Emergency One-Shot Needed

[JNAProductions]

Okay, so I got a text from my DM. He says that he will most likely NOT be able to make tomorrow's session. Since I'm the most experienced player/DM at the table (possibly including him, but he's a better DM than I, so experience only goes so far!) he wants to know if I can do a one-shot little adventure for the rest of the peeps in the event he can't make it.

Does anyone have any good free adventures, preferably ones that can be satisfactorily completed in a couple of hours? We typically run three hour sessions, so it doesn't have to be long.

Thank you all for your help.

[Zejety]

Does level matter? I've recently run Tower of the Mad Mage and Celler of Death, which are intended for level 1 or two. Both were easy to prepare and run. Both are on dmsguild for a nominal fee. Tower of the Mad Mage is a little more stand-alone, as Cellar is intended to be an introduction to ToA.

[JNAProductions]

Does level matter? I've recently run Tower of the Mad Mage and Celler of Death, which are intended for level 1 or two. Both were easy to prepare and run. Both are on dmsguild for a nominal fee. Tower of the Mad Mage is a little more stand-alone, as Cellar is intended to be an introduction to ToA.

Level does not matter.

[kebusmaximus]

As a matter of fact, I'm on my way to run a session now. Michael Prescott writes one shots on his blog, trilemma adventures.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

For a one shot to include things like character creation in the session it has to be pretty straightforward either way. If for any reason a premade adventure from DM's guild or somesuch is not available you could just drop them in a dungeon, send them after a treasure guarded by a villain, have as many straightforward fights as needed to fill the time up to the last hour and then big plot twist the villain is actually being controlled by the treasure! And then they fight both. (The treasure being a hostage is optional, but a mind controlling artifact or even a mimic works as well.)

It's a little simple, but you had a day to prepare. If your group likes making characters put a theme on the session to keep them thinking longer, like 1001 nights or pirates. Go through the monster manual to find suitable minions.

EDIT: Alternatively, drop 5E altogether, use the simplest rules for a game you know or can think off, like a character being just 6 base stats and a few lines of introduction, and improvise a more comedic story. Superheroes work well for this.

[JNAProductions]

As a matter of fact, I'm on my way to run a session now. Michael Prescott writes one shots on his blog, trilemma adventures.

Do you recommend a certain one from there?


For a one shot to include things like character creation in the session it has to be pretty straightforward either way. If for any reason a premade adventure from DM's guild or somesuch is not available you could just drop them in a dungeon, send them after a treasure guarded by a villain, have as many straightforward fights as needed to fill the time up to the last hour and then big plot twist the villain is actually being controlled by the treasure! And then they fight both. (The treasure being a hostage is optional, but a mind controlling artifact or even a mimic works as well.)

It's a little simple, but you had a day to prepare. If your group likes making characters put a theme on the session to keep them thinking longer, like 1001 nights or pirates. Go through the monster manual to find suitable minions.

EDIT: Alternatively, drop 5E altogether, use the simplest rules for a game you know or can think off, like a character being just 6 base stats and a few lines of introduction, and improvise a more comedic story. Superheroes work well for this.

I'd be a touch concerned about doing something other than 5E for one of the players. He's an older gentleman, he's only recently begun getting his roleplaying legs underneath him. I'd rather not confuse him by switching systems, even to a mroe freeform kinda thing.

[nickl_2000]

Check my signature, I've got several in there you are welcome to steal. If you do use them, let me know how it went so that I can touch it up where needed.

[JNAProductions]

Check my signature, I've got several in there you are welcome to steal. If you do use them, let me know how it went so that I can touch it up where needed.

An entire adventure, one I can shamelessly rip off! Huzzah!

Thank you, Nickl. I'm probably going to use Gladiator Arena, and I'll let you know how it goes.

One quick question-how many PCs should it be run for? And what adjustments could you make for a larger group?

[nickl_2000]

An entire adventure, one I can shamelessly rip off! Huzzah!

Thank you, Nickl. I'm probably going to use Gladiator Arena, and I'll let you know how it goes.

One quick question-how many PCs should it be run for? And what adjustments could you make for a larger group?

I wrote it for 3-4 PCs and players that are strategic. For more PCS you can ramp up the amount of baddies for all but the last NPC battle. For that, ramp up the hp a little bit.

These were written with a group that plays from 7-10 ish at night, so it should work from a time perspective.

From a story perspective, the heist one is the most spelled out. The gladiator one will require some more improv on your side for our of combat interactions. The ending was left very open for the players to handle as they want. My table will likely spark a rebellion or start a coup

[nickl_2000]

I looked in there again, the battles will be balanced for 3 PCs. However, a few of the have in there an adjustment for 4 PCs. If you have more than that you will need to adjust further.