I recommend getting as much of the preamble out of the way as swiftly as you can. One of my oneshots I made this mistake, opening with the discovery of a stone obelisk in the village square with messages asking for help all over it, which had appeared overnight, with directions into the mountains. The party spent a good hour of realtime before they set off, and this made the latter part of the adventure somewhat rushed. I could instead have narrated the discovery of the obelisk, and their finding the path, and opened the action with them on the trail, approaching the fisrt encounter.
One of the DMs at the local club has an excellent approach where he has you finish a quest as the start of a oneshot. In the last one, the oneshot started with the party bringing a giant into custody in chains, and then recieving their next quest. This made the party feel real, and started off with some momentum. I try to start my oneshots this way now, it is easier to direct a party by saying "you are on your way to dwarfhold" than "You are somewhere near dwarfhold, would you like to go there?". Most players will accept these nudges in oneshots, and most of the rest are chaos gremlins anyway!
Putting a timer of some sort in the game (youm ust do this before midnight!) adds urgency and prevents them from resting between every fight. Do try to plan a lull halfway for them to recover resources though! Warlocks rely on their short rests!
Stolen twice: first from a video game and then from the world I created the one shot for. Not counting the video game stealing it from myth.
Note: technically, this is not a one shot. It is a series of one shots.
The Bloodseer lives in a run down shack where he's all kinds of smelly, half starved, but still noble. He doesn't dress like anyone from around here, and he never leaves his shack except perhaps to get water. He usually hires a person from a nearby (but almost a day away) village to bring him supplies, and they talk about him there a lot in tones that range from mocking to frightened. He talks to himself in ways and about things and in a language that doesn't make sense -- even a comprehend language will not be able to determine what he is muttering about, though the words may become clear. Drive home that he is not from around here.
But chief among them is that while his omens are always true, getting them is a challenge, and understanding them is a bit hard.
The Bloodseer will give a divination to anyone, but his price for that divination is blood. Not just any blood, but blood from some monster. Each divination requires a cup of the monsters blood, and he will always tell them the monster needed to answer their question -- before they even ask it, because, well, he's a seer, and the monsters he chooses are based on the difficulty for the divination. He will even help by telling them where this monster is in relation to his current position (but always in-world, so it would be "far to the west, in a deep crevasse, there lies a being that can stun the noblest senseless" kind of stuff.
So, in effect, he can answer a question they have, but they have to go and collect the blood of a monster and return it to him to do so. THe monsters are always tough monsters, at the edge of the party or player character ability, so it is always a hard tough, dangerous fight.
That's the one shot: go to this place, kill this monster, bring the stuff back, get an answer.
Once they return, he will drink the blood, and go though convulsions and such, finally stilling with fogged over eyes and will utter some prediction or point of interest that will help the party in the near future. It could be anything, from "you will need a vial of blanketybroth in the days to come, but use it wisely" to something more obscure and even rhyming or full of symbolism. What matters is that it is true, and that it would help the PCs.
If players would rather use a divination spell themselves for such things, then the thing he offers is secret knowledge from the laces between where the Gods dwell and the holes in the fabric of reality. Or other such stuff. The point being, he offers them information they cannot get by spellcraft -- and includes stuff like the location of powerful magic items or other things of import or value.
The Monsters are the bad ones, as mentioned. THey are typically located at least three days away, and during the travel time ther will be enconters at last once each day, or more, depending on party level (call it one encounter per day per 4 levels of the party). THe monster will be in a lair, and will be doing something that it would normally do when not out hunting down other things. So there may be prisoners, corpses, whatever.
Worse: the way back also includes all manner of encounters (same schedule as before), so that by the time they arrive and are greeted by the hired person that day with healing potions or whatever, they are ragged and seriously wondering if this was worth it, lol.
DM Note: it is not worth it, but it is a fun side encounter and they do get something out of it.
Now, a note from me: this is a special kind of event I use for player driven activities. My setting is an open world basis with stories that do happen, but I don't railroad them, I just hope I can hook them in.
Variants of this involve not going after a monster but instead collecting a rare plant that only grows in one place, or some strange concoction only available from a particular vendor in a particular place. Yes, it is a fetch line. For a quick one shot, it is simple, easy, and interesting, and it gives you a chance to do more outdoors stuff or things that are less likely to happen.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
One big point for one shots is the time limit. So let players do their thing but keep things on track, ideally make it clear to players at the start to set expectations. If you’re party is good an understand the effort you’re putting in they should want to progress but if tou let them dally to much you’ll either not finish the story and have to cut content or extend the one shot to multiple sessions
Dnd 5e has a lot of combat based abilities etc so players will probably want to fight but in most games it’s combat where the pacing dies, usually due to unlucky dice. A wee combat designed to last 30 minutes takes an hour because the players can’t hit AC14 and you’ve already established a 13 missed because of previous dice rolls and now if you retcon it it will be obvious. So make any combat deliberate, and impactful because if they go on too long you may need to rejig things later so that combat should be fun. One of the best one shots I played in only had two fights, a wee one mid game and an epic finale. Every other encounter could be avoided or resolved be social interactions or smart olayers
I know this sounds dumb but it is a one shot so much if you want to end it you can just meteor the party if it is going to long. I have done this twice and it worked fairly well. However it is more fun to finish it.
So the entire point of a “one shot” is you are running a dungeon of a medium size (lasting 3-4 sessions). So make sure you have your dungeon ready to go. Start by creating the basic geometry, then elevate the dungeon where you add stairs, ramps, ladders, pillars, and balconies. Next name and furnish each room, then lastly document each encounter (battles, traps, hazards, treasures, puzzles, obstacles, skill challenges.)
Just remember, “one shot” translates to: We are running a dungeon. Without a dungeon, your one shot will flop.
had a oneshot last night which worked well. The DM literally said "you start in a temple, the priest comes over and asks for help.
*some roleplay until party agrees. DM offered a lot of gold, so no haggling."
Once they agreed the priest literally pushed them out of the door and sent them on their way, the travel was handwaved, and here's the dungeon. Off you go!
Worked well and was refreshing in the way he was open about "this is preamble, just go adventure already!".
I feel like there are a lot of good one-shots that aren't dungeons. For instance, I had a great time playing a one-shot that was primarily arguing with a stubborn fish. Dungeons crawls can be very fun, but they aren't the only way to have fun.
I feel like there are a lot of good one-shots that aren't dungeons. For instance, I had a great time playing a one-shot that was primarily arguing with a stubborn fish. Dungeons crawls can be very fun, but they aren't the only way to have fun.
I think that is going to be very dependent on having a very unique group. A hot start adventure that puts you right into the thick of things is the best way to induct players into a one shot.
I find as a player I have a problem doing "social role-playing" in a one-shot mainly because I don't know this character and I'm never going to know them. This is a character Im going to use for a couple of game sessions and I know that going into it so the character investment is quite low.
For me, I just as well grab and axe, getting a mission and see what the DM has lineup for us.
I generally don't like one-shots at all, but if we are going to do one, I don't think I care to fuss about with character creation and character development or making any sort of investment in it.
I can see doing something like a Heist or Maybe some sort of scripted sequence. Once I recall doing a one shot where the adventures started out on a battlefield as part of an army and the whole night was a sequence of battles as we fought our way to the enemy leader for the big boss fight. That was fun, felt quite epic and wasn't a Dungeon Crawl per say. But a one shot about social interaction stuff, I don't, you would have to have something a lot more gripping than setting up an argument with a fish.
As others have said, trash the concept of backstories, trash the concept of any RP. Railroad the preamble, and throw the group into the mix. If you are running the typical 3 or 4 hour session that is the standard these days (my Pathfinder group runs 5 plus hours now, but my 5e group barely runs 3), there is simply no time for the typical time wasted in a tavern talking to some NPC.
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Hi fellow DMs,
Im new to running a one shot and would like either tips for planning it, or just running it. Any advice?
I recommend getting as much of the preamble out of the way as swiftly as you can. One of my oneshots I made this mistake, opening with the discovery of a stone obelisk in the village square with messages asking for help all over it, which had appeared overnight, with directions into the mountains. The party spent a good hour of realtime before they set off, and this made the latter part of the adventure somewhat rushed. I could instead have narrated the discovery of the obelisk, and their finding the path, and opened the action with them on the trail, approaching the fisrt encounter.
One of the DMs at the local club has an excellent approach where he has you finish a quest as the start of a oneshot. In the last one, the oneshot started with the party bringing a giant into custody in chains, and then recieving their next quest. This made the party feel real, and started off with some momentum. I try to start my oneshots this way now, it is easier to direct a party by saying "you are on your way to dwarfhold" than "You are somewhere near dwarfhold, would you like to go there?". Most players will accept these nudges in oneshots, and most of the rest are chaos gremlins anyway!
Putting a timer of some sort in the game (youm ust do this before midnight!) adds urgency and prevents them from resting between every fight. Do try to plan a lull halfway for them to recover resources though! Warlocks rely on their short rests!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Stolen twice: first from a video game and then from the world I created the one shot for. Not counting the video game stealing it from myth.
Note: technically, this is not a one shot. It is a series of one shots.
The Bloodseer lives in a run down shack where he's all kinds of smelly, half starved, but still noble. He doesn't dress like anyone from around here, and he never leaves his shack except perhaps to get water. He usually hires a person from a nearby (but almost a day away) village to bring him supplies, and they talk about him there a lot in tones that range from mocking to frightened. He talks to himself in ways and about things and in a language that doesn't make sense -- even a comprehend language will not be able to determine what he is muttering about, though the words may become clear. Drive home that he is not from around here.
But chief among them is that while his omens are always true, getting them is a challenge, and understanding them is a bit hard.
The Bloodseer will give a divination to anyone, but his price for that divination is blood. Not just any blood, but blood from some monster. Each divination requires a cup of the monsters blood, and he will always tell them the monster needed to answer their question -- before they even ask it, because, well, he's a seer, and the monsters he chooses are based on the difficulty for the divination. He will even help by telling them where this monster is in relation to his current position (but always in-world, so it would be "far to the west, in a deep crevasse, there lies a being that can stun the noblest senseless" kind of stuff.
So, in effect, he can answer a question they have, but they have to go and collect the blood of a monster and return it to him to do so. THe monsters are always tough monsters, at the edge of the party or player character ability, so it is always a hard tough, dangerous fight.
That's the one shot: go to this place, kill this monster, bring the stuff back, get an answer.
Once they return, he will drink the blood, and go though convulsions and such, finally stilling with fogged over eyes and will utter some prediction or point of interest that will help the party in the near future. It could be anything, from "you will need a vial of blanketybroth in the days to come, but use it wisely" to something more obscure and even rhyming or full of symbolism. What matters is that it is true, and that it would help the PCs.
If players would rather use a divination spell themselves for such things, then the thing he offers is secret knowledge from the laces between where the Gods dwell and the holes in the fabric of reality. Or other such stuff. The point being, he offers them information they cannot get by spellcraft -- and includes stuff like the location of powerful magic items or other things of import or value.
The Monsters are the bad ones, as mentioned. THey are typically located at least three days away, and during the travel time ther will be enconters at last once each day, or more, depending on party level (call it one encounter per day per 4 levels of the party). THe monster will be in a lair, and will be doing something that it would normally do when not out hunting down other things. So there may be prisoners, corpses, whatever.
Worse: the way back also includes all manner of encounters (same schedule as before), so that by the time they arrive and are greeted by the hired person that day with healing potions or whatever, they are ragged and seriously wondering if this was worth it, lol.
DM Note: it is not worth it, but it is a fun side encounter and they do get something out of it.
Now, a note from me: this is a special kind of event I use for player driven activities. My setting is an open world basis with stories that do happen, but I don't railroad them, I just hope I can hook them in.
Variants of this involve not going after a monster but instead collecting a rare plant that only grows in one place, or some strange concoction only available from a particular vendor in a particular place. Yes, it is a fetch line. For a quick one shot, it is simple, easy, and interesting, and it gives you a chance to do more outdoors stuff or things that are less likely to happen.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
One big point for one shots is the time limit. So let players do their thing but keep things on track, ideally make it clear to players at the start to set expectations. If you’re party is good an understand the effort you’re putting in they should want to progress but if tou let them dally to much you’ll either not finish the story and have to cut content or extend the one shot to multiple sessions
Dnd 5e has a lot of combat based abilities etc so players will probably want to fight but in most games it’s combat where the pacing dies, usually due to unlucky dice. A wee combat designed to last 30 minutes takes an hour because the players can’t hit AC14 and you’ve already established a 13 missed because of previous dice rolls and now if you retcon it it will be obvious. So make any combat deliberate, and impactful because if they go on too long you may need to rejig things later so that combat should be fun. One of the best one shots I played in only had two fights, a wee one mid game and an epic finale. Every other encounter could be avoided or resolved be social interactions or smart olayers
I know this sounds dumb but it is a one shot so much if you want to end it you can just meteor the party if it is going to long. I have done this twice and it worked fairly well. However it is more fun to finish it.
So the entire point of a “one shot” is you are running a dungeon of a medium size (lasting 3-4 sessions). So make sure you have your dungeon ready to go. Start by creating the basic geometry, then elevate the dungeon where you add stairs, ramps, ladders, pillars, and balconies. Next name and furnish each room, then lastly document each encounter (battles, traps, hazards, treasures, puzzles, obstacles, skill challenges.)
Just remember, “one shot” translates to: We are running a dungeon. Without a dungeon, your one shot will flop.
have fun!
had a oneshot last night which worked well. The DM literally said "you start in a temple, the priest comes over and asks for help.
*some roleplay until party agrees. DM offered a lot of gold, so no haggling."
Once they agreed the priest literally pushed them out of the door and sent them on their way, the travel was handwaved, and here's the dungeon. Off you go!
Worked well and was refreshing in the way he was open about "this is preamble, just go adventure already!".
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
>Without a dungeon, your one shot will flop
I feel like there are a lot of good one-shots that aren't dungeons. For instance, I had a great time playing a one-shot that was primarily arguing with a stubborn fish. Dungeons crawls can be very fun, but they aren't the only way to have fun.
I think that is going to be very dependent on having a very unique group. A hot start adventure that puts you right into the thick of things is the best way to induct players into a one shot.
I find as a player I have a problem doing "social role-playing" in a one-shot mainly because I don't know this character and I'm never going to know them. This is a character Im going to use for a couple of game sessions and I know that going into it so the character investment is quite low.
For me, I just as well grab and axe, getting a mission and see what the DM has lineup for us.
I generally don't like one-shots at all, but if we are going to do one, I don't think I care to fuss about with character creation and character development or making any sort of investment in it.
I can see doing something like a Heist or Maybe some sort of scripted sequence. Once I recall doing a one shot where the adventures started out on a battlefield as part of an army and the whole night was a sequence of battles as we fought our way to the enemy leader for the big boss fight. That was fun, felt quite epic and wasn't a Dungeon Crawl per say. But a one shot about social interaction stuff, I don't, you would have to have something a lot more gripping than setting up an argument with a fish.
As others have said, trash the concept of backstories, trash the concept of any RP. Railroad the preamble, and throw the group into the mix. If you are running the typical 3 or 4 hour session that is the standard these days (my Pathfinder group runs 5 plus hours now, but my 5e group barely runs 3), there is simply no time for the typical time wasted in a tavern talking to some NPC.