i’ve seen some of your stuff on here about the one shot podcast and it seems super cool! is there any place you recommend starting?
It has taken me SO long to respond to this because I really want to give a comprehensive answer so HERE GOES:
First, One Shot is a podcast that's been on the air for over 10 years, showcasing a different tabletop RPG, very often by indie designers, in self-contained one-shots with a rotating cast of performers from the Actual Play, Voice Acting, and Improv worlds. It was created and hosted by James D'Amato, until I took over the host position just over 2 years ago.
If you are already into games, one way you can decide where to start is to start with a game you find interesting (or one that hones in on a genre you really like). Our episode titles are the game titles (with rare exception) so this is an easy way to search our feed. You can also try to pick a series to start with by checking out episodes with performers you already know you like.
For instance, if you love Persephone Valentine OR love star-crossed lovers, check out You Know Me Still. If you love Amelia Som OR pastoral horror, check out Under the Autumn Strangely. If you like Christian Divyne or raucous teen comedy, check out Slugblaster. etc etc
If you aren't terribly familiar with a lot of games or names though, you here are my recommendations for One Shots that are just really great. (They're all pretty great, but these are just some offhand favorites.)
Bloodbeam Badlands
Vampires in an apocalypse where the sun never sets. The game is such a unique take on vampires, and is completely unlike the more popular vampire games, with deeply original setting-specific character types. Features the game's designer, Viditya Voleti, and two of the best Vampire the Masquerade players on earth - Josephine McAdam and Laura Tutu.
Husband Daddy Protector Hero
A true beer & pretzels, best friends around the table nonsense game wherein my best friends and roommates play a game I wrote high as a fucking kite. We get full Tim Allen Santa Claus'd. Part One features game designers Viditya Voleti, Elliot Davis, and Robin Ekberg, and in Part Two we add in games journalist Rowan Zeoli.
Under The Autumn Strangely
An eerie pastoral horror game where two people embody The Terror, two embody The Arcadians (or the world itself) and one is the Traveler, the protagonist being affected by the others as they wander through a disturbing wood. Features Amelia Som as the protagonist, Apollo Pierce and Fiona Howatt as The Terror, and myself and Brian Flaherty as The Arcadians.
Campanions
If you've ever played games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, or Baldur's Gate and wondered "what are the rest of my companions doing back at the ranch?" This game answers this question in such a fun way. We told a very steampunk tale of adventurers who were tossed aside by their leader in favor of her latest favorites. Featuring voice actor Candace McAfee, Robin Ekberg, and Kai Ferreira.
The Time We Have
A two-player game about brothers in the zombie apocalypse. One has been infected, the other hasn't, and you play on opposite sides of a closed door during the infected brother's final days. I play my first in-person One Shot recording with the game's designer and one of my best friends, Elliot Davis.
Last Train to Bremen
A fully improvised MUSICAL (including the singing and musical accompaniment). The game at base follows a four-piece band who made a deal with the devil for their success, on the run as he finally comes to collect. I partnered with the cast of RPG Major, an improvised musical Actual Play, and flew to their studio to record such a uniquely special One Shot - which is the only One Shot to have it's own album on streaming and Bandcamp.
VOID 1680 AM (aka One Shot 100.1 OSN)
My ambitious 100th episode celebration, playing the radio show-inspired RPG VOID 1680 AM. Guests from my 2 year run hosting the show returned, playing their characters calling into my radio show to speak with me. Me, me. Not characters I've played. Truly one of the most magical pieces of actual play I've ever made, and I am bragging about it.
UPDATING THIS WITH SOME MORE GUIDES TO ONE SHOT!!!
Classic Adventures: Typical One Shot Adventures, our characters discover their mission and jump into the action, a healthy mix of roleplay and combat.
Story Driven: Playing games that are mechanically centered around a specific story or emotional beat, usually with a more serious tone.
Beer & Pretzels: Light mechanics and heavy on the goofs. Friends at the table vibes. There's for sure a story, but it's not exactly the point.
World-Building: Playing games that are specifically about world-building, character creation, and collaborative brainstorming. There may also be story, but the building is the center point.
I will say that ALL of these overlap in some way in at least one other section - Slugblaster is also pretty classic adventure, All's Fair is also story-driven, Rise, Wizards! is very much a Beer & Pretzels. But I sorted them based on what I feel stands out the most.
HAPPY PRIDE MONTH GAMERS
In addition to this helpful "which One Shot should I listen to" guide, I'm adding a new segment called "which One Shots are the gayest"! Now, are there queer elements to lots of One Shots? Yeah, because I'm the host and my rotating roster has like 2 token cishet performers in total. But these are the shining rainbow stars.
I Have the High Ground - two washed up, old space-knight men with a grudge fight, but secretly want to touch each other through their slutty little space armor.
HUNT(er/ed) - A lonely man in love with the sea itself is a lot of things but I know for certain that it isn't straight.
GODKILLER - A repressed town where gender and sexuality would be open and fluid if not for a controlling God who suppresses all emotion that does not flow toward him, until one person uses her favor with him against him.
You Know Me Still - YEARNING. YEARNING AND REGRET AND REVOLUTION AND YEARNING. Exes on opposite sides of a war and did I mention yearning.
Can You Host? - Literally a bunch of queers trying to hook up at a gay club while being interrupted by a straight girl's bachelorette party. Subtext abandoned.
Last Train to Bremen (Broadside's All That Remains) - Toxic lesbians and an evil bisexual in a band together goes very wrong. Mostly because they made a deal with the literal devil but the toxic lesbian and evil bisexual thing definitely help.
