By: Jared B.
Now we return to the tavern outside the Grimdark Wood! To recap, we have covered many points on how I create a one-shot. It has been two months, so let us go over those points! First of all, you need to plan your one-shot around the time in which you have to run it! The general scale that I use for this is one encounter per hour of play time. This does include social encounters, so if you want to do some worldbuilding social encounters, and the like, you need to account for those in your time planning. Second, in my experience, you need to keep the story linear and moving. If your players start to stall and chit-chat, do not be afraid to pull them back into the story directly and somewhat keep them on track with the next encounter. The reason for this is that if you run out of time, that is it, you are out of time, and you cannot finish the story! You cannot just finish that chapter next session, like you can with a campaign or prolonged adventure. With the time and the encounter limits in mind, keep the story simple. One-shots are not good for in-depth storytelling or complex plot points. In the example I am using for this article, I do go a little in-depth with plot options; however, with that, I also give the story optional branches rather than only giving the players one way to progress. But for starters, I would recommend keeping it even more linear and just completing the “mission” and getting-paid type of story.
Now, to bring us up to speed with where we are in the “Pumpkin Patch.” The party is hired by the bartender, Rotus the Bull, of the Thundering Twig Tavern. He will pay them 50gp each and a hearty meal to find kidnapped maidens that have been carried off from this small village, or at least find out what happened to them. He gives them direction by saying they were carried in the direction of the local haunted forest known as Grimdark Wood. They followed the trail, fought a few “Walking Pumpkins” along the way, and battled a “Giant Pumpkin” that was guarding a century-old mausoleum. Then, they spoke to the ghost of the man, a Sir Howkin, who is interred there, and they are now on a mission by him to find a locket that belonged to his wife. He thinks he “feels” it back towards the small village from whence they came. They go back to their “friendly neighborhood” barkeep. He cannot tell them much, but he directs them to the local herbalist, a Bethy Grim, who acts as a sort of historian for the area. With that, we will continue with how I built the following encounters.
So I am going to start with what I have labeled the “preferred option” for this encounter, which is a social encounter. The angle I was going for with Bethy is that of almost a hag-like being that is warm and friendly, like you expect someone’s grandmother to be. Her little place consists of an earthen hovel in a small clearing that is surrounded by her small garden. The players can either catch her out in the garden with her apprentice, Grania, or they can knock at the door of the hovel, and she warmly invites them inside. Either way, the whole feeling of this environment is supposed to be cozy. The point being that they have nothing to fear here, and it is as it appears. Again, this is a one-shot, not a long, deep adventure or campaign that needs the layers of subterfuge for plot. Bethy is what she appears to be, an old herbalist.
Under this social encounter option, she offers tea and conversation while giving instructions to her apprentice. The apprentice is sent into the garden to give them some privacy for their conversation. At this point, it is up to the players how they run this conversation, but if they do not readily tell Bethy the story of the locket, she will try to get out of them why they are there. If and/or when they tell her the whole story, she will want to go back with them into the wood after leaving a note for the apprentice.
This will be one of those situations where you may need to goad the players into telling her the story or at least work to keep them on track so that this interaction does not take too long. For the sake of time management, there have already been 3 social encounters and 2 combat encounters. The initial job encounter with Rotus, the conversation with Sir Howkin, the second conversation with Rotus, and the two encounters with pumpkin crawlers. We are 5 encounters in and are likely to have 2 more. With that, we are already really pushing the limits of a 4-hour oneshot. Short conversation encounters like the two with Rotus should be kept short and to the point to limit how much time is spent on them.
This is where it can split to combat if you have a more violent player group. If she hears the whole story and wants to go back with them, then the social encounter is over, and we move on to the next possible encounter. If, however, they hedge too much in their conversation with Bethy, you can have them do a perception check, which is a very high DC of 19, to notice that Bethy is wearing a locket that looks identical to the one Sir Howkin described. If they do notice it and decide to try and take it by force, we roll into the optional, less preferred, combat encounter with Bethy Grim. She will go invisible and they will end up fighting her and her 3 familiars, a black cat, an owl, and a potted carnivorous plant. This strategic type of fight is designed to be hard, and I tried to get into Bethy’s head. She is almost two centuries old and has been hiding out in this small village for almost all of that time without the villagers figuring out that she is as old as she is. So in my mind, she will play this as a careful strategist, playing range and striking from unexpected places.
Assuming they eventually defeat her and her familiars, they can loot the locket from her body, and they will also find gold and a +1 rod of casting, and her herbal recipe book. The thought behind this is to reward them for a hard-fought battle. They have what they came for and can head back to Sir Howkin.
If they stick with the social option and lead her back to the graveyard in Grimdark Wood, this is a relatively quick social encounter. It’s more like a cutscene than an encounter. Sir Howkin appears. Bethy and Sir Howkin look at each other intently. She says, “I didn’t think I would ever find you!” and her old, weathered features fall away to reveal a young woman. Sir Howkin recognizes her now and embraces her, and they disappear together in poof of dust. The locket that was on her neck at the time will fall to the ground and open, revealing a miniature painting of Sir Howkin and young Bethy in wedding attire. The mausoleum opens, and the missing maidens are freed.
If they are coming back to Sir Howkin after defeating Bethy Grim in the combat encounter option, then it is a briefer cutscene of Sir Howkin taking the locket, opening it, looking at it, and then disappearing with the locket. Again, the mausoleum door opens, freeing the maidens. Basically, there is no difference in the end cutscene. The reunion version will just give more happy feels for the players. The combat encounter option is designed so that the players still get paid, but might get less satisfaction from the ending.
With this kind of ending, it does take away some agency from the players, but as I said earlier, the time restrictions of a one-shot sometimes necessitate you to be more linear with the storyline and the outcomes. I wanted to wrap up the story in such a way that there were not any loose ends and the players would have the satisfaction of having fully completed the story without the feeling that something was left hanging. I also like to write my one-shots in such a way that it is a good springboard for GMs and players to be ready to jump into a longer story if they so choose. I hope these three posts help other GMs, new and old, make better one-shots for their tables! Thank you for coming along on this journey through my thought processes of making a one-shot.
Game on!
Jared “Martel” B has been GMing and playing in several TTRPG’s since late 2013. Enjoys the challenge of bringing his players worlds and stories straight from his mind in the moment that it happens. He is one of the Founders of RPGCounterpoint, happy husband to an active historian wife, and father to two puppers and a toddler!
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