What campaign archetypes (e.g. defeat the dungeon boss, rescue the princess, heist) exist that can work in a really short campaign, ideally a one-shot?
Interested in stuff that can be used for any system, but suggestions for cool game-specific campaigns that can be generalised are also welcome.
With the monastery example, how do you play it? Just chuck everyone in a room and see what happens? Sequential encounters? Is there a narrative flow, or just basically a mini sandbox?
My brother ran that one in Warhammer Roleplay. Although customized for our party, it was still heavily lifted from Rough Night at the Three Feathers. It’s a published adventure and it’s very well written, so I recommend giving it a read! I think he mixed it with Night of Blood and then added in his own ideas.
The thing to keep in mind is that, while the players are allowed (and encouraged!) to treat it as a mini sandbox, there is an underlying narrative flow as well, ie. things keep happening every now and then, even if the party isn’t involved. But if the players don’t want to involve themselves, it’s a good thing to make things happen to or near them.
Experienced players will probably have fun doing stuff and experimenting, while timid ones will require a bit more hand holding from the DM to make events happen around them.