Squandered Settings – Shadows of the Old Subway
One Shot Adventures
by thalcos
3M ago
At Gen Con this year, I played Night Mother’s Moon, a modern Call of Cthulhu scenario which sends the investigators on the hunt for a crazed man who is hiding from occult-obsessed gang members. While I had some problems with the adventure, there was an an exciting section where we had to plunge into abandoned subway tunnels of New York, looking for our target. As we headed into the darkness, I imagined all kinds of weird mysteries. Broken, century-old technologies hampering our path, deserted stations (undoubtedly used for Lovecraftian rituals over the decades), or even strange denizens who li ..read more
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Unleashing 1980s Spielberg Horror – Spectral Tides
One Shot Adventures
by thalcos
4M ago
“The next time you see sky, it’ll be over another town. The next time you take a test, it’ll be in some other school. Our parents, they want the best of stuff for us. But right now, they got to do what’s right for them.” I love the energy of action horror of the 1980s. It uniquely blended suspense, adventure, and emotional depth in a two package. And suspension of disbelief was easy. Entertainment like The Goonies, Monster Squad, or even today’s Stranger Things all seem like it could be set in your home town, with your friends as the cast. Some RPGs have successfully captured this “Spielberg ..read more
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Rebooting the Planet Killer – The Clear Light of Doomsday
One Shot Adventures
by thalcos
6M ago
A couple of years ago I found an old FASA Star Trek adventure that didn’t quite work out of the box, and rejiggered and remolded it into something new. I find that rebooting decades old adventures is not only a fun archaeology experiment, but also keeps my game design senses sharp. Designing around existing constraints is a fun exercise — puts you in the head of the adventure’s original author. This month, I decided to reattempt the same exercise, this time with A Doomsday Like Any Other, an adventure written way in 1986, written by Christopher E. Williams. Now, unlike the previous Trek adven ..read more
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Savage Fantasy Sandbox – Roar of the Terrorghorger
One Shot Adventures
by thalcos
7M ago
In previous posts, I’ve said how much I enjoy savage fantasy — fantasy adventures set on the primeval edges of the world, where life is cheap and magic is weird and dangerous. Conan’s Hyboria, Warhammer’s Old World, and Dark Sun are rife with savage potential. Sandbox adventures are especially appropriate for savage fantasy. A sandbox adventure is one that equally balances exploration with adventure, where there’s not an obvious path from the adventure’s beginning to its end. Sandboxes work really well for savage fantasy because players have more agency — if they get over their heads, it’s ent ..read more
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Hacking Cyberpunk Adventures – Amethyst Reign
One Shot Adventures
by thalcos
1y ago
In our modern era of generative AI, cybercriminals, and tech company failings, and the metaverse as far away as ever, I thought it would be a good time to dive into the genre that has been one of the most requested since I started this blog — cyberpunk! Not having played a cyberpunk game for a while, writing this month’s adventure was harder than I thought. I came away believing that cyberpunk is a joyful, easy RPG genre in some ways, but tricky in many more ways. The Easy Stuff Cyberpunk NPCs are the best High-tech, low-life scum. Cyberpunk characters are fun to play. Much like my rules on p ..read more
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More Eldritch Obscurity – A Flaw in the Lens
One Shot Adventures
by thalcos
1y ago
Last year, I did a fun game design experiment where I asked Call of Cthulhu fans what some of the most underused and forgotten Lovecraftian monsters were. I then took one of those obscure creatures — the alien Insects of Shaggai — and wrote an entire adventure around them. Centering an adventure around a monster that you’re totally unfamiliar with was not only a challenging design exercise, but it also creatively tilted my adventure in ways I didn’t expect. A year later, I thought I’d do it again. An island in need of a monster… Family Reunion in Need of a Monster Unlike the first time I did t ..read more
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1Shot Reviews – Undead Edition
One Shot Adventures
by thalcos
1y ago
This month, I followed the trail of some good one-shot adventures, and discovered two fantastic ones that are worth checking out… especially if you’re a fan of the undead (and honestly, what kind of GM isn’t…?) Spoilers ahead! Tomb of the Savage Kings – Classic Mummy Horror Dungeon Crawl Classics has a fantastic collection of sword and sorcery-styled one-shot adventures. They are all very thematic, do a good job of surprising players, and are all pretty deadly. Tomb of the Savage Kings fits this bill to the tee, but it grabs, embraces, and embalms the spirit of classic mummy movies. The PCs ar ..read more
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Rebooting an Undercooked Adventure – The Final Voyage of Draengr Thar
One Shot Adventures
by thalcos
1y ago
I’ve written a lot of adventures for this site over the years – twenty-seven in all! Somehow, I also find time to run other adventures, too. I just had a blast running Goodman Games’ Tomb of the Savage Kings for Dungeon Crawl Classics, my favorite OSR game. But not all adventures are as well-crafted as that one. As I look for adventures to run, I often come across some that have the kernel of a good idea, but aren’t quite there. Let’s talk about Lords of Darkness. Lords of Darkness is an ancient TSR AD&D supplement that features a clever premise — a handful of short adventures designed ar ..read more
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Anger Leads to Hate, Hate Leads to Inspiration – The Unknown Command
One Shot Adventures
by thalcos
2y ago
I have sometimes found great inspiration when I am angry at the failed promise of another RPG adventure. As Yoda might have said, “anger leads to hate, hate leads to inspiration.” Years ago, I signed up for a one-shot Star Wars adventure at a local convention. The adventure sounded great — the PCs were a ragtag crew of of smugglers and rogues, and they just stumbled upon the job of a lifetime. They had 24 hours to race across the galaxy and pull off a grand heist before the opportunity closed forever. It was a great hook — this was long before the Mandalorian, so the idea of playing scoundrels ..read more
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Motivating Players in… The Phantom Jungle
One Shot Adventures
by thalcos
2y ago
Those of you who have read this blog know that I’m a big fan of cliffhanging pulp action. I think it’s one of the best genres for one-shot adventures — exotic locales, big villains, and fast-paced action! Plus, players are already familiar with the conventions, since it takes place in the real world and everybody has seen a movie like Indiana Jones or The Mummy, or played Tomb Raider or Uncharted. This month’s free adventure is The Phantom Jungle, the third in a loosely-connected “trilogy” of free pulp adventures. Set Pieces vs. Motivation I tend to design action adventures by first inventing ..read more
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