I ran a one shot for my 5e table called Treaty of the Tiger King. We had an awesome and fun time!
Treaty of the Tiger King Session Recap
- Players had loads of fun with teaching the King
This is a super fun one shot as players get to make up tidbits of
a culture. My players tried to teach the King that dinners in the
area are quite violent, silverware is not used and eating is an
aggressive act. They did teach the King to moon walk and do the
local handshake. At the social gatherings the PCs impressed the
VIPs with healing magic, tall tales and hardy drinking.
- Combat was not the focus
- still had two combats
Despite combat not being the focus we still had two fun
fights. Each PC got a kill although one of them had a kill stolen
by another player. Another player was having some bad rolls and
it was getting them pretty down. When this happens out of combat;
a PC attempts something, fails, attempts it again, I will lower
the DC for the second attempt. I might try the Fury Dice idea.
- Fury Dice
When a Player is having bad rolls repeatedly, give them a 1d6 as a
marker. Add the value of this D6 to to each attempt the player
makes at the same task, swinging their sword or perhaps a ritual
spell. Each time the player makes an attempt and fails then
increase the dice. When the player succeeds at the task then reset
the Fury Die to 1, or recall it if the scene is over.
- Fury Dice
- I need to remember to set up my combat tables before the session
It saves so much time! And the head space switch from running the
game to setting up the fight is big.
- was the fight too easy?
In the first fight I doubled the number of enemies and players
handled it smoothly. The second fight was pressed for time and
could have been much more difficult or in depth. If I were playing
the game more deadly I would add a second team of thugs that hide
until the first group performs a retreat.
- still had two combats
- The final treaty was a success
- Raise the DC or Modify the roll?
The final treaty roll is modified by respect points gained
through the adventure. The final treaty DC is modified by the
terms presented in the final contract.
- Raising the DC
suggests that something is very difficult
- Imposing a penalty to the roll
suggests that something is hampering the person acting
- But is there a mathematical difference?
I have no idea, but I think the narrative difference is enough to
make it worth while to modify both the roll and the DC.
- Raise the DC or Modify the roll?