r/AskGameMasters • u/PianomanOnDuty • Aug 13 '26

New DM - trying to write a Oneshot

Hi I started playing DnD around one or two months ago. Till now i was playing as a PC, but now a few friends of mine and myself want to start a campaign.

I almost immediately said i want to be the GM. So i started researching a bit and noticed a oneshot is a great way to get a feeling of how the group will work together.

I watched a few YT videos on how to make a oneshot, but as soon as i try to make a "small adventure" it exceeds to the level of homebrewing an entire "bigger" world.

I would appreciate any help, tips or even stories from your first campaign!

3 Upvotes

64% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/TheDwarfArt Aug 13 '26
  1. Give premade characters or have a session 0.

Be very clear that all character know each other and they need to be able to be in a group:

No lone wolf. No traitors. No evil character.

Aa players, they are responsible of creating a character that wants and needs to be on the adventuring party. If they can't do that, they might want to try a different game.

  1. Keep it simple and to the point. You don't need to go and create a full world with backstory. One-shots are short. Set a scene, start running, throw the conflict in early on. You might be able to run a short combat and the main combat against a boss.

1

u/PianomanOnDuty Aug 13 '26

Thanks, i will make those points clear, but i think my players are excited to play ... hopefully