Greetings, 3WD-verse! DM Chris here. When I was approached to run DM Tony’s most recent birthday game, I was excited and yet without a clear vision of exactly what we were going to play. Our birthday game one-shots have become a friendly competition, so I went searching for the perfect idea. We’d just played a high-level D&D one-shot for Bonnie’s birthday, so I wanted something a little more grounded. High-level play can be its own worst enemy with a large group of players, leaving large chunks of empty time where dozens of damage dice are rolled and summed. Fun – absolutely – but it can take away from your valuable story time in a single four-to-six hour game session.
As experienced architects of birthday one-shot games, we’ve had the most success by using characters and worlds that are important to the player. Some of us are happy enough just to be playing a TTRPG, but when you include a favorite character from the player’s past it can make it more special. My number one tip for creating memorable birthday games and/or one-shots – listen to the player. Just by listening and observing, we can very often learn what they really like. Try to choose from the characters they speak of often – I like to think that they’re subconsciously telling me what they want.
DM Tony is a big fan of the classic Marvel FASERIP system, so the choice of the system was easy enough. During one of our recent conversations, he began to reminisce about a Marvel campaign that I ran for him and DM Dave. It was based on the X-Men Days of Future Past storyline, with both of them playing custom mutant heroes. Captain X and Hero lived in Hoboken, New Jersey, during a dystopian future where the giant robotic Sentinels had taken over and mutants were hunted and killed. We had played for several months before it fell to the wayside as other campaigns and priorities surfaced. Now was my chance to let Tony play as Captain X again, as well as tie a nice bow on that campaign.
Drawing on the original story arc from the comics, as well as the movie, I decided that the two heroes would be sent back in time to stop the assassination of presidential candidate Senator Robert Kelly, a staunch anti-mutant politician, on Halloween, October 31st, 1980. The senator’s assassination on that fateful day had set into motion the expansion of the Sentinel program and mutant registration, leading to the horrible future that they lived in currently.
With a group of other players not familiar with the campaign involved in the one-shot, I needed a way for the assassination of Senator Kelly to be a mystery that they would solve. Having Captain X and Hero show up and immediately send them on the right track felt like it would reduce the fun I had in store. So I came up with a mechanic to simulate the confusion and memory-loss that would occur if someone were sent backwards in time – neither hero could remember more than their name when they arrived and their memories would be revealed through a series of Psyche FEAT rolls at points during the session.
Needing to fill out the rest of the team, I let the remaining guests choose an X-Men to play and then leaned heavily into my memories of X-Men: The Animated Series. Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants would be the secret enemy looking to assassinate the Senator, and the X-Men would slowly discover this plan and race to stop it. I grabbed some images from the show and the theme music to make it more immersive. Always try to add some simple details to your games to enhance the atmosphere.
One-shots are extremely time-sensitive, so I like to use a series of “chapters” to keep the players focused and moving towards the goal. Player agency occurs within the chapter, but the world keeps turning. Plus, it helps me to figure out how much time it’s going to take. You’re aiming for something in the 4 to 6 hour range, so make sure you consider any time-wrecking decision points and smooth them over for your players if need be.
Chapter 1: A Disturbance in Central Park – Thursday, 10/30/1980, 9 am
Several members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Sabretooth, Toad, Pyro, and the Blob) have been spotted in Central Park, NYC, and have taken hostages. Professor X sends the team to investigate and save the hostages. As the X-Men arrive at the scene, Captain X and Hero appear out of nowhere. With only the basest of memories, the two heroes aid the X-Men in defeating the Brotherhood.
Afterward, a copy of Senator Kelly’s schedule is found on one of the Brotherhood, which includes the Symposium on Mutant Integration the following night – the place where the assassination takes place. This is a clue for the X-Men, but also the first flashback for Captain X and Hero. After a Psyche FEAT roll by each hero, I delivered the first bit of their memories back. This one was intentionally vague, with a brief untethered vision that would be fully revealed later.
A telepathic summons from Professor X refocuses the team – the School for the Gifted is under attack by the unstoppable Juggernaut!
Chapter 2: The Mansion Destroyed – Thursday, 10/30/1980, 12 pm
Returning to the School, the X-Men find the mansion badly damaged and many of the students and teachers are injured. Professor X explains that the Juggernaut attacked after the team had left for Central Park. During the battle, one of the new teachers was captured and taken by the Juggernaut – Kurt Wagner, the mutant known as Nightcrawler.
Unfortunately, the powerful mutant-detecting device, Cerebro, was damaged as the building collapsed. The Professor requires a rare, highly psychoactive metallic alloy called X-39 to rebuild Cerebro and find Nightcrawler. Even worse, the supply of X-39 is controlled by the criminal House Yashida in Japan, headed by the infamous Silver Samurai!
Captain X and Hero get their second flashback here, as the Professor probes their minds to try and help them regain their memories. The Psyche FEAT roll gives them back memories of their dystopian future, minus why or how they are in 1980s New York City.
Chapter 3: The Samurai’s Alloy – Thursday, 10/30/1980, 5 pm
A super-sonic flight aboard the Blackbird later, the team arrives in Japan. As they approach the compound for House Yashida, the guards merely bow to them. It seems they have been expected.
The head of House Yashida, Kenuichio Harada, also known as the Silver Samurai, emerges from the compound temple and tells the team that his “benefactor” told him they would be coming.
A choice between a combat and a roleplay encounter here lets the heroes use their agency to complete a goal. Our team chose a roleplay encounter, to which I added dangerous implications – fail the FEAT roll and things go south. A tense negotiation later, the heroes boarded the Blackbird and headed back to the School for the Gifted with the X-39 alloy in tow.
Chapter 4: Finding Security? – Friday, 10/31/1980, 9 am
The Professor, concerned about the appearance of the Brotherhood and their apparent interest in the Symposium for Mutant Integration, sends the team to investigate who is running security for the Symposium.
The heroes use contacts they know to try and find out the security company’s identity and location. This was a great opportunity to use the underutilized FASERIP Popularity stat in a game situation. A successful FEAT roll reveals that security is being run by a new company in Hell’s Kitchen, Hightower Security and that the company is run by a certain Mallory Brickman (it’s an Easter Egg – Google her).
Chapter 5: An Interrupted Meeting – Friday, 10/31/1980, 12 pm
Arriving at the newly-built headquarters of Hightower Security in Hell’s Kitchen, the team finds the glass building to be seemingly empty. Investigating within, they finally find Mallory Brickman in an office on the 13th floor.
Mallory Brickman, wife of U.S. Senator Ralph Brickman and the acting CEO of Hightower, welcomes them into her office and listens to the team’s concerns. She seems concerned herself when informed, but assures the heroes that Hightower is capable of handling security for the event.
Mallory excuses herself for a moment and steps out of the office. Suddenly, something like an earthquake tears through the building. The heroes need to complete a successful FEAT challenge to avoid the falling steel and glass debris while escaping the building. I offered up Strength or Agility, but encouraged the players to try and come up with their own way, be it abilities or powers.
Finally, the last flashback for Captain X and Hero occurs on the way back from Hightower Security. The Psyche FEAT roll gives them back the remainder of their memories, including how they got here and why.
Chapter 6: Cerebro Says Up – Friday, 10/31/1980, 4 pm
The Professor, having fixed Cerebro with the X-39 alloy, has located Nightcrawler, but to his surprise, Kurt appears to be in orbit around the Earth. Combined with the appearance of the Brotherhood, the Professor believes that Magneto has returned to Asteroid M and is plotting to assassinate the Senator.
Chapter 7: What’s Up With Asteroid M? – Friday, 10/31/1980, 7 pm
Following a spacewalk (Psyche FEAT challenge) or an emergency docking (Reason FEAT challenge), the team leaves the Blackbird and boards Asteroid M, beginning to search for Nightcrawler and Magneto.
When they find them, Magneto has Nightcrawler hooked up to several large machines. Kurt has grown to giant-size as energy swirls around him. The entire area is covered in portals caused by the overamplification of Nightcrawler’s teleportation power.
This is where I tried something new. The heroes needed to shut down the machines to free Kurt, but every time they moved or shot further than one area, a d10 was rolled to determine where the portal sent them. We had characters end up where they started, move side-to-side, and even shoot themselves when the portal sent it backward.
BATTLEFIELD PORTAL TABLE
1: No change
2-3: Move one area north (or south if no north is possible)
4-5: Move one area south (or north is no south is possible)
6-7: Move one area east (or west if no east is possible)
8-9: Move one area west (or east if no west is possible)
10 – No change
Final Thoughts
Every game is a lesson, and one-shots doubly so. They’re a great place to try out new mechanics and/or to lean into your favorite properties and have an adventure like you remember from Saturday mornings. So take advantage – run a birthday game or a thrilling X-Men adventure.
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