looking for a quick campaign/scenario for a first time run.

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Force Gaia
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looking for a quick campaign/scenario for a first time run.

Post by Force Gaia »

Let me start with this: I have never GM'ed anything in my life, and only ever played a tabletop RPG once.

Despite my lack of experience, I'd like to run a taster session of OVA for a local gaming group and get a feel for the system myself.

The problem is I've no idea where to begin on a scenario for a single session ether writing it (I wouldn't know what i'd need to do to make it into one for an rpg) or using one someone else wrote (as I can't find anything)

Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Chris Brady
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Re: looking for a quick campaign/scenario for a first time r

Post by Chris Brady »

Well, the first question is: What do you think you feel most comfortable running?

Action? Mystery? Fantasy? Modern? Science Fiction? And run a setting YOU want to run, as a taster.
"And now my friends, a Dragon's Toast! To life's little blessings; wars, plagues and all forms of evil. Their presence keeps us alert-- And their absence keeps us grateful!" - T.A. Barron
Force Gaia
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Re: looking for a quick campaign/scenario for a first time r

Post by Force Gaia »

Let's just say I can run whatever I write or find, but having options is good. But the thing is I wouldn't know where to start writing it. How loose to I make it? What's an apt starting state for the party in the story especially if the characters aren't from the same series/universe?

But something that combines combat and story.

If I wpuld write it, I'm thinking something like a bomb threat is discovered, the party looks into it, finds goons guarding it for some combat, following by a non-combat dilemma then the boss followed by bomb disposal. Or something tiered like that, thinking of the persona universe.
Chris Brady
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Re: looking for a quick campaign/scenario for a first time r

Post by Chris Brady »

Perfect. As for loose, well, assuming you know your friends, that's up to you. But for me, I tend to improvise a lot, because my players can surprise me by going a different way.

But a basic bomb threat is a great start. Here's the thing, you want to make it Persona-esque right? Well, (I'm remember 3-4 here, It's been decades since I played 1) how about the Bomb isn't about destroying the school, but letting the Shadows in? The people and players don't have to know this, but can figure it out on the way. Maybe the goons are other students? But they're glassy eyed and kinda drugged/zoned out?
"And now my friends, a Dragon's Toast! To life's little blessings; wars, plagues and all forms of evil. Their presence keeps us alert-- And their absence keeps us grateful!" - T.A. Barron
Force Gaia
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Re: looking for a quick campaign/scenario for a first time r

Post by Force Gaia »

I was thinking of P4 as that's the only one I've seen or played.

Well going on your idea of shadows I'm thinking that some have gotten out and are responsible for some late night disappearances. I think using students would be a bad idea as I think some of the players will want to use more 'bloodtirsty' characters so trying to justify subduing rather than killing would be difficult, unless I could say that the shadows are parasitic so that their victims dont die. (just thinking out loud)

I'll have a crack at writing it after work and post it here.
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Re: looking for a quick campaign/scenario for a first time r

Post by Joe_Mello »

When introducing people to the game, here's what I tend to run:

The players are students at a run-of-the-mill Japanese High School, and their characters are arbitrarily made (last time, I used pseudo-random generation) but otherwise normal students. For the first part of the story, I have everyone participating in PE class, which allows me to demonstrate how the basic dice and stat mechanics work. Whoever overachieves on their dice rolls will end up pissing off one of the school's star athletes. When the school day ends, the offended person gets their closest "friends" together to rumble with the players. Everyone gets introduced to combat, and after a few rounds, someone comes in to break up the fight and the one-shot ends.

It's not flashy, and it doesn't go into some of the more intricate things OVA can offer, but I think it's a good opener, at least, and everyone gets some attention.
Joe_Mello: Could you make a common sense roll, please, Ryu?
Ryushikaze: With Smart?
Joe_Mello: Sure
*Ryushikaze rolls*
Joe_Mello: SHE'S DEAD!
Chris Brady
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Re: looking for a quick campaign/scenario for a first time r

Post by Chris Brady »

Force Gaia wrote:I was thinking of P4 as that's the only one I've seen or played.

Well going on your idea of shadows I'm thinking that some have gotten out and are responsible for some late night disappearances. I think using students would be a bad idea as I think some of the players will want to use more 'bloodtirsty' characters so trying to justify subduing rather than killing would be difficult, unless I could say that the shadows are parasitic so that their victims dont die. (just thinking out loud)

I'll have a crack at writing it after work and post it here.
One thing: If your players are normally 'bloodthirsty', talk to them and let them know that it's not the type of game you want to run. Otherwise, make the 'students' be Shadows, and give them clues about it, so that they can 'kill' without real consequences.
"And now my friends, a Dragon's Toast! To life's little blessings; wars, plagues and all forms of evil. Their presence keeps us alert-- And their absence keeps us grateful!" - T.A. Barron
Force Gaia
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Re: looking for a quick campaign/scenario for a first time r

Post by Force Gaia »

this is what i have in notes so far:

OVA one shot – Persona 4
Intro

You find yourselves on what seems to be an inifinitly long road, you can’t see how far as a thick fog blankets the area. You think that nobody else is out there until a limosine pulls up and opens its door as if inviting you in. You aren’t given the choice of leaving as before you know it you’re looking at the interior of “the velvet room”
Before you is a sea of purple, everything from the table to the car seat upholstery is purple. There is a single figure in the room, a girl with the appearance of a teenager wearing a blue cap, white sleeveless shirt and check. Before anyone can say anything she addresses you. “Welcome to the velvet room, my name is Marie, and we’re currently in a dire state of affairs. I’m not normally the one who addresses visitors but Elizibeth and the nose disappeared, along with the others whom I’d trust to help in a crisis.”
She takes a deck of cards from the table in front of her and reveals the top card. It’s a set of tarot cards, the card she revealed was Card 0 the fool, but within seconds the card fades to white and loses all markings.
“This world normally relies on the powers of those linked to arcana to help it, but whatever has happened seems to have affected all bar my own. I reach out to all of you as you have abilities that do not rely on the arcana and ca find out what is going on, as I fear that what is happening here is already affecting your world. I’ll drop you off in the town where the wall between your world and the other world is weakest, as that is likely where you’ll find the culprit.”
Your consciousness fades to white, and you wake up on tatami mats in a large inn room.

Begginning

Open the floor to questions and actions

GM Note: they are in the amagi inn. Yukiko has gone missing as a result of the arcana weakening, as has anyone with a social link using the normal arcana. The police are in attendance, but not the notable dojima as he carries the hierophant social link. Adachi has not disappeared and seems to be a senior on the case. (marie and adachi are amongst those not affected as the aeon and the hunger are from a different type of tarrot)

The party must: escape the amagi inn
The party should: get out unnoticed (failure is not penalised, in fact is beneficial in a different way)
The party must not: enter combat with police
If the party go to the lobby they are noticed by police and are questioned. Any mention of the velvet room invokes dismissal due to craziness. The police will express concern at not knowing about the outside, and will arouse suspicion if anyone has “unusual appearance" flaw but they can be hidden or talked around with a successful roll.


Police are interrupted by shadows breaking in combat ensues.

Slipping Hablerie x2
10 HP 10 END
Attack +1 Flight +1 Quick+1 Unusual appearance -2 (grotesque) Dense -1


The party break into the street either alerting cops or not, more shadows, combat.

Slipping hablerie x4

After the last shadow goes down, you manage to take stock of your surroundings. The town you’re in seems to be a smaller country town and is focused around the main shopping district you’re in now. A long street with shops lining either side, but not a chain store in sight, only local shops. However the same thick fog cloaks the town and you can see some more large shapes moving around in it.

The party must: find their way to junes and enter the TV world
The party can: go to the velvet room to ask for advice
The party can: investigate the protagonist’s home, the school, the shops – They will gain information in some format leading them towards junes
The GM should: put blocks in the way that try some of the party’s skills


The fog seems to be coming from the shop floor of the nearby department store, Junes, and the power of the nearby shadows shows it.

Combat – stonger shadow – boss type

You make your way further into the stare and see a strange ripple on one of the larger TV screens

Open to further play

the party will go though a TV-world dungeon where checks will be made against their skills and they will make progress through the fog towards an apparent source.


Source of disturbance is adachi. the party face him and Magatsu-Izanagi.

defeat doesn't stop the disturbance, but does show what he was doing: infecting a deck of persona arcana carrying yu's social links with a black substance. Depending on what the party does different outcomes

NPCS to create:
mini boss monster
Main boss monster
more minor enemy types
Clay
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Re: looking for a quick campaign/scenario for a first time r

Post by Clay »

Sounds neat so far! It’s great to see OVA being used to represent JRPGs as well as its typical anime stories. It’s also good to see your attempting to lay out the possibilities and make notes of places where you can add more information/challenges. I hope it works out well!
Force Gaia
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Re: looking for a quick campaign/scenario for a first time r

Post by Force Gaia »

Well it was based more the the P4 golden anime, but I used one of the harder bosses from the game as a sub boss. The "+5 Resistance (Dark)" really annoyed one of the players as he couldn't use his powerful attack (Shou's Dark Spark), however i was kind enough to draw his attention to it before he initiated it. And in my defence i created the boss before they chose characters.

I had 4 players, 3 using stock characters from the book, one creating his own. And the scenario was just the wet their appetites and took about 3 hours. it could have taken longer, but they were rather cunning and worked out where they needed to go rather quickly.

I'm not sure if i was doing something wrong though, as the players literally tore through Saspar, one of the Stock NPCs i used as a boss. Killing him off in three massive hits (all 80 of his total Health and endurance). I think it was partially due to the players using their respective power attacks, and me not being taxing enough on their endurance earlier on, as well as me forgetting to enforce a -1 accuracy penalty due to foggy conditions.

We had a few epic rolls in the game, which i generally rewarded with a drama dice, the one that finished saspar off was particularly epic. the player (as shou) rolled 5 dice [4] [6] [6] [6] [6], while saspar also rolled 5 dice [6] [4] [3] [3] [1], so was hit for 7*18=126 damage, while shou took 32 to the face in backlash.

I think basically i needed to tweak the difficulty a bit more, as I think i messed up the TVs a bit.

I noted there's been a revision to the PDF on drivethru, what's changed?
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