Good oneshots for learning oneshots?

[th3g0dc0mp13x]

Hey everybody, I'm planning to start running some custom one shots but I would like to build off a decent foundation.

So Players, what one shots have been the most fun for you?
DM's, Which one shots were the most fun for you and which ones were the best put together?

[Foxhound438]

not sure about recommending one shots, usually in my group we make them ourselves.

In any case, they tend to be made starting with a willing DM just wanting to use a monster and just building a short adventure around players ending up fighting it, usually 3 or 4 quick fights in a one day type of format.

[TripleD]

Never ran a published one-shot, but the most fun I had with a one-shot was one where we were all wizards. It was fun because we tried to build different “kinds” of wizards. I went with a Mountain Dwarf Abjurer who acted as the “tank” of the party.

One shots in general are a great time to try out wacky party compositions that might get old if you had to use them week after week.

[Kejgar]

I recommend using the tables in the DMG for making a dungeon and making a story from the location by asking a lot of questions about why it is the way it is and letting your imagination go wild. As for one shots, I recommend one called Mindblast! which I ran once and my whole group enjoyed it.
I think that the Adventurer's League has some short adventures but I find they are usually longer than other one shots.

[Ganymede]

The Cellar of Death is a solid one-shot with some challenging combat, devious traps, and big roleplay moments.

[Jophiel]

Hey everybody, I'm planning to start running some custom one shots but I would like to build off a decent foundation.

So Players, what one shots have been the most fun for you?
DM's, Which one shots were the most fun for you and which ones were the best put together?
I just ran DDAL05-02 The Black Road the other day and it was a fun two hour adventure designed for Adventure League play. Some roleplaying, some combat, some skill/ability checks for character levels 1-4.
You're hired as caravan guards to transport a statue across the desert. First section is roleplaying with Azum, the caravan owner. He answers questions about the trip, cargo, dangers, etc. Then you set off and, on one of the nights, are attacked by goblins (failing perception allows them to kill a driver before you know they're there). The next day you're bet by a sandstorm and need to save some wagons, camels and drivers; it's impossible to save everything but there's a lot of options to use: animal handling, nature, survival, intelligence checks, etc. Head back off and find the road barricaded by hobgoblins demanding a toll. Get past them and perhaps one other combat encounter depending on how you handled the hobgoblins. Rewards are a suit of ring mail, a shortbow with gnomish sights and customized Bracers of Archery that also give protection from heat/cold
It has a little bit of everything (AL modules usually do) and pulls it off pretty well. Combat was challenging but they pulled through and everyone seemed to have fun.

Aside from the hardcovers, all the AL stuff is designed to run in 2 or 4 hours although some modules are better paced and more entertaining than others. Some are a good deal of fun, some are "Ok, that was fun to play D&D" and a couple I've had the DM apologize for at the end because it was his first time running it, looked okay on paper and it did not work well in practice. You might want to just search for "Best AL modules" and read people's recommendations.

[ImproperJustice]

You could always go with Orc and a Pie?

Although we fleshed it out a little more to create a band of Orcish Pie Thieves known as the Red Thumbs (because they like to stick their thumbs in people’s pies while they cook).

It’s all part of a campaign of confectionary terror to ruin the competition and create demand for their own poor quaiity brand of pies, which they intend to force upon the locals from their secret pie factory.

If only some brave souls could stand up to them?!