One of the greatest parts aboutDungeons and Dragonsis the sheer amount of content available, giving you a virtually limitless number of character combinations to create. Even without including homebrew classes and races, there are almost too many exciting potential combinations out there, which can make it intimidating to fully commit to one before a new session.
While there are plenty of Dungeon Masters out there who have no problems adjusting your character or swapping out a subclass if you aren’t happy with your new character, it’s a difficult task to fully replace them with an entirely new hero. Thankfully, if you’re looking to experiment with a new class or dip your toes in the water before committing to a long-term session, there’s oneD&Dstaple that every new party should go through at least once before a full campaign.
One-Shots Are A Great Way To Flesh Out A Character
Offering The Perfect Testing Ground For A New Concept
There’s no better way to see if you enjoy or can pull off a character concept than simply playing it yourself, with the self-contained and well-rounded nature of one-shots letting you see how they would work in a variety of situations. Although it can seem like a waste of time to spend time developing an original character just for a single session,nothing is stopping you from turning a one-shot character into the hero of your nextD&Dcampaign.
A one-shot is a single, short, and self-contained session with the same rules as normal D&D, that can even branch off into multi-session mini-campaigns at times.
Even aside from letting players test out their characters in a pre-made environment, there are aplethora of fantastic one-shots, both official and fan-made alike, that are just ripe for the setting of your next one-shot session. From classic options like the Lost Mine of Phandelver to more intense stories like the Scarab of Death, you’d be hard-pressed not to find a reliable one-shot for just about any kind of party dynamic or level range.
Even if your party members feel confident in their individual characters,a one-shot can provide an excellent introduction to inter-party dynamicsorpotential PVP conflictbefore a full campaign, while offering a drastically more interesting first meeting than simply meeting in a tavern or skipping past it entirely.
Learning Game Mechanics With Lower Consequences
Letting You Push A Class To Its Limits Without Worry
Although acreative session 0for your campaign can tick all the same boxes as a one-shot, it does bring up concerns about problematic character choices or having to retcon story elements depending on the severity of changes required.Higher-level one-shots are especially great for avoiding long-term headaches and regrets later down the line, letting you get a glimpse into how your party’s characters will all function dozens of sessions in the future.
One-shot campaigns aren’t only beneficial for players, either, asone-shots can allow a DM toexperiment with new mechanicsand concepts without having to worry about their effect on the main campaign. Even without the meta benefits that one-shots and self-contained stories can provide, sometimes it’s fun to spend a session having a side adventure with totally new characters, which can even be tied into the world or story of your original campaign.
One fun way to incorporate the story or characters of a one-shot is to have them perform the other half of a large-scale quest like a heist, or work as a band of specialists hired to break your original characters out of prison. While these options do have the potential to mess with your original storytelling or create complicated storylines, it’s an easy way to get your party motivated and eager to play with a fully original cast of characters.
Even the most self-contained one-shots can introduce long-term NPCs or villains to face again in future adventures.
On top of offering side adventures in the world of your own creation,most one-shots are designed to be incorporated seamlessly into your session as standalone adventures. Even the most self-contained one-shots can introduce long-term NPCs or villains to face again in future adventures, or offer satisfying character moments that open up new roleplaying opportunities down the line.
One-Shots Are The Perfect Introduction To A Brand New World
Delivering A Complete Experience Both In And Outside The Forgotten Realms
Even if you’ve already spent countless hours playing throughD&Dcampaigns before, swapping entire tabletop games or evenbetween differentD&Deditionscan be overwhelming for just about anyone.While incorporatingD&Done-shots into your campaign is a great foundation to build upon, their strengths are drawn out the best when utilized by beginners of a different system, or playing with an entirely new party for the very first time.
After having recently started playingPathfinder Second Edition,my experience was drastically improved by having the opportunity to try out a character in a single-session story as opposed to starting a full campaign right away. Aside from getting to focus on learning how to play rather than exploring each character’s personalities, the one-shot helped narrow down what I wanted most from the new format as opposed to a standardD&Dsession.
Regardless of if you are planning on trying out a brand new system or simply want to see what other options are available in the standard fifth edition ofDungeons and Dragons, going through a one-shot is by far the best way to iron out any potential party wrinkles before committing to a fully fleshed-out campaign.
