10/24/2025

Happy Wednesday, and welcome back to Tabletop Thoughts!

Halloween is creeping up fast, and if you’re planning a get-together this year, why not toss a spooky one-shot into the mix? It’s a perfect excuse to dim the lights, grab some snacks, and dive into a creepy dungeon crawl with your friends — whether they’ve been rolling dice for years or have never picked up a d20 before.

A Halloween one-shot doesn’t have to be complex. You just need a little atmosphere, a bite-sized adventure, and a group ready to laugh, scream, and roll dice.

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👻 Step 1: Set the Mood

The easiest way to make a session feel special is to lean into the vibe.

• Turn off the overheads and light a few candles (or LED ones if you don’t want to risk summoning actual fire elementals).
• Add some ambient spooky sounds — creaking doors, whispers, slow violins — for instant atmosphere.
• Toss some leftover Halloween décor on the table. Even a plastic skeleton or fake spiderweb goes a long way toward making the scene pop.

If you’ve got painted terrain or 3D printed pieces, this is your moment. Creepy crypts, pumpkin patches, and foggy ruins look amazing under dim lighting.

🕯️ Step 2: Keep It Simple

You don’t need an epic, world-ending plot for a Halloween one-shot. Think “folk horror short story” instead of “season finale.”

A few easy frameworks that always work:

• The Village with a Secret — The locals celebrate something strange every autumn, and outsiders are not supposed to ask questions.
• The Haunted Keep — You spend the night in an abandoned stronghold… and not everyone who enters comes back.
• The Masked Festival — A mysterious celebration where guests wear masks that may or may not come off.

Shadowdark, 5E, or your favorite OSR rules all work great for this format. You can even grab one of my Thursday Drop-In adventures and re-theme it for a Halloween twist.

🧛 Step 3: Reward the Drama

Halloween sessions are meant to be over-the-top. Let your players go wild.

• The bard shrieks dramatically.
• The fighter lights the cursed candles anyway.
• The cleric insists on performing an exorcism even though they only have one spell slot left.

It’s all about the story — not the stats. Encourage the theatrics and lean into the weird. A few spooky hints and a well-timed cliffhanger are way more memorable than a perfectly balanced encounter.

🍬 Step 4: Add Treats, Not Tricks

Snacks make the night.

• Candy corn “potions” (color-coded drinks).
• Pretzel bones and dip.
• Gummy worms in “grave dirt” pudding (required necromantic dessert).

Bonus XP for anyone brave enough to eat something that looks cursed.

💀 Step 5: End with a Twist

Halloween one-shots are all about the finale. Maybe the heroes “win,” but the town’s bells start ringing as the moon turns red. Maybe the cursed mask reforms in someone’s pack. Maybe one of them isn’t who they think they are.

Leave a little mystery behind — it’s what keeps players talking long after the dice have stopped rolling.

🕸️ Want to Go the Extra Mile?

Check out my Etsy shop — DM David’s Prints (https://www.etsy.com/shop/DMDavidsPrints) — for 3D printed miniatures and terrain pieces like the ones you’ve seen in my posts and YouTube videos. Many of the pieces featured in my setups are available there, either unpainted or fully finished.

And if you spot something on my channel that you’d love to have, message me through Etsy! I’m always happy to chat about getting custom terrain printed or painted for a reasonable price.

That’s it for this week’s Tabletop Thoughts!

If you end up running a Halloween one-shot, I’d love to hear how it goes — what kind of spooky twists you added, and how your players survived (or didn’t).

Until next time, keep your dice close, your torch lit, and beware of any mysterious pumpkins offering you side quests. 🎃

Keep on gaming!