One-shots vs. Campaigns: What Does Each Have to Offer?
One week ago today, Open Heart Games ran our first Call of Cthulhu one-shot (Call of Cthulhu: Edge of Darkness). All the players who participated had a great time and we look forward to running more one-shots in the future! Here at Open Heart Games I also run a variety of campaigns and very much enjoy them too. This got me thinking about the differences, and indeed the different benefits, of one-shots vs. campaign play.
One-shots by their very nature are temporary and are designed for only a single session of play, usually lasting no longer than an evening. This allows us several benefits. It allows us to try character concepts and classes that we might not normally play. I myself find that I really enjoy playing primarily spellcasters in D&D 5e. [What can I say? I like the mental challenge that spell preparation provides me.] But I don't know if I could last a whole campaign as a fighter or even a ranger so a one-shot adventure might give me the perfect opportunity to play one of these characters. One-shots also allow us to test out and to try out character concepts that are very different from the ones that we normally play. If you always play as holy warriors perhaps try to play something a bit more morally gray or even play an arcane spellcaster.
Another thing that makes a one-shot more appealing is that everything is more important because the scenario is so temporary. This is especially true for Call of Cthulhu where your next Spot Hidden roll may very well be your last. Something about the sense of impending doom hanging over your character’s head makes every decision matter, which is not always true of a long-running campaign. Aside from the adventure and story, a one-shot also allows you to meet new people. The group by its very nature is temporary and the players come together in this one special moment to share in an experience and, at the inevitable end of the story, it is over and each goes their own separate way.
With a campaign, you get to experience an epic tale with a stable group of players and characters who you get to know and love over time. It is exciting and fun to share the adventures and make friends that often last for years to come. With a campaign, the story is told over many sessions and the characters get to grow, share inside jokes, fight battles side by side, and face victory or defeat together. Every magical item obtained, every enemy defeated, and every milestone achieved feels special. Likewise, each scar earned, each battle lost, and each character who falls in battle hurts more as there is more meaning and more history attached to the character. At this time, both of my ongoing campaigns have just crested a year each and are inching closer and closer to the finish line. We have made so many memories and have had so many great battles and character moments; and indeed these players who were (for the most part) strangers when they came together have become friends as the story has progressed. While a one-shot is a short story written in an evening, a campaign is a novel written over the course of months and even years. Yet completing the campaign is not even the greatest part. The true reward is the friends and memories made along .the way.
No matter which style you prefer or have time for, there is an RPG style for everyone. This is wonderful. No matter if you prefer a new experience every time you play or the familiarity of a long-running campaign, try to give the other type a try every once in a while. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find something new you like or be lucky enough to join a long-lasting campaign and make lifelong friends. I know I have!
Take Heart!
Karington Hess
Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games
