the art of the 5-hr rpg one-shot
In which three RPG one-shot options are presented.
RPG campaigns are like relationships, I've found: it can be fun to start a new one, but all the really good stuff happens when the nervous excitement has worn off, things have settled in, participants begin to recognize each other's patterns, and there's a level of comfortable familiarity. (I suspect that statement tells you at least as much about how I do relationships as it does about how I do roleplaying games.)
Nevertheless, there is an allure to the one-shot, the one-night-stand of RPGs—the whirlwind ride, the heady mix of high intensity and ultimately low stakes, the donning and doffing of a persona you need never see again. A campaign is a commitment—to a story, a character, a group of people—while a one-shot is an invitation to experiment, to step outside the box or comfort zone, to experience something titillating and unexpected. So even as a longtime campaigner, the art of the 5-hr RPG one-shot is something I've worked hard to master.
That's philosophy. In the mundane world of practicality, I've spent the last two months getting a thousand-dollar repair job on my car and then moving to a new apartment, so I could do with some more work. Accordingly, I'd like to offer you1 a small menu of 5-hour one-shot experiences, in hopes that one will intrigue and entice.
I've found 5 hours to be the ideal amount of time to create a single, cohesive story, but of course there's wiggle room: anything in the 4-6 hour range is right and proper. Likewise, 4-6 is the ideal number of humans to be sitting around the table for all of these options. Each of these games uses a non-D&D rules system that's easy to learn as you go. (I also have D&D offerings, but come on, man. It's a one-shot. Live a little.) Here's the stuff:
The Iron Ghost
A Call of Cthulhu One-Shot
The year is 1922, and it is the Age of Rail. In the hundred plus years since the invention of the locomotive, the great industrialists have girdled the earth in track, laying down 160,000 miles of timber and steel in the United States alone. Railroads are the pulsing arteries through which people and commerce flow, wrested every day by the great black glistening engines.
And so what could be more innocuous than strangers on a train, taking an overnight journey out of Arkham? But are these individuals really strangers? What secrets do they harbor as they skulk away from the troubled town? And the train... what mysteries does it hide beneath its carapace of steel?
It's the roaring '20s. The drinks are cold; the jazz is hot. And you—the strangers—are about to experience a train ride unlike any other. All aboard The Iron Ghost.
This is a cosmic horror scenario with themes of entrapment and paranoia and a strong possibility of player character death. Discretion is advised.
The Queen's Visit
A Rebel Crown One-Shot
It is an uncertain era in the island kingdom of Craobhan, an era of upheaval and ambition. Some months past, the King died and his brother usurped the throne, forcing the rightful heir into exile. Since then, the politics of the kingdom have lurched like a ship atop a storm-tossed sea: some noble Houses elevated to positions of power and prestige, others disbanded or crushed. Bandits and worse—the Wraiths who remain when a soul cannot pass on to the lands of the dead—roam the places between holdfasts. The distant Church and still more distant Empress hold their breath, awaiting a certainty behind which to position their influence.
You are members of House Ubhal, a minor but once-loyal vassal to the old order, to a King uneasy in his grave. There is great opportunity now to advance your House’s station, but also great risks in the games of whisper and dagger that are played in the halls of power.
It is said that the Queen herself will soon visit your court. Impress her with your loyalty and capability, and your House will prosper; disappoint her, and you may sink beneath the waves. But beware: your family holds secrets, secrets which in these uncertain tides may rise from the depths, divide you, and consume you.
Are you prepared for The Queen’s Visit?
This is a medieval intrigue scenario where a well-placed word can be just as damaging as a sword. Be aware that the game features a religion similar to the real-world Catholic Church.
Down and Out in the Mushroom Kingdom
A Savage Worlds One-Shot
Once, this land was a verdant paradise, where humans and toadstools, goombas and koopas worked together to create a bright future under the benevolent monarchy. Or so the government-sanctioned history books tell us. Maybe it was true once. All that this generation has known, though, is corruption, racial strife, economic decline, and provincial rebellion.
Perhaps things are different in the shadow of Queen Regent Peach's castle. But here in the peripheries the unrest is more overt. Here, life is just another commodity to be bought, sold, bargained with, or stolen. And so every day, another jaded ‘citizen’ of the Empire turns to the paramilitary Koopa Union, lured there by the persuasive rhetoric of the self-styled Koopa King Bowser.
But when a visiting minor dignitary is killed in Rogueport—the gateway to the Kingdom’s colonial holdings, the borderland between gilded decay and boiling discontent—the delicate equilibrium of the Empire itself is under threat. Who killed the Yoshi ambassador? And why? Hired by a mysterious third party, you will have to navigate this monochrome world to either solve the mystery... or Game Over trying.
This is a gritty, tongue-in-cheek scenario, based loosely on the classic Nintendo games, with a strong film noir vibe.
If any of those offerings appeal, you can send me an email at samctillis [@] gmail [dot] com and we'll work out a timeslot. The standard 5-hr one-shot rate is $360, divided among players as you deem appropriate.
See you 'round the table.
-Sam
1Yes, you!