The Value of a One-Shot

Okay, I’ll admit it… I don’t like running one-shot adventures.  I usually find it cumbersome, slow, and generally boring.  One of the reasons I love DMing so much is that my players and I get to weave a story that includes elements in which everyone is invested.  A one-shot pretty much always precludes that, reducing my enjoyment and (I think) my player’s enjoyment as well.

So what, then, is the value of a one-shot adventure?  Do I ever see a time when a one-shot is the best option?

To be fair, I have run one-shots quite frequently (more frequently than I would like to say, actually).  In fact, I will be running one this coming Friday.  There are several big picture reasons why this is the case, and many smaller reasons that fit into those bigger ones, and here they are:

1) Big Picture: Timing

There are several things that relate to timing:

We just finished a long campaign arc in my ongoing game and it was a good time to take a breather to prepare for the next arc.

We are adults.  Sometimes life gets in the way of gaming.  Most of the time I run a one-shot it’s because one of my players has family or work obligations to which to attend.

I don’t like running the regular game with a player or two absent.  It’s just a preference I have, which I sometimes ignore, but I still try and adhere to it when I can.

2) Big Picture: Recharge

Sometimes I need to recharge my DMing batteries.  One of the ways I do this is to read published adventure modules.  Most of the time they offer inspiration, if nothing else.

It’s nice to break from an ongoing story once in a while and remember that things are happening to other characters in the gaming universe – this recharges me as well as my players.


3) Big Picture: Variety

I like to offer a lot of variety in my gaming world.  I know that my players also like to have variety.  Running a one-shot now and again lets the players explore different classes and races.  It also allows all of us to get a taste of any new class/race/mechanic/power that may have been released after we started the main campaign.  Since I run one-shots in the same world in which the regular campaign takes place, the players get an idea of how that element of the game works in my game-world.

The other aspect of variety is having a player DM a one-shot for the group.  This also falls under Recharge, but I put it here to encompass both #2 and #3.  It is a good experience all around when a player DMs for the group.  I get a break and the players get a taste of a different DMing style and/or a different world (or even a different system).


4) Big picture: History (a.k.a. the Flashback one-shot)

I sometimes take the opportunity provided by a necessary one-shot to provide a bit of history to the story.  In fact, this is exactly what is happening this Friday.   One of the regular players is out of town and so I am running a one-shot for the rest of the group.  The one-shot takes place about 5-8 years before the current campaign, when the PCs weren’t as high a level as they are now.  The PCs are only in the flashback one-shot in an indirect way – instead, the players will be playing PCs that were high level and did something to affect the world (and that will affect the regular campaign).

Giving this perspective to the players does a couple of things, the best of which is that it allows the players some name and event recognition during the regular game.  The one-shot party may meet an NPC that the regular PCs will meet later.  At that time, there will be recognition in the faces of the players, since they have already experienced this NPC in game, it just wasn’t the same PC… this also leads to better role-playing, by the way.

So, to answer the original questions posed at the beginning of this post:

What is the value of a one-shot adventure?  It can be immense, or it can be very small.  Usually it is at least a little bit worth it.

Do I ever see a time when a one-shot is the best option?  Maybe.  I suppose, reading my comments above, that there are times when a one-shot is best.

So, given all that (and the abundant other reasons I didn’t list), I must rescind my initial derisive comments about one-shot gaming sessions.  I guess they aren’t so bad after all.

What reasons did I miss?  Leave me a comment and let me know.

Until next time, I wish you good gaming!

~DM Samuel

7 thoughts on “The Value of a One-Shot

  1. Well, I think you’ve made a strong case for the value of one-shots, whether you meant to or not! I’m just getting started with my DM career, and my second session saw two of my five players being unable to make it. So, I took the other three on a side quest – effectively a one-shot.

    This brings up another good feature of one-shot games: They help new DMs learn what to do without potentially crippling a long campaign. I guess this falls a little bit under your #3 point about letting a player DM, but it’s good even for a new DM who will be DMing for a long time. If you screw something up in the one-shot, it’s no big deal.

  2. LOL – yes, I suppose I did make a case for them. I hadn’t set out to do so, but after writing it and re-reading for editing purposes, I realized that I had, indeed, done the opposite of what I had planned.

    Oh well. Nothing like writing an honest piece to find out a truth about something (including yourself).

    Cheers!

  3. Oh, yes, and good point about one-shots helping new DMs get the hang of running a game. I missed that one, but it may be THE best reason to ever run a one-shot.

    :)

  4. Lol! Way to go for talking yourself round :D

    I love one-shot adventures for all the reasons you give. Whilst nothing compares to a finely-crafted ongoing campaign with a thematic story arc, the practicalities of Real Life sometimes get in the way too much. That’s where a one-shot adventure is great; you can use the available players and either explore the gameworld through the eyes of another bunch of characters, or change the pace entirely with a different genre and/or system.

    They’re also great for trying out new mechanics and character options. In one of our campaigns we ran a one-shot with the Monk and other Psionic classes before deciding whether to introduce them to the main campaign line. It sure beats having to retcon something that you later find to be broken.

    Great post!

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