![]() ![]() A simple way is to open the session in the middle of a dialogue with a quest giver or already on the road.ĭespite this, a narrative hook is important. Likewise, the reason your players are adventuring together in a one-shot adventure is not important. To aid this, it is helpful to simply tell your players where they are and where they are going instead of hoping for them to bite on a narrative hook. After all, your goal is to get into the action as quickly as possible since you’re likely playing with some time constraints (more on this below). The setting of where your characters will be adventuring is important, but don’t dwell on the specifics. The BeginningĪt the beginning, you want to immediately outline several key details. Like any good story, your one-shot adventure should have a beginning, middle, and end. Unless you are experienced running campaigns for higher level players, it is best to keep players below this level in one-shots. Things like balancing encounters and planning out puzzles begin to get a lot harder at level 10. This will allow you to tailor the adventure to their backstories or character strengths. Ask for character sheets ahead of time so you can get to know them, as there won’t be time to do this organically. Of course, adept players will usually want to come up with their own characters. Additionally, characters will begin to be less squishy at these levels, reducing your chances of accidentally wiping the floor with them during a single turn. This gives your players some autonomy when brewing up their characters and can lead to more unique scenarios. At 5th level, characters begin to get more interesting by acquiring abilities like extra attacks. Experienced Playersįor more experienced players, starting between levels 5 and 10 is the sweet spot. If not, just keep in mind to include some party balance for a better DnD experience (i.e. Hopefully your players naturally gravitate towards different archetypes. You can ask, for example: “Would you rather hit monsters with a big axe or shoot them with a bow?”. This can be pretty easy even if they aren’t well versed in fantasy tropes. ![]() Try to talk to each of your players briefly in advance and ask them what sort of character they might enjoy playing. It can be very overwhelming to try to understand and choose from dozens of different spells, especially for those players that love to min-max. This way, characters will have some spells and abilities that differentiate their archetypes but are easy enough to play that anyone with even a basic understanding of the rules will not feel lost.įor your new players it is also beneficial to create characters for them. If you’re planning for people who have never played DnD before, or even just one first timer is in the mix, it’s best to start characters at 2nd or 3rd level. Skill Levels and Charactersīefore conceptualizing a one-shot adventure, think about the skill level of your players. With sufficient preparation, noobs, veterans, and everyone in between can have a positive DMing experience. The goal of this article is to make the process a bit simpler. Regardless of your reasons, planning a one-shot session for the first time may seem like a bit of a daunting task. Some groups prefer to play DnD in different ways and a One-shot is a great way to get the feel for a new group of people. You are playing with a new group – It’s always a good idea to test out a new group before committing to a campaign. Like new players, new DMs can benefit from a small, contained world to find their legs in. You are trying out DMing for the first time – Coming up with a deep world and campaign right off the hop is a daunting task. A one-shot is a great way to bring some silliness, fun, and unique settings to a group. You need a break from your campaign or want to try something new with your group – Maybe you’re sick and tired of the dark, gritty world you’re running and want to try something lighter. If everybody in your crew is busy, taking turns running one-shots is a great way to keep things fresh and take the onus off one person. You don’t have a lot of time – One-shots require a lot less commitment than a full campaign. This is because they are typically set in a smaller ecosystem, aren’t overly complex, and have a more structured flow. You have new players – One-shots are a great way to introduce new players to the game. Now you may ask yourself… Why Run a One-Shot? This means that you introduce a new story and characters for a predetermined amount of time with no intention of using them again in the future. A one-shot DnD adventure follows the same rules of a typical DnD campaign, the only difference is that it is usually self-contained and only runs for one session. ![]()
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