The Occasional Campaign

Several years ago, I ran my first "one-shot showcase" game, which I think was probably the Serenity RPG. The goal at that time was to give a bit of exposure to a game that people might like but that I wasn't sue would garner enough interest for a full campaign.

Over the years since then, I've run quite a few such games in various systems. I've learned quite a lot about the process of putting together a one-shot game, but I've also narrowed my list of potential candidates down quite sharply, with only four games now sitting on my 'one-shot' list.

I've also run each of these four at least once, and have my second run of both "Black Crusade" and "World of Darkness" planned for next year. That being the case, it's not really a "showcase" any more - I know the interest is there, people know at least a bit about the system; it's just a question of whether to proceed to a 'full' campaign or not.

And, actually, the answer to that is mostly "not". Obviously, I'm currently running a "Star Wars" campaign, but both "Serenity" and "Black Crusade" have some significant issues that prevent me taking the plunge, while "World of Darkness" is a much more niche concern, popularity wise (despite being the system used in the single best game I've run in recent years). It's unlikely that any of these will ever be 'promoted' to a full campaign (though it would be nice if the forthcoming "Firefly" RPG changed that).

Having said that, I do have a... notion tickling the back of my mind.

Some time ago, I did a short series of posts detailing the crew of "Betty" for the Serenity RPG. I used that crew for my "Firefly: Furiously Fast" one-shot, and am intending to reuse the same characters for this year's Christmas Game, "Serenity: Bound by Law". And I've also pencilled in next year's Christmas Game, "Firefly: Inglorious", which will use the same characters. In each case, the one-shot background makes some limited reference to the previous adventures, although the games themselves will not assume that prior knowledge.

Likewise, for my "Heresy of Angels" one-shot for "Black Crusade", I put together a set of characters that I intend to reuse for "A Lament for Lustivan" (if it ever happens), and will probably reuse after that. Again, the adventure backgrounds will feature some common elements, but the adventures won't make any assumption of prior knowledge.

And, finally, I think I've hit on a format for my "World of Darkness" one-shots, which will be modelled heavily on the old "Ultraviolet" TV series. Like the "Black Crusade" one-shots, this will use a common set of characters, with missions being assigned by an NPC as required (thus getting the PCs up to speed and involved quickly).

This has the big advantage of cutting down on the amount of unique preparation work I have to do to put together a one-shot game. It also has the advantage of building a scene quickly for returning players - they know what happened last time, and so can slot back into place with a minimum of fuss (albeit with the oddity that they may not have the same character!).

All of which is good so far. But it has another hidden advantage. Both the "Black Crusade" and "World of Darkness" setups are explicitly mission-based, with characters being assigned their tasks by either Lord Maleceros or Michael Colefield. Meanwhile Firefly/Serenity, by its nature, is inherently episodic - and has no great difficulty in simply telling the players where they are at the start of the 'episode'.

What this means is that there's no great need to stick rigidly to the old one-shot formula (with sessions booked months in advance, games being pretty detailed, and everything tightly wrapped up in 5-6 hours of solid play). Instead, if I find myself between campaigns but looking to host a game, I could quickly put something together, put out the call, and run a short mini-series (say 3 sessions across 5 weeks) in one of the games. And, with three different options to choose from, there's no risk of "continuity glitches" if I happen to have a mini-series occurring at the same time as a one-shot.

It at least opens up some interesting possibilities.

Now, I just need to do two things. I need to put together a team of four for the "World of Darkness" series (one cop, one spec-ops/merc, one doctor, and one priest). And I need to build up a bank of easy-to-populate adventure outlines...