Okay, so I decided to run a D&D one-shot the other day. Didn’t have the time or frankly, the energy, for a long campaign right now, but still wanted to roll some dice with friends. A single session adventure felt just right.
Getting Started – The Idea
First thing, I needed an idea. Didn’t want anything too crazy complicated. The goal was fun, quick action. I remembered an old concept I had rattling around in my head – a simple escort mission that goes wrong. Classic, right? Easy to set up, easy for players to grab onto. Protect a grumpy merchant, get ambushed, track down the attackers to their hideout. Simple stuff.
Prep Work – Keeping it Light
Didn’t want to spend weeks prepping for a single night. That defeats the whole purpose.
- The ‘Story’: I sketched out a basic flow. Point A (start), Point B (ambush), Point C (tracking), Point D (lair), Point E (boss fight/rescue). Maybe five key scenes or locations. I jotted down a few notes for each: who’s there, what’s the main challenge, maybe a little bit of treasure. Didn’t write paragraphs of descriptions, just bullet points. Used simple NPCs – grumpy merchant, goblin bandits, maybe a slightly tougher hobgoblin leader.
- Characters: I told the players beforehand: “We’re doing a one-shot, probably level 3. Make something quick, or grab one of these pre-made characters I have.” Gave them a few options – fighter, cleric, rogue, wizard. Basic archetypes. Saved a ton of time. No need for epic backstories for a four-hour game.
- Materials: Pulled out my battle mat and wet-erase markers. Essential for showing combat positioning without getting bogged down. Dug through my box of miniatures, found some goblins, a bigger guy for the boss, and some generic hero figures. If I didn’t have the right minis, I’d just use dice or bottle caps. Printed out the character sheets and a few copies of the monster stats I needed. Found my dice bag. That was pretty much it.
Running the Actual Game
Got everyone together, ordered some pizza. First, set the scene real quick. “You’re hired by this merchant, he needs to get to the next town, pays okay, seems simple enough.” Threw them right into the journey.
The Ambush: Sprung the ambush fairly early. Kept the combat moving. Didn’t fuss too much over exact rules, went with rulings that felt right and kept the pace up. Goblins aren’t strategic geniuses, so they were pretty straightforward to run.
Tracking and Lair: The tracking part was mostly narrative or a simple skill check. Didn’t want it to drag. Found the cave hideout. I’d drawn a basic map on my notepad, just squares and circles, and sketched it onto the battle mat as they explored. A couple of simple traps (pitfall, maybe a tripwire), a few more easy goblin fights to soften them up.
The ‘Boss’: The hobgoblin leader with the captured merchant (or maybe just the merchant’s stolen goods, depending on how the ambush went). Tried to make this fight a bit more interesting, maybe the hobgoblin had a slightly smarter tactic or a nasty special move. Focused on describing the action to make it feel exciting.
Wrapping Up: Once the main baddie was down, I wrapped it up quickly. They rescue the merchant (or get the loot), get their reward (or limp back to town). Described the immediate aftermath, gave them a moment to celebrate or crack a joke, and called it a night. Didn’t need a long epilogue.
How it Went – The Aftermath
Honestly, it worked out pretty well! Everyone seemed to have a good time. Keeping it simple was definitely the key. The prep was manageable, maybe took an hour or two total. Running it felt energetic because we knew we had a clear goal and limited time.
What worked: Pre-gen characters were a lifesaver. The simple plot was easy to follow. Keeping combat moving was crucial. Having a physical map, even a quickly drawn one, helped a lot.
What I’d change next time: Maybe make the final encounter a tiny bit harder? It felt a little anti-climactic. Also, I could probably telegraph the traps a bit more subtly; one player felt a bit blindsided by the pitfall. Need to work on my descriptive clues for those.
But overall? Yeah, great success. A good way to get that D&D fix without the huge time sink of a full campaign. Definitely going to run more one-shots like this.
