Dungeons and Dragons: One-Shot Adventures to Start You Out

Dungeons and Dragons is an incredible hobby, game, and way to hang out with your friends. Building an entire campaign — a long-lasting game with the same characters played out over years — can be really intimidating, especially if you’ve never run a game before.

While Dungeons and Dragons official content, like the new Dungeons and Dragons Starter Kits or the Stranger Things Starter Kit, are available with short one-shot adventures, there are also a ton of options available online.

So I’ve put together a short list of my top 3 one-shot (games that can be played in a single sitting) games for you to use to get your dice rolling.

1. The Tremor Train by RNW

This is an adorable and wicked fun adventure that is perfect for a new game master and new players. The adventure is fairly linear with fewer chances for it to go off the rails with player choices. The game is set in a cheesy haunted train ride deep within a mountain. Someone has gone missing during the ride and the players must ride the Tremor Train and save the day.

There are a lot of fun little pieces here, from a hallway filled with skeletons that make players cackle, to badly-made fake spiders. The fight at the end is a true challenge and the players get to save the day! It’s a great starter game, especially if you have kids, and it really lends itself to being cheesy and hilarious.

2. Druid in the Sewers by Stephen Bandstra and Chris Curran

Strange mushrooms have begun appearing in the city, and a foul magic is running wild in the sewers. Your players must save the day and defeat the evil hiding within. This adventure is another fun, somewhat enclosed encounter. Your players navigate the path, survive the strange creatures, and stop the wickedness at the heart of the sewers.

This is a more challenging adventure, but still suitable for a new group. It’s an excellent dungeon to explore with hidden dangers and places that will make players think twice before they act. The story itself lends towards challenging players to be thoughtful in their actions.

3. Dark Waters by Zeke Gonzalez

My final recommendation is a fun underwater adventure where a kidnapped cleric needs your player’s help. This is a slightly darker one-shot with undead and dark, cramped underwater tunnels filled with unseen dangers. Here we get into some unique locations, and the coastal aspects are played up here as there is a rush against time to not just save the kidnapped cleric, but to also stop a kraken!

This is a more advanced game where a solid understanding of the Dungeons and Dragons mechanics are needed to help the game flow smoothly. It’s a blast getting to dive into the water, experience underwater combat, and to give your players the chance to explore new environments.