D&D 5e: Short Campaigns and One Shots

About 6 months ago (already?), I suggested that running one of the long hardback adventures from Wizards of the Coast may not be the best idea for a new Dungeon Master. You can watch the video for all the details, but to summarize:

• The Wizards hardbacks are often long intricate plots involving a large number of NPCs.
• You have to read and digest a couple hundred pages (at least) to fully understand everything going on and be able to foreshadow events (which generally is not done well in the adventure itself).
• They span as many as 10 to 15 levels of play, which is a lot of game to bite off for your first campaign.
• It's a lot just to learn to run the game much less keep 200+ pages of heavy plot in your noggin.
• Short episodic adventures give the DM much more freedom to improvise with much less preparation.

Instead, I suggested perhaps a more short-form campaign would be a better choice. Prepping smaller 3 to 5 session modules and one-shots (single session length) adventures might be better for the new DM. A shorter length campaign (5 to 7 levels) is also a better introduction to the challenges of game mastering.

There are a few exception. If you are a new DM and you haven't run the D&D Essentials Kit or the Starter Set adventures, those are both amazing introductory (and relatively short) adventures. The Dragon of Icespire Peak (Essentials Kit) is a little more modular and has more bite-sized chunks for the newer DM, but the Lost Mine of Phandelver (Starter Set) is also a very well done scenario with a plot arc the underlies all the encounters. Together, they can be used to introduce a new group of players to the Sword Coast (Forgotten Realms). Tales from the Yawning Portal, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, and Candlekeep Mysteries also contain shorter length adventures that are self-contained.

But, that's not what I'm here to talk about.

Short Campaigns and One Shots

This topic resurfaced because I was asked on social media, "What are some good one-shot or short multi-session adventures that can span a number of levels?" 

Boy, howdy... there are lots. I do have some recommendations for publishers I've enjoyed. I've come to prefer the more episodic "monster of the week" style campaign because you're not locked into a really long plot arc that the players may lose interest in over time. Smaller adventures are over in 3 to 5 sessions and if one of them just isn't working out, you can scrub that particular mission without feeling like you lost $50 and tons of prep work. Just move on to the next episode.

Horror Shorts

For my first recommendation, I wrote out a list of One-Shot Halloween adventures a few years ago. These are great 1 to 2 session length adventures, but they are largely horror themed, so I wanted to include a broader variety of adventure types for this post.

Tales of the Old Margreve

Tales of the Old Margreve is not a full campaign, but more a collection of short adventures centered on a particular region of Kobold Press' Midgard campaign setting. Three of the adventures are directly linked and can be run as a part of a plot arc, but the rest are are just nice little 1 to 3 session vignettes that can be dropped into almost any campaign. Hollow was a nice starter adventure to set the tone. The introductory adventure leans toward the horror theme as well, but most of the book involves forces of the fey as opposed to forces of darkness.

Prepared #1 and Prepared #2

Sticking with Kobold Press for a moment, the Prepared series is a wonderful collection of short adventures intended to be dropped into a campaign with a very small amount of prep work. They're all just a handful of pages, so one could read them on a Friday afternoon in preparation for a Friday night game, and the adventures span from level 1 to 15, so there is almost always something that you can mine for your campaign.

Quests of Doom

The Quests of Doom series from Frog God Games is written to emulate an "old school" play style found in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. These adventures are not only available for D&D 5th Edition, but Pathfinder and Swords & Wizardry as well. The writers include notables such as Ed Greenwood, Matt Finch, Skip Williams, and Jim Ward. The Darkening of Namjan Forest is one of my favorites and will cause your players to poop their pants when they encounter shadows everywhere!

Fifth Edition Fantasy

Known for their old school Dungeon Crawl Classics line of adventures and DCC RPG, Goodman Games also produced Fifth Edition Fantasy which is another series of relatively short adventures that can be dropped into any 5th Edition campaign. The adventures can run anywhere from roughly 16 to 24 pages and usually completed in just a few sessions. 

Dungeons On Demand

Dan Coleman Productions puts out the Dungeons On Demand series. These short adventures can be bought individually or as bundled collections at a discount. Dan uses maps with friendly iconography that allow the DM to easily see where the most important points of interest, clues, encounters and other details are at a glance. These are also collections where you can reasonably read most of the adventures the day of your game and still run them proficiently that night.

5th Edition Adventures

Last but certainly not least is Troll Lord Games 5th Edition Adventures series. The Troll Lords are know for releasing the Castles & Crusades RPG back in 2004, arguably the first "Old School Revival" RPGs. Their 5th Edition line is largely translations of the C&C adventures over the years, but sometimes with additional content that did not appear in the originals. Two of the absolute best campaign starters are A1 Assault on Blacktooth Ridge and A0 The Rising Knight

In Summary

This list really only scratches the surface of what's out there, and it is likely I will need to create another follow up list highlighting adventures from the DMsGuild.com... but that may have to wait for another day. In the meantime, check out Nothing Unusual Here -- a weird little tale about a village and its unusual fondness for their pet dwarf pigs. I hope this is a good start for those looking for short adventures for their home brew game.

DM 101: 5 Tips the Beginning D&D Dungeon Master

There are a lot of book on how to run the mechanical aspects of the Dungeons & Dragons, but not many of them are great at actually telling new DMs how to be better at running the game in terms of managing the table, players, or being a good servant leader. Here is my list of 5 beginner tips when starting out your journey as a new Dungeon Master.

00:01 - Introduction
00:30 - The 5th Edition Dungeon Master Guide doesn't really teach how to run a game.
01:40 - 4th Edition DMG has some excellent DM advice sections.

03:10 - Tip #1: Session 0
                More on Session 0
                  http://ragingowlbear.blogspot.com/2018/01/dnd-why-is-session-zero-important.html
                  https://ragingowlbear.blogspot.com/2018/05/gm-101-ep-1-importance-of-session-0.html

05:55 - The Social Contract (Tip #1.5)
                  More on the Social Contract
                    https://ragingowlbear.blogspot.com/2018/02/gm-101-what-is-social-contract.html
                    http://ragingowlbear.blogspot.com/2018/08/gm-101-problems-players-and-social-contract.html

09:50 - Tip #2: Start small. Grow gradually.
10:30 - Instead of a long campaign, consider smaller adventures like the Starter Set or Essentials Kit.
12:40 - Short 3rd party publisher adventures
14:22 - Starting small with a homebrew
15:47 - Not every adventure needs to be "Throw the Ring into Mt. Doom"

16:38 - Tip #3: Do not write plots. Set up hooks (scenarios).
17:05 - Pirate campaign example.
                  More one Railroading and Player Agency
                    http://ragingowlbear.blogspot.com/2018/02/gm-101-railroads-sandboxes-player-agency.html
21:10 - Writing adventure hooks (fronts in Dungeon World / Apocalypse world)
23:50 - Write several hook ideas, present them, and find out which one(s) interest your players.
26:20 - Have non-combat resolutions available as alternatives. Write some non-combat scenarios.

28:35 - Tip #5: Don't fudge die rolls.
                  More on fudging the dice
                    https://ragingowlbear.blogspot.com/2018/10/gm-101-why-i-dont-fudge-dice.html
                    https://ragingowlbear.blogspot.com/2017/05/gm-101-just-say-no-to-fudge.html
29:45 - Discuss with your players in Session 0 about PC death

34:00 - Starter Set or Essentials Kit?
36:30 - Outtro

DM 101: Persuasion can't do that!

Can we discuss this like civilized people?

I've read a lot of new DM questions that come up on social media, and one that seems to really confuse a lot of newbies is the use of the Persuasion skill.

Some of this confusion results from the misunderstanding of skill checks in general, but much of it is related to how powerful Persuasion can be when used. To clarify, let's start with skill checks in general. A skill check is just a special kind of ability check that allows the PC to add their proficiency bonus if they are proficient in that skill. Here are the Rules as Written in regards to ability checks. 

GM 101: How To Say Yes

There are many ways you can say "Yes!" to your players to give them more control over narrative or lore in your campaign. In Episode 8 of my Game Master 101 series, I discuss ways you can give a player the spotlight even if it bends or breaks the rules a bit. I also discuss some other narrative controls you can hand to a player during play. 

As a new Dungeon Master, you may be hesitant to bend or break the rules in a way that benefits the players. When they ask if their PC can do something which normally they could not, think about how you can give them the opportunity to perform their requested action even if it is not covered in the Rules As Written.

TLDR: If the ask is small, and it's going to get your player more invested in the campaign or encounter, then do it.

GM 101: Adversarial Dungeon Mastering

GM 101, Episode 7 - Adversarial Dungeon Mastering

Using the power of the Dungeon Master, there are many obvious ways one could screw the players in a game. But there are also way you may be unintentionally hindering the players or passive-aggressively acting in an adversarial manner. Don't be the "Gotcha!" DM.

GM 101: How to Focus Game Prep

GM 101, Episode 6 - Game Prep

There is a gray space between world building and game prep... In this video, I discuss the different levels of game prep, and summarize how to get the most from your prep time. Hopefully, I can help you find what works best for you.

GM 101: Memorable D&D NPCs in 5 Minutes

Episode 6: A discussion on social media led me to record some of my ideas on making NPCs memorable. Although the explanation of the ideas in this video goes a wee bit more than 5 minutes, the method itself is quick and dirty, and takes very little prep time for a large return. Hopefully, this will give you ideas on how to pull memorable NPC rabbits out of their respective hats.

This was also recorded as a companion piece to an earlier post:
GM 101: Quick & Dirty Memorable NPCs



00:35 How do you make characters care about NPCs?
     01:30 Player will do what you least expect, including by-pass your favorite NPCs.
     02:30 Ways to make your NPCs stand out.
     03:10 Quick steps for generating an NPC on-the-fly.
     04:20 "I need an NPCs right now!"
 05:20 The 5-Minute NPC Worksheet
     06:00 The Four... or five-ish... Things that can make NPCs memorable.
     05:50 NPC Worksheet - List of Names, Personalities, Quirks, Catch-Phrases / Accents, Picutres
07:40 Prepare a list of NPC names.
     08:12 Picking a name out of thin air can go... poorly.
     08:30 Lots of places to find name lists including Xanathar's
     10:25 "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"
     11:10 Pick names that fit the culture of the region.
     12:45 Also select a few names that are foreign/exotic to the adventure setting.
15:25 Prepare your list of personality types and quirks
     15:35 Lots of resources for personality types and quirks on the Internet
     15:55 AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide, page 101
     18:55 Use tropes. Use pop culture references.
     21:20 Play against type.
     21:40 Everybody loves Party Dwarf!
     22:10 Don't be afraid to be over the top. Larger than life NPCs are memorable.
23:10 Catch Phrases
     24:30 It can be a way of speaking, instead of a specific phrase.
     26:10 The tropes can work for you, or you can work against tropes.
27:05 Catch Phrases, for real this time.
     27:30 Google translate can give you a phrase in other languages.
28:45 Voices and Accents
     29:25 Nobody is really good at accents (who isn't an actor).
     29:55 Your players won't care! They will love the effort.
     30:15 Creating the "Hondo" character.
32:15 The Big Mistake - Do not kill off your players' favorite NPC!
     34:45 Don't kill NPCs they like OR hate.
35:10 Back to Voices
     35:15 Don't portray a horrible cultural or racial stereotype!
     37:15 Use phrases in another language to bring a differing cultural flavor.
38:40 Bonus Points - Visuals
     39:00 Use the NPC artwork from Wizards of the Coast or other sources. Don't Pirate!
     40:35 Pathfinder Face Cards
     41:10 Guard Guy, Femme Fatale, Vampire Guy, and Freaky Helmet Guy
43:15 Pick names that fits the genre, but try not to get too "weird" with the names.
44:45 Recap
45:10 They will remember the NPCs that are portrayed as larger than life.
45:45 Write down where you used that NPC name/personality.

GM 101: Con Game Lessons Learned

PARANOIA 2nd Edition

As with many of my articles, the advice I give is not necessarily "You should do this" as much as it is "Don't do what I did wrong". This is another of those.

Now that I've been to a dozen or so cons over the past decade, I've experienced my share of good and bad GM issues. This year I decided to throw my own hat into the ring to help out my local con by running my first ever con game... and I ran into my own issues.

I've been a game master for various systems over the years, but running a con game adds elements that you just don't get with a home game.

1) Players generally don't know one another, so their comfort level is much lower.
2) As GM, you also are not aware of how comfortable the players are getting into character or immersing themselves into the setting.
3) Players may not be familiar with the mechanics of the system if they are testing out a new game.
4) Time is the enemy. There is a lot to get accomplished in a 2 to 4 hour time slot, so there is literally no time to waste.

I made a few rookie mistakes for my first con game.

GM 101, Ep 4 - Cheap & Easy D&D Terrain

You don't need to spend a fortune to put some cool visuals on your table. If you're playing on the grid there are cheap and easy ways to put a little pizzazz into your encounters.

In this episode, I review the various inexpensive terrain solutions from off-the-shelf dungeon tiles to do-it-yourself paper and styrofoam crafting. Links to resources are below the video.



Links
Pathfinder Flip Mats (and Forests)
D&D Dungeon Tiles and Adventure Grid

Papercraft Terrain
Fat Dragon
Dave Graffam
Hovel model
Coach House model

Crafting for Beginners (YouTube)
DMs Craft (DM Scotty)
DMG Info
Black Magic Craft

Pictures from some of my adventures in crafting:

GM 101 - Why I Don't Fudge the Dice

Last year, I wrote about fudging dice rolls, but this topic has resurfaced due to a video Matt Colville put out the other night. In Matt's game, he is free to do what he believes is right for his group, but I think his take is bad advice for new Dungeon Masters. I think he glosses over potential problems at the table that may result when a DM fudges the dice.

Fudging die rolls can remove player agency and break the trust between a DM and the players. I'd hesitate to use this as a tool. It's unnecessary, as there are multiple other tools in a DM's toolbox to mitigate an evening of bad luck... and even a night of bad rolls can be fun and epic.

GM 101: The D&D Quest Log

Campaigns have lots of moving parts. There are likely dozens of NPCs, a couple main quest hooks, and several side quest hooks. There are also clues, rumors, random bits of lore, and locations of significance that your players will stumble upon over the course of months. It's hard enough to remember what happened in the game 2 sessions ago, much less 3 or 4 months ago.

Notes in a quest log can be short and sweet.

How do they keep track of all of that?

The Quest Log

One of the biggest player challenges (and probably one of the simplest to solve) revolves around player note-taking. Ideally, there's at least one player at the table who is keeping a set of notes written and organized for easy reference... And yet, remembering (or finding) the information the PC's need, even when there are extensive notes, is often still a chore. 

One of my players keeps extraordinarily detailed notes. So detailed that the Google document is now dozens and dozens of pages long. I think he may be planning a novelization... But even with such extensive notes, something as simple as finding all the recent NPC hooks is a daunting task.

To simplify the burden, the GM should keep some simple colored index cards on hand during the sessions. Each time the PCs get an clue, plot, or quest hook, simple jot a couple quick notes down an hand it to the player. It's as easy a 4 lines.

Short hook description, NPC name, NPC location, notes... Perhaps a date stamp for organization. If you use a variety of colors, you can even use the card's color as part of the organization. Yellow for NPC quests, pink for plot clues, blue for interesting locations (with no specific quest attached)... Or anything along those lines. 

EDIT: For those that use a wiki and/or notebook, this method would not necessarily replace those notes, but enhance them with a stack of quest cards right at the table during play for easy reference.

Again, keep it short and simple. The idea is not for you to write all their notes for them, but to give them an easily organized visual reference for specific hooks to which they can add more notes. It should take no more than a minute or two to jot the quest or plot hook down, and your players will have a quick reference for all sorts of happenings in your game world.

GM 101, Ep 2: Problem Players and the Social Contract

If social media is any indication, newer game masters have a lot of issues with disruptive players in their game. These issues are not difficult to resolve if you and your players understand the what the social contract is and how it applies to in-game and out of game behavior at the table. Here's advice on how you should manage disruptive players at your gaming table.



  0:00   Introduction
  0:55   What is the Social Contract?
  1:11   (moment of dementia)
  1:40   Rule 1 - Don't be a jerk.
  1:54   Don't do these things.
  2:22   D&D is a team sport.
  4:44   Don't be "that guy" (or gal).
  5:50   "It's what my character would do."
  6:52   How to manage the problem player as the DM.
  7:00   Don't "punish" the player. Talk to them.
  7:25   Example of how to approach the problem player.
10:20   Consensual in-game conflict
11:30   The DM also facilitates the social interactions
12:05   Personal anecdote of problem players
14:30   Summary points

GM 101: Build Meaningful Encounters

There is little doubt that combat encounters with fantastic creatures is a core focus in Dungeons & Dragons and its like. Often times, this contact may involve the judicious use of deadly force, but not always. Non-combat encounters also make up a large portion of the game.

When building encounters, present them in such a way that they don’t automatically result in a fight to the death. Encounters, as a general rule, should serve some larger purpose or meaning within the game beyond just rolling dice and killing orcs.

So as a GM, when you design an encounter, ask yourself, “What is the story goal?”

GM 101: How Not to Run a D&D Convention Game

I debated whether I wanted to write this. I am the first to admit I am not the greatest DM out there. Almost all of my advice columns come directly from mistake that I made at the table that I only recognized in retrospect.

This is not a substitute for a room description.

However, I had yet another sub-par experience with D&D Adventurers League and there seem to be some obvious adjustments DMs could make for both games at conventions and in their home. Forgive me if this gets a bit ranty, but looking back in retrospect has bubbled up all those frustrations I had during play.

Don’t Skimp the Descriptions

This is my single biggest beef with organized play… and it has happened to me on more than one occasion.

DM: You’re enter the room and here’s what you see (places some markers on a map). Roll initiative!

Seriously, this pisses this shit out of me. D&D is a game of imagination. Players can’t immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the game if you don’t freaking give them any mental picture. A square with some squiggles on a dry erase map is not freakin’ enough!

GM 101: Ep 1 - The Importance of Session 0

The first episode of my new GM 101 video blog is a companion piece to my earlier article on Session 0, I talk about what "Session 0" is and why it's so important to establish a baseline of expectations for your campaign before it starts, including aspects such as play style, realism, PvP, and character compatibility.

Sorry that the color balance is so far off. I may need to re-shoot, but I hope the content makes up for the video quality.



0:55  What is Session 0 and what does it entail?
1:50  Session 0 establishes the campaign framework and sets player expectations.
3:00  What is the genre? What is the level of realism? Heavy RP or kick-in-the-door combat?
5:00  Establish your genre and play style baseline.
6:50  How incompatible play styles can harm the fun.
7:55  Session 0 involves some compromise.
8:30  Discuss home brew rules so players aren't unpleasantly surprised.
9:40  The dangers of PvP aspects in a game, and how it can be handled at the table.
11:45  Example of how incompatible play style can break up the game.
17:20  Don't make a character incompatible with the group.
19:05  Discuss how the characters know one another and trust each other.
20:50  Next video teaser: the Social Contract

GM 101: Quick & Dirty Memorable NPCs

Pathfinder Face cards or similar NPC artwork
can help imprint NPCs into your players' memories.
Source: Paizo.com

There is a plethora of great advice on the web on making a memorable NPC, but often that advice assumes that NPC is one you have hand-crafted for a campaign as a spotlight character. Sometimes, you need an NPC on the spot, and you don’t want your players to regard him or her as “Random NPC #5”.

In a vibrant campaign, the potential should be there for the party to create a relationship with any NPC met along the way. Often times, the most surprising role playing can come out of a chance meeting with a random NPC.

There are a couple quick and dirty tricks I use which I call the “Quick & Dirty NPC Generator”. It's basically a sheet of paper with some notes to have nearby during your sessions. Here's how it works.

GM 101: Don't Sweat the Meta (too much)

Artist: Jim Holloway (Dragon #88)

So even after 40 years in gaming, I made a huge mistake in DMing last week’s session.

You see, I have this blind spot when it comes to metagaming.

I like the world to be mysterious. I want the characters (and therefore the players) to know only what they should know in the game. I want the mechanics to fade into the background as much as possible, so the “reality” of the situation is pure from a story perspective.

But sometimes I let that desire to have a metagame-free session get in the way of the what's best at the table.

GM 101: What is the social contract?

So in my recent posts about “Railroading” and “Session 0”, I’ve talked a lot about expectations at the table, and how it is important for everyone to want the same (or at least similar) things out of the game to make sure everyone is having fun.  Implied in that statement is an idea that has gone around gaming circles for many years -- the “social contract”.

What is the social contract?

The idea of the social contract is that there is an unspoken agreement at the table that everyone is there to have fun and no one player or GM should act in such a way as to harm the fun of another player.

Basically, as Wil Wheaton put it, “Don’t be a d!ck.”

That’s the summary version, but there is a little more elaboration related to RPGs. We all play D&D (and similar games) as an escape from the day to day stresses. We have enough problems and personal conflict in the real world to have to come to a game only to face the same personal conflicts or stresses we’d like to put aside on a Friday or Saturday night. If it’s not fun, people will quit the game.

GM 101: Railroads and Sandboxes and Agency, Oh My!

A lot (and I mean a LOT) of digital ink has been spilled over the topics of railroading, sandbox play, and player agency in games like Dungeons & Dragons… but often a new GM comes into these conversations not fully understanding what that actually means for their own game.  Well, I’m going to try to break it down for someone who is newer the the GM chair.

First, we need to define terms in the conversation, because depending upon your point of view, the terms themselves may already loaded with bias.

Player Agency - This is the ability for a player to have meaning choices in the game world. This is portrayed as freedom from pre-destination. Freedom from an "illusion of choice" where a particular path is forced upon the players by will of the game master. In other words, if the player selects path A, it will be different than if they had selected path B. The two paths can end up in the same place, but they must be meaningfully different (I’ll try to explain that more in a bit).

Railroad - This term is generally used for when the GM is guiding the players along a path upon which the players cannot diverge (i.e. - you can’t turn a train off its tracks. The players lose the ability to affect the plot (and therefore, player agency) , because a pre-defined course or story has already been set. This is usually used as a pejorative. However, there are times where rails are useful as a GM tool (I’ll also get to that in a minute), as long at the players understand and agree why they are there.

Sandbox - This term is used when the GM presents a “open world” scenario where the players have the most freedom to move in any direction, follow any adventure hook presented, or abandon said hooks at any time for something else that captures their interest. There are few constraints to the players actions. Sandbox games supposedly offer the most player agency, but even a sandbox game can turn into a railroad, or can suffer from other issues that remove player agency.

GM 101: Why is Session Zero Important?

I often see the question “What is Session Zero?” on social media… or if they haven’t heard of “Session 0” before, one might see a complaint like “I wanted a wilderness-savvy ranger traveling between settlements and exploring the frontier, but everything in our campaign is in this giant capital city. I never get to use my character’s [insert favored class abilities here] and feel less than useful in the game… What can I do?”

[ UPDATE: I also talk a bit more about Session 0 in my video blog here: https://youtu.be/q2cOMVfdJoU ]

Expectations

Session 0 is about setting expectations. It provides a way for the GM to outline what the campaign is about, give a rough sketch of setting details, what races, classes or other options are available (or if any do not exist or have some caveat) and any other details pertinent to to the players prior to character creation.

It also serves as a place to come to an agreement about the game. Remember that D&D and similar RPGs are a shared storytelling experience. It is not wholly up to the GM to dictate everything about the game, unless the players are fine with being passive about the game world particulars.