10 More Tips for Even Better One-Shots

How to Be a Better DM: Dungeon Master Tips for the DM Newbie, the Hobbyist and the Forever DM

“You creep slowly through the cobwebbed dark of the crypt, your breath coming out in puffs of steam that you’re trying your hardest to cover. You reach the corner and peer around down the hall. You see the source of the thumping sound. It’s a creature the size of an ogre, with the same proportions. The only difference is that where an ogre would have 1 head, this creature has 6, along with 3 extra arms and a 3rd leg that it drags behind it. Oh… and the entire body seems sewn together in the most grotesque way….

It’s some night in the future. That’s the sound of you pulling off the perfect one-shot. You’ve gathered a full party of friends and now you’re playing a once in a lifetime game.

But how do you create the once-in-a-lifetime One-Shot?

One-shots are fun, but getting them right is a skill that needs to be developed. Luckily for you, I’m going to share some tips that will help improve every single one-shot you ever play. The more often you play, the more likely it is that you create the Once-In-a-Lifetime One-shot.

Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM. This is the show that helps you, the Dungeon Master, craft better stories in less time and with less stress. We’ve been helping dungeon masters new and old for over 150 episodes now. I’m Justin Lewis and I’ll be your guide for today.

I love one-shots!

You probably know that if you’ve listened to the show for any amount of time.

If you want to go back and listen to the other episodes I’ve done about one-shots you can listen to:

Episode 1

Episode 12

Episode 24

Episode 38

Episode 82

And Episode 101.

The Most important would be Episode 82 which is 10 Reasons to Do One-Shots as a Dungeon Master.

So I’m not going to talk about why you should do one-shots, but just know that you absolutely should.

Instead, today I want to talk about some more tips to help you push the limits of your abilities. I want you to make your next one-shot the best the world has ever seen.

Tip #1: Go All Out

Going all out for a campaign could be daunting and possibly exhausting depending on a lot of factors and circumstances.

Going all out for a one-shot is much easier in comparison. So with this next one-shot you do, give it everything you got.

It’s a simple fact of dungeon master, and most things in life actually, but what you put into something is what you’ll get out of it.

With your next one-shot, go all out!

Obviously I say that hoping you’ll exercise some degree of temperance. I don’t expect you to rent out a suit of armor and act out every single part. Use your judgment.

But if you are thinking critically, then you’ve probably thought of at least some sort of 1% type action that you could do that you don’t normally do. Maybe you don’t do music and you could add it to your game. Maybe getting some real candles could spice up the atmosphere. Try to push yourself just that little bit and go the extra mile. Your players will appreciate the effort.

Tip #2: Write It Yourself

As a DM, you’ll need to practice the creativity it takes to manage and perform full campaigns. Practicing your writing abilities goes a long way toward that end. So with your next one-shot, try to write the entire thing yourself. It’s a great practice in story creation, development, pacing and character creation.

Because one-shots are so short, your story needs to be punchy as do the characters. You know pretty easily and clearly, if the story doesn’t really land.

One-shots are also a great opportunity to try writing stories that you don’t normally tell to stretch yourself and push your limits.

Tip #3:Be Clear About the Character Creation Options

When preparing your one-shot, prepare the character creation options for your players. Because it is a one-shot, you are going to go all out. Your players are going to do the same exact thing. They will try to make the most wacky characters and sometimes the most min-maxy characters. This could easily break your one-shot.

If you’re trying to write and publish a one-shot then this is a good thing. You want to test out the limits of what you’ve created.

But if you’re just playing for fun, then maybe say no to the changelings or the flying creatures.

At least just know what you want to allow and what you don’t so that when character creation happens, you aren’t making things up on the spot.

Tip #4: Plan for a Small Break in the Middle

To make the one-shot even more fun, plan a small break in the middle. Announce the break at the beginning of the game and explain when it will happen. This will help your players manage themselves so that they don’t get up and grab something during some of the best parts of the one-shot.

It also makes the mood much more relaxes and allows you to strategize and gameplan in the middle of the session.

Tip #5: Playtest what You’ve Written

Since you’ve written this one-shot, I’d highly recommend playtesting it as much as is possible. If all you can do is just a quick run-through in your head, that is exponentially better than not doing that.

If you can, test out parts of the one-shot, either with yourself or with some volunteers to make sure the mechanics work and are interesting. You’re also trying to ensure that the game isn’t too easy or too difficult.

Playtesting will allow you to make sure the game is going to be fun.

More than anything though, it will allow you to just remember what you’ve got going on. Going through it once or twice will allow you to more easily recall the important elements during the game.

Tip #6: Try a Theme or Mechanic You’ve Never Done Before

This tip goes in line with the tip to go all out, but this is your opportunity to try a rule you’ve never used before. Try out insanity mechanics or the Alert Level mechanics. If you get it wrong, that’s fine because it’s a one-shot.

Some other interesting mechanics you may try out are:

Diseases

Called Shots

Possession

Metamorphosis/Transformation

Reputation

Sentient Weapons

Weapons that Grow or Build

Persuasion of the Masses.

Those are just some examples, but hopefully, they got you thinking of what you could try out.

Tip #7: Don’t Worry About Making It Unique

This tip might be somewhat contradictory of tip #1, but don’t worry about making it unique.

What I mean by that is that you might be tempted to try to make it something no one has ever seen before. Even as I write this, I am thinking of a one-shot I’m preparing. As I’ve been working on it, from time to time I’ll think, “Well that sounds exactly like so many other shows out there. This character won’t work because it’s such a cliche”.

Don’t worry about that. The uniqueness that we all crave so much will come in time. Just focus on making this one-shot as fun as possible. If you do that and you really care about your party, then it will all fall into place.

Tip #8: Consider Letting the Party Plan the Classes

One problem one-shots can run into is having 3 rangers in the party (speaking from experience).

If that’s what the party wants, then that’s fine, but if you sense some awkwardness as the party is describing and introducing their character, then that’s probably why.

When people make characters, they often want their character to feel special and unique. Often, if there is more than one character with the same class at the table, there is a chance that one of them doesn’t feel unique.

Before the one-shot, connect all your players together with a text thread, a phone call, an email or even an in-person meeting **GASP**.

Let them talk about what each of them want to play as before the game begins. This can help them form a good party, or just avoid forming a bad one.

It can also allow the party to hash out how their characters know and relate to each other. If you want, you can insert that bit yourself, but giving them parameters (you all know each other and have worked with each other for a while) can allow them the creative freedom to come up with some pretty cool stuff.

Tip #9: Skip the Boring Bits

You see this on a lot of actual play shows where there is a time limit, but they do skip a lot. In your one-shot play, you don’t need to do the traveling and exploring if you don’t want to. If there is something that seems boring, then move on.

Because one-shots are often with limited time, you often do have to trim the fluff or risk not being able to finish.

This is actually good practice for normal games. Sometimes we ask for skill checks just to add some sort of difficulty rather than actually pushing for an interesting story. When you trim the fluff and skip the boring bits, you’re always evaluating whether the current encounter or scene is worth doing. Having that mental critique is useful because hopefully, at the end of the day, everything that happened was 100% worthwhile to the party.

Tip #10: No Phones or Tablets

I know that nowadays in the crazy digital age, we’re all slaves to our devices. But every once in a while, it’s a nice treat to get back to the origins of tabletop roleplaying games.

Do away with the phones and tablets and computers. Have everyone agree to use pen and paper for the one shot. They can write down the spells they are going to use before hand.

I know this is (weirdly) a big ask.

But getting them to give you their full attention (so no phone distractions) can make for a very fun game. Plus, I think a good amount of us need the break.

There you have it, 10 more tips to help you make each one shot you do even better than the last. As I mentioned at the start of the show, one-shots are so important.

Often, getting a group to stay together is one of the hardest parts of a being a dungeon master. If you can get good at doing one-shots, you’ll enjoy yourself much more because your scheduling headaches will be limited to just one day rather than week-in and week-out.

With these 10 tips, you’ll be able to have a much more fun time. I am curious though. What sort of one-shot will you create?

When you do any sort of one-shot, reach out to us and let us know how it goes for you. We’d love to be a part of your journey.

As you go on and DM, you’ll have ups and downs and all arounds. No matter the challenges you face, keep going. Every man, woman and child is better on the other side of challenge. Thanks for listening to How to Be a Better DM. It’s you who makes this possible. So with your blessing, we’ll be back next week for another great episode, but until then, let’s go ahead and roll initiative.

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