DnD Module - An Introduction

The five-act narrative is a good model to follow for one-shot adventures. So let's dig into it. Act 1: The Exposition The majority of Act 1 doesn't see play time. It's our all important Session 0. We give our heroes the call to the quest and the reason to answer. We introduce pivotal NPCs that have bonds (positive or negative) with the party. We don't skip Act 1. This is important, we don't skip it. This isn't a brief overview where the DM spouts at the party. Imagine instead those early Spanish class days. You get a few minutes of dialogue, you act it out, and you practice your character. Have a heated argument. Discuss the days catch. Whatever it takes to dive into this new hero, or this new quest. The conflict is introduced. The party doesn't start in the tavern. The party starts in a smoky room. The dull clink and crash of dishes and flagons turns into the sharp ring of pitchfork on steel. The tavern isn't the problem. The setting is. We don't want to start off Session 0 with the introduction, we pan forward a few hours, or days, or years ahead. Time passes after those conversations. Those brief adventures that set the tone. We start in the fire. We do what needs to happen to go from above the action to in media res. We build quick investment. For unlike the play, unlike the novel, we have all the time in the world to grab our audience's attention. But, we don't want to use it. We want to keep it tight. Because we don't have auditions. We don't have practice. There is no last rehearsal. Act 1, session 0, then lights. Action. And sometimes, camera. Act 2: Rising Action The tavern burns without heat. Flames lick the wood turning from auburn, to charcoal, to ash before the party's eyes. The flames burn down the building and the party collapses to the floor. The jokes of the Boar's Head without a proper head of a boar fall to the ground. Now, the adventurers don't have to be in a tavern. They should be connected to a place they are fond of. Or connected with a person they are fond of. For a one-shot play, the characters are not who the audience should become most connected to. For the characters can die outside of the machinations of the plot. An ill fated die roll becomes a part of the story, and not one that the DM explicitly controls. So we connect the group to the setting, and to the other cast members. The non-player characters. In Dragonlance novels the intrepid heroes return to the Inn of the Last Home often. As powerful of adventurers they could be still they return. It reminds them of peace and fairer days. It serves well as a hook and a place for the audience to stay grounded. For your players it can be anything, but it needs to be treasured. When one player dies, they can hire a mercenary. Recruit one of the NPCs that are out and about. Have a long lost cousin return. Or a former party member of ages past. The characters that are played, are expendable. Now, don't ever treat them as such. Acknowledge that they are out of the DM's mostly unlimited power. The only limit being the player's actions. So the tavern burns, leaving the guests and the players unharmed. This gives us two hooks to pin the story to. Why was it done? And how do we rebuild? Now of course, the players may refuse the call. They may wander off. Perhaps then, that which burned the tavern down was meant for them. It was a misfire, pun intended. And next time they rest, the inexorable plot reaches out to them. Regardless, they accept the call. We've seen the what, let's find out the who, why, and how. Let's investigate now. This is when you delve into the story of your setting. When we can bring out the conflicts. We've drawn the players in, included them in the story. Now let's take them out. Let's talk about the misfire, in Act 3. Act 3: The Climax I'm going to reel back to Act 2 for a second to highlight something. We went from rising action, to climax. There were no locations, no monsters, no combat. We skip the meat of the game. That section doesn't change the plot, doesn't include twists or turns. It advances the plot, pushes it forward, and connects the players. However, this section is loose. It involves a series of A-B-C locations that interconnect to Act 3, the climax. The inbetween of Act 2 and Act 3 is where we can drop in any area, any monster, and have it fit. It's flexible. It's loose. We'll fill it in later. The Climax. After investigation and adventure, they learn the truth. They weren't the target. They got the wrong building. The wrong crew. The target was the mayor, it was a botched operation. The party learns the mayor is corrupt, she angered the wrong crew. They could be vigilantes trying to restore order. They could be power hungry. They could be whatever fits the purpose of your adventurers. If they're out for wealth and glory, then the enemy is a crew of brigands and pirates. They have a bounty of stolen treasures. If your crew is out for peace and stability, maybe this new crew can bring things back to normal. They can fix the problems of the town and remove the corrupt mayor. Here we set up the two opposing options. The mayor, or the people who burned down their tavern. They could choose both. Act 4: Falling Action No matter what they choose, it's done now. They rebuild the tavern. They collect their winnings and accolades. They return to where they began. It's pivotal for a one-shot to end cleanly. They resolved the problem. Now of course, you can include hooks to the next one-shot. The crew they took on was an arm of a larger organization. The battle they fought was part of wide-spread corruption throughout the nation. There is a greater enemy on the horizon. Or, in the case of higher level play, then it truly does end here. They fought the greater enemy. The Queen was corrupt, not the mayor. The pirates weren't a one-off cell, they were an ocean spanning network of pirate lords. No matter, the adventure ends here for now. Act 5: Resolution Your heroes did it. We can end the scene with rewards, with relaxation, time off. We end it on a high note. We show them what they've done, how they've benefited the town.