How to Write a One-shot

 How to Write a One-shot

I'll be the first to admit that I still don't fully have a handle on this. The reason why is because any RPG I've played for the past fifteen or so years has been pretty intricate and involved. That's not to say every story I've told or played in has been good, but they've always run deeper than surface-level. Plots within plots, puzzles, that sort of thing. The character work tends to run really deep, too, which means that players aren't always sure which NPCs are important or incidental. Sometimes that's a good thing; red herrings can be fun storytelling devices, so long as they're not so frequent that the players think the storyteller is being intentionally obstinate or confusing.

The thing about intricate RPing stories is that the connections, clues, and solutions are always more obvious to the storyteller because we created them. So while we think each puzzle will take x amount of time, those puzzles frequently end up taking twice as long. If not longer! And sometimes, the players actually walk away having learned the wrong information, thus forcing the storyteller to either scramble and come up with a new story, or force the players back onto the "right track" to resolve the original story/puzzle/clue/whatever. Or, worst of all, the storyteller ends up explaining it all to a frustrated party, all but handing them the answer. I've only done this last thing once, but it was grueling. The session ran a couple more hours than intended, the players were bored and frustrated, and after I explained the ending of the session, we were all just done with the whole endeavor. Or rather, we would've been, except the players bring up that session whenever we discuss one-shots. Seriously, it was that bad an experience for us all.

That session aside, the reason I say I still don't have a handle on one-shots is because of time more than anything else. When I'm running a campaign, an unspectacular session of the mundane is fine. Sometimes, we need a session of planning, socializing, doing tasks, etc. It breaks up the story, gives the storyteller a bit of a break, lets the players explore things that aren't necessarily related to the story but are important to their characters, etc. Everyone gets exhausted if the pace of every session in a campaign is frantic or urgent. But when it's a one-shot, I put pressure on myself for it to be "a good one." After all, we're making time to play this game with no connection to any other story. So it needs to stand on its own, be entertaining, and fit within the time constraints of however long the session will be.*

*It's worth noting that the shortest one-shot I'll run is 4-5 hours long, but we've also played a one-shot over the course of a weekend, playing ten hours a day.*

By trying to cram too much into a session, it becomes a chore to run/play instead of fun. So I've started approaching one-shots the way I approach any public statements or announcements I make for my company: I write down EVERYTHING I want to say however it flows from my brain. This includes metaphors and imagery that are sometimes, at best, peripheral to my message. But I get it all down on paper so I don't fear losing any of it. Then I give it a little time to breathe. If I think of anything in the meantime, I don't try to work it in right away. Instead, I'll add an asterisk, write down whatever I thought of, then leave it for later. I do this because otherwise, it's basically like editing while writing: it's impossible to get the whole thing done because you're making changes before it's finished.

After a day or two, I'll come back to it and start editing. I distill the story down to its simplest objective (steal an artifact, destroy a monster, rescue a town, whatever), then I start pruning whatever isn't directly related to that goal, no matter how clever I think it is. This cuts SO MUCH out of what I already thought was a "pretty trim one-shot." Honestly, there's just only so much room for puzzles and combat encounters. I then fill out the details of that basic objective, and that usually gets me about a 4-5 hour one-shot (with breaks) for two to four players. More players makes for more time commitment, but I very rarely play with groups so big.

No one-shot breakdown is the same, but I often have 2-3 combats (a maximum of one major combat, and even then, it's a sliding scale depending on the type of game I'm running; I feel like my one-shots will be trite if the players can always expect a boss fight), anywhere from 1-4 puzzles (again, this depends on the game and party composition), and at least two social encounters aimed at making the main objective a little easier (whether it's learning pertinent info, obtaining an ally, or gaining gear that will make the objective possible). This isn't a concrete guide, just some insight into templates that I generally use to lend structure to my one-shots.

TL;DR - Whatever you start with, trim everything not directly related to the one objective you are asking your players to accomplish, fill out those details, and plan on whatever you have prepared to take 1.5 - 2x as long as you expect it will!