🎲running your first D&D one-shot without dying inside

for the person who agreed to DM before thinking it through. min 4 players baked into all of this

Wizards' free basic rules PDF has starter material, use it

run a session zero, even a short one

10 minutes on tone and lines/veils saves you later

cap the table at 4-6 players

min 4 or the pacing drags, learned this one live

read the stat blocks of every monster before the session, not during

write down 3 hooks max to get them into the dungeon

prep a simple initiative tracker, index cards work fine

don't stop to look up a rule mid-scene, rule of cool and fix it later

stopped a fight for 4 min once to check grapple rules, table never forgave me

have a soft ending and a hard ending planned

adjust the next encounter if the first one nearly kills someone

crunchy > light doesn't mean cruel

debrief for 5 minutes after: what worked, do they want a session 2

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