One-shot adventures are a great opportunity for GMs to try something new. Without the pressure of setting up an ongoing campaign, GMs can take more risk on setting, genre, and available character types. The stakes can also be materially higher in a one-shot. No one cares if the world comes to an end after a one-shot! (Which is probably why Lovecraftian horror is a favorite genre at conventions…)
For this month’s adventure, I wanted to try a genre I hadn’t ever done before. I surprised myself and landed on attempting a victorian-era swords and planets adventure, a setting I’ve literally never written an adventure for before. And while I had fun once flipping through a Castle Falkenstein book, I don’t think I’ve ever actually played in a steampunk adventure either!
So how did I fall into this unfamiliar genre? Oddly enough, it happened while reading reviews of old 1990s videogames. While looking for inspiration for an Edgar Rice Burroughs-style jungle adventure, I stumbled across a review of an old game I fondly remembered playing – 1990’s Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire. That then led me down the internet rabbit hole of a game in the same series I never played – 1991’s Worlds of Ultima: Martian Dreams.
I was only vaguely familiar with Martian Dreams. But reading the game’s old reviews from 1991, which lavished praise on the weird trappings and strange steampunk setting, I was inspired to build an adventure around a similar concept. I fell in love with the idea of Victorian-era strangers being trapped on Mars and rescuing historical figures.
With only the single Martian Dreams review in my mind serving as inspiration, I concocted Martian Awakenings a few weeks later. I’m not enough of a steampunk expert to say whether or not my adventure nailed the genre, but I think I nailed the atmosphere that Martian Dreams went for some thirty years ago. Although I would avoid too-famous figures in my version, staying away from the Teslas and Lenins in favor of a more diverse cast of lesser-known historical figures. Ellen Elgin anyone?
Other Inspirations
Writing an adventure purely inspired by a short review of an ancient videogame made me wonder if this was a method I could recommend to other GMs. I spent an hour or two digging around, and lo and behold, I found a treasure trove of obscure videogame premises that I’ll go back to someday for other one-shots:
- 2400 AD – Set in the far future on planet XK-120, players are members of an underground resistance making a last ditch effort to humanity from robot oppressors. Once players skip a required check-in with the robot overlords, they’re hunted down and exterminated with vengeance. With such high-stakes and uncaring opponents, this setup would make an intense (and deadly) one-shot.
- The Last Express – Jordan Mechner’s game of treachery, lies, and political intrigue set entirely on board a train. This would make a fantastic one-shot setup for roleplayers, with each character having their own complex motivations.
- The Dig – A five-man team planting explosives on an asteroid to avert disaster is suddenly transported to an alien world. To return home, the explorers must reassemble the technology and history of the alien culture that once lived here. This setup would be great for players who like exploration, and doesn’t require players to have a lot of a priori knowledge that many sci-fi settings require.
- Conquests of the Longbow – I don’t think anyone loves Robin Hood enough to turn him and his merry men into a full campaign, but a one-shot filled with derring-do, romance, and robberies would be a lot of fun.
Have any old (or new) videogame concepts inspired your RPGs? Even if you’ve never actually played them? Please share in the comments below!
Download the FREE adventure Martian Awakenings here:
- Martian Awakenings (GURPS Steampunk)
- Martian Awakenings (GURPS Steampunk) – Printer Friendly
- Martian Awakening (Savage Worlds)
- Martian Awakening (Savage Worlds) – Printer Friendly
- Martian Awakenings – VTT Tokens & Assets
If you run the adventure or play in it, all that I ask is that you let me know what you thought and how it went. Comment below or find me on YouTube!
Related: Another game inspired by an old videogame
Oh wow! Looks good seeing steampunk again and with old games.
(Alas, on page 10, the map is covering some of the text! •melodramatic fainting at the inconvenience•)
Fixed it! Also added bookmarks as my repayment to society.
Hello,
I recently came across your page while looking for a one-shot adventure for the weekend. As a big comic book fan, I immediately jumped on Gotham ’39—I can’t wait to run it. Since I’m Hungarian, I was especially delighted to see the Hungarian element in it.
Unfortunately, role-playing games don’t have a very strong presence here, so because some of my players don’t speak English, I often have to limit the variety of systems we play. For example, we’ll be running Gotham in regular Call of Cthulhu instead of Pulp Cthulhu.
I also explored your other material and was really impressed by the variety and detail. Martian Awakenings caught my attention right away with its concept, especially since I know the original game.
My question is: how well do you think it could work with another system, for example Castle Falkenstein?
Glad you found my site all the way from Hungary! Gotham should work fine in regular CoC – really pulp just doubles the hit points and adds some special abilities (all of which are on the character sheets anyway). And Martian Awakening should work well in other systems since it’s more about exploration and roleplaying. I know some Savage Worlds fans have done some conversions of it for instance.
Great. Although I didn’t find the Savage Worlds version, after reading through the adventure I can fit it into my Castle Falkenstein campaign. Thanks for the reply and for your wonderful work.
Just posted a new Savage Worlds version today!
You are amazing. Thank You 😀