I explained one-pagers briefly in my last one-pager post, and there is a kind of rough explanation in an older post at Sword’s Edge. A one-pager is a very basic adventure outline that is a useful reference for improvisational game management.
This one-pager is based on the movie Road House, which I reviewed at Sword’s Edge—although it’s also very Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven. It lacks any mechanics and so is system agnostic. Although I envision it as post-apocalyptic, it’d totally work for fantasy as well. Other genres might take some shoe-horning.
Story
In the smack in the middle of the Waste, at the only source of clean water for kilometres, is the House of the Eternal Road—an inn and tavern that has served the merchants, refugees, and diplomats since almost right after ‘the Event.’ It is fortified, and the guards are very well-paid and very well-treated. This is the dream of any itinerant mercenary, and the guards tend to become very, very loyal. The warlords who have begun to accrue power lack the ability to attack it directly without leaving themselves vulnerable—sieges are long and costly affairs with the limited functional equipment that survived ‘the Event.’ One warlord has instead insinuated some soldiers under the guise of traders to disrupt the House and hopefully capture it from inside.
Places
The Camp: This is the base for the infiltrators. They are arriving at the House in waves, a few at a time. Each will precipitate small skirmishes—bar fights—that are intended to be straws on the camel. They have supplies for one week. After that, they’ll either need to buy supplies at the House—there’s no where else—or retreat out of the Waste.
People
Switch: This is the leader of the infiltrators. When they arrive at the House, the infiltrators will begin disruptions in earnest. Switch is loyal to the warlord out of greed mixed with fear—failure is not received kindly.
Ricky: The proprietor of the House isn’t exactly selfless—they live quite well—but they also aren’t greedy. They will help refugees as much as they can, and they try not to cheat anyone, providing good services at fair prices. However, they cannot abide hypocrites, bullies, or cheats.
Events
Brawls: The infiltrators are assigned to cause disturbances in the House, and the easiest disruption is a brawl. The House is famous for its pale ale and its gin—brewed and distilled on site—and so fights among patrons is not entirely uncommon. The chance of getting banned, though, leads most patrons to restrain themselves. The infiltrators will test this. Each group of infiltrators will start one fight, and there will be three days of arrivals, so three nights of fights and—maybe—negotiations.
The Bribe: When Switch arrives, the first thing they will try to do is to bribe the guards. They have a lot of minted gold and silver to offer. And if anyone seems tempted but unwilling, they have ammunition as well. Some of the newer guards might be tempted. This could be a chance for the PCs to talk some sense into those on the fence.
The Sabotage: Switch’s back-up plan is to poison the beer and gin. They won’t do it themselves, but will have someone in one of the other groups—who have already started a fight—on stand-by to do it. Then they’ll retreat to The Camp and wait a day.
The Climax: If necessary, Switch will try to kill Ricky. Near the end of a night, just when the chimes are about to announce midnight, Switch will have a signal, and then it will be pandemonium. Ricky is always guarded and separate from the crowd, so this won’t be easy.