Hey guys! I’m looking to be a new DM! I’m looking for any good one-shots that I can play with my friends. Does anyone have any suggestions on any good (and free) ones that I can use?
I've had a lot of fun running the one-shots that Trilemma puts out. There is also a sort of "One-Page Dungeon Contest" compilation that gets put out every year that has some good stuff in it, if you don't mind wading through a bunch of poorly drawn material to find it. Also there's nothing stopping you from heading over to the DM's Guild and just cruising their Free/Pay-What-You-Want options for anything that looks interesting. I've picked up more than a few adventures that way as well.
In terms of free/pay-what-you-want one shots specifically, Richard Jansen-Parkes (Winghorn Press) has a couple in particular that I like:
A Most Potent Brew is a first level adventure that is compact and deliberately only references content in the free Basic Rules, so you can run it without buying any books at all. It's my go-to option as a quickie one shot for new players. Great if you're limited for time, but would also be easy to add on to if you wanted to stretch it out with your own stuff.
Wild Sheep Chase is fifth-level-ish as written - I've used it as a one off between tier 1 and tier 2 arcs (for example, after running Lost Mine of Phandelver). Features a sheep-shaped wizard who needs help, and the best red dragon pun ever.
I'd recommend looking at Kelsey Dionne's work as well (The Arcane Library). I really like the way she formats adventures. If you sign up for her mailing list you get a free first-level adventure (Temple of the Basilisk Cult - has kind of an Indiana Jones feel). She also has some good one shots (there's a bundle of four horror ones on sale right now).
Ashley Warren has a pay-what-you-want level 3 solo adventure called The Executioner's Daughter that could easily be adjusted to run with a small party. Which reminds me, the Uncaged anthologies are amazing collections and well worth looking at if you get to the point where you want to buy more content.
As Metamongoose already mentioned, you'll find all kinds of good stuff just poking around on dmsguild (and you'll see people discussing them on the Dungeon Masters Guild board on these forums). Off the top of my head, some more authors worth looking at would be Luciella Elisabeth Scarlett, Oliver Clegg, and of course M.T. Black, but there are lots of others.
Now that I've said Oliver Clegg's name, I'd be remiss not to note that I've been meaning to try his one shot Killer Kobolds from Outer Space, which is probably just as ridiculous and fun as it sounds.
I am new to DMing myself and do it at my local gaming shop cafe as a DM for new players and I have adjusted the golden claw quest and Embers hard mine quest from skyrim for dnd as its something new players will be familiar to so I don't have to discribe too much
So don't be afraid to use video game quests as dnd quests that you as a DM can alter to your needs
A few years late or so but for whoever is still looking, a fun one-shot I stumbled upon was Moon over Graymoor. I'll attach the link to the reddit post of where you can read more about it. Overall though it's a quick intro into dungeons and dragons for new players but also a fun time for experienced players. It's intended for 3 players but I made it work with four, just had to adjust some stuff.
Hey guys! I’m looking to be a new DM! I’m looking for any good one-shots that I can play with my friends. Does anyone have any suggestions on any good (and free) ones that I can use?
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[A]
I've had a lot of fun running the one-shots that Trilemma puts out. There is also a sort of "One-Page Dungeon Contest" compilation that gets put out every year that has some good stuff in it, if you don't mind wading through a bunch of poorly drawn material to find it. Also there's nothing stopping you from heading over to the DM's Guild and just cruising their Free/Pay-What-You-Want options for anything that looks interesting. I've picked up more than a few adventures that way as well.
In terms of free/pay-what-you-want one shots specifically, Richard Jansen-Parkes (Winghorn Press) has a couple in particular that I like:
I'd recommend looking at Kelsey Dionne's work as well (The Arcane Library). I really like the way she formats adventures. If you sign up for her mailing list you get a free first-level adventure (Temple of the Basilisk Cult - has kind of an Indiana Jones feel). She also has some good one shots (there's a bundle of four horror ones on sale right now).
Ashley Warren has a pay-what-you-want level 3 solo adventure called The Executioner's Daughter that could easily be adjusted to run with a small party. Which reminds me, the Uncaged anthologies are amazing collections and well worth looking at if you get to the point where you want to buy more content.
As Metamongoose already mentioned, you'll find all kinds of good stuff just poking around on dmsguild (and you'll see people discussing them on the Dungeon Masters Guild board on these forums). Off the top of my head, some more authors worth looking at would be Luciella Elisabeth Scarlett, Oliver Clegg, and of course M.T. Black, but there are lots of others.
Now that I've said Oliver Clegg's name, I'd be remiss not to note that I've been meaning to try his one shot Killer Kobolds from Outer Space, which is probably just as ridiculous and fun as it sounds.
Good luck, and have fun!
I am new to DMing myself and do it at my local gaming shop cafe as a DM for new players and I have adjusted the golden claw quest and Embers hard mine quest from skyrim for dnd as its something new players will be familiar to so I don't have to discribe too much
So don't be afraid to use video game quests as dnd quests that you as a DM can alter to your needs
looking for a 5th lvl one shot
This is one I made, I really don't know how well it is balanced, never got to play it fully out, but I think it is fun.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PdJ8k628-hcoIP-7Mgmn5O35sFDgKJUEXmARSz3zLMk/edit?usp=sharing
A few years late or so but for whoever is still looking, a fun one-shot I stumbled upon was Moon over Graymoor. I'll attach the link to the reddit post of where you can read more about it. Overall though it's a quick intro into dungeons and dragons for new players but also a fun time for experienced players. It's intended for 3 players but I made it work with four, just had to adjust some stuff.
Credit goes to S. T. Mannell
Reddit Post for One Shot