The One-Shot Show

We're back to our series on character archetypes and how best to provide for them at your tables!This time we're talking about the Healer and the Glass Cannon.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a preview of this month's bonus episode! You can find the full version on our Patreon.These bonus episodes are longer than our usual fare, at around 25-30 minutes each, and are where we dive deeper into topics too big to fit in a regular episode.Enjoy!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A few weeks ago now Matt Colville posted a great video where he talked about his GMing Style.Toward the end he put out the call to other creators to jump in with any additions on the topic of GM Style. We talk a lot about the things that make up GM Style on the show so we figured we'd have a go at codifying a few 'GM Archetypes'.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To celebrate we're looking back across the year, talking about our favourite things about the show so far, and sharing a bit of what's to come!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a difficult and contentious topic to cover. We've done our best to bring nuance to the discussion. Enjoy!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're returning to our series on Villain Archetypes for a second installment. We're covering another two and they could not be more different!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you've seen the latest announcements about D&D's upcoming content you may also have strong feelings about it...If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a preview of this month's bonus episode! You can find the full version on our Patreon.These bonus episodes are longer than our usual fare, at around 25-30 minutes each, and are where we dive deeper into topics too big to fit in a regular episode.Enjoy!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode was commissioned by fan Craig! We're talking about the more out-there ways we've pushed the medium of TTRPGs. Everything from inventive ways to use dice, to unusual campaign structures, to radical boss designs!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to use itIf you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maybe the most contentious topic we've ever covered! We get really in-depth on the topic of fudging dice rolls as a GM. Also, fair warning, Matt gets very loud for a stretch at the start. Headphone users beware. He's just very passionate about the topic!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a companion piece to this month's bonus episode where we talk in-depth about puzzle design! You don't need to listen to that episode for this one to make sense but the two definitely build off one-another.Anyway, this week we're covering a pet topic of mine where I teach you how to treat a dungeon like a large interconnected puzzle, and how to design said puzzle.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a preview of this month's bonus episode! You can find the full version on our Patreon.These bonus episodes are longer than our usual fare, at around 25-30 minutes each, and are where we dive deeper into topics too big to fit in a regular episode.Enjoy!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What GM assistance tools do we use? What are some systems we dislike? How do we feel about solo-play RPGs? We answer all these and more!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is another new series that goes in depth on some of the kinds of villains or antagonistic forces you might want to use in your games. Think of it as a sort of dark mirror to the 'Character Archetypes' series.For this first one we're talking about the Mastermind and the Muscle.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk a lot about long-term campaigns and one-shots, but we seldom talk about the middle ground! We (try) to get into it this episode, but quickly get sidetracked in realising that we ought to deep-dive into specific campaign lengths.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a new series we've been cooking up for a while where we talk about certain character archetypes and how best to provide for them at your tables. Each episode will cover 2 archetypes in depth. For this first one we're talking about the Face and the TankIf you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a preview of this month's bonus episode! You can find the full version on our Patreon.These bonus episodes are longer than our usual fare, at around 25-30 minutes each, and are where we dive deeper into topics too big to fit in a regular episode.Enjoy!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Losing your character sucks, except when it doesn't. This week we're talking about some of the reasons a player might actually enjoying seeing their character meet their end.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We went into the studio early especially to record this while Stranger Things 5 is still topical. We have gripes about it, of course. It's not just the writing, it's not just the inaccurate D&D, it's the terrible writing *within* the show's D&D. Paddy has an axe to grind this time and the Duffer Brothers' heads are on the block!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This topic got us really excited when we hit upon it because it nails a concept that we've skirted around before but never quite had the language to address directly.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're talking about the place comedy has in our home games. If you're anything like us, you like a laugh at the table, but how do you make sure it's not distracting or otherwise 'ruining' your game?If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're releasing December's bonus episode completely for free!This episode goes into the business side of TTRPGs. We're talking about the inevitable tension between player-oriented and GM-oriented products and how it presents a fundamentally unsolvable dilemma.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've talked about non-violence and avoiding combat, but we've never gone into the nuts and bolts of running non-combat encounters like chases and negotiations. That changes now.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're doing a special Christmas episode full of all the little tidbits of advice that didn't quite fit into our other episodes this year. We've stuff our stockings full of them and are opening them up today to share with you all!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're talking about how to play games that avoid violence altogether. That doesn't mean they avoid conflict, mind you! So the question comes: how do we introduce conflict while avoiding violence?If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week each of us has brought a system to pitch to you the viewer (as well as each other!)If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This simple-seeming question is deceptively complex. This week we're breaking down why and might just change your perspective on what you consider to be 'Official' content.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a preview of this month's bonus episode! You can find the full version on our Patreon.These bonus episodes are longer than our usual fare, at around 25-30 minutes each, and are where we dive deeper into topics too big to fit in a regular episode.Enjoy!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's nothing worse than preparing something really cool, only for your players to go in a completely different direction. All that effort wasted! Or is it...If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You've probably come across the phrase 'How do you want to do this?' or possibly even use it already in your games. This week we're talking in depth about it as a tool and how to take it even further!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here's the f***ing dungeon crawl rules by the way:We reference these in the episode and mention they will be linked in the show notes, so here's the link:https://apothecary.press/2021/01/18/where-the-f-are-the-dungeon-crawl-rules/If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a new episode format that we'll be doing intermittently going forward. Those of you who support us on Patreon can submit questions that we'll answer in these episodes!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brought to you by Start Playing! Sign up with the link below for $10 off your first game:https://startplaying.games/referral/cmf5m9zlt00majr04kxq0eykzThis week we take on a more casual tone as paddy and I sit around the fire and reminisce on our long years of difficulties in finding groups and players.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a preview of this month's bonus episode! You can find the full version on our Patreon.These bonus episodes are longer than our usual fare, at around 25-30 minutes each, and are where we dive deeper into topics too big to fit in a regular episode.Enjoy!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brought to you by Start Playing! Sign up with the link below for $10 off your first game:https://startplaying.games/referral/cmf5m9zlt00majr04kxq0eykzSo you've signed up to a paid game - what now? We're joined by special guest Robert Hartley to walk us all through what to expect and how to approach joining your first paid game!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brought to you by Start Playing! Sign up with the link below for $10 off your first game:https://startplaying.games/referral/cmf5m9zlt00majr04kxq0eykzIt's easier to turn D&D players into friends that it is to turn your friends into D&D players, that means you're going to spend a lot of time playing with strangers!This week we're talking all about how to approach playing with people you've never met and barely know...If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brought to you by Start Playing! Sign up with the link below for $10 off your first game:https://startplaying.games/referral/cmf5m9zlt00majr04kxq0eykz This week we're covering West Marches-style campaigns, what some of the pros of running them are, and how your approach changes as a GM.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode revisits the contentious topic of 'Yes And' in a TTRPG context. This time, however, Paddy's come armed and dangerous with examples of where this improvisational structure has been intentionally incorporated into a system's rules.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a preview of our first monthly bonus episode! You can find the full version on our Patreon.These bonus episodes are longer than our usual fare, at around 25-30 minutes each, and are where we dive deeper into topics too big to fit in a regular episode.Enjoy!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No joke, Matt thought we were recording a different episode and got taken by complete surprise by Paddy's opening. He thought we were revisiting 'Yes And' so improvised like a champ!This week we're diving into all those fun quirky gimmicks you can use to kick off your campaigns!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we break down a concept of Matt's called 'The 3 Layers of Storytelling', which is to say that Matt talks non-stop and at the halfway mark Paddy is finally allowed to speak.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're joined by new co-host Paddy Carroll, who you may remember from the 'Concept Campaigns' episode!This week we're picking up right where the 'Failing Forward' episode left off to talk about what you can do when the failure is so ultimate, so catastrophic, it results in a Total Party Kill.How do you handle it in the moment? Where do you take the campaign from there? How do you set yourself up for success long before the TPK comes to pass?If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You may have heard of 'Failing Forward', the art of keeping the story going in spite of things going wrong.There's more than one way your games can reach a fail-state though! This week we're breaking them down and talking about what to do about them.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's an art to incorporating player backstories into your campaigns. This week we're going in-depth on all the ways to go about tying all those stories together!We're joined this week by guest Henry Rolleston, who you may know from Cobbled Together! Check out their show here:https://open.spotify.com/show/59q2VidKB839MxfLm5TTCbIf you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all show up to our D&D sessions to have a good time, but when we sit in the GM's chair often it feels like we're responsible for that Good Time. This week we're talking about managing that pressure.We're joined by special guest Robert Hartley, who you may know from Viva La Dirt League's D&D campaigns! He goes a step further to also talk about the pressure of running games for established media personalities, and also for a wider audience.If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's nothing wrong with playing evil characters, so long as you're good at it. This week we're breaking down the dos and don'ts of playing evil characters!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever wanted to play an 'Oops all bards' traveling troupe campaign? This episode we're talking all about running those 'gimmick' campaigns (or 'Concept Campaigns' as we call them), and how your approach changes as a GM.We're joined by special guest Pat 'Paddy' Carroll from Fury of the Small. Go listen to their brilliant show here: https://open.spotify.com/show/69EtOnt5NUQa72kYlOYr5EIf you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If all your combats are 'The party and the monsters hit each other until only one side is left' then things are going to get stale very quickly. This week we share all kinds of techniques for making your combats more dynamic and keeping things fresh.There was definitely a lot more we could have said on this topic so expect it to come up again in future episodes!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Burnout is a very real thing that most if not all GMs face and it's an instant campaign killer (and fun killer!). This week we're going over the many ways you can actively avoid burnout so you can keep enjoying your games for longer!If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon!www.patreon.com/oneshotshowAccess video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.