How I Write One-Shots

My D&D group likes to take turns DM'ing, and I've become known as the one-shot guy because I usually set up long, complex sessions. Our group has had a lot of fun doing these kinds of one-shots, and I haven't really seen videos about this particular style of one-shot on KZbin, so I decided to make it.
Usually the advice is similar to what @Runesmith has talked about; coming up with an idea, having a series of encounters that lead into each other, and running it with whatever characters the players bring. But I like to make more open, longer one-shots, where the players have a buy-in, it's written around them, and they're just given a list of things to do in whatever order they wish.
I've run a few of these one shots before, and it's been successful at my table. I can't speak for everyone, but I think it's a nice way to mix things up. It's sort of like an open world campaign, but restricted to a single location. As I'm writing this, I think I didn't do as good of a job describing that as I should have -- I mostly focused on the example one-shot I've run before. I'll probably make a supplementary video to this later, or maybe replace it in a few years if I end up continuing making content. Who knows!
Let me know what you think!

[@exSolarius]

i love the runesmith reference. riffing on his style during that portion was a very cool touch

[@userisinuse]

Hahaha thank you, I think he's great, want him to make more videos again!

[@krinkrin5982]

For your scenario, I'd basically only figure out who took the ring and why. That's it. Players brief would literally be: you are all courtiers. You've been tasked with finding the ring. And keeping it quiet. Go! I like how much backstory you gave to this.

[@cameronsitton501]

And if there was a halfling commoner who found the ring, then the one-shot could be the party escorting him to the wedding on an epic journey

[@DanFlux]

I recently ran a one-shot that was written entirely around the characters my players decided to make. Since they focused all of their builds around combat heavy mechanics, I prepared a few combat scenarios for the one-shot. They decided to approach everything stealthily and rolled a nat20 at every clutch moment. There was no combat. The session was still awesome.

[@tayloroh8563]

Goes to show that being a DM is a constant learning journey! Thank you for some wonderful advice!

[@samuelcohen2016]

Every time I start One-shots - they're becames the long games

[@zerupsy]

This is like what my friend does in his VtM games. "You can succeed.....at a cost." It has different rules for when it can be used. But he comes up with a drawback for you getting what you need. And not just attacks, skill checks, ability usage, etc.

[@MemphiStig]

Perfect for groups who like long sessions. That was always my preference, too.

[@patrick.s3356]

The simplicity of this prep is fantastic. Create a world based on your characters, create some key npcs, create a problem, create ties to the problem, then let the players loose to go muk around, all the while mishaps and interesting little events appear in their path. I love it. I’d also love to hear about your prep for a full campaign, or a summary of how this one shot turned out 🤘 Figuring out how to make my own DM prep easier is something I love brainstorming. There is a lot of dnd advice videos on youtube but not all of them stand out, or are incredibly convoluted. This is a great video!

[@rangereric18]

One shots are difficult for me so I tend to make them universally personal to all player characters. This establishes the stakes without the hefty world building I'd have to throw away at the end of the scenario. Otherwise, I run the risk of setting up stakes for a setting they have no previous knowledge or claim to. I would prefer my players said: "Remember that time when we played that one shot where we were all imprisoned by that prince and had to escape the dungeon before we cornered him and fed him to an angry mob?" As opposed to: "Well, we failed and the kingdom fell to darkness. Oh well, it was just a one-shot anyway."

[@thehalfa95]

I used to have groups a lot where I'd give them a buy in or a one off rule and most the players would ask me if they could be the exception. It sucks when you give a prompt to players and they just ignore it and I'm glad I've found players with more respect for my time

[@userisinuse]

Yeah I've been pretty lucky with my group, been together a while and we respect each other and tell fun stories together. Any time there's been "the exception" in a game is when the DM is actively working with the player, we've had a few surprise betrayals and they're always fun at our table. Glad you found a good group!

[@Zamun]

The little call out to Logan, hidden down below, was a nice touch. Good stuff

[@Brainstrain]

Rough night at the three feathers campaign has a great wedding scenario. The entertainers from a foreign clime can often be a great source of assassination or conflict, even if the players do everything right.

[@agustinvenegas5238]

This weekend I'm running my first one-shot for strangers and this advice came in clutch for my needs

[@TFconfused]

I like your DnD videos! Fun, quick and easy to watch

[@nathanheidt1047]

Great advice! Hope you keep making more of these videos.

[@LukeMason]

Keep up the D&D content! Love your straightforward style.

[@samuelmitchell6328]

I watch this pretty often. Idk if you actually are interested in making more videos like this or if this is all you have to say about how you run TTRPGs, but if it isn't I want you to know your take is interesting and informative and has helped me in my weekly sessions and the way you presented the info is concise but engaging enough to keep my attention the whole way through. I hope you continue to make these, but if not thank you very much for what you've already given.

[@userisinuse]

Thank you a lot, I've found myself a little busy with other projects and work recently, but am hoping to get back to this soon. Got a lot of ideas!

[@samuelmitchell6328]

​@@userisinuse look forward to seeing them.

[@anajuliavieira7228]

I honestly have no idea of how I found this video but I'm so glad I did!!! I'm planning to run a one-shot soon and I will use these tips for sure!! Love the dnd content and subscribed, hope to see more from you

[@gamerguy3497]

Just letting you know that this video was at the top of my home recommendations. The algorithm has blessed you.

[@userisinuse]

Praise be 🙏

[@Gghosty]

Loved this video!

[@TheTkhhwilliams]

This was great! Thank you. I love how you kept trying over the the sentence like worrying on a rubiks cube until you got it just right. I'm curious how long this took you to develop once you got the working line. And starting with the inciting sentence was fantastic

[@userisinuse]

Thank you! I don't think I mentioned it in the video, but I actually work in video/film production, and I'm kind of just taking the advice people use to create a good logline for a film and applying it to D&D. A story is a story no matter the medium! I'm not super sure how long it took to build the game after I got the line, we did a session 0 to make characters before it and then I prepped it on a VTT with a map and NPCs and stuff so it wasn't super quick, but there are a thousand ways to do a one shot that are super quick to set up that night, I just like to give myself time to make it very fun and memorable! Thank you, I really appreciate it!

[@Obdilord]

Amazing! Please make more?!

[@xacbolay]

Great advice, really good approach

[@WhimsicalWisp44]

Id love to see more about how this oneshot went! Maybe you could even publish it

[@Karmasu_L]

Thank you for the video.

[@anchor7549]

Great video!

[@mattcg149]

Yoy don't know how many times I had the impulse to wipe my screen 'cause of those "sand" or "galaxy" backgrounds... Nice vid btw!

[@Kabster_the_Lime]

this is actually a pretty good resource for me, thank you! i meet a roleplaying group im in once a month and i have kind of become a primary one shot GM. This was very fun in the beginning when i had some original ideas but that spark has kinda left. What i liked most about your points you mentioned was the character creation. As i often play with some passive players, getting them in the mood by giving them clear ways of connecting their character to the story could be a good idea! looking forward to any new dnd/TTRPG content you might reliese in the future :)

[@userisinuse]

I'm glad I can help! Thanks for the super nice comment!

[@gmanbo]

2:47 If you want to run this scenario with a bit higher tension. The spy/ intelligence groups from both sides want the war over because of a bigger threat. Your players are a mix of both organizations. Teaming up to make sure nothing goes wrong. Adds some inter party tension+ allows for outside intervention.... + The need for a group of specialized troubleshooters.

[@myhandle365]

This is great. You'll do well.

[@noxiousbones]

I love the use of Runesmith reference, it’s such an amazing way to nod to other RPG content creators, but putting the emphasis on “everyone can have their own style, and is valid.” ❤

[@userisinuse]

Exactly! Love his stuff!

[@kustisammul8453]

That's the second DnD channel I've caught at it's beginning. The first one didn't last, but may you fare better

[@111muz111]

For me; 3-4hrs is usually 3encounters, 1 boss and a trap/riddle

[@Drudenfusz]

I have somewhat similar approach, the base idea however is usually for me a theme around with I build the conflicts that are going on. But regarding the involvement of the player characters I do exactly the same, maybe even more since I usually tell them the core theme so that they have even more incentives to drive the plot themselves. Thus if I would go with the same adventure you talked about in the video, I would hope the players actually take more of the roles that you had for NPCs, like the bride or the general and thus making it more about an inner conflict and allowing more exploration of character arcs.

[@userisinuse]

That's cool! The examples I gave of what the players could be; the captain, the librarian, and the gardener -- those are the rolls my players chose haha. It'd be interesting to have the players be the ones causing the issues as well as trying to solve them, but that is starting to sound like a few-shot where they have to learn and grow. Sounding similar to A Court of Fey and Flowers from Dropout. Anyway, thanks for the comment!

[@Drudenfusz]

@@userisinuse It actually can be done in a one-shot. Try the game Fiasco for this, which does that easily as one-shot, and that without even a GM.

[@thomrik]

@@Drudenfusz a lot can be learned from Fiasco as far as running one-shots

[@manuelmialdea5127]

Thisnia very similar to how im writting my first campaign, although because of the length I have a heavy focus on themes.

[@finnsterp9695]

This guy has only dished out good advice

[@userisinuse]

Haha thank you!

[@tyman1277]

I love all the hidden comments on your vids!

[@arkhamrejectscommunitybatr6599]

I’m still new to DMing and making one shots. My first one I felt like I made it to rail roared tho don’t get me wrong my players somehow found a way to do nothing planed but we had fun. This time it’s going to be a reverse Robin Hood. He’s gonna be the bad guy. And I’m going to try making my players find out who’s side they want to be on. There going to catch him Stealing from the kings Vault and an epic Parkour chasing’s gonna happen. But yo make things really interesting. I think Robin Hood’s gonna be a changeling? Or have a Mary band of miscellaneous races 🤔

[@userisinuse]

Let me know how it goes!

[@Robocopster]

What happens when they don’t find the ring? Total party kill?

[@userisinuse]

What I did was set up a bunch of things that could go wrong, and gave them many opportunities to solve them. If they don't solve a few, that's fine, but if they don't solve enough, the wedding wouldn't happen and now they have to fight the elves!

[@Robocopster]

@@userisinuse If the party kills the Bugbear and the goblin, then would the elves be next?

[@mandyogilvie686]

208 like and 186 sub

[@veselinnedkov643]

Giving the players some guidelines about who/what their PCs can be is such a huge thing for me. Giving complete freedom to the players is all well and good, but a PC needs to a) care about the task at hand and b) the questgiver should trust them enough to give them the task in the first place. In a proper big campaign you might be able to take your time and work it out during play. In one-shots there's no time. But that doesn't mean that just because it's a one-shot and there will be no follow-up, motivation and basic logic should not be present.

[@userisinuse]

Absolutely agree!

[@Stone_Orchids]

Wow, that was not the best... I rather avoid wasting time on stuff that add nothing to the experience and focus on the adventure itself, maybe you can add some cool new details about a setting you are already using in a campaign but if it's a one shot you have to cut all that you can to make it fit in a limited amount of hours a compact, quick, fun and complete experience to be remembered. Condensing an entire campaign for a single session of play make for unnecessary complexity that call for a railroad, when what is needed to have fun is depth in an adventure where players have more freedom

[@userisinuse]

To each their own! This is just how I like to write things, like I said in the video, feel free to use, tweak, or ignore anything I say!

[@Stone_Orchids]

@@userisinuse indeed, it's always good to have a second opinion, I might not have appreciated your overall system but there's some great ideas in the mix