In Dungeons and Dragons, one-shots are thought of us as the perfect way to introduce players to the game and the elements surrounding it. This is totally understandable, as one-shots are shorter adventures that can be finished in one session, which equals a couple of hours in D&D time.
They’re designed to be less overwhelming and involving than longer campaigns, providing a playground for new players who don’t want to commit to a character or setting for a full-length campaign but rather swap until they’ve found their preference.
They’re popular because they require work prior to running the game from both the players and the Dungeon Master. There are often pre-generated characters, settings, challenges, and more.
Alas, one-shots can be used by Dungeon Masters to implement in their current campaigns to enhance them – or give the players a break from their current mission.
With that out of the way, let’s get to the stuff you came to learn about. Here’s our list of the best one-shot adventures for players who have just started playing the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons.
Death House
Death House is part of the Curse of Strahd campaign setting and can be experienced as a precursor for Curse of Strahd or as an isolated one-shot adventure. If you aren’t familiar with Curse of Strahd’s setting, expect Gothic horror elements throughout the story.
The setting, with its ominous mountains, dark forests, and overall creepy atmosphere, creates an immersive experience you won’t forget.
The campaign is designed for characters of levels 1 to 3 and includes thorough exploration, some combat, challenging puzzles, roleplaying, and saving throw mechanics. Death House introduces this mixture of different D&D elements in a way that’s designed so that it can be absorbed by new players.
The dungeon in Death House is a multi-story dungeon filled with hidden secrets that players must discover by exploring every nook and cranny that presents itself. The dungeon is also populated by non-player characters that the players can interact with, and of course, foes that must be dealt with.
All-in-all, Death House is a very good (if not the best) one-shot adventure for new players. I’ve recommended the campaign before, in our article about the best campaigns for new players, which you might find interesting if you’re looking for a longer campaign to take on later.
Mines of Madness
Mines of Madness is part of the “One Shot Adventures” series, published by the Wizards of the Coast. The adventure takes the party through an abandoned mine, Khundrukar, which once flourished with valuable gemstones and life but turned into a den infested with creatures, traps, and other mysteries after an event that took place a long time ago.
The module is commonly known for its absurd elements, which tend to cause the entire party to break out into laughter at times. The module’s challenges can be difficult, but they force players to explore and use their problem-solving talents more than brute force, as the module has more puzzles than combat.
You’ll encounter a variety of intriguing, funny, and memorable encounters as you delve deeper into Khundrukar. Some might say that the adventure is more suitable for players who’re trying Dungeons and Dragons for their second to fourth time, but it can be adjusted to be a great one-shot for total beginners who like challenges.
It can be run in a single session too, and the module seems (based on my intuition) designed to be less serious than many other adventures. Laidback and comedic elements can ease the pressure for new players, and at the same time introduce them to the game’s mechanics and rules.
Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment
Deep inside a temple populated by angelic creatures known as Empyreals, lie secrets that haven’t been unearthed for centuries. The story calls for someone who can enter the temple to investigate it. Someone who can handle the encounters, traps, puzzles and understand the mysteries that lie within. This is where the party comes in.
Temple of Empyreal Enlightenment is almost all roleplaying through the first half of the adventure – with a few small encounters appearing now and then. As a beginner, you’ll benefit from the roleplaying elements as you’ll get into the setting of the campaign while having a chance to define and get to know your character.
During the second half of the journey, everything ramps up and the outcome of the party’s prior choices will begin to make a difference, and the mysteries start to unveil themselves.
The campaign should take you about 4-5 hours to run and you can make minor tweaks to the adventure to facilitate the game for new players. When we’ve played the campaign, changes made have included revising traps, adding NPCs, and making some pieces of information easier to find.
Wild Sheep Chase
Wild Sheep Chase is the one-shot adventure you’re looking for if you’re into quirky and surreal stories. It starts off in an ordinary way by presenting a mundane task to the party – finding a lost sheep.
In the pursuit of the lost sheep, the story escalates rather quickly. The party sets out on its mission and soon thereafter they will find themselves in bizarre and hilarious situations over and over.
The one-shot presents memorable characters and enjoyable puzzles throughout the 3-6 hours that the adventure usually takes to finish. The adventure can be enjoyed more than once because it has multiple possible endings that vary depending on dice rolls, the character’s alignments, and the choices made throughout the journey.
It’s a hilarious one-shot that will have you laughing while presenting different elements of Dungeons and Dragons in a beginner-friendly manner. In fact, the story is packed with a bunch of opportunities for the party to solve problems.
A Most Potent Brew
A Most Potent Brew is an adventure designed for characters levels 1-4 and can be tweaked to fit most settings. The story takes place in a village where the party is hired to exterminate rats from a nearby beer cellar. This introductory mission then takes the party on its real mission, investigating an abandoned wizard’s tower to retrieve a stolen item.
This will take them on a journey full of investigation, traps, puzzles, and dangerous encounters. The adventure introduces common Dungeons and Dragons elements in an easy manner. It’s a great experience for new players because of how diverse and exciting the story is.
A Most Potent Brew makes for the perfect beginner one-shot because it can be expanded to a full campaign quite easily if the party wishes to continue. The adventure is a bit on the easy side, by default, but can be adjusted to prove more difficult if one wishes. It’s an easy story to follow and provides plenty of space to add your own storytelling.
This is a common starting point for new players, and I can truly understand why.
Grammy’s Country Apple Pie
This is the light-hearted one-shot that most beginners will enjoy, as the campaign is a good mixture of humor and challenges, with more emphasis on comedic elements than serious ones. The absurdity of some of the situations will have the party laughing and relieve any tension that any newbie might feel.
Tyndareus, an elderly wizard, becomes determined to satisfy his childhood craving for a unique treat and hires a team of adventurers to locate the bakery that used to make the finest apple pies. Unfortunately, the bakery has been taken over by goblins, stopping the group from retrieving the treats.
The situation at Grammy’s Bakery is not straightforward, and the adventurers soon realize that Tyndareus is not the only one with a strong desire for those delicious pies.
The journey that you’re sent on to find Tyndareus treats contains puzzles, interesting interactions, investigation, and combat. The story will twist and turn and when you think you’ve solved a problem, there’ll be something waiting for you.
Without saying too much about the adventure, I’ll say this one thing; you can expect goblins. This is truly a perfect experience for beginners but it can be adapted to suit players with varying knowledge of the game.
The Gribbits Detective Agency
The Gribbits Detective Agency is a single-session adventure designed for level one characters. The adventure comes in three acts and takes about 3 hours in total from start to finish. The story takes players on a mission to investigate the sudden disappearance of Janos Meer, (aka the Beggar King) a prominent figure in the town’s underbelly.
As it turns out, the player characters aren’t the only ones looking for Meer. There’s a rivaling group who have been hired to find Meer, they’re known as the Dragon Friends. This rivaling party will surface every now and then to stir the pot if the Dungeon Master decides to keep them involved in the conflict. They’re a great addition to the story and can be used to motivate the party in their search for Meer.
The adventure contains a great mixture of combat, roleplaying, and problem-solving elements for the party to overcome together in order to advance the story.
Here’s a quote from the adventure’s introduction that I think speaks for itself:
“The explosive destruction quite accidentally
meted out by the Dragon Friends some months prior
has made their city a dangerous place. It’s up to the
adventurers to follow the clues through the urban chaos,
unravel the mystery of the missing Meer, and maybe—
just maybe—expose a conspiracy greater than any of them expected”
Read: How To Make DnD Fun For Beginners
Wolves of Welton
Wolves of Welton was my go-to one-shot adventure whenever a new player was present, as it provides the perfect elements for a beginner module. The adventure is rather short and straightforward with a mixture of roleplaying, combat, puzzles, and exploration. In addition to all this, the one-shot is available online for free.
The adventure takes place in the town of Welton, a town that has seen more and more wolf attacks lately. The inhabitants long for a way to stop the attacks, and the party is hired to investigate the cause of the wolf attacks. This takes the party on a journey that has more layers than one would think initially.
As you delve deeper into the source of the powers that have set their sights on Welton, you’ll be taken on a classic adventure containing a town in distress, a mysterious threat, and a group of heroes all packed in a great story. The module can be enjoyed by both seasoned veterans and beginners alike.
Other Resources
Thank you for taking the time to read the article. If you’ve had success with other one-shot adventures as a beginner or when introducing a new player – please let us know in the comments so we can try the one-shot ourselves and add it to the list.
Here’s a list of other useful articles for beginners: