The One-Shot Show

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/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, community discord...

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/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus ep...

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/oneshotshow Access video versi...

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/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv...

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...

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/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, communit...

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/59q2VidKB839MxfLm5TTCb If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Pa...

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 establish...

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/oneshotshow Access 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/69EtOnt5NUQa72kYlOYr5E If you like tu...

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-Sh...

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/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access,...

When you're in the GM's chair there's a lot of pressure to make all your characters sound unique. We share our best tips and tricks for how to do that, even if you can't do accents! If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

If you've ever thought about leaving D&D5e we're here to tell you that it's ok to feel that way. Matt and Mock are here to show you how to leave 5th Edition behind, how to find something new, and how to get your group on board with your new favourite system. If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episode...

As a natural follow to our episode that talked about memorable NPCs, how to create them on-the-fly, and how they might lead in to deeper plots, this episode talks about creating those very plots entirely off-the-cuff. If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted...

We get into some of the tricks of the trade when it comes to creating NPCs that will stick with your players. This includes how to plan great NPCs, and how to make up unplanned ones! If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy fo...

Matt's got another one locked and loaded, this time tackling why 'Realism' isn't really what people want more of in their games. Mock gets to talk too sometimes. If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're joined again by Brad Thompson as we get into how you as a player can make your GM's life easier and level up your own enjoyment too! If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'Railroading' is a bit of a dirty word in TTRPGs. We try to clean up its image a little and talk about why it can actually be a useful tool for your games. If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's a lot to be said here. 'Yes But, No And' is a literary structure you may find a lot of use in for your campaigns. We'll hopefully talk more about it but in the meantime people much smarter than us have said a whole lot on the subject so slap it into google and have at it! If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/oneshotshow Access video versi...

We're joined this week by Brad Thompson from Cutting Words to break down what we mean by 'Production Value', easy ways to increase the production value of your sessions, and why you might want to do that in the first place. Brad's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CuttingWords If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/oneshotshow Access video versions...

In this episode we share all the wisdom we've developed around how to run the first session of your campaigns and where to go from there to give your campaign the best start possible! If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...

In this episode we define what we mean when we say 'GM Style', how to develop your own style, and what impact your style has on your games. If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might have heard about people paying GMs to run TTRPGs for them. In this episode we talk about how to go about becoming one of those paid GMs, why you might want to do it, and why you might not want to do it. If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/oneshotshow Access video versions, bonus episodes, community discord access, and more! Hosted on A...

Join Matt Carroll and Mock Markridge on the very first episode of The One-Shot Show! Each episode we'll spend 15 minutes deep-diving into a topic around running TTRPGs. For this first episode we talk about what inspires our games, the early inspirations for the TTRPG genre as a whole, and how to find inspiration for your games. If you like tuning into The One-Shot Show, please support us on Patreo...