7 Ideas for D&D One-Shot Adventures

I started with AD&D in the 80's, and there wasn't even the idea of one-shots (except kind of with Side-Treks), but it sure would have made my early years a lot easier. There weren't that many people to play with, none of us was really a DM, and there were usually only a few hours to play whenever, so we never had time to start a proper game. But one shots would have really helped. Also, I'd suggest pre-gens, especially with noobs in the group or where the casualties may be high.
And if you're really into the Deck of Many Things, you should seek out an old adventure called "House of Cards" from Dungeon magazine #19, where the cards appear iirc on the doors of the dungeon, sealing them closed until the pc's "draw" the card. The zine even came with a deck for home use. (You can find a pdf free if it doesn't make you feel weird not to pay $60 for something that went out of print 30 years ago, which it shouldn't, considering none of that money will ever go to anyone who should get it for the work they did.)

Haha yeah the PvP one shot would be a disaster with my group if I was playing, even if I played my ranger (well she's ranger/rogue by 6th level) because she's ironically the one the other players complain about the most but that's honestly probably because the rogue player doesn't get sneak attack or use cunning action very often because they either don't meet the conditions or someone forgets to remind them about it (this is after playing a rogue for 10+ sessions) I wasn't even trying to optimise that much I just thought gloomstalker sounded super cool conceptually and while I could tell sharpshooter was pretty good but I didn't quite realise how devastating it could be even before I knew about the unseen attackers having advantage thing one other player in particular who actually DM'd a few oneshots with her often makes snide remarks, particularly when they're low in initiative, about how they're not even going to get a turn because my ranger does too much damage and yeah she does do a lot of first turn damage that's literally the point of the dread ambusher subclass ability and when they DM'd with her they confessed to tripling the enemy's hit points because they only prepared one combat and in doing so nearly got the fighter and rogue killed because they were the ones in Melee and I was at range and honestly I'm pretty sure she's only been targeted twice in all the times I've played her and it was because she'd been caught in melee by the possessed rogue in the middle of a bright clearing, one missed and the other was an opportunity attack.

"Less powerful class like Monk or Ranger" ....... aight cool, im not gonna tell him

Played a one shot that was like a game show full of puzzles where the players were split into teams that eventually turned into a pvp where only a few players could live. The final round of the game was convincing the other players to give up so you could win the ultimate prize: the wish card (deck of many things). If we couldn’t convince the other to step down, we were allowed to fight/kill them.

In the end, the guy running the show stole the card from my character (the winner)

It was actually really sad and emotional for a one shot (for me at least) because there were so many NPCs with way better wishes than my character. Felt devastated when I had to brutally murder a kobold named creker who just wanted to wish to become a dragon, all while pretending my character was enjoying it.

Ah yes Ranger, the 'less powerful class' that is just better fighter

I still remember a pvp oneshot one of my dms did that had a deck of many things hidden in the arena. The player who found it was pretty inexperienced, so when asked to declare how many cards she would draw decided to draw ALL OF THEM. She used the "change one past event" card to change that to half, but still it was wild. She used it to kill everyone except her, but my character had a death ward so was shielded from insta-kill effects and managed to squeeze out the win. It's become something of a tradition with that group to have a non-canon death match between the players at some point in every campaign.

>encourages minmaxes to play ranger to not overpower everyone and a gloomstalker appears

These are all fantastic ideas man, some I've heard, some I haven't. But the bit of notes you gave for each were quintessential and nothing but uplifting for each of them.

Hunger games themes gives me tooooo many ideas

Um the backstory one shot is great and undermentioned, one-shots can feature lore npcs

I ran a one shot where the whole party was killed by a mind flayer at the end and he extracted their souls and put them in crystals. Had a whole bunch of resin gems I made for keepsakes that I gave them. Good times

You deserve more subscribers 😢

The first one tends to become a tactical combat game mostly negating the roleplaying aspect of the game. Nothing inherently wrong with that but you might as well play an actual tactical combat game. D&D is for roleplaying.

The second one sucks since you're forced to play something you don't want to play. You might end up with something you like but more likely you won't. Even if I get something I would want to play, every player builds characters the way they like and it rarely fits with anybody else's concepts. It's not a "pleasant surprise"...It sucks. I would never agree to that and would leave if that was the surprise element of the game.

The third one sucks even worse. DoMT is not fun. I just built a character and then he dies or is exiled or whatever. Nope. I'll go home jab an icepick in my hand a couple of dozen times. It'll be less sucky.

The fourth one, hardcore can be somewhat fun IF taken in moderation. I want to be able to play, so killing off a character every 10 minutes sucks. I've never seen any DM do it right so I'd rather not play than be subjected to most DMs' hardcore.

The fifth one essentially becomes another tactical combat game, but restricted to tower defence. Might as well play a tower defence board game. D&D is for roleplaying.

I've played monster one shots a few times. They're OK as long as the DM balances the strengths of each monster. It's maybe a little difficult to pull off unless you're experienced (like Jimi).

I've played hidden identities many times before and they suck. Just like traitor mechanics in board games suck. I guess some people like em but it's always disappointing for half the group so not something you want to spring on them.

Good thinking out of the box but they are not really good ideas. Good try though.

Any ideas for a 30 minute one shot for 6 people as an introduction to dnd during a weekly show and tell team meeting via zoom? 🤔

Great video! I'm doing a one-shot this Friday since we'll only have half of our play group there. I like the idea of having the players run monsters, but I came up with a twist where they'll be running the same monsters that they'll be facing at the end of the dungeon they're currently in without knowing it. I plan to let them slaughter a different party that's ahead of them so that they really get a good feel for how powerful these guys are. The real payoff might not happen for a few months, but I'm excited to see the fearful expressions of the players when they slowly realize they're heading into the same area where that one-shot happened. Yeah, the one where those crazy overpowered baddies were waiting for unsuspecting adventurers. I'll use the same tactics/abilities that the players used in the previous battle as they unknowingly helped to shape the future battle in the campaign. Kind of a cool way to do a one-shot, but still indirectly be playing in the current campaign and adding to it. Thanks for spurring the idea!

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“Very absurd, very quicktly”

Less powerful class like monk🤣🤣🤣🤣

jesus christ a 10min video to give 7 examples of one shots? why'd you do this, just to have space for some ads? or what??

I am running a campaign and you filled me with a ideas:
1) the dungeon fills with a pinkish gas that makes everyone mad and angry so they fight to the death (only the characters with a pacific nature will be immune);
2) a body swapping mage that swaps randomly the bodies of the characters;
3) protecting a temple against a swarm of undead (there will be more temples and once all get activated a god descends posing a much more dangerous threat).

Wow, this video got way more attention than I expected it to. Thank you all so much. If you can get this video to 10,000 views, I'll write up the hidden identities one-shot as a module and release it on DMsGuild!

Edit: OK, I know it's been a ridiculously long time since the video passed that benchmark, and I apologize for not posting the module. I still hope to get around to it sometime though, and will announce it once it's published.

The first one is literally called a battle roy

Would love to hear/see a video about the last one! Especially one where all of the players are the imposters and sacrificing the other players.

Subscribed. I'll support the channel. So don't give up and keep improving!

Also the problem with pvp is it will likely result in one quick combat.

Surprise your pcs with a murder mystery. Try to avoid anything that can be solved by one lucky roll.

I really like the idea of having a single shot where the players run monsters. Great idea.

Criminally underrated.

This video was really well-thought-out. Nice job!

wonderful video! i loved the hardcore idea in particular

My intro/oneshot for my noobs leading into a campaign was to defend a walled village. Ditch below and 4' high wall on an embankment above. Choosing which enemy to shoot with arrows, which enemies could make it to the walls. The Mad, Heroic Dwarf jumping 10' off the top on the wall onto the orc stuck in the bottom of the muddy ditch. Halfling who couldn't even see over the wall! The Fumbles, the Critical - the awesomeness and humour :)

I created a scifi one shot taking place on a Generation Ship. It's not DnD necessarily. But I used the same rules. Just reskinned stuff a bit. It was a good introduction to roleplaying for people who've never done it before..

I did a one shot that were the contents of a book that my players found in my campaign. They loved it to death!

This is really good. Great ideas and well made video, you deserve MUCH more subs and views. Tomorrow I’m running a one shot and giving my players a ring of 3 wishes early on

I REALLY like the last idea, I can see my players go crazy with figuring out who the traitor is if I set it up correctly. Bonus points if it's a dungeon with four sacrificial pits and all 4 party members secretly want to sacrifice the other party members in their own sacrificial pit.