D&D 5E Any ideas for how I can be less bad at one-shots?

[happyhermit]

By one-shots I mean where a group sits down with new characters, plays a session, and that's it.

These have always been my least favorite RPG activity to play/run/watch but I haven't really tried much to change that, at least recently. There is likely a parallel to how I feel about short stories, the vast majority of them that I really was impressed by, I found myself really wishing it were a novel instead. Characters, their development and seeing how they react to difficult choices is mostly why I am interested in TTRPGs these days and it seems like this stuff is difficult to do in a short amount of time in a ttrpg. In general I just don't find them satisfying for some reason. Oh, and when I have run them they have been received less positively than campaigns, likely due to me though I suppose it could be similar preference issues.

So, primarily on the running of one, and ideally taking into account new or somewhat inexperienced players, any ideas for how I could improve? Do I need to change how I/we look at it, ie; run it more like a combat table top game (which I enjoy)? Does it need to be a marathon all day session or some other minimum length? Any example of great one-shots to emulate? Anything I am missing?

 

[kbrakke]

I think of one shots as I would an episode of a TV show. The session has a singular overarching plot that gets resolved. I generally try to keep things focused and moving towards the plot of a session. If you like seeing how players react to difficult choices just start with a difficult choice and keep things moving such that they spend their time dealing with those choices. For you I would suggest not running combat, or running as little of it as possible because from what you say, fighting isn't the part that you like, you like seeing characters react to difficult situations.

If you're looking to see a character grow over time then I have bad news, which is that a one shot will not get you that, pretty much ever. By definition a one shot is a short slice of time that doesn't have future repercussions. If you are running an introductory adventure in one session it would be absurd to get the same character development that you get from a campaign.

I would suggest you do the following -
1) Make your adventure about character choices, don't force them to fight, don't force them to explore and solve puzzles, focus your adventure around the characters solving problems where the "right" solution isn't clear.

Example: The mayor asks them to stop some bandits, the bandits were forced in to this life by some action of the mayor, they just take what they need to survive, The Mayor had good reasons for what he did but the outcome wasn't really ideal, and some of the bandits are thinking about making this work full time.

2) Keep the players on this track, skip over things that aren't related to the adventure, don't have random encounters, don't have bits there to showcase the rules, having a good session is more important than learning about the rules.
Example: Don't have a random animal or goblin attack, shortcut conversations with unimportant people.

3) Frame your adventure as if it could become a larger campaign. Don't just have the adventure be the world, indicate that decisions they make here could impact things later on. If they like it consider expanding the adventure in to a campaign. This should make the players feel that their actions have more weight and give you as the DM more investment. If you don't continue the campaign then no problem, the plot was wrapped up and everyone had a good time. If you do continue it you already laid the groundwork for a larger campaign.
Example: Give a sense of other larger troubles in the world around them. Perhaps the mayor is worried about Hobgoblin raiders which is why he did the thing he did, but don't let the party interact with that.

So if you don't like one shot adventures because it doesn't let you see characters make tough choices and it doesn't feel as fulfilling skip everything but making tough choices and the context around that and give it a possibility of expanding in to a campaign.

As a related suggestion I love the adventure DDEX 1-3 Shadows over the Moonsea. The party is sent to try and convince an island of backwoods folks that they are about to be attacked by pirates and that they need to band together. But the islanders don't seem to want to listen and might not be better than the cultists pirates. It culminates in a sweet battle at the end, but most of it is talking and investigating this strange island.

 

[LordEntrails]

[MENTION=6781797]kbrakke[/MENTION] gives lots of good advice.

For me, fun one-shots are about solving a single thing. They are not about what happens over time; but one decision, one action, one moment in time. Maybe its a run in with Lee Harvey Oswald before Dallas. Or the mission to deliver a nuke to the alien mother ship (al la Independence Day). Or maybe it's venturing forth from town to the volcanic dragon's lair that has just come to life again and surely means the ancient evil dragon has arisen from his slumber.

You should accept lots of cliches and stereo types. They are story telling crutches that put the PCs in the right place at the right time. Doesn't mean the choices or challenges have to be stereo typical, but understand the use of easily made assumptions to provide motivation and backstory. Just because the ranger has the Legolas backstory doesn't mean the conclusions are already made as to the decision they will make when confronted in your one-shot. The cliche background is there as a crutch to get everyone to the start of the one-shot with a common understanding.

I will differ with kbrakke in that one-shots can be all about combat. You don't have to worry about motivation and plot, who cares why you have to invade the church and kill the mage residing in the catacombs? The investigation and justification has taken place outside the focus, now it's time to kill the BBEG and his minions!

But, I will say this is probably more important than anything else; If your expectations are not set right, you will not enjoy whatever you do.

If you can't accept the assumptions; if you want to know why John Wick was an assassin, or how he managed to retire, or how he fell in love with his deceased wife; then one-shots may not be for you. But, if you can accept all those things are, and that now he must seek revenge for the death of his dog at all costs, then go have fun!

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

So, primarily on the running of one, and ideally taking into account new or somewhat inexperienced players, any ideas for how I could improve? Do I need to change how I/we look at it, ie; run it more like a combat table top game (which I enjoy)? Does it need to be a marathon all day session or some other minimum length? Any example of great one-shots to emulate? Anything I am missing?

Yes, change the way you look at it. Think of it more like playing Clue or The House On the Hill (board game). It's okay to have different kinds of stories in a one-shot than you would in a campaign intended to be ongoing--you can totally choose one of the PCs to be secretly a traitor to the others, and it's completely fair and shouldn't spoil anyone's fun.

1.) Bob, Betty, and Fergus went in a hole in the ground looking for treasure. They found some, but then Fergus stabbed Betty and Bob in the back and took it all. He went home and was rich for the rest of his life. The End.

2.) Bob, Betty, and Fergus went in a hole in the ground looking for treasure. They found some, but then Fergus tried to stab Betty in the back, and Bob saved her. Together they defeated the treacherous Fergus and took him home in chains. Betty was Bob's hero, and they were both rich. The End. For now.

Both of these are valid endings to a one-shot, and so are all the other possible endings like "Fergus got eaten by a grue" and "everybody starved to death in the dark without ever finding any treasure." (Another cool thing about one-shots is that you can crank the difficulty way up.)

 

[iserith]

I love one-shots. I've designed and run tons of them, often multiple times for different groups to compare how they approach things differently (which means the story turns out differently). I'm doing that this very weekend, in fact, as I run a second group through Secret Party House of the Hill Giant Playboy. In my opinion, nothing makes for a more well-rounded DM than someone who has run a lot of one-shots for pickup groups. You get all types of players that way and can see easily what works and what doesn't.

There are two different designs you want to pursue in my opinion:

Start Big, End Big. You start with a big opening scene with action and you end much the same way. Then all the content in the middle has to be removable in case your first scene runs long and so you can make sure you close strong. So most of your design focus is on the starting and finishing scenes. The rest is filler and connection that you can make as detailed as you want so long as you can skip over it when the clock is working against you.

Real Time Stop. You set up an adventure location that is probably too big to finish in the allotted time. You then tell the players up front that at a certain time, the adventure needs to wrap up - you'll finish the scene you're in and then come up with a reason why it's time to go. Then end with a narrative montage with each player adding their bit.

In general, your focus using either of these designs is on the challenge. Not on getting to the challenge by interviewing quirky, cagey NPCs or spending a lot of time in taverns expounding upon the character's feelings about being an orphan or whatever. The PCs need to be doing stuff and pursuing goals relentlessly because time is of the essence. So make sure your players know about this change in expectations and pacing up front.

I further recommend that, when the players create characters, they do so before the gaming session. Then tell them to operate under the assumption that each of the characters knows the others, have adventured together before, and trust each other at least enough to go on dangerous quests together. None of that "Gettin' Ta Know Ya" crap - there's no time. At the start of play, ask each player to intro their character in 30 seconds or less - who they are, a backstory less than the length of a Tweet, and what the others can expect mechanically. Then go back around the table and ask each player to describe an adventure (very briefly) that his or her character went on with two other characters of their choice. Let them build on each other's ideas and try to write those down and reference them later when they seem related to the content you're presenting.

Next, tell them that Inspiration is on them to claim and they can do so once per personal characteristic (trait, ideal, bond, flaw). That's four times they can take Inspiration for themselves during the game by playing to their characteristic. They don't need your permission. They just need to point out when they've done it and take their reward. This will usually get them to be a little less subtle with their characterizations than in a longer campaign - good! You don't have time for them to go through a 50 episode character development arc after all. And on that note, tell them that their characters exist only in this one-shot. It's not a time for being timid or conservative. Go all out and make the story as exciting and memorable as possible.

I have a ton more thoughts on one-shots, but that's the very basic stuff I can recommend. If you have specific questions or want feedback on your idea, please feel free to ask.

 

[aco175]

If you have novice players you should make the PCs before time and pass them out to the players preference. Start at 1st level but have 2nd level characters on hand already. Partway through the adventure swap the PCs around and any not chosen the first time. Sort of like a convention.

 

[hastur_nz]

Lesson #1: if the DM isn't really into the game, chances are it will fall flat. So don't do something you're not excited about...

I've only ever run one or two one-shots, and played in one or two, but the one I remember (many years ago) was a published adventure on the Isle of Dread, where it started with everyone shipwrecked, and finished with them encountering the local zombie master and doing some kind of mission for the villagers. The key to success was making sure the PC's were all ready to go before we started the game, and having a nice adventure that started well and the middle could be flexed somewhat to make sure we got to the end-piece with an hour or so left, so we actually finished it properly. In my game, the ship-wreck served its main purpose in terms of explaining how a somewhat random collection of adventurers ended up together, and the exotic locale served to focus them on survival (they might have assumed it was possible to escape the island, but in this case, no, the adventure was about 'can you survive').

Even for newbies, I'd favour a one-shot with PC's around 3rd level, because they will not level up and that's just enough power and definitive class abilities without being too complicated. Sure, start a campaign at first level, but for a one-shot, you want people to have fun this session because there is no next time. If your players are not experienced enough, feel free to use or make pre-gens, but make sure people have a choice in who plays what. Also, make sure whatever background info they might have is the bare minimum and is actually relevant to the session.

For an adventure, make sure it's god a solid beginning, and that it basically just asks a single question. So the one-shot game is all about answering that single question.