GrooveD70 Posted May 13, 2007 Report Share Posted May 13, 2007 I am thinking about running a one shot hero game this summer for a couple of my veteran players and one or more d20 gamers that would be hero "virgins". I usually run Champions and one of my players runs Fantasy hero, so i would like to try something different. Perhaps dark champs, horror, or a western. My question is... What are some of your successful one shot "alternate genre" games and what made them good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JmOz Posted May 13, 2007 Report Share Posted May 13, 2007 Re: One shot Game Ideas I'm currently working on a one shot "Slasher Horror Hero" scenario myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edsel Posted May 13, 2007 Report Share Posted May 13, 2007 Re: One shot Game Ideas Zombies are always good for a one-shot game. The players should be normals going about their normal life and then all h*ll breaks loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted May 14, 2007 Report Share Posted May 14, 2007 Re: One shot Game Ideas Pulp is definitely a good for a "one-shot" adventure. The episodic nature of the genre fits in well. And who could resist wanting to run through ancient ruins with Nazi Deathray soldiers chasing them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted May 15, 2007 Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 Re: One shot Game Ideas I highly recommend Blood Brothers and Blood Brothers 2 - they're collections of B-movie style one-offs for the Cthulhu system. But there is no Lovecraft elements in them. Lots of werewolves, frankenstein monsters, curses, mummies and so on. Really cool one-offs and worth the effort to convert to Hero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted May 15, 2007 Report Share Posted May 15, 2007 Re: One shot Game Ideas I highly recommend Blood Brothers and Blood Brothers 2 - they're collections of B-movie style one-offs for the Cthulhu system. But there is no Lovecraft elements in them. Lots of werewolves, frankenstein monsters, curses, mummies and so on. Really cool one-offs and worth the effort to convert to Hero. Good call! I fondly remember playing through "The Swarm" one Dundracon many years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnlefey Posted May 16, 2007 Report Share Posted May 16, 2007 Re: One shot Game Ideas I actually just came across an ID badge one of my players made for a one-shot game I ran. It was called 'Survivor: Isla Nueva' It was patterned off the Jurassic Park idea, and added a twist of players in a game of Survivor competing on the island of dinosaurs. The players were awarded prize money for certain actions (mostly successfully baggin dinos), and were awarded for carrying portable head-mounted cameras (There were no film crews). The groups were allowed a certain budget ($2000 dollars if I remember correctly) for equipment and weapons, and were airdropped onto the island. GPS units gave them coordinates that they had to navigate to for clues to location provisions and such. The island had been declared a biological hazard, and had been scheduled for destruction via nuclear devise. As the game progressed, the players discovered that experiments on the island were on-going. Someone had developed a saurion race that seemed to be sentient, and other experiments were going on. The various NPCs in the game were of all stripes, some being more or less normal, two industrial spies who were after the various technological breakthroughs made on the island, a hollywood action star trying to reboot his career, a big game hunter, etc. The players (and NPCs) were split into two teams (with all PCs being on one team), and given GPS 'extractors'. Should the game ever get too dangerous, they simply had to press an 'extract' button, and hueys would fly in and extract them. Or so the theory went. In fact, the buttons did nothing. It was a fun one-shot, with lots of screaming and mauling by dinosaurs as well as firefights between the PCs' group and rival group as they fought for resources (food, vehicles, etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herostyle Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 Re: One shot Game Ideas I am thinking about running a one shot hero game this summer for a couple of my veteran players and one or more d20 gamers that would be hero "virgins". I usually run Champions and one of my players runs Fantasy hero, so i would like to try something different. Perhaps dark champs, horror, or a western. My question is... What are some of your successful one shot "alternate genre" games and what made them good? The most recent "one-shot" game was a Dark Champions game where none of my players had ever even touched the Hero system before. It was set in Hudson City, but I went very light on the descriptions, and involved a serial killer (very loosely based on 'The Boogeyman' from one of the Champions 4th Edition DC sourcebooks). The characters all had a reason to pursue the killer based on their backgrounds. I pre-made the characters, wrote out descriptions of the crime scenes (dates, times, victims, evidence, etc), filled out a thug sheet, made a speed chart for the characters, and went kind of rules-light when it came to combat mechanics. I tried to make it a very cinematic feeling game, and it worked flawlessly. I also worked very hard to share the spotlight and make everyone feel like they had something key to contribute, and they came out of it really enjoying the adventure. The game ended up breaking over two nights (so I guess it was a two-shot) due to a lot of roleplaying and character development done by the players. They actually became kind of attached to the pre-made characters and this has turned into a sort of episodic running one-shot, kind of like a Dark Champions TV series. The key things I think made the game successful was pre-generating the characters but making sure they each had their own distinct flavor and planning the crime scenes out in advance so I knew what details I could hand to the characters. The thug sheet and the speed chart were also hugely helpful and I have been able to recycle the thug sheet for fillers during the other sessions I've run since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phookz Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Re: One shot Game Ideas The most recent "one-shot" game was a Dark Champions game where none of my players had ever even touched the Hero system before. It was set in Hudson City, but I went very light on the descriptions, and involved a serial killer (very loosely based on 'The Boogeyman' from one of the Champions 4th Edition DC sourcebooks). The characters all had a reason to pursue the killer based on their backgrounds. I pre-made the characters, wrote out descriptions of the crime scenes (dates, times, victims, evidence, etc), filled out a thug sheet, made a speed chart for the characters, and went kind of rules-light when it came to combat mechanics. I tried to make it a very cinematic feeling game, and it worked flawlessly. I also worked very hard to share the spotlight and make everyone feel like they had something key to contribute, and they came out of it really enjoying the adventure. The game ended up breaking over two nights (so I guess it was a two-shot) due to a lot of roleplaying and character development done by the players. They actually became kind of attached to the pre-made characters and this has turned into a sort of episodic running one-shot, kind of like a Dark Champions TV series. The key things I think made the game successful was pre-generating the characters but making sure they each had their own distinct flavor and planning the crime scenes out in advance so I knew what details I could hand to the characters. The thug sheet and the speed chart were also hugely helpful and I have been able to recycle the thug sheet for fillers during the other sessions I've run since. It sounds like you had a lot of fun with that. I have a yearly game with a group of friend where we get together for a three day weekend of non-stop gaming. Our ongoing campaign of 10 years has finally drawn to a close (an epic game using D&D), and we've decided that for next year, we're planning on two one-shots from different GMs. A friend will run a Call of Cthulhu game, which I am really excited to try. I'm going to run a one-shot Champions game. I'm still trying to decide on what exactly I'll do. I'm torn between 4-color and Dark Champions style. None of the other players have any experience with HERO, so I'll be using Sidekick rules to ease them into it and will make pre-made characters to make everything easier. I like the sound of what you did with your one-shot. If there are any details you could share it would be greatly appreciated; I'm really hoping to knock their socks off with HERO. We just had our last game last weekend, so I have approximately 1 year to get ready for my one shot. Hopefully that will be enough time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 Re: One shot Game Ideas try a game with prizefighters as the pc's or pro wrestlers ala the old luchadore crimefighter movies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon65 Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Re: One shot Game Ideas I had a one shot idea I want to do for my gaming group. I'm a little bit of a WWII buff and wanted to do up a stick of US paratroopers on D-Day. The plan was they were going in, pre D-Day to get the drop on a Nazi weapons lab involved in rockets or buzz bombs in Normandy. The players had to get there before the invasion starts to capture any plans and more importantly, destroy everything before the Nazis start moving it. Of course, everything goes wrong. The paratroopers get all split up and it's not rockets the Nazis are working on... I figured on pre-made paratroopers, a french underground contact and one of the paratroopers would really be an OSS agent and have some idea what the Germans were really up to going in and can't let the Nazis let it loose on the invasion forces. Haven't decided if the Nazi "experimental" weapon will be zombies, demons or horror from beyond the stars yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lennon Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Re: One shot Game Ideas Zombies are always good for a one-shot game. The players should be normals going about their normal life and then all h*ll breaks loose. I was thinking the same thing. As soon as they get out of the infested area or the space rays wear off you can end the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Re: One shot Game Ideas Other recent - all hell breaks loose movies that would make good one-offs:- Cloverfield The Mist Silent Hill Older- Independence Day Day of the Triffids Hellraiser (any of them) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Re: One shot Game Ideas I had a one shot idea I want to do for my gaming group. I'm a little bit of a WWII buff and wanted to do up a stick of US paratroopers on D-Day. The plan was they were going in, pre D-Day to get the drop on a Nazi weapons lab involved in rockets or buzz bombs in Normandy. The players had to get there before the invasion starts to capture any plans and more importantly, destroy everything before the Nazis start moving it. Of course, everything goes wrong. The paratroopers get all split up and it's not rockets the Nazis are working on... I figured on pre-made paratroopers, a french underground contact and one of the paratroopers would really be an OSS agent and have some idea what the Germans were really up to going in and can't let the Nazis let it loose on the invasion forces. Haven't decided if the Nazi "experimental" weapon will be zombies, demons or horror from beyond the stars yet. i know what to do have their orders include any other nazi weapons they come across that way they will have athourity to destroy them too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Jurassic Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Re: One shot Game Ideas Pulp Cthulhu always works well. Or the Mummy. Set it in the events of the First Mummy Movie in a different dig site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashover Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 Re: One shot Game Ideas When I get low on ideas, I grab a Dungeon magazine or two (not Dragon.) Even in non-fantasy genres, I can mash up a few of the ideas enough to get a decent one shot. Otherwise, it's old B-movies and comic books! -J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Re: One shot Game Ideas bump for all who'd like to try a one shot game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Re: One shot Game Ideas Lest we forget, there is a terrific plot seed website for horror games- Tales of Terror Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordGhee Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Re: One shot Game Ideas Here in El Paso Tx our group did a one shot recently. 50 pt (25 25), set in Nowhere Kanas (near Jericho) we are town folk. Doctor, nurse police officer and detective, farmer and ex marine who is the crop duster, drug dealer, newspaperman. come to find out there was a very addictive durg introduced to town that creates Zombies! Fun had by all. in the past we run one shot western, horror and Marital arts. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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