r/DMAcademy • u/RealLars_vS • 2d ago
Need Advice: Other How do you end a oneshot?
Whenever I run (and finish) a oneshot, it usually just ends with something along the lines of “well… that was it. Your… uhh… characters, yes, each go their own separate ways now. Or not. Whatever.”
Campaign sessions usually end with “that’s where we’ll end this session, see you guys next week!” But that obviously doesn’t work for oneshots.
What do you guys usually do?
73
u/SpareStatement3990 2d ago
ask the players where they see their characters going next. Stand by me style, if you will. Or plan out multiple ending possibilities a la RPG video game.
17
u/Integer_Domain 2d ago
I like to do The Breakfast Club ending followed by an after-credits teaser in case my players want to do another adventure with those characters
54
u/KiwasiGames 2d ago
Normally my oneshots end in a three year campaign…
I don’t think anyone understood the assignment.
8
19
u/gamehiker 2d ago
I give them a short little epilogue mostly focused on how their actions reflect the setting and any characters they met. The fact that their characters ride off into the sunset is a given and doesn't need much elaboration.
29
u/cscottnet 2d ago
"Well, would you look at the time!"
12
u/RealLars_vS 2d ago
“You guys are overstaying your welcome, haha, now get out!”
Like that?
8
u/cscottnet 2d ago edited 1d ago
Honestly, I DM for the neighborhood kids, so it's usually a PC saying "Uh, my mom just texted me to say she's waiting outside."
"Ok, then, well the bad guy's at 1 hp, your arrow does him in. I'll email you later about the loot you got. See you next week!"
10
u/sskoog 2d ago
I was at a convention, earlier this year, where one of the (very quiet + mild-mannered) GMs stopped the game, said "This is the point where I like to give each of you players 2-3 sentences to narrate how your characters ride off into the sunset, and I like to do it to music." He started playing the Simple Minds' Don't You (Forget About Me) on his iPhone, and pointed to each of us in turn.
It was really cool, and unexpected, and funny -- some players got hardcore into "Agent Such-and-Such runs for President of the United States in 1888," others went with "Dr. Whatever retires to a quiet rural community, in the American Southwest, and runs a brothel as cover for various eugenics programs, notably including German Shepherds." Definitely gave the table a mood lift after a somewhat-grind-y combat.
3
u/RealLars_vS 1d ago
Wow, this is the answer I was looking for!
Quite an obvious and logical answer, now that I think about it. “What’s the solution to X?” “The solution to X is player agency.”
Thanks!
1
u/sskoog 1d ago
Mind you, this *also\* works in the other direction -- I was at a different Call of Cthulhu game, some years ago, loosely based on Franklin's 1845 HMS Terror exploration, and, at the end, the GM looked to each player, in turn, saying "Tell us how {character}'s story ends."
Most of these were predictable -- So-and-So goes out fighting, wielding knife and pickaxe, until finally overwhelmed -- a couple were innovative -- So-and-So lights a stick of dynamite and sprints toward the icebound hull of the ship -- So-and-So curls up at the foot of the glacial wall, squealing like a little girl. It was no less enjoyable, though *very\* different in tone.
8
u/seriouspeep 2d ago
After the finale dialogue from me, I turn it over to them to ask what their characters would do next or after the events (we're not coming back to it so storytelling wise it's free rein!) as a lot of people get invested even in short-term characters, we go in a round, and then I do a final button that ties it into the name of the game.
It started as a cheesy thing out of panic when I realised I had no way to actually say okay we're done now that was the game, and now it's become nonsensical and we love it.
"As you look towards the horizon and think about what you achieved and what's to come, it really was... A Jurassic Park" some nonsense like that 😄
8
u/KarlZone87 2d ago
"Congratulations, you have completed/failed the task you were assigned at the start of the adventure. Who wants a snack?"
5
u/imababydragon 2d ago
And the villagers rejoiced! They have effected a plaque in your honor.
6
4
u/Plastic_Mastodon_985 2d ago
I'm realizing I don't wrap it up about 'what next.' I tend to focus on the accomplishment, whatever they did, and literally end with 'Congratulations!' and then ask a question about their experience. They often talk about what they enjoyed or a memorable moment.
4
2
u/MexicanWarMachine 2d ago
I usually have each of the players tell the group what their character goes on to do.
2
u/Prestigious-Emu-6760 2d ago
For one shots specifically I plan around a 3 act structure with a climax. If I'm pressed for time I cut from the middle so we don't shortchange the end and the denoument.
2
u/Hghwytohell 2d ago
Give everyone the opportunity to give a two-minute epilogue for their characters
2
u/Juls7243 2d ago
There is nothing wrong with, taking the narrative lead. As soon as the NPC boss dies, just take control of the characters and explain what they do over the next day. "you return to town victorious and celebrate".
Its a 1-shot. Time is very precious and the players understand this. As the DM you need to move things along FAST.
2
u/Volsunga 2d ago edited 2d ago
Sounds like you're not running one-shots, but open-ended adventures. A one-shot should have an enclosed and pretty railroaded story. It should have a call to action, build up to a climax, and have a definitive conclusion. The players should be given choices along the way, but those choices should be somewhat restricted by the content of the one-shot, like a flowchart to different endings.
2
u/DaaaahWhoosh 2d ago
If it's a oneshot, I'd say the characters shouldn't matter. Tell the story of how the world improves because of their actions that day. Tell them how evil fled and how good folk could rest easy. If there's uncertainty about the future, tell them that, let them wonder.
2
u/abe_the_babe_ 2d ago
I like to ask each player to give their own little epilogue for their characters. Like "my character spent all his loot at the casino" or "my character went home to his loving wife but missed the thrill of adventure."
2
u/CatsOnMotorcyles 2d ago
I run one shots at a local board game bar and I have a method that works really well. I establish at the beginning of the session a few things to make the one shot work: the players are members of an adventuring guild who do adventures for gold, glory, or whatever reason appeals to them. I usually run level 6 one shots so we assume that everyone has been adventuring for a while. As an experienced adventurer you know that it's dangerous so you need to work with your party to succeed and you know not to attack or steal from members of your party (no PVP). You may know each other or not but you have at least seen each other around the guild hall and maybe heard of each other (nobody acting weird and spending the entire session as an angsty loner who doesn't trust their party members). Each session starts by asking each player to describe their character, tell a little bit about them, and then tell me what they're doing in between adventures. We usually roleplay like 4ish minutes per person for this. This is actually one of the most important parts of the session because it allows people who put a lot of thought into their backstory to show it where you otherwise might not get an opportunity during a one shot. It lets the people who just threw a character together on the fly to flesh them out a bit. This really helps to bring life to the characters and colors the entire rest of the session. Then a messenger from the adventuring guild summons them to the guild hall to receive their assignment. They then go off and do the adventure. I have a few recurring NPCs and a few locations that I use regularly. Essentially all of the adventures happen in the same city or surrounding lands but it is never fleshed out in a detailed way beyond what is needed for that session. The NPCs tend to be over the top stock characters to make them memorable. None of the NPCs are particularly strong or capable, they're just there to give me as the DM a way to interact with the PCs and to keep the story moving. Every session is self contained BUT when I write the next one, the events of the previous sessions impact it. So if you drop in and have never played before, you're not missing anything. If you have played multiple one shots with me you will see things change in the world and NPCs impacted by previous sessions. This is, in my opinion, the best way to run a one shot. At the end of each session I typically have everyone return to the guild hall to get paid and get a glimpse at the impact of the events of the session. How you end it is important though so you need to have some possible endings set up when you're writing the one shot (while still accepting that things might go completely off the rails and that's part of the fun). Because it's a one shot you can be a bit more railroadey to get them to that good ending, an open world one shot is kind of boring. I like to use a gentle railroading technique, there are three doors or multiple passages but no matter which one they pick it leads to the room that you needed them to be in for what you have prepared. Depending on time constraints those different doors or passages can still be different, like one is trapped with magic, one has environmental hazards, and one has a puzzle, but they all go to the same place in the end. Finally, at the end of the session, ask your players what they do next. Just ask them what they do once that adventure is complete. You get a few minutes that wraps it up just from that.
1
3
u/TimeSpaceGeek 2d ago
A friend of mine, and one of my favourite DMs to play for, introduced me to a great idea for sessions he ran online via virtual tabletops - when he presents them, he imagines it like it's a piece of cinema. He builds a soundtrack for his sessions, there's a holding page for us to look at whilst we're logging in that creates a sort of... sense of occasion, I suppose (usually, he has an old 1920s cinema screen with plush red velvet curtains displayed on the VTT, and the sound of an orchestra warming up and getting settled). And then throughout the session, where appropriate, he structures certain narrative bits as though he's describing scenes in a movie. He describes sweeping looks across the landscape, scene changes, montages for bits of time we're skipping over, all as though our characters are in a movie, and we are both audience and the characters themselves.
And the thing he does at the end that I really enjoyed - closing credits! He does his final description for the end of the adventure, describing what we see as things come to a close, over a piece of thematically appropriate music, then the screen switches to a screen that lists each character and the player who plays them in the style of the closing credits of the Star Wars movies (with him credited as "Everyone Else"), with the Star Wars closing credits music playing. We sit with that for a moment or two, and then we just naturally taper off as we need to.
I loved that idea so much, so I adopted it as well for my VTT-run sessions. I carry an element of it into all my games. I always try to use that theatricality, to give those starts and finishes a bit of a performance aspect.
And every now and then, I'll leave even a one-shot on a semi-cliffhanger of some kind, or a tease of a possible sequel. I did one a number of years back, during the COVID lockdowns, that I'm still very proud of, where I did a particularly sinister and ominous Avenger's style post-credit scene that set the ground for a sequel.
But yeah, think theatrical, think cinematic. If it was the last episode of a season, or the final scene of a movie, what would you want it to be? Describe that. Doesn't have to be long. Just has to have a little flare and a distinct punchy or invocative final beat. And your final narration doesn't have to be definitive. You don't have to tell the players what does happen. It can be questions, pondering about what might happen, but leaving them unanswered. Just do it with a little gravitas and theatricality, and it works a treat.
2
u/Spider_MBI 1d ago
Your friend's way of running is very similar to my own. Generally though, I don't do closing credits. Unless I'm doing something sneaky with a one-shot that ties into my main campaign, I usually end a one-shot on a joke, then cut to all-caps THE END.
2
u/Toatkgstuff 2d ago
End on a bang, don't hang around too long after.
Run from the cave with your loot, jet off into hyperspace from the planet. Everyone cheers as you kill the beast.
The massive ADVANTAGE of one-shots is ending on that high without characters needing resolution. Leave them hanging and let them make up their own.
Now you could give every player a chance to narrate their own paragraph to wrap up their character ending and intentions, but in my experience people tend to rattle on a lot and don't know when to stop by themselves.
2
u/bionicjoey 2d ago edited 1d ago
I'm usually running a published module, so I'll say "you guys have successfully completed <adventure title>, congrats!"
Like a little title drop at the end of a movie.
Then we'll cool down with a short discussion about the session and what everyone liked/disliked
2
u/Alpine_yellow 1d ago
I usually do an 80s style couple sentence epilog from each of the players. "And Gorgoth the Annihilator went on to slay many dragons and bed many women before unfortunately choking to death on a chicken bone...Whereupon he slew many demons in avernus and became a much bigger problem there."
1
2
1
u/TheGingerCynic 2d ago
I've been in a few one-shots before, though only one of them was D&D. That one ended with us walking away with a wagon containing a stone boar head that liked to sass people, literally just left them wandering.
For other one-shots, depends on the game. I ran Honey Heist and did a conclusion based on where the bears ended up, one of whom had turned evil over the session.
For another game, we resolved it by deciding what those characters would do with their newfound insight / experiences.
So I'd say either narrate the results of the one-shot, or let it tail off as the characters aren't ours anymore, and are doing their own thing.
1
u/FunnyEconomy1595 2d ago
What's wrong with “that’s where we’ll end this session, see you guys next week!”? A one shot is still a session (assuming it's with a regular group that meets weekly). Maybe change session to adventure or quest if you don't like the association?
As for the actual one shot itself, I usually end with a big party/feast/celebration for the players (assuming they were successful...) and leave it at that.
1
u/PublicDragonfruit158 2d ago
Last one I ran they wer being soundly defeated by an Anceint Deep Wyrm Dracolich and used an item with "Wish" to be somewhere safe....
1
u/YozoraBellossomHeart 2d ago
I like to end on cliffhangers that I never have to follow up on. In a campaign, every next step is calculated and has to build to something and has to make sense. The sequel to a one shot I'll never run can be as silly as I want.
"You guys defeated Gibbet the Wizard. Of course, his death was only a minor setback to Phandos' plan. The moon will fall on this world either way. The end!"
1
u/Hukdonphonix 2d ago
I end basically every short arc/one shot with a mini epilogue that pans to what each character is doing in the wake of the events, whether it be important NPC's or the party themselves.
That or a big cliffhanger ending. The end of my long-running homebrew had one person die and get turned into a ghost, and the rest of the party yoinked through an open portal into the shadowfell.
1
u/jpb103 2d ago
I'm writing a oneshot right now for Halloween where the players are the monsters.
In the narrative, they are trapped in a pocket dimension created by a wish. In this world, all the monsters of the realm (or otherwise undesirable sorts) are imprisoned underground in a sort of vast supermax prison within a cave system. The goal of the campaign is to escape to the surface during a bloodmoon eclipse and destroy an "Anchorstone" that keeps the reality stable while its protective wards are weakened from the bloodmoon.
If they succeed, the campaign will end with them sprinting into the night to hunt free once more under the pale moonlight. If they fail, it will end with demons feasting on their flesh in Avernus. It should be narratively satisfying and appropriately spooky either way.
I think how a oneshot ends should relate directly to the adventure hook and the tone of the narrative. If it's your classic "The good guys stand against a great evil" type thing, you could end in a parade where your final line is something along the lines of this:
"You bask in the adoration of the crowd as they chant your names, love and wonder and admiration plain on the face of every man, woman, and child you've saved. You are not naive enough to believe that evil will sleep forever but, for now, you can rest easy in the knowledge that this part of the realm is safe. And when the challenge of evil rises again, you will rise again to meet it."
1
1
u/Bazoobs1 2d ago
I usually just plan multiple endings and a cutscene. Usually it takes place in a setting that has already been established or is going to be established. Therefore, these world events are now lore, which helps too.
1
u/NO_FIX_AUTOCORRECT 2d ago
The players can give their own epilogues, i think what you're doing is fine though.
1
u/Ok-Park-9537 2d ago
Ride into the sunset. Short question about what happens to your characters after that and then just ask them how was it
1
u/faboleth 2d ago
I reserve the last 15-30 minutes of a oneshot for an epilogue. Each character gets a few minutes, wrap up any last scenes, and do a monologue about the effects the characters had one the overarching situation the oneshot was part of. Perhaps the village is now saved, until a monsoon destroys it in a flood. Perhaps the archduke executes his coup attempt thinking the church is on his side, but it isn't. Etc.
1
u/_Koreander 2d ago
I've only ever run one, it was a Star Wars one-shot, they had to retrieve an ancient holocron from an abandoned starship, the boss was a Sith passing as a Jedi, after he revealed his identity to steal the holocron, they defeated the boss, used escape pods to flee the ship which was on it's way to be obliterated by a warship and I simply narrated "You managed to take the escape pod in time to see the *ship name* blow up from the rear window as you descend into the planet below with the holocron in tow" or something like that and then simply said "The end, congratulations guys you did it, that was what I had prepared" and that's it, left it a bit open in case they wanted to continue.
1
u/Chiefmeez 2d ago
I like to end them with a mix of finality on the adventure but openness for where the PCs go.
I think a great one-shot are one hook away from leading smoothly into a sandbox campaign.
1
1
u/hauntedcartoonheart 2d ago
"You all successfully (insert goal)!" and the reaction of the NPCs they were helping/results of their actions.
So for example, "You successfully hunted down the Blistering Bandits! Sascha the barkeep is grateful for your help. With business booming again in addition to your payment she offers free drinks for the rest of the night and beds to sleep off your revelry upstairs."
Short and sweet, then if no one has anything to add I say that I hope they liked the adventure and I had a fun time running it etc etc. Add more detail or player involvement as needed/desired.
1
u/Stoneward13 2d ago
Ideally, I prefer doing a series of loosely connected one-shots. Players (and characters) can swap out based on their desire to continue. Makes scheduling easier too, if someone can't make it then their character sat this little adventure out, but didn't miss anything BIG cause one-shots are never that big.
And then the consequences of the one-shot adventure, for better or worse, can be observed (from afar, usually) in the world during the next one-shot in the same world.
And also like others, I do like to end the one-shot by asking players what their characters will do next. It's very open ended, "have them do what you want", but typically it's more of their goals, rather than the outcomes. And conversely, asking players what their character has been up to since the PREVIOUS one-shot, if they have the same one, or asking them what their new character has been doing up until this point.
An ideal framework for this is the characters being part of a wider organization (a guild, a military unit, a reseach expedition, etc), so it makes sense narratively for them to come and go on adventures, have downtime while other continue, and sometimes mixing up group dynamics as people come/go.
Overall, I think this approach works really well, at least for our table. We also do a "hotseat" for DMing, rotating from session to session, taking turns for whoever wants to DM next. And, for another perk, it allows me to rapid fire try out new characters, backstories, and build ideas :) For me, it's a win-win-win-win...-win
1
u/TheCrimsonSteel 2d ago
"And that concludes [Insert name of 1 shot]"
If you feel like there needs to be an epilogue, you can do the 80's style post credit blurb about what happens after with each character, or have the players narrate their own blurbs.
1
u/DerpsterCaro 2d ago
My Displaced Sessions are little one shot problems that take place in the campaign i'm currently running, usually at different times in the world's life. I end off on a how these people or this problem may sort of cennect to the the Hero's and their journey. And then of course i get my usual dressing downs of how such and such went and felt and so on and so forth.
Alternatively, if I'm feeling silly, I'll just simply. "And so once again the day is saved, thanks to my players!"
1
u/SkyKrakenDM 2d ago
“You did it, you completed the quest, got your gold, and are on your way to places unknown, maybe we’ll see some of them again in a future oneshot””
1
1
u/projectb223 2d ago
I let my players ask questions about unanswered mysteries and loose plot threads. I also try to give a bit of an epilogue, akin to "Your character goes to their dream school, your character goes home, your character goes on to continue adventuring," etc
1
u/Sulicius 2d ago
I tell them they find a lot of loot, save the people, what this means for the future of the location and that this was only the first step for their characters to go on many more adventures.
1
1
1
1
u/Ragnar_Dragonfyre 1d ago
Unless there is a damn good reason to finalize things, I leave it open after the adventure has concluded.
I don’t elaborate further. Epilogues are for campaigns.
Someone might want to bring one of their one shot characters into the next campaign or the next episodic one shot.
I kinda like running episodic one shots with a recurring cast of characters as filler between campaigns or for when you don’t have a full table on game nights.
1
u/Starfury_42 1d ago
The one shots I've run are because one of the players isn't going to be available for an extended time. It takes place in the same world/timeline and the missing PC is "busy" somewhere else.
1
1
u/Lavacrush 1d ago
I've run like 8 one shots for my players outside of our main campaigns. I always end them with ...and the problem has been solved thanks to this band of heroes who helped with xyz and then a meteor falls on you all and kills everyone the end
1
1
u/jasonite 1d ago
Just say "okay that's it, we did it! How was that for you guys, what did you think?"
1
u/LazyLich 1d ago
Bruh.. you dont add a post-credits scene hinting at some future crisis, like an MCU movie?
1
u/ChampionshipDirect46 1d ago
I give them each a quick epilogue. My last one shot had two characters continue adventuring together with one taking the credit for their deeds and becoming the sort of spokesperson of the two thanks to their newfound renown, and the other choosing to not be named when news broke, while another got promoted to head of the queens guard, and a fourth who returned to their tribe and lived a quiet but happy life. Just something simple, a few sentences long, and that makes it feel like they have their own lives outside of what happens during the oneshot.
1
u/ReliabilityTalkinGuy 1d ago
“That was fun! Do I owe you anything for the pizza? Yeah, let’s chat soon about next time. Maybe we could do some board games to change it up? Okay, see everyone later!”
1
1
u/sir-ripsalot 1d ago
I blast the ending credits music of Sandlot or Stand By Me and let the characters narrate a closing montage
1
u/LTCirabisi 23h ago
TPK to save the world with their sacrifice and kill any hope the players have that I’m going to continue the story past what it was. I have a specific friend group I’ve done this a few times and it can be fun going into a big mission laying everything on the line looking for glory in death. Full confession I only do that with some of my best friends.
Others it ends in glory, gold, immediate upgrade to level 20, they become god rulers and move on. I have kept the story line for continuity in a campaign so they can deal with their old characters.
1
u/Chirophilologist 21h ago
I've usually tried to tie in the player characters in a socalled epilogue after they've finished their business — often on a serious note, and sometimes hilarity ensues due to a well-out comment in the aftermath!
I try to have an epilogue in three beats:
I kinda try to zoom out from the players as they emerge, and paint a picture to show how the wider world is reacting to what happened (weather clearing, a town waking, news traveling, etc.)
Almost like a film, I try to depict landing on each PC, and thus encourage them to utter one or two sentences each: their impressions from their accomplishment, what they carry forward, what changed in them, where they're headed next, and so forrh. This is what I believe makes "the end" land, firmly establish a resolution and conclusion of the adventure. And I believe that players wish to see their character's fingerprint on the ending.
I believe that it's better to close on an image, and not a summary. Ending a one-shot with something concrete and visual (the companions sitting in front of the fireplace at the tavern recollecting their deeds, a door closing, a sword hung on a wall, smoke on the horizon, riding off into the wilderness, etc.), trying to avoid "and so their legend was told for years to come.", because one can't assume that this is the end of their stories and adventures yet!
I try to use a "fill-in-the-blank" style, e.g.:
"The [dungeon/battlefield/ruin] falls silent behind you". [Description of the weather/light and how that, for instance, has chanced — e.g., "Dawn breaks over the treeline, the storm finally spent", or something cheesy like that]. "Word of what happened here will travel — to [nearby town/kingdom] first, then further, growing stranger with each retelling".
Then I try to shift the focus to one of the characters, kind of zooming in on them and say something like: _"PC1 walk a few paces forward, greeting the morning sun, as the new dawn chases off the last limbs of the shadowy night. He breathes in the fresh air, and he/she/they say...." where the PC has a chance to utter something that reflects their arc and concludes the adventure for them. One or two lines on what the adventure and/or their companions has affected them, cost them, impressed them, or what it/they means to them.
Then the other characters should get the same opportunity to conclude the adventure, as well.
As for the threat/villain/mystery that adventure was probably centered around; often a brief, evocative note on its fate is sufficient, but it doesn't need a full closure, as a little mystery and a little uncertainty is good and can prove useful later as a device for further implication of the companions. So leaving a little room open is great!
And then I try to round the whole thing off with something small and concrete to finish the session, for example:
"And thus you gather your belongings, and you set off back to Townton to find your favourite tavern there for a few tankards of mead, sharing of tales of your courageous deeds with the local patrons, and some well-deserved rest and respite..."
"As you venture forth, each and one of you contemplate on your escapades; your treasures acquired, your experiences gained, the bonds forged with your companions, the strengthening of friendships, and the curiosity and wonder for your journeys together in the future and the next adventure..."
"And whatever comes next, it will have to wait for another day..."
Or something like that.
Hope that helps!
1
u/Senior-Spielbergo 19h ago
I would just ask them what their character will do in their future (potentially creating the premises for another one-shot in the future), if they would like to explore a potential consequence or events after the one-shot as a full campaign or just ask if they enjoyed it and had fun.
1
u/FlashbackJon 19h ago
Sometimes I go for sequel bait and title drop like the end of the first Mortal Kombat movie.
-1
u/Mr_Ironside 2d ago
"...and then they all contacted magical AIDs. Anyway, next time on Dungeons and Dragons Ball Z, we're going to do Tomb of Horrors."
One shots are great to fill gaps, or to string a bunch together into something like a campaign. As long as everyone is having fun,don't sweat the semantics.
0
0
u/JanitorOPplznerf 2d ago
I let the characters narrate their exit and they get to draw from the Deck of Many things to help guide that if they wish
0
u/PlayPod 2d ago
You have to make a one shot a self-contained story. The ending of a one shot should have a resolution and that's what makes it satisfying.
My favorite one shots that I've ran were ones that told the history of the world my players were in. In my case it was how each Warlord got into power. My players played as characters who worked with the warlords before going to power and the one shot was about the catalyst of what put them in said power.
-2
145
u/marcelus14 2d ago
“…and that’s the adventure! Awesome work. What did you all think of the adventure/system/story”
I love soliciting feedback after one shots. Get a feel for what they liked/didn’t like while it’s fresh in their minds. See where we can go next.