What makes a good D&D one shot?

A one shot? In this economy?!
Let's explore the theory of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey to see how we can take our DND one shots to the next level.
All art in this video was taken from google image search, Bing AI or Midjourney AI. I do not claim ownership over any of it.
All music:
epidemicsound.com
- Emerald - Rocket Jr
- At Evenfall - Howard Harper-Barnes
Video clips taken from:
- Stranger Things, Matt and Ross Duffer, 2016, Netflix
- Gladiator, Ridley Scott, 2000, Universal Pictures
- Star Wars, George Lucas, 1977, 20th Century Fox
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Steve Barron, 1990, New Line Cinema
- The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson, 2001, New Line Cinema
- Hollow Knight, 2017, Team Cherry
- Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back, Kunihiko Yuyama, 1998, Toho
- Back to the Future III, Robert Zemeckis, 1990, Universal Pictures
- Hunger Games, Gary Ross, 2012, Lionsgate
- Buster Keaton train, Buster Keaton, 1926, United Artists

[@metrophobian]

Hello! Thanks for joining me down here in the comments. What's your best advice for creating a good DND one shot?

[@guyman1570]

Honestly.... modular design is THE key. Modular encounters, modular locations, modular NPCs, etc etc... that way, the one-shot is not totally congient upon a critical piece that may or may not fall in place smoothly as you need it to be. That's where the danger of a pre-planned adventure comes in.

[@SlothLinn]

Great video ^^ I'm a first time player, and my current group consist of 5-6 people that can't always show up, so we're often just 3-4 players plus the DM (he levels us all up simultaneously regardless, as we're a bunch of noobs anyway). Last weekend he made a sort of "one-shot", as in a unintended extra quest along the way. It was a simple "you spot merchants with an empty broken down cart, do you choose to help? -> fight the goblins that took their wares - and as a bonus because we fought them relatively easily, when we interrogated to see if there was any more goblins, we got the answer "no more goblins" and a scared look, before an angry owlbear attacked. At this point the barbarian had already donned the remaining goblin as a backpack, so the thiefling bard who hates goblins won't kill him... and lunged at the owlbear with her great axe, and the goblin strapped to her back... And the bard, and my druid were salty because we both wanted to attempt befriending the animal x'D I'm a first time player, and it's the first time he DM's, the other two had tried dnd once or twice before. Obviously this was very simple to fit our inexperienced group, but it doesn't always have to be a super interesting setup, in order for the group to have fun 🤷‍♀

[@crashtest_zombro7183]

I'm currently making a one-shot where the party is hired to deal with a unusual rat problem for a local tavern. In the basement they find a series of large tunnels carved out by roughly dog sized or larger rats. Those lead to the end of a dungeon where a lich has been eaten over and over again by the rats which is why they got so strong.

[@dravenzindle7585]

bro that's wicked

[@chadsmith8966]

Great video As Call of Cthulhu Keeper, here’s are a few additions. - keep the plot to a minimum. All information/exposition is only relevant to help the players progress through the scenario. - goals should be simple and straightforward. - PC companions make for perfect red shirts, people to rescue, advisors/helpers, and back up characters. - players are their own red herrings.

[@angelalewis3645]

Brilliant!

[@amessinger]

"Players are their own red herrings." - Can you elaborate on that a bit? What do you mean, and how does that work in your experience?

[@chadsmith8966]

@@amessinger of course. But first let’s define red herring for those not familiar with the term. A red herring is a distraction or false clue to divert attention from the real problem or culprit. GMs might be inclined to use red herrings on their players for X, Y, or Z reason. A great literally device but can create frustration for players. Maybe even upset them when they learn they wasted time and effort on a big Nothing Burger. It’s deceptive and antagonistic, and I personally don’t use Red Herrings on players. Instead any clues they find are legit clues that can lead to solving the mystery. Thing is players are open to interpret the clues however they believe as true, potentially being wrong in the process. They can distract themselves into thinking the Butler did it instead of the mistress. Seth Skorkowsky has a perfect example of this when his players hyper focused on a box of abandoned junk, thinking there were clues in it. The real clue was the owner never came back for his stuff. So yeah, the phrase means GMs don’t need to implement Red Herrings as the players will potentially do that themselves.

[@Matt9s]

Thanks for your video. I get around a lot of the issues you mention in the beginning by just communicating with the players and telling them what I want to run. For example, you guys are members of a "Witcher like" monster hunting organization. You all know each other and have been working together for a bit so no need for awkward in game introductions. You will be sent out to deal with a job the organization has been hired to investigate. I want this to be a mystery type of game and I want a more serious grim theme so no joke characters. If someone is not interested in that then we talk but generally I haven't had an issue with my friends trying new things like this.

[@Frederic_S]

Great video. It’s so important to not overwhelm players with to much content and the give adventure a proper end.

[@ElReyFaifTien]

I don’t know what it is with these small channels with absolutely amazing advice. Loved this video and immediately subbed :) can’t wait to see what you come up with the future

[@PlanetaryResetMusic]

Digging these ideas. My group kind of has a streaming format. The main campaign is the one I DM and has seasons of certain length before I take a break and someone else does a smaller campaign or we fill it in with one-shots. So far, we've all had fun with them for different reasons. We did a one-shot set as fiction within the campaign's canon, and it was basically a whole ass anime episode. I played a crab man and we all had ridiculous fun. We also did a Pro-wrestling-themed PvP one-shot that was the world's gladiation entertainment. I've done a couple "Holiday Special" one-shots that allow for reuse of current campaign characters as well as give people room to create zany new ones in a standalone story that also pushed the main story forward in a meaningful way. This is what works for our group, though, as we're pretty story oriented, and kind of do things in the way that Actual Play broadcasts like CR or Dimension 20 might do

[@CaseyWilkesmusic]

One shots are a great time to try: TPK the party (not on purpose but it’s not as important as an ongoing game) New mechanics sprinkled in with your normal game. (Wanna try a HP-less game? Do it in a 1 shot)

[@jeanchappa3077]

The best one shot had a time (turn) counter to accomplish the goal. There was a puzzle to solve, an object to find, and of course... a big bad.

[@henrikeriksson6552]

So in every good one-shot I've played, the characters have been pre-made where there was plot-hooks in the characters' backgrounds. That said, I've never played D&D as a one-shot, but only other systems like Call of Cthulhu.

[@angelalewis3645]

Wonderful content, pleasant voice, nice choice of background music, and clean language. Thank you so much! Subscribed! 🌟

[@elizabethrowe5960]

Working out a Starfinder one shot to introduce the game, and this is quite helpful. What is everyone's thoughts on pregens, particularly for players unfamiliar with the system?

[@zotechgaming1095]

Perhaps 2 or 3 shots should be more popular. The last and only one shot iv played in lasted 6 and a half hours. It was ... draining to say the least.

[@ZestonN]

If I make an one-shot and the players find a way to believably expand it into multiple sessions that doesn't get anybody killed, I see no problem. :) They just made my job easier, when I need a game to fall back on. Especially, if something goes bonkers with our main campaign. 🙂

[@brencelionheart6837]

I prefer running one shots over campaigns.

[@sketchasaurrex4087]

OR you're completely against the players as you throw a magical Predator or Alien at the party, lol

[@shazarakk]

Imo, a good one shot is 3 sessions long. Can never manage to get it done in just a few hours.

[@Respectable_Username]

8:38 That stuff about the monomyth/heroes journey being fundamental across cultures actually isn't accurate. He basically confirmation-biased his way into the theory, ignoring the parts of the stories from other cultures which did _not_ fit the formula. However, it is true that it is a very common format in western storytelling specifically.

[@SerifSansSerif]

Totally disagree. You're making way too much of this. It's just a setup/premise, let the player characters do stuff within the premise and have some logic fights, then end it where it needs. The less thought and story, the better. You mainly doesn't have time for more than a one sentence story and toss a few NPC's in for direction/social interaction.

[@hexadecimil]

Why is every DnD video like this now? The first half of the video is just a meandering preamble with no substance or point. Why is he trying to make this video feel like we just sat down at a coffee shop together with nothing particular to talk about? Was this shot in one take? I woke up at 8 min when he said "so what makes a good one shot?" And realized he'd said exactly nothing till not. Well that was your one shot.

[@17joren]

But… the beginning was relevant discussion about one-shots. Things DMs consider when making their own.