u/Zealousideal_Leg213

Next week, I'll be using Movers and Shakers as the basis for a one-shot at Dragonflight in Bellevue, Washington. I'd like the benefit of the experience of others here.

Of course, the big one is combat. Most of my experience is with D&D, but I know that combat exchanges and other combat are not intended to be like the kill-or-be-killed combat of that and other games. That's cool. But how could or should it work in practice.

I would think the shows would form a good foundation here, but it's one thing to write combat another to run it in a game. The books suggest that fights using combat exchanges should only have a few before one side stops fighting. But then what? I've learned that one can't count on players stopping the fight even when the odds are against them - many feel that's when they're supposed to keep fighting. So, the players, on the face of it don't seem like they'd stop.

Their opponents might stop, if they're being beaten badly, but that doesn't necessarily mean the PCs stop. On paper it just means they keep pounding an opponent foolish enough to let their guard down.

My guess is that this comes down to skilled handling of the Conversation and skilled use of GM moves. I could shift their balance if somehow applicable. This is sort of what alignment gets used for: if you hit that guy, I'll make you non-lawful and - oh wait, never mind the barbarian took care of it. But it's not much of a disincentive compared to leaving a dangerous enemy alive. Then again, I can shift it as much as I want.

I can shift the odds with reinforcements, but the just drives more combat.

I could inflict a condition: again, not much of a disincentive, unless they have them all marked for some reason.

I have more questions but this is long enough. Thanks in advance.

I saw something on TV decades ago that has haunted me.

There is a large double doorway that is partly open. Beyond is a bright space and something large moving around.

In front of the doors is a mass of humans, bald men, I think, clambering slowly over each other to reach the doors either to open them wider or hold them closed.

Beams of light from behind the crowd repeatedly shoot out, hitting some of them and causing them to fall.

Two other men are dispassionately watching this unfold on a screen or from behind a window.

I'm scheduled to run a session of Avatar Legends at Dragonflight in Bellevue, WA, in August. I'm planning to base the four-hour one-shot on the Movers and Shakers adventure.

I've run Avatar Legends at conventions before and it has gone okay, though I have a lot to learn. I'd be interested in any general advice and any advice specific to this adventure. I think I'll probably start things close to the climax. I'm also thinking about having every PC start with either a condition or some lost fatigue.

The booklet comes with pregens which I plan to use, mainly because they have ties to the antagonists. They have their starting moves pre-chosen. When looking through them, and the playbook features, to familiarize myself with them, I really felt like some of those moves and features don't seem like they'd have much use in a one-shot, often because they seem like they'd probably involve scenes outside of the focus of the adventure.

How much effort is it worth making to try to highlight, say, the Successor's tainted past? Or, as I'm writing this I wonder if maybe it would be worth a quick pre-adventure scene, or even a flashback, where certain options can come into play.

I know ideally things will just flow and no one will be trying to shoehorn in anyone's moves, and that there's plenty to fill four hours just with basic moves. Still, I know people like to use what is on their sheets.

Can a magic-user (or elf, I guess) make use of any wand simply through concentration, or must they use Analyze first? If they can make use of it right away, do they know what it will do or only if they used Analyze? The vibe of the game seems to be that one risk making use of unknown items, but I don't find that stated explicitly in the case of wands. Scrolls are locked without Read Magic, so one might guess that the intent is to lock all items before they're Analyzed.

One of the four players in my weekly group is moving away. We haven't decided to try to keep him involved via video, but what are some good options if we wanted to try?

The main problems I can imagine would be lag and difficulty for him to see the whole table, or hear exactly what's being said.