Summary

  • Boss rushes are a fun and challenging one-shot idea to throw players into previous battles.
  • A Curse of Strahd speed run is perfect for high-level players familiar with the module for a harrowing adventure.
  • Creating player-versus-player scenarios that can settle character power debates in a gladiatorial arena.

One-shots can be some of the most fun you'll ever have as a Dungeon Master or a player in a Dungeons & Dragons game. These one-off adventures that span only the length of a single game are a great way to introduce newbies to the world of tabletop roleplaying games, or they can prove to be a great setting for experimentation for veteran players.

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Using a one-shot to try out different gameplay mechanics, unique challenges, or homebrew content can be a great way to entice expert DND players into trying out a one-shot idea. But if you're unsure where to start, you can use this list for inspiration.

10 Boss Rush

Save Those Health Potions

Rooftop Chase via Wizards of the Coast

A classically fun Dungeons & Dragons one-shot you can run is a boss rush, in which players will have to contend with previous antagonists they've fought against throughout their campaign. For this one-shot, you can have players either play previous characters of theirs or make up new characters specifically for the rush.

Regardless of their build, give players a treasury to work with and allow them to buy potions, special armor, weapons, and more so that they can properly prepare for the boss rush. Then, from there, send them headfirst into a dungeon filled with their most powerful foes. You can even turn this idea into a full-on dungeon crawl if you want.

9 Curse Of Strahd Speed Run

Back To Barovia And Out Again

Gates of Barovia via Wizards of the Coast

This next one-shot is perfect for really high-level characters. The Curse of Strahd module is technically designed for adventurers at levels one to ten. However, if you have a party that's level 15 or higher, it can be fun to have them try to rush through the Curse of Strahd module in one gameplay session.

This one-shot is also great for players who have already done this module. If they haven't already played the module, this is not a good idea. However, if players are familiar with how the Curse of Strahd adventure works, having them rush to Castle Ravenloft and try to take down Strahd immediately is sure to be a fun, if not harrowing, one-shot adventure for a group of expert DND players.

8 Battle Royale

PvP

Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide by Tyler Jacobson

Technically speaking, Dungeons & Dragons is not properly balanced for player-versus-player combat. However, everyone knows that playing by the rules isn't always that fun anyway. For this next one-shot idea, consider creating a scenario in which players can either have their old characters fight one another or even other characters of theirs.

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This is the ultimate way to settle the age-old 'who would win in a fight?' debate. Want to know whether the party's rogue or monk is more powerful? Put them in a gladiatorial arena and find out. When running this one-shot idea, consider removing death as a mechanic so that nobody has to sit on the sidelines the whole one-shot if their character gets killed early on.

7 Character Swapping

It's Friday, And It's Getting Freaky

Conflict Between Characters by Scott Murphy

This one-shot idea is a great premise to stick into the middle of an ongoing campaign to keep things feeling fresh. For this idea, have the party be cursed by a powerful mage or some other unknown entity. At first, the players don't know what exactly the curse entails. That is, until they wake up the next morning.

The following morning, the party wakes up to discover that they have all swapped bodies. You can use either an RNG or select which player gets which character. Have everybody at the table, then swap character sheets so that they can each properly play one another. This can lead to some incredibly fun and zany adventures in an ongoing DND campaign.

6 Alternate POV

Are People Born Wicked?

Vampires by Carlo Arellano

Sometimes, one-shots can be a great way to present alternative points of view in an ongoing campaign. You can use a one-shot to give players different information, or you can just use this next one-shot idea as a funny one-off to break up the pace of a normal campaign.

For this one-shot, have players temporarily assume the roles of the campaign's antagonist, or another entity they've gotten to know throughout their adventure. Encourage them to roleplay faithfully, meaning they can't use this one-shot to actively hinder their own antagonists. This can be a fun non-canonical adventure that's just meant to lighten up a serious campaign, or you can use this one-shot to genuinely inform your players about their antagonist's motivations.

5 A Dungeon And A Dragon

Get Back To Your Roots

Adult Brass Dragon by Caio Monteiro

Sometimes, when you've been playing Dungeons & Dragons for a long time, it's easy to lose sight of where it all began. Subversion of expected character and adventure tropes is great, but it can be fun to start an adventure classically, and remember why you fell in love with DND in the first place.

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Use this next one-shot for expert players who want to dip their toes back into a classic DND setting. A mountainside town is being plagued by earthquakes coming from a nearby mountain. Within the mountain, the players find a vast dungeon, with a dragon chained up inside (the source of the quakes). This classic adventure features both a dungeon and a dragon, and can remind high-level players just how fun playing a simple DND adventure can be.

4 Relay Race

Team-Building Exercises Are Important

An Exciting Chase by Simon Dominic

This is another one-shot idea that can either be used completely independently of any campaign or can be stuck into an ongoing one as a one-off adventure. Have players complete in a relay race as a team, creating as many events in the tournament as there are players at the table.

Each part of the relay can be catered to a specific player's skillset, or you can go rogue and create a series of events that, perhaps, none of them are particularly good at. Either way, players will have to decide which of their characters will do each part of the relay to be successful.

3 Plane-Jumping Caper

Arcadia, Bytopia, And Limbo, Oh My!

A Spelljamming Wasp Ship by Bruce Brenneise

A great setting for a one-shot is the Outer Planes, but if you're just running one game, it can be hard to choose just one Outer Plane. That's why you should consider running a plane-jumping adventure in which players have to quickly work their way through each of the Outer Planes.

Have players be in pursuit of a powerful mage who has stolen an artificial they must retrieve. Both the mage and the party have magic items that can allow them to quickly jump between planes. The party must follow and find the mage in each plane to put a stop to their scheme. You can also add a random encounter generator that causes the party to inadvertently shift planes during the pursuit.

2 Mixed Realities

Wait, Do I Know You?

Book of Ebon Tides Cover Art via Wizards of the Coast

For tables that have played multiple campaigns together, consider using this next one-shot. Inform players of the mission at hand. While you can come up with any idea you want, one template you can use is to choose an antagonist from a previous campaign who has mysteriously reared their head once more, and must be stopped.

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From there, have each player select one of their previous characters without telling the other players at the table. After selections have been made, you should have a colorfully mismatched party of adventurers from a host of different campaigns, all in pursuit of the same goal. This can be a fun multiverse-type adventure for expert players.

1 Ancient History

Uncover The Past

A Giant Dungeon by Titus Lunter

Lastly, as mentioned before, you can use one-shots to inform players about elements of your world or your NPCs. If players in an ongoing campaign are about to discover a vital piece of worldbuilding lore, consider having them play through the lore they're about to receive in a one-shot, rather than just explain it to them directly.

This can make learning about the world the characters are in much more engaging and hands-on. Plus, this saves DMs from having to monologue endlessly about worldbuilding.

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Dungeons and Dragons

9.0/10 Franchise Dungeons & Dragons Original Release Date 1974 Publisher Wizards of the Coast Designer E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson Player Count 2+ Expand Collapse