One-Shot Vignette: Save Game Night and Build the Campaign!
It happens in every campaign, or long adventure, that someone can’t make the next session. For a dedicated table of players this is often a reason to reschedule or cancel a game. However, there is a risk every time you do that, that you won’t have someone again next time. Soon the game fizzles out because no one wants to play without everyone, but not everyone can consistently make it. The best advice I can give is to gather and play on your usual schedule even if it’s just the GM and one or two players. I think there needs to be a solid cadence to a game so everyone can trust that it goes on even when life keeps them (or someone else) away. Also, hearing about the cool adventure they missed will motivate everyone to try to make it next time!
There is another problem here of course and that is: what do we play when we don’t have the whole team? A common solution is for the GM to run a one shot of an alternate game (or a player to step in and do this) as a low stakes test drive. This is fun, and great way to get a “I’ve been dying to try this” game to the table. Totally valid solution and you should do it! However, not everyone is interested in learning new rules, so another option is a one-off one-shot. Same rules, but maybe a new setting or theme that doesn’t quite fit with the ongoing campaign. This is great way to test the waters for a future campaign or just get that “highly recommended, but weird” module to the table.
I want to talk about another option, that I am calling a “one-shot vignette” (Still workshopping the name…) Here I am drawing from some of the neat aspects of an open table or west marches type game. In those multiple players and sometimes multiple parties adventure in the same world. This goes back to the way the game was played in the earliest days of the hobby. What you get is lots of players exploring different parts of the world at different times - and possibly seeing the impacts of other groups on the larger setting - or even becoming rivals.
With a one-shot vignette a subset of the usual group of players (minus those who can’t make it) create new characters and participate in a unique adventure on some other part of the map. Since I am running a campaign using Mothership RPG this is a good chance to throw out one of the many pamphlet adventures, which are about perfect for one night of gaming. At the conclusion of the session surviving characters can become NPCs that the main crew might hear about or run into.
In my last short Mosh campaign (which ended when I moved away) I did this with The Haunting of Ypsilon 14. The main crew was trapped in the system of Dead Planet so this allowed me get another adventure to the table before they solved the mystery of how to escape the “dead system.” That game ended when they blew up the planet and made the jump to hyperspace, but I still had in my mind and told the players that it all existed in the same universe and continuity. Instead of a typical play report I created a corporate news release that would have come across the network, hinting at what happened.
Corporate spin on Ypsilon 14
So what do you get with this method. 1). A game to the table with familiar rules and themes. 2). No-one really left out. The absent players can see the “news” and have an idea of what happened, but you can jump back to the main party/crew and carry on with the campaign. 3). A little expanded world building. A location is fleshed out and players know something new about the setting. 4). New NPCs and adventure hooks. Maybe the new party becomes a rival gang, or they find evidence of their adventures. In Mosh this might mean finding their derelict ship drifting… 5). Back up characters. In OSR type games a TPK is always possible, so here is the seed of the next party and we already know something about them.
This coming week my Mosh crew will be down a player, but the rest of are getting ready to play a one-shot. I’m excited to meet a new cast of PCs and see them explore new part of the sector. Now I just need to pick a scenario…
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