Dungeons And Dragons: How To Create The Perfect One Shot

7. Working On The Railroad

One of the first pieces of advice pretty much any Dungeon Master will receive is to avoid what's called railroading. This is the process of forcing your players into a narrow story, limiting their options to tell the story you want to tell. But there's a slight secret to D&D: a little bit of railroading never hurt anyone. A totally open sandbox can work sometimes, but players often thrive when the narrative has a clear-cut goal the players can approach.

When it comes to a 1-shot, you've got a single night to pull off a beginning, middle, and end to the story. Having the players reject the call to action in favor of other activities may work in an open-ended campaign where entire sessions can be devoted to shopping, but that's not what's happening here.

Don't be afraid to give players a nudge in the right direction to get the game underway. It might feel a bit more restrictive than your traditional style, but with a single night to complete a narrative, dungeon masters need to be mindful of the time allotted. And frankly, anyone who is given a one-shot that's presented a clear path on which way to go and soundly refuse to do so aren't creating a good narrative contract with their dungeon master. If players expect you to build a game, it's reasonable for the DM to expect players to play it.