Scenario Writing - The art of the one session scenario

I've run one session scenarios in the past, mostly on special occasions like holidays, birthdays and halloween.  Here are a few of the techniques I've used:

Holiday Theme - If you're running a game on a holiday then use it for your plot inspiration.  There are plenty of plot hooks buried in the characters, myths, folk lore and cultural references of the various holidays.  Such as:

• Good Santa / Bad Santa - Saint Nick has a split personality (how else could he make informed choices about whose Naughty or Nice?) this year his bad side has gotten the better of him with all the personality defects that go along with it.  The PCs are elves (or charity / department store santas) whose job is to keep him on the straight and narrow so he can deliver all those presents in time or maybe the world needs to do without this year.
   
• The Easter Bunny's been kidnapped - A bunch of do-gooding dentists and dieticians have teamed up to rid the world of the Easter Bunny.  Kids all over the world have suddenly lost their appetite for chocolate.  Willy Wonka is in despair and has hired your paranormal detective agency to find the culprits and set the world straight again.
   
• Halloween Jack - A notorious psychopath has escaped from a secure facility and the PCs are on the tube, returning from different fancy dress parties, when the power fails.  No-one knows each other but one of them is Halloween Jack, the cops are on his trail but all they know is he's disguised in a fancy dress costume.  Oh, did I forget to mention that you're all dressed in the same outfit with a Jack 'o' Lantern for a head.

Birthday Boy/Girl - Make the player whose birthday it is the center of the action.  If they're up for it you could turn them into the villain of the piece, depending on the player, you might want to let them know where you're taking the story and maybe even set up some cues for them to trigger some events.  It's nice if you can factor in a few "in jokes" or references for each of the other players, they'll really get a kick out of it.

One location - when the PCs are trapped in one location the focus turns to escape. Your job as DM is made easier as you just have to think of all the ways they're going to try to break out.  Having some of the more mundane "what-if's" pre-thunk means that you can concentrate on the more bizarre suggestions that players inevitably come up with.

• Internet / TV / Telephone / Mobiles - Do they exist in the genre and if so are they working, If not why not.  If you've let the PCs have access to a phone and diall 999 (that's the UK version of 911) will the cops come and if they do how do you get rid of them.  I really like using this as a tension mechanism, you can have them come out look around and leave as though nothing is wrong.  Or you can kill them in some bizarre or predictable way. Watch the looks on the players faces as they realise that they're responsible for luring them to their deaths.
   
• Outside - Can there an outside?, can they see it?, Can it see them?  If your players are trapped it won't be long before they start to think about what's happening in the outside world, you can play with their minds by making their prison a wrap around universe.  A player manages to escape a room through a door only to re-enter from the opposite side of the room or down the chimney.
   
• You are not alone - Don't leave it too long before you start hinting that they might be sharing their reality with someone or something else.  Maybe they put an object down moments ago and now it's moved or vanished entirely.  Perhaps it's a spirit hopping from one body to another, give each of your players a secret message containing instructions when they start playing the spirit.
  
• Horrible history or location - Take an event or location that your players know very well and twist it into an evil or sinister version.  You can be as wild as you want as long as you don't warp it beyond recognition otherwise the players may miss the gag.
  
• Player Secrets and Paranoia - If you want to ramp up the tension you can give each PC a piece of knowledge about one (or more) of the PCs at the beginning of the game. Later on that piece of info might be pertinent and the player must decide to act on the information.

Body Swap - Your players have passed into a parallel universe and inhabit each others bodies.  They now have to find the secret to swapping back otherwise they'll be stuck forever.  This works best if the players are randomly swapped multiple times, everyone should get a chance to play each other.  Pick 3 good and 3 bad traits (don't be too cruel though!!) about each player and sit back and let the fun begin.

Survival Game - If in doubt run a survival themed game.  My players always react well to a bit of zombie slayin'.

How do you do it, share your thoughts, tricks and ideas.

Update: Dirk Gently Airs 16 Dec 2010 on BBC4

Auntie Beeb has revealed that their eagerly awaited (well, by me anyways) TV adaptation of Dirk Gently will air on BBC HD (and BBC4) at 9pm on Thu 16 December 2010.  There's also a trailer to whet your appetite...

Scenario Writing: Linear Plots

First off, what's the difference between a linear and a non-linear plot?  

Characteristically, linear plots will feature a single timeline of events or scenes which the PCs need to resolve one after another in a specific order (e.g scene 1, scene 2, scene 3, etc...).  This is the formula used by most theatrical productions which use the Three-Act Structure. 

Linear Plot - The Three-Act Structure

Non-linear plots can have multiple timelines, flash-backs and the scenes do not need to be completed in a specified order, or at all (even though some scenes may be missed out entirely any events in those scenes may still occur).   If you've never experienced non-linear story telling then try playing a game of FIASCO.  This indie RPG introduces flash backs and flash forwards as an integral part of the collaborative story telling mechanism.  Games take about 3 hours and there are a hundred genre playsets to choose from.

There's nothing wrong with a linear plot, they're undoubtably easier to write and run, especially if you are a time poor DM, and they can be just as entertaining for players.  Here's a few techniques that I've used to make them seem less linear.

Scenario Timeline - One of the biggest drawbacks of a linear plot is that it's easy for players to start thinking that the world revolves around their characters. Using a scenario timeline allows the DM to trigger events independently of the the PCs actions, they might only hear about the event as a rumour or hearsay or over the radio, tv or net, they will still encounter the scenes you have arrange in a predetermined order but they will feel like there's more to the story that they can't influence.  

If you split your party the timeline can become a useful aid to keeping track of WHEN each group of PCs are rather than WHERE.  It's possible to have multiple timelines in operation but make sure that there are key events which tie them together otherwise it's easy for a subgroup of PCs to get too far ahead of the other party members.

Fast Pace - In my experience it's not a good idea to give players too much thinking time in any adventure.  When this happens they start reverting to their player archetypes and end up thinking about where their next power-up or wander off trying to find an interesting NPC to chat to.  A fast pace to a game often focuses players minds to the immediate task at hand.

Elastic Time - Remember that time is elastic, if you need characters to trigger events and they're in danger of missing it, Don't worry you're the DM, stretch time, but keep up the tension as they race to the next scene otherwise they'll get into the habit of dawdling.  If they're on the ball and ripping through scenes like a chainsaw you might need to slow them down a bit by throwing a  wandering monsters or random encounter at them.  

It's a good idea to have a few of this sort of thing in your DMs toolkit anyway, they don't have to be related to the plot, just the setting, a bit like the little old lady who asks the policeman to help her across the road whilst the perp is running away.

NPCs (aka Plot Monkeys) - When a party does get bogged down in a decision it's useful to have a recurring NPC in the plot you can use to prod them in the right direction.  I often have an NPC as a member of the party for this exact reason and they also come in very handy when you have a drop-in player that needs a character.  Be careful how often you use them though, PCs sometimes take exception to NPCs giving suggestions all the time especially when you have an insecure de-facto leader.

Clues - When you leave clues in a scene to further the plot, make them really obvious.  I can't tell you the number of times that a party has walked past a too subtle clue or picked up on it to only miss it's significance.  It's an easy trap to fall into when writing scenarios as you become immersed in the plot during the creative process, what seems obvious to you at the time of writing may be a leap of cognitive faith several weeks later when a player encounters it.  

I often leave multiple clues in a scene which reinforce each other and the correct path to take to the next scene, if the players miss one, they may pick up on the others and players often get a big buzz out of finding clues.

Use What Works for your Players

These are just a few of the techniques I use when writing, the important thing is too see what works in your sessions and what doesn't and see if you can improve the player (and DMing) experience.  If your players begin to get too comfortable with your writing style mix it up a bit.

The Lands of Dual: It's a Crusade!!

Always late to the party but I get there in the end. 

My eagerly awaited Castles and Crusades books have arrived from the chaps at Games Lore one of the finest (and cheapest) web game stores here in the UK.  So now the hard work of converting The Lands of Dual over to C&C can begin in earnest.  In my post today were:

• Players Handbook (Damaged apparently but I can't tell) - £6.99
• Umbrage Sage (also slightly damaged on bottom edge) - £6.99
• Monsters & Treasures of Aihrde - £16.49
• Total (inc shipping) - £30.47 (in US that's approx $48)

I've already started work transferring some data over at The Lands of Dual site which is primarily aimed at the players but it's totally public and I'm open to comments.  I'll be cross blogging every now and then, mostly with session reports, creature features and NPC Biographies (as soon as the players have finished with them as we wouldn't want to spoil the surprise now would we).  Wish me luck...

Monster Mistakes of Yesteryear - The Killer Penguin

In 1985, when I was an impressionable 13 year old, someone gave me a copy of Dragonroar RPG by Standard Games.  

I remember it not for it's qualities as an RPG but for one hideously bad monster idea.  

The Killer Penguin...

The Killer Penguin Miniature???

Now I'm not one for dismissing people's creations off hand, but come on guys, what were you smoking that day?  Needless to say no-one's arguing over the rule changes between Dragonroar 3.5 and Dragonroar 4e so the RPG itself was neither a commercial or a critical success and it has long sinced disappeared into RPG obscurity.  

However, I do think that we need to preserve the memory of the Killer Penguin as a warning to all the misguided monster makers out there who may be toying with nature.

If you can think of any other more catastrophic monster mistakes or you think that the KP is much maligned feel free to write to the usual address...