Worldbuilding. Arguably the hardest part of any form of writing, not just in table-top role-playing games. Your world is the setting of your entire campaign, and if there’s one guarantee throughout entertainment, your viewers/ players will do everything in their power to poke a hole in your hard work.

Trust me, I know. I’ve only gained my skills in worldbuilding by having one particular member of my table incessantly pick apart the details.

We’ll start this first article with the basics of plotting an adventure. Now, there are two ways to go about writing in general, not just for TTRPGs, outlining and pantsing. This is a blog about writing for TTRPG, but the foundations are fundamentally fantasy and sci-fi writing, and I recommend the lecture series by Brandon Sanderson I watched when I first learned how to write fantasy (Or at least, a more recent version of it.)

A one-shot is a small adventure designed to be played in a single sitting. Depending on your group, the size, and the length of your sessions, that could change the dynamics of what you’ll be able to do. A four-person 4 hour session will be able to get through a slightly more complex story than a six-person 3 hour session. You will also want to tailor your one-shot to the playstyle preferences of your party. One of my parties are fans of action, so the one-shots I write for them tend to be heavy on combat. Another one-shot I ran for a group of young teenagers was simplified in scope and complexity to be more accessible to their age group. These minor adjustments will make all the difference in a smooth game day.

A one-shot is a small adventure designed to be played in a single sitting. Depending on your group, the size, and the length of your sessions, that could change the dynamics of what you’ll be able to do. A four-person 4 hour session will be able to get through a slightly more complex story than a six-person 3 hour session. You will also want to tailor your one-shot to the playstyle preferences of your party. One of my parties are fans of action, so the one-shots I write for them tend to be heavy on combat. Another one-shot I ran for a group of young teenagers was simplified in scope and complexity to be more accessible to their age group. These minor adjustments will make all the difference in a smooth game day.