Running a one-off is always tricky, and running a one-off at a convention doubly so. One problem I see is that a lot of people approach these games as being just like any other game, when the fact is that one-offs have their own challenges and constraints that should be borne in mind for the best gaming experience. (If I'm sounding like a marketing drone today, I apologise. I've been having an oddly successful day here at uni.)
Issues particular to one-offs (at conventions):
1) Time limit. In a regular game, if you run for 20 hours, this isn't a problem since the group can split up and get back together. In a one-off, you may have to fit within 4 hours.
2) Unknown player 'level'. You may be stuck with a group who have never played the system before, a group of rules-experts, or even a mixed group. The latter are the worst, of course. Fortunately, it's rare to get a group who have never played any game before, except when specifically running a demo game, in which case that was the intention, and so not something to worry about.
3) Unknown number of players. Typically, the GM can state a maximum group size, but not a minimum. Alternately, the con organisers might state that all games must accomodate a particular size. Either way, you're not guaranteed you'll get the full number of players.
Solutions:
Note that a lot of what follows goes to my personal method of one-off design, and the rest is just opinion. It's hardly truth from on high.
1) Use the Core Rules only. Always always stick to the core rules. If you get a group a newbies, you'll find it much easier to describe the system. If you get a group of rules-experts, you'll retain at least a chance of being as knowledgeable about the rules as they are. And if you get a mixed group, both apply. Absolutely DO NOT use House Rules, since these take time to explain, and may need explained many times to the experts.
Additionally, in a demo game, use the simplest system you can. Storyteller works really well, especially the Trinity/Exalted version. D&D doesn't work too well, unless you strip right back on the rules.
2) Make the characters both balanced and interesting. For one-offs I try to always insist on pre-generated characters to guarantee these two. Basically, it is vitally important that the characters can all have a reasonable amount of screen time, and that the players can have fun playing their characters.
In a one-off, it is unlikely that someone will enjoy playing Fighter #112301. They probably will enjoy playing the last of the White Howlers, driven to the brink of madness by a near-miss when he was almost forced to dance the Black Spiral, who also happens to be the reincarnated King Arthur in a Wild West setting.
3) Give all the characters something to do. Again, it is vital that everyone has something here. This is why I always design one-offs with a main plot and one sub-plot per two PCs. (Actually, I then try to tie each sub-plot to three of the PCs, to provide some redundancy.) The sub-plots don't need to have the PCs working together - it's entirely acceptable to have the PCs be rivals in this instance, although probably best if they don't end up killing each other.
This is different from campaign play, where individual PCs might have a session in the spotlight, while others are in the shade for a while. In a one-off, you only have one session to allow everyone to shine. Of course, players have an option of completely ignoring your sub-plots. If they end up bored as a result, it sucks to be them.
4) Build in redundancy. Build the main plot so that it can be completed by three PCs. Then, make sure those three are in use. Add the other PCs as necessary to fill out the group, but prioritise the remaining PCs based on how interesting the characters are. So, if your main plot requires characters #1, #2 and #3, these have to be the first three PCs selected. If you have another 5 characters, and 2 more players, make sure the PCs you add are the most interesting ones out of those you have left, since the characters aren't strictly required.
Try also to assign two PCs to any sub-plot before adding a new sub-plot. It's easier to drop sub-plots than it is to deal with a separated group.
5) Try to keep the group together. Vampire is a great game for individual action, plotting and politics. There's no way in hell I'd ever run a game like that for a one-off. Instead, I'd go with a Sabbat game, a Werewolf game, or perhaps a standard horror game, with the group trapped in the archetypal haunted house.
6) Prepare the game in advance, and try to fit in a playtest before the convention. A certain GM of my acquaintance decided to prepare his game on the night before the convention. He grabbed an old one-off plot that he'd used before, pulled in the characters from his regular game (which sucked since two of them were 100 XP monsters, and the other 6 were newly-created), and made up the enemy stats as he went along. By all accounts, his players weren't too happy.
Then again, you don't need to go to the other extreme, where each character has a 10-page character pack, consisting of 2 pages of character sheet, ammo hand-outs, rules for poker, and five pages of background and explanation. However, that game ran like a dream.
7) Don't be afraid of PC death. Lots of GMs shy away from killing of characters, particularly late in a campaign. In a one-off, there's no need to worry. The only concern is that the deaths should probably come as late in the game as possible, unless you have lots of replacement characters available (Call of Cthulhu seems to call out for that sort of set-up).
And that's about it.
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