform his well-fed body, P90X, Roller Blades, and Food are all laughing at him. And the pain continues.
Thanks for sharing. There’s a lot of good advice here.
I haven’t run many one-shots, but just in tinkering around with a few I can tell you that it’s really important not to spend much time on prepping them (something you’ve already pointed out). It’s a lot of effort for not a lot of pay-off.
Savage Worlds isn’t necessarily a bad system for one-shots though. I really like the concept of the Savage Worlds One Sheet (and even created one for a contest). One sheets are designed to give just enough background to make the players care, then just enough story and action to last for an evening of fun.
I think it’s very easy to overwhelm yourself as a GM for any game, but it’s especially painful for a one-shot.
I think the one bit I would disagree with you on was the bringing in a new player. A one-shot that’s separate from the main campaign is a great place to do that. It offers the newbie a chance to get into things without feeling like they’re watching the middle of a movie with no clue what’s happened beforehand. I can see it being an issue as a GM that’s not feeling particularly confident, but I do think it’s the best time to introduce a new player to things. 🙂
@ Jacob –
I think my biggest take from all of this is that I need more time to figure out what I’m going to do, and not feel so rushed. I had so many things on my plate, and too many expectations. I simply bit off more than I could chew.
@ Ang –
I’m all for letting new players try out gaming, especially in one-shots – it’s just that with this attempt we really didn’t have the time to lead him by the hand. Luckily, he caught on pretty quickly and will probably be a great person to game with. Thanks for commenting!
Running a one-shot RPG, and then fail happened – Counterpoint
As one of the players at the game that night, I would like you to look at it again.
As a GM we are always too hard on ourselves after a session. Yes, you learned a couple of valuable lessons about one-shots, but it was far from a “fail.” You also did some great things that one-shots need. They were;
1- Started the action immediately. With only a few scenes (encounters, if you will) to fit in, you can’t have players spending an hour in the first scene goofing around. Even though I know better, I was sorely tempted to start roleplaying and having fun with my new character. My temptation to make a long speech to the bar about the superiority of elves was cut short. Having an army of undead beginning to firebomb the town will do that to speeches!
2- You allowed the players to have fun! When a player announced he was going to pull a passing rider off a horse and jump on himself you allowed it! Cool moments like that stick with a player long after a game session.
3- You added flavor to NPCs, like the dwarf who was going to guide us across the wasteland. Who knew a gouty dwarf could be so much fun!
4- You had interesting scenes – We survived and onslaught from a wave of undead. We fought a pit fiend in a temple. I hid behind a statue and thought I was safe until pieces of the statue started to fall off revealing the demon encased in stone! YIKES!
Every time we run a game we learn things. Most of the oversights you mentioned in your post were things that added stress to you, not the players so much. Remember, you volunteered as basically the last minute and did not have the luxury of play-testing, etc. You provided an evening of fun that we would not have had otherwise. Not only did you run a game at the last minute, you hosted as well! So, thank you on behalf of the MWGs! I look forward to seeing what happens the next time you run. I am already working on my speech.
Thanks, Andy. I’m glad you guys had fun. I suspected as much, but I still take the whole ordeal as a learning experience.
MWG FTW!
As a gamer who also hates it when a game gets cancelled, I have to add:
5- You stepped in and everyone had fun … Maybe that should even be point #0!
I’ve been to well prepped and smoothly run games that flopped and successful games where the GM was winging it all night. Sounds like the players had fun, that’s got to be better than no game at all.
Thanks, Tom. In truth, it was a fun night; I just wish I had’t been so frazzled!