Looking for Players: Free Custom D&D One-Shot / DM Playtest

Hi everyone!

I am currently working toward becoming a professional DM, and I am looking for a few players or an already existing group who would be interested in helping me with a free playtest session.

The idea is simple: you get to play a completely free D&D one-shot, and afterwards I ask you for honest feedback about my DMing, the story, the roleplay, the pacing, and the overall experience. I would also like to ask what you think a session like this would reasonably be worth if I were offering it as a paid service.

My main specialty and the type of DMing I want to offer is custom-made adventures.

Rather than running a pre-written adventure exactly as written, I want to build sessions around the players themselves. Your characters, ideas, preferences, boundaries, and the kind of story you want to experience can all be used as inspiration when I prepare the adventure.

For this first round, I want to keep it to a one-shot so I can experiment, learn, and figure out what works best.

HOW IT WOULD WORK

Before the session, I would send out a survey/questionnaire through Discord.

The survey is not only there to help me prepare the adventure, but also as a small way for everyone to get to know each other before we play.

It would cover things such as:

• What kind of story you are interested in

• Your characters and their backgrounds

• Things you would like to see during the adventure

• Things you would rather avoid

• Your preferred balance between roleplay, exploration, combat, puzzles, etc.

• Any important boundaries or "no-go" topics

• General information that helps everyone get a better idea of who they will be playing with

I would then use that information to create the one-shot specifically for the group.

I would prefer to work with an existing group, but I am also open to individual players and putting a group together depending on interest and how easily I can get everyone together.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

• The session will be hosted in Foundry VTT.

• We will use Discord for voice chat.

• If Foundry isn't practical for some reason, I can also use Owlbear.

• My maps are personally created by me using Dungeon Alchemist.

• Players are welcome to bring their own character designs/tokens if they want.

TIME ZONE / SCHEDULING

I am located in Central Europe, so I would generally be looking at Friday or weekend sessions.

However, I don't mind playing on US-friendly times, so players from North America are absolutely welcome to participate. We would simply need to find a time that works for everyone.

IMPORTANT: THIS SESSION IS COMPLETELY FREE

There is no charge for participating.

In exchange, I am asking for honest and constructive feedback after the session. I want to know what worked, what didn't, what you enjoyed, what could be improved, and what you think a custom session like this would be worth if I eventually offered it professionally.

A NOTE ABOUT AI

I am also going to be transparent about this.

The actual adventure, maps, preparation, DMing, and writing are done by me.

I may use AI-assisted image generation when I need a specific picture of a location or a very specific character that I cannot easily find elsewhere. Otherwise, I generally use existing tokens and assets.

Players are also welcome to provide their own character artwork or designs if they want.

A NOTE ABOUT MY WRITING

I am dyslexic, so I use spelling and writing programs to help correct my text.

That does not mean the content is written by AI. The ideas and writing are mine; I simply use tools to help with spelling, grammar, and occasionally wording when I am struggling with more difficult language.

HOW TO JOIN

If you are interested, please send me a message with your Discord username (Discord Name/Tag) so I can add you.

Once I have found the players for this playtest, I will make a comment under this post saying that the player search is closed and that the group has been selected.

WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR

Most importantly, I am looking for people who are willing to give honest feedback.

You don't need to be an experienced D&D player, and you don't need to tell me that everything was great just because the session was free. If something doesn't work, I want to know.

This is a learning opportunity for me, and I want to use the feedback to improve my DMing and eventually build this into a professional service.

If you are interested, send me your Discord username/tag in a message and tell me a little about yourself or your D&D experience if you want.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to meet some of you at the table!