Ideas for a one-shot game? Must be new-friendly, experimental preferred

[Jon_Dahl]

Any ideas?

Previously, I've run an all-evil one-shot. It was a straight a maybe a bit dull dungeon crawl, but the grande finale was great: the PCs were given the opportunity to become the good guys. Most actually did, which surprised me. The one-shot was otherwise great, but the dungeon crawl wasn't that hot.

I know that there are plenty of free adventures online, but none of them have the experimental streak that I like. The all-evil-but-eventually-good one-shot is a model example of an experimental one-shot.

[Captnq]

A LE guy named Poet frames all the players for crimes they did not commit. Why? Frickin' prophetic visions they will be his doom. Turns out the guy has a CG brother named Fool who frees them from jail but keeps jerking them around to be pawns in their "game."

[RedMage125]

For a one-shot?

The princess has been kidnapped by the evil half-red dragon kappa named Sowber.

Let the party fight through a short run before the castle, entering by means of an underground sewer drain.

After they run Sowber off, they find not the princess, but her retainer, who tells that that she is being kept in another castle.

There. Short. Full of fun references. And includes a plot hook if they want to continue past the one-shot.

[cosmonuts]

A wizard takes the PCs' arms and legs (non-fatally) to prevent them from doing PC things. It is up to the PCs to track down the wizard and force him to return their limbs.

This one's actually really dumb. Pls don't run it.

[sideswipe]

the PC's are told to go and retrieve an item for a wizard, a very rare ingredient for alchemy, there reward is HUGE. (so level 1 - 10,000g) they get there and its a trap. they are taken away by slavers into a city (probably drow) and they are locked up, waiting for auction. they have to find a way to escape before they are lost and split forever.

1. don't make the city to big. don't make it walled (heavily at least)
2. devise a 3 time daily feeding routine that could be exploited to allow them escape. but make it subtle.
3. put them in a cell with about 10 NPC's mixed races, mostly ex-adventurers. some of which could be talked into helping the initial escape. then they split. so that the guards would be hunting multiple parties.
4. put any gear they have easily marked out in a guard room or something near (but not next to) the cell block.

you can take it from there.

[atomicwaffle]

The Deathgate Cycle/Ultima Underworld/Avernum/Labyrinth

For various reasons, the party is either thrown in, or starts in, a magical/dangerous subterranean cavern/magical maze. Their one focus: escape.

This way a one-shot can blossom into a full campaign, or they merely carve out an existence, or die.