How to run a D&D One Shot in ONE SESSION

[@zakazanystek861]

That's some really quality content from a very small channel. You just gained a new subscriber.

[@WaysAwayTavern]

Super solid advice front to back! I especially appreciate the suggestion of having doors already opened and freely explaining to the players what they see. I feel like I've added so many unintentional red-herrings to sessions I've run by making mundane pieces feel unnecessarily mysterious.

[@powerwordspill]

Thanks so much! Yeah everytime I say "there's nothing in there" my players narrow their eyes and go "oh really?"

[@stevekas14]

Really solid advice, wish I had seen this video a couple of years ago. The quality of the production is nice. Another thing that helps keeping one shots being one shots is the ability to move the players forward, like when they are stuck on some element, have something else happen that drives the plot forward, i.e. an NPC approach the party and gives relevant information or guides them to the next "scene", or they see a magic flash in the distance. Also it is important to be able to adapt and change things around, for example the NPC that the party is talking doesn't have anything useful to say, well either cut that NPC from the story, or give them the important piece of information the players are looking for. Does the shopkeeper have connections to the black market? Well now he has. Anyway i rambled on quite much.

[@powerwordspill]

That's a great tip about moving the plot forward for sure! If your players are stuck, or just taking too long messing around it's great to have something ready to move them along!

[@spycytoast910]

Do you have any advice how to do a episodic style game kinda like every game night is a one shot but with the same characters each time Or is that something that doesn't exists?

[@powerwordspill]

Yeah definitely, I'll make a video on it! But for now, it definitely exists and they're really fun campaigns to play in. First off I'd talk to your players to see what kind of stories they're interested in, and what kind of episodic TV shows they like, and then use that as inspiration for the types of stories you'll tell. Second, I'd give them a base right from the start, and that's where all of your adventures will start. If it's a moving base or time traveling base or plane shifting base then you have more variety in the locations you can visit. Lastly, I'd utilize down time between sessions. Between sessions ask each of your players what they want to do, like buying stuff or researching, or making items, so that way you don't waste any game time on those little things. I'll post the video in a couple weeks!

[@JoeyBilbo]

I actually run a club at my college campus and we do this exact thing every weekend. This last semester I did a one-shot campaign that was 10 sessions long. We allow people to play based on RSVPs so we had regulars and then some players that rotated in and out. They were working for an adventuring guild that was investigating gem dragon sightings. It ended up being a whole convoluted story where they got some of the bad guys to join their side and it was super cool. Every session I would have a plan for what they would accomplish. The guildmaster would send them on a quest to do a specific task, or investigate a specific place. Then they would basically fast travel there and start! I try to do 2 combats, some exploration, some roleplay opportunities and some puzzles every session. I really let the players lead the adventure. However they want to accomplish the task is how it will happen. Bottom line is that it’s very possible. Give the characters a sort of “reset area” that they will start and end each session at. That way every session is its own adventure. Limit combat to 2 encounters and give the players a lot of room player led roleplay.

[@andreasljungkvist29]

I remember my first one-shot. Did a branched adventure with alternate routes. It took 9 hours, my brain was fried after that! We usually do about 6h sessions. 3 players, started at the city square the evening before the event. They RP'd for 2 hours and talked to 25 NPC's before going to bed, then when in the dungeon they avoided as much as they possibly could. It was rough.

[@hamfish1328]

I've watched about 4 or 5 of Power Word Spill's videos despite only barely getting into DnD recently. Only now have I realised the size of this channel is criminally small compared to the quality and value of this content. Amazing work and thank you for your effort.

[@the_alechemist7054]

This feels like a personal attack

[@stevenphilpott4294]

Definitely need to get the players onboard, and them having no illusions about the type of adventure

[@oscargarciahinde4247]

Subbed! Great tips. I laughed way too hard at the intro! I can't stress enough how important the nº of encounters thing is. Encounters are ANYTHING that implies the players do stuff, not just combat. Once you get into this mindset you'll be much better at estimating the actual time it will take to clear an adventure.

[@samcarter5516]

Dude, you’re criminally under-appreciated. Great channel.

[@Tallpeasant]

You rock, dude! Great advice. Thanks!

[@morssel]

Great video, look forward to this channel growing

[@elijahfenter1178]

I was watching your new video and just looked at how small your channel is! I really like your work and the information you deliver. Deffility going to be a regular, and I'll share you page where I can ^^

[@powerwordspill]

Thanks very much!

[@vogelfaenger6830]

I prepare one encounter for every 45 minutes to play, I also prepare my encounters in a way that I can skip or shorten the encounters if I need to. This way we could play everything out, if they are fast. Or play only the important stuff and the stuff I had to improvise if they are slow. Also my oneshots are typically longer than my campaign sessions. Campaign is typically 3-4 hours, sometimes up to 6 hours if I have enough time to prepare. Oneshots are typically 6 hours long. Long Sessions are very draining for me, so I don't like to play them often. #4 my DM in the campaign I'm playing in is terrible at this. He didn't invent a connection for my characters to stay in the group and he doesn't touch my backstory in any meaningful way. last Campaign my character wanted to lift a curse and make money. We played up to Level 10. He got the curse by wearing a crown, which he lost while confused and was looking for it ever since. He found the crown and the curse became more severe. Shortly after we defeated the BBEG and without a connection to it, the curse was lifted. No explanation or anything. In the campaign me made together not even 1000 gold but had to pay several gold for staying in an Inn. So we could never buy anything and found nearly no magic Items. (everybody had one in 3 year campaign) My character stayed in the group after the initial hook, because he didn't want to be alone anymore. And they were no new hooks. We just stumbled upon the crown. Current campaign my character lost his family and wants to revive them. He comes from a monster society. He stays with them to get more powerful, also one of the villians is a necromancer and my spore druid has connections to necromancy. I gave my DM some storyhooks he could follow. Getting more powerful to revive, challenges to make him believe he shouldn't seek power to revive his people, revenge to the murderer of his family, solving family issues (he ran away from his monster family for their methods) Nothing happened up to this point and this campaign will end with level 7-8 and we are already at 6.

[@stan.howtez5849]

Honestly your content is amazing. I just found you and have loved listening to your takes. I also love that it isn’t chaotic and jumpy while providing in depth insight in a pretty short video format. 👍👍

[@powerwordspill]

Thank you so much!

[@FlintFireforge]

Great advice!

[@lamaminatsuki]

Great vid! I'm just starting out on D&D so this is extremely useful.

[@powerwordspill]

Thanks very much, I'm glad it was helpful!