Favorite one-shots?

[Luz]

The Arcane Library has a high-level one-shot called Fires of Iskh (for $4.99 I think) that is very good They also have some good lower level modules for free (Temple of the Basilisk Cult, The Secrets of Skyhorn Lighthouse), although I'm not sure they can be played in a single session. Worth checking out.

 

[Quickleaf]

I'm in a group now with my brother DMing, and thought it could be nice to give him a break one of these weeks, as well as fun for me, to run a one-shot for the group. But I'm looking for something totally self-contained, that doesn't use our current campaign characters.

I've found We Be Goblins (5e conversion here), as well as Honey Heist (though it looks tough for a new player/DM like myself), both of which look really fun since they both use completely new characters in completely new settings (I don't want to encroach on my DMs world).

Any suggestions for one-shots in the genre of those listed above? Just something fun to try and to get my feet wet as a DM. (note: in my group I probably RP the most [even though I'm a very new player], and a couple of the members barely do at all... So I'm both worried about using those above, yet also want to try to see if it'll help loosen them up a bit with a kinda silly adventure )

I converted an old Dungeon adventure Hunt for a Hierophant (#63, by Chris Doyle) into a more streamlined 3rd level one-shot for 5e.

I ran for 2-3 players over two 3-hour sessions and they had a blast. Very good mix of exploration, interaction, fighting, and puzzle-solving.

 

[Kevtron]

Crucible of Freya
NeMoren’s Vault
Village of Hommlet (probably more likely a two-session run)

I noticed some of those are 3rd ed one-shots. I'm still quite a new player, and we've just started with 5th ed. How hard would it be to convert them?

 

[DRF]

Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan. Updated to 5e in Tales from the Yawning Portal. It sounds dumb if someone were to tell you about it. It was a gonzo temple-run type competitive convention adventure back in the day. It is a great one-off. It is also designed for 5th-level characters which is high enough that most classes have an assortment of cool powers and a feat if you allow it, but not too powerful.

My main recommendation is to spend the time to figure out how to do the time tracking. Part of the fun is the race to get out before exhaustion overtakes you. I used time-tracking wheels that broke the day into hours and rounds and I would just tick off the time. If I were to do it again I would create a larger version that I would print out and put on an easel so it was always before the players to further increase the sense of urgency.

Also, spend some time understanding some of the more complex rooms. There are some mechanically complex traps and puzzles, one of which also requires time tracking.

I've done Tamoachan once and honestly I had a great effing time. It's hard to find feedback on the place though, and there are so many complicated rooms with long (long!) descriptions. I spent a long time prepping the place. Also, how in heck's name did you manage to run it as a one-shot? I planned it as a one-shot, but it turned into a three-shot and lasted a total of about 15 hours - and we even rushed the end!

As for time tracking, the system I used was this: every single room reasonably requires 10ish minutes to explore and interact with. I would place 1 die on the table for every 10 minutes, and then once there were 6 dice I'd remove them all and have the players take damage. You can add dice if players spend a long time on certain tasks such as a thorough investigation etc. This also made rituals quite interesting.

The players were starved for resources and constantly low on health. They had burned through a lot of their stuff early on (as expected). They were so, so happy when I finally announced that the air was no longer damaging! It's a dangerous place; we had only 1 character death, but it would have been a TPK if I hadn't allowed a long rest in the lower levels. Even with the damage they took the resting was worth it for them.

 

[MNblockhead]

POTENTIAL SPOILERS


When I prepped I relied on threads posted here and on the DnD Beyond forums. It wasn't totally a one shot. The party was higher level but originally, I pulled it out when only two members of my group could make a session, so I ran them through it. They just made to out of the poison air section and out the top by the end of the session.

Then the rest of the party joined on the next session and reentered to clear it and to mean find the Vampire in the lowest level. One of the warlocks had a geas to get a magic item on the body of the vampire. That is why they were there in the first place and went back in.

So, no, I didn't run it as a one shot. Like you, I run it for two 8 hour sessions. Take away meals, breaks, chatting, etc. We probably played it for 12-13 hours.

BUT KEEP IN MIND that this was designed for a 6 hour (maybe even 4 hours) convention session. The party was expected to RUSH through it. Overcome the puzzles and traps and get out before the poison air killed them and hopefully get loot. They would be scored by how far they got in that time, which traps they overcame, how much loot they got, etc.

So, it certainly CAN be a one shot, if you keep the party on the clock.

I, however, worked it into my one of my campaigns storylines.

For a true one-shot, I might make it even harsher. I would fill the entire complex, all levels of poison air with a few pockets of fresh air here and there for short rests. No long rests. Exhaustion is the real big boss of this adventure.

I might also add in an effect where the temple is sinking and slowing brackish, foul, water is filling the complex from bottom to top. Time it so that by the end of your session, say after 6 hours of play, the entire complex is under water. Only the structure on top of the hill stands out of the wather. This would also have the effect of sending many of the denizens of the temple to higher ground, increasing the changes of random encounters as time goes by.

You and your players just have to accept that they will only be able to explore a fraction of the complex.

 

[Afrodactyl]

My group has run Death House, The Wolves of Welton, A Wild Sheep Chase and The Horror At Havel's Cross all to great success.

 

[KenNYC]

I doubt you have ever heard of this, but I would get the PDF of Judges Guild Book Of Treasure Maps v1, and run "The Lone Tower" by Jennell Jaquays. It has some material that I would label mature (I would not run it for 10 year olds). It's easily convertable as it is filled with giant rats, werewolves, a vampire and there is one unique monster in there you will have to make decisions on how to convert.

If you want lighter fare and something more unique, Jaquays also created a great little insane dungeon crawl called Borshak's Lair, which is 1st or 2nd level, and yet there is a Mummy in there waiting to kill you if you play poorly. The highlight is a real time death trap you will need a timer for. It can be found in The Dungeoneer Compendium 1-6 PDF (also by Judges Guild). I have ran that for new players and old a few times and everyone has enjoyed it. It's 1970s though, so be prepared for insane unfairness, save or die situations, and ridiculously generous magic treasure.

 

[Shiroiken]

Assuming you just want to run for a couple of hours, Tomb of Horrors from TftYP is good for a one shot. Create about 2 dozen characters, and allow everyone to choose one. When they die (not if), they'll have plenty of back ups. You could theoretically finish it within time, but you probably won't. In fact, it actually more likely you'll run out of characters first

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Not that hard at all, in my experience. For the most part, most of the monsters are either standard ones that you can just swap in the current stats, or replace with something else in the case of the ones that aren’t in the books.

I noticed some of those are 3rd ed one-shots. I'm still quite a new player, and we've just started with 5th ed. How hard would it be to convert them?