“You creep slowly through the cobwebbed dark of the crypt, your breath coming out in puffs of steam that you’re trying your hardest to cover. You reach the corner and peer around down the hall. You see the source of the thumping sound. It’s a creature the size of an ogre, with the same proportions. The only difference is that where an ogre would have 1 head, this creature has 6, along with 3 extra arms and a 3rd leg that it drags behind it. Oh… and the entire body seems sewn together in the most grotesque way….

It’s some night in the future. That’s the sound of you pulling off the perfect one-shot. You’ve gathered a full party of friends and now you’re playing a once in a lifetime game.

But how do you create the once-in-a-lifetime One-Shot?

One-shots are fun, but getting them right is a skill that needs to be developed. Luckily for you, I’m going to share some tips that will help improve every single one-shot you ever play. The more often you play, the more likely it is that you create the Once-In-a-Lifetime One-shot.

Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM. This is the show that helps you, the Dungeon Master, craft better stories in less time and with less stress. We’ve been helping dungeon masters new and old for over 150 episodes now. I’m Justin Lewis and I’ll be your guide for today.

I love one-shots!

You probably know that if you’ve listened to the show for any amount of time.

If you want to go back and listen to the other episodes I’ve done about one-shots you can listen to:

Episode 1

Episode 12

Episode 24

Episode 38

Episode 82

And Episode 101.

The Most important would be Episode 82 which is 10 Reasons to Do One-Shots as a Dungeon Master.

So I’m not going to talk about why you should do one-shots, but just know that you absolutely should.

Instead, today I want to talk about some more tips to help you push the limits of your abilities. I want you to make your next one-shot the best the world has ever seen.

Going all out for a campaign could be daunting and possibly exhausting depending on a lot of factors and circumstances.

Going all out for a one-shot is much easier in comparison. So with this next one-shot you do, give it everything you got.

It’s a simple fact of dungeon master, and most things in life actually, but what you put into something is what you’ll get out of it.

With your next one-shot, go all out!

Obviously I say that hoping you’ll exercise some degree of temperance. I don’t expect you to rent out a suit of armor and act out every single part. Use your judgment.

But if you are thinking critically, then you’ve probably thought of at least some sort of 1% type action that you could do that you don’t normally do. Maybe you don’t do music and you could add it to your game. Maybe getting some real candles could spice up the atmosphere. Try to push yourself just that little bit and go the extra mile. Your players will appreciate the...