Tag: One-shot

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The Joy of the One-Shot: Give it a Go

When most people think of roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, they think of sprawling campaigns that run for months—or even years. Long-running campaigns are fantastic, but every now and then, it’s refreshing to step off the well-worn path and dive into something shorter, sharper, and wildly different: the humble one-shot.

One-shots are self-contained RPG adventures that begin and end in a single session (or two, at most – I’m looking at you Rich!). And while they might not carry the same narrative weight as a years-long campaign, they come with a kind of joy that is entirely their own.

A Breath of Fresh Air

The first thing a one-shot offers is a shift in tempo, style, and genre. If your regular campaign is a slow-burn epic full of politics, world-saving, and carefully crafted character arcs, a one-shot can throw all that out the window. Suddenly, you might find yourself desperately battling cultists in a forgotten temple, unraveling a noir mystery, or, in my case recently, trying to survive in deep space with something very nasty lurking in the shadows.

This change of pace keeps the roleplaying experience vibrant. It’s like taking a holiday from your main campaign—you’ll return with fresh energy and inspiration.

A Chance for Someone Else to DM

For many groups, the Dungeon Master role is filled by the same person week after week. A one-shot is a great excuse to swap seats. Maybe one of your players has been itching to try DMing but doesn’t want the responsibility of running a campaign. A one-shot is the perfect low-stakes playground to give it a go.

Even if you’re the regular DM, you’ll find it refreshing to step into a player role for once, rolling dice for your own character instead of a horde of goblins. Seeing the game from the players perspective gives massive insight into your own DMing, which ultimately benefits the whole group.

Testing Out New Character Concepts

One-shots are a brilliant way to try something you’d never risk in a long campaign. Maybe you’ve always wanted to play a reckless barbarian, a scheming bard, or a wizard with a terrible personality flaw. A one-shot is your opportunity to experiment—if it works, great! If it doesn’t, no harm done.

Because the stories are short and sweet, you get to test-drive character voices, quirks, and playstyles without committing to them for the next three years. I played a character in a recent one-shot who I gave an Irish accent. I soon realized that maintaining the accent for a whole campaign might be stretching my roleplaying skills. Fun for the one-shot session though.

Turning the Danger Up to Eleven

In a campaign, character death is often something to be carefully weighed. Players invest in their heroes, and DMs don’t want to wreck long-term plans. But in a one-shot, the rules shift. Characters are often more expendable, and the danger levels can be pushed much higher. Suddenly, every choice feels riskier, and every encounter has real tension.

It’s really liberating knowing that not everyone is guaranteed to make it out alive.

Great ruleset for One-Shots!

My Own Example: Into the Dark

In my long-running D&D campaign, a couple of regular players recently couldn’t make a session. Instead of skipping the week, I decided to run something completely different: Those Dark Places.

I’ve written about this game before, but in case you missed it, this game, heavily inspired by Alien and other sci-fi horror classics, is all about mystery, survival, and the unknown. I ran The Ed-Ward Report, a scenario written by the game’s own author (Jonathan Hicks), which you can grab for just a couple of bucks on DriveThruRPG.

Character creation takes five minutes flat, and then it’s straight into the thick of things. The rules are quick, the setting is tense, and the danger feels very real. Running this kind of game is a total change of scenery from D&D’s fantasy realms—it’s claustrophobic, unsettling, and sci-fi in all the right ways.

The adventure had the players investigating an space station where all comms had ceased. Their job was to get the station back up and running. What the corporates weren’t telling them was the type of research being undertaken there and what had gone wrong…

For both me and my players, it was a thrilling palate cleanser before we dive back into swords, sorcery, and dragons.

Why You Should Try a One-Shot

If you’ve never run or played a one-shot before, give it a try. They’re fun, fast, and flexible, and they often leave your group buzzing long after the session ends. They can:

  • Refresh your group with a new tempo and genre
  • Give new DMs a chance to shine
  • Let players test out wild new character ideas
  • Crank up the danger for maximum tension

And best of all, they remind us that RPGs aren’t tied to one system, one world, or one style of play. At the heart of it, they’re about gathering together, telling stories, and rolling dice—whether you’re slaying dragons, surviving alien horrors, or anything in between.

So next time your campaign takes a break—or you just feel the itch for something different—line up a one-shot. You might just discover it’s the most fun you’ve had in ages.

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Stealing Shadows: Designing a High Action Star Wars One-Shot

I’ve volunteered to run a one-shot adventure for my friend Andrews birthday. Usually we play D&D together, but I decided to mix things up with some good old fashioned Star Wars. This franchise is perfect for the one-shot style game. It’s popular and players know exactly what’s expected. After much navel gazing I decided that there’s nothing like a good heist give the one-shot a truly Star Wars feel. Not only that but it had top be set in the dark days before A New Hope, when the Rebel Alliance is a ragtag network of scattered cells and the Empire’s grip is tightening. One daring raid can turn the tide.

In this post, we’ll walk through designing a Star Wars-themed one-shot using:

  • The ICRPG ruleset (fast, flexible, cinematic)
  • Pre-generated characters with just enough customization for the players to make them their own.
  • The 5 Room Dungeon framework for tight adventure structure, we only have 3 hours to play the game.
  • A mission straight from the Rebel playbook: steal the prototype TIE Phantom before the Empire can unleash it on the rebellion…

Why ICRPG Works for Star Wars

I really needed a game system that would be at once familiar tot eh players and fast paced. Index Card RPG (by Runehammer Games) is a rules-light system based on the concepts of D&D but streamlined to keeps things moving. One roll target per scene, fast turns, minimal math—it’s all built for cinematic play. Players don’t need to learn a dozen subsystems. They just go. Whether it’s blasting stormtroopers, slicing into doors, or dodging TIE Fighters, ICRPG makes gameplay smooth, allowing the players to focus on the high-stakes of the scenario.

Pregens with Purpose

To keep the pace snappy, I have prepped prep a number of characters, each with a strong role. While statted out with a specialist skill and a couple of attribute points, my players can add a further 8 attribute points and put their own stamp on the character. I’ve included the following:

  • Old Jedi in hiding.
  • Smuggler
  • Repair droid able to take over machines
  • Pilot
  • Commando
  • Wookie Warrior
  • Spy
  • Rebel soldier

Each comes with ICRPG-style stats, starting gear, and a special skill. Enough depth to spark roleplaying, but not so much to overwhelm.

Stealing Shadows: The Mission

Rebel intelligence have learned that the Empire has secretly constructed a working prototype of the TIE Phantom—a cloaking starfighter that could change the course of the war. It’s hidden deep in a secure Imperial testing facility on the shattered moon of Harax, guarded by stormtroopers, officers, and harsh automated defenses. But there is hope, one of the technical specialists is thought to have Rebel sympathies. Perhaps he will help the war effort.

Your team has one shot to infiltrate, steal the fighter, and escape before the Empire realises what’s happening.

Let’s structure it using the 5 Room Dungeon method. If you haven’t checked out this effective method of adventure design I highly recommend you do. This is the perfect way to frame the adventure. It keeps things exciting and tight, giving the players a fun adventure with limited prep time.

1. Entrance and Guardian – Moonfall and Mayhem

With their shuttle malfunctioning the rebel team crash land onto Harax’s fractured surface during an ion storm. thrown straight into the action they must reach the facility perimeter undetected, but patrols are already combing the surface. A speeder patrol closes in. Do they ambush, sneak, or run?

ICRPG Notes:

  • Set a scene target of 12 to keep the introduction fairly straight forward. . Use effort rolls for stealth, slicing into doors, or ambushing troopers.
  • Provide a map of the facility, letting the players choose a way in.
  • Timer: Storm interference increases every round; failure draws more troops.
  • A squad of scout troopers on speeder bikes will close in on the party.
  • Keep the time pressure on here.

2. Puzzle or Roleplay Challenge – Slicing the Perimeter

The hangar is shielded and locked down. Players must disable the security grid without triggering alarms. Can they make contact with the sympathetic tech specialist to help—but only if convinced the Rebels are real.

ICRPG Notes:

  • Roleplay challenge: gain the defector’s trust.
  • Increase effort dice to 13.
  • Puzzle effort: disable power relays, match codes, or rewire a terminal.
  • The defector Technician Zander is scared needs to be calmed. Will lead PCs to the wrong location.
  • Stormtrooper patrols are an ever present threat.

3. Trick or Setback – It’s a Trap!

The TIE Phantom is here—but it’s also bait. An elite stormtrooper squad, led by an ISB Agent, has been watching. They knew someone would come for the prototype and hope to uncover the Rebel cell network. Suddenly, blast doors seal, and enemy troops swarm in.

ICRPG Notes:

  • Betrayal scene, make a big deal out of the trap. Maniacal laughter is a must!
  • Agent Ixil makes his appearance, calmly tells the party of his trap.
  • Effort Level of 14.
  • Treats: The hangar is full of tools and droids that can be utilized in their defense.
  • Timer: Countdown to more troops arriving. Must open the blast doors to the main hangar.

4. Climax, Big Battle – Phantom Launch

The Rebels must fight their way to the TIE Phantom, power it up, and blast their way out. One player can pilot; others defend the hangar or sabotage remaining defenses. A shuttle is parked nearby to allow the other players the possibility of escape. Possibly a mid-flight dogfight to escape in orbit.

ICRPG Notes:

  • Split the party: pilot sequence vs. hangar defense, have both happening at the same time and cut between the two.
  • Effort level 15.
  • Stormtroopers, stormtroopers and more stormtroopers plus the scary Agent Ixil.
  • Use timers and effort for take-off time and incoming stormtroopers.
  • Cue dramatic sacrifices, cinematic blaster standoffs, or droid heroism.

5. Reward and Revelation – The Price of Hope

The Phantom is in Rebel hands… but at a cost. Did they all make it? Did the ISB Agent escape with intel on the Rebel organization? The fighter’s logs might reveal even more hidden Imperial projects and a planned raid on a nearby Rebel safe house. Investigation of the cloaking technology will show it to be of Sith origin.

Get the players to describe what their characters are doing a day, a week and a year after the adventure. This gives the one-shot game a great feeling of closure.

Tips to Capture the Star Wars Feel

This adventure is meant to be fully Star Wars. Nothing clever here. In an attempt to catpure the feel of the original films I’ll aim to include the following at different points throughout the game.

  • Stormtroopers die in droves, but leaders are scary. Keep troopers cinematic—bad shots, easy to mow down. But named officers and ISB agents should feel dangerous.
  • Use environment hazards. Star Wars battles are kinetic. Falling catwalks, explosive barrels, jammed blast doors—go big. I’ll create a list of these and add I go to keep the action high.
  • Moral choices matter. Give the Rebels real dilemmas: save the prisoner or steal the ship? Take the shot or protect your team? The tech specialist defector will definitely have a sad story, will the players save him?
  • Visual and musical cues. I’ll be playing the New Hope soundtrack during the session and provide plans of the secret TIE fighter test facility.
AI rendering of Agent Ixil the Villain of the adventure

The Villain

In an effort to make the villain memorable I developed him to be someone the players can hate. Introducing Agent Varn Ixil

Imperial Security Bureau – Counter-Insurgency Division

Description: Cold, calculating, and eerily calm under pressure, Agent Varn Ixil is a mid-ranking ISB operative known for using psychological tactics and traps rather than brute force. He wears pristine officer’s attire with his distinctive cream dress jacket. He carries a modified blaster pistol—rarely drawn, always lethal. His right eye has been replaced with an optical implant that constantly analyzes his surroundings, and he records every conversation for later dissection.

Memorable Trait: He never raises his voice. Even during combat, his commands are delivered in a chilling whisper. He refers to Rebels by their full names and known affiliations, as if reading from a classified file—making players feel like he already knows them.

Motivation: Not just to protect the TIE Phantom, but to capture the Rebel team alive and study them as part of a broader psychological warfare program. He wants to break the Rebellion, one mind at a time.

Catchphrase: “You think this is about a ship. No. This is about you. All of you. And the cost of believing in ghosts.”

I cant wait for the players to meet Agent Ixil!

Final Thoughts

A small Rebel team, a deadly prototype, stormtroopers in pursuit—it’s the recipe for a perfect Star Wars one-shot. With ICRPG’s easy-to-learn system and the tight 5 Room Dungeon structure, you can drop players straight into the action and deliver a cinematic, satisfying night of roleplay.

Let them steal the future from the Empire. Let them feel like heroes. It’s all here. I cant wait to run it!! And remember…..

Rebellions are built on hope.