Gnomecast #247 – Problem Proofing One-Shots

[liquid bubbling] So moving on into our main topic, as I said at the opening, we're gonna talk about problem-proofing our one-shots, but let's be clear.

There is no way to 100% problem-proof a game.

There are problem players that will be a problem regardless of what you put in front of them, and there are always going to be times when the players go in a direction you did not expect.

A large portion of running games at conventions is learning how to adapt to what is happening at the table.

That said, there are some things we can do to at least head off some of these issues that pop up, and these things might be useful for everyone to hear.

So first up, before we dive into the nitty-gritty of all this, um, why do you enjoy running one-shots at conventions? Because there is a difference between running a campaign for your local group and showing up at a convention and running a game for four to six strangers.

Andy?

For me, it's the interactive short story.

I l- I like to put together a scenario, a story that I'm going to tell, and bring it to a group of strangers and see how they react to it.

It's always kind of, uh, it, it kinda makes me happy when people sign up for my games and then tell me at the end of it they had a great time, because they were looking for something like what I was offering.

I blame Carl for making it possible for me to run at conventions, seeing as how when he did his Super Smash Brothers game in Fate the one year that I played it at Origins.

I think two year- by two years later, I had crafted my Cartoon Universe game very similarly to what he had done, at least from a character build standpoint, and had just run with that idea, and before that, it was... hadn't even really occurred to me that I could use a convention as a short story, as a test of different gaming systems, just see what I could do and what it w- what it would be like running for people I didn't know.

Um, so I always really liked the storytelling s- out of one-shots.

It's fun running an action movie or whatever else you have in your head with an unlimited budget.

I liked meeting new people.

I dragged Andy into Matinee Adventures' orbit and, and he can attest to this next part.

For me, really, it's about, uh, try- getting the chance to try new systems.

One of my big draws to going to a convention is I wanna try at least two new things and two new systems that I haven't played yet, even if I have to be the person who's bringing one of those systems.

And, uh, it's something we've talked about, uh, the, as being a huge draw to conventions for us, but, like, at this point, in, in some very real ways, one of the best ways I've found to play a new game is to just run it myself.

Or talk a friend into running it for you.

Or talk a friend into running it, but I can't do it as often as I'd like because then-

[laughs]

... players on my Sunday game, like Andy, will get mad if I don't let them, like, complete storylines or things like that.

[laughs]

[laughs] This is also part of why we run one-shots, is we can do those short-term things.