I was lucky enough to attend the first ever Between Two Cons gaming convention in Portland, OR . I had a great time, ran a game, played a game, sold some merch, watched 3 podcast recordings, AND I ran a little workshop in which 30 people collaborated to design a one-shot adventure.
Basically, we walked through the steps that I describe in the first half a dozen videos on my Youtube channel. And I answered lots of questions about how to solve various challenges you may encounter while writing, designing, and publishing.
And while we didn’t literally write an adventure, we did design many of the key features of one, and I wanted to preserve some of those notes here for everyone to play with. So without further ado, here are the design notes for our adventure:
- Concept: Prison break
- Style: Mad Max
- Scope: One-shot (6-8 rooms)
- Player activities: Escaping, freeing other prisoners, looting supplies
- Setting: Desert, post-apocalytic wasteland, mechanical vehicles, human-centric. Since the vanishing of oil-based fuels, car chassis have been stripped of their engines and wheels and mounted on the backs of huge sand-racing lizards.
- Creatures: Humans, similar humanoids, lizards, and white apes (because Brad Kerr came in and demanded it!)
- Inciting incident: The prison is a constantly moving train of vehicles (because no one wants a prison near their settlement!) crossing the wasteland, but on this particular day there has been a freak rainstorm and the train has stopped, the lizards are mired in the mud! The train is in confusion as the guards work to get it moving. The players have three hours to escape before the train gets moving and the guards come back in force!
- Factions/ NPCs: There are two Wardens and their associated guards, and there are two gangs of prisoners.
- Warden 1: Tyrannus Bill oversees the prison engine, the front half of the train, and the Bruticus guards. They force the Grime Prisoners to labor to keep the prison moving. Tyrannus Bill dresses like an automotive viking, in filthy rusty oily plate armor and huge horned helmet.
- Grime Prisoners: Represented by The Boss-Lady, a mute pit fighter guilty of destroying the last known working water purifier because “it looked at her the wrong way”. Dresses in oily leather aprons and ragged lizard mask. Presents many obscene hand gestures.
- Warden 2: Gossamer Eve oversees the prison outriders, the rear of the train, and the Thundercracker guards. They force the Fine Prisoners to craft high-quality clothing from the fur of the captive white apes, for sale at various towns. Gossamer Eve dresses like a mecha queen in ape fur and chrome car armor.
- Fine Prisoners: Represented by Gentleman Severus, a convicted serial killer and celebrated moonshine connoisseur. Dresses in fancy rags with hidden shivs. Presents an aristocratic demeanor.
- Big Boyo: This mutant son of Gossamer Eve currently works as a Thundercracker Guard, but yearns for his mother’s approval… or her position.
- Locations:
- The cell block where the PCs begin
- Infirmary / Dok Loof experimenting on prisoners
- Armory / The Boss-Lady thought you might try this…
- Ape cages / Apes look sad… and savage!
- Fur workshop / Gentleman Severus wants order
- Grime cells / Tyrannus Bull terrorizing everyone
- Fine cells / Gossamer Eve indulging in decadence
- Lizard garage / Climactic chase away from Big Boyo!
- Random Loot:
- Rations and medicine
- Prosthetic limbs made of car parts
- Weapons (shiv, shock-prod, molotov cocktail, chain whip)
- Armor made of car parts
- Random Encounters:
- Grime prisoners trying to free the train
- Fine prisoners eager to strip the PCs of valuables
- Bruticus guards eager to kill the PCs
- White Apes desperate for food and freedom
That’s about all we generated during the one-hour session. While not a finished product, it’s certainly a great start. It has a clear sense of time, place, and scope. It presents the players with clear goals and obstacles, and multiple paths to success by leveraging the factions against each other (and themselves!).
I won’t be writing a finished version of this adventure, but I encourage you to! Feel free to grab these bones and make them yours, and then share with the community the fruits of your labor.
Cheers!