D&D One-Shot Idea / Adventure Creation Form

The form consists of five questions that aim to create a solid first pitch for your D&D adventure or one-shot. It is the first step in the entire process, and it should create a simple foundation from which you can build using the other tools (the second step being the outline, and the third step being the D&D adventure template). Even though the form consists of only five questions that can easily be copied and pasted, I have created a docx and a PDF that can be downloaded.

1. The ‘one thing’ you have
2. How does this ‘one thing’ lead to a threat?
3. What was the course of events that lead to the current situation?
4. How does the responsibility fall to the characters?
5. Why would the characters work together to solve this threat?

Download the D&D One-Shot Idea / Adventure Creation Form

The D&D Adventure / One-Shot Creation Form contains the five questions and the rationale behind the questions. Click on the buttons below to download them so you can use them in your own documentation software, like OneNote for example.

1. What is the ‘one thing’ you have?

You have some idea: a monster, a villain, a genre, a “what if it was like James Bond, but high fantasy?”-type idea. It can be anything, from one sentence to half a page of text. Whatever you do, ensure the ‘main idea’ is the first sentence, and be brutally honest. This is for your eyes only. So if you have the idea “Die Hard, but in a Harry Potter-like wizard school”, then just write that down. Don’t talk around it. There was a spark in your mind that made you go ‘aha!’, so write down that spark.

2. How does this ‘one thing’ lead to a threat?

This one idea must form a problem or threat worthy of characters to solve. People will starve/become ill/drown/die. The world doesn’t need to end, but if left unsolved, this threat will escalate and cause more harm. If an item has been stolen and the characters have to retrieve it, you have to answer the ‘why’. Because if nothing happens due to the item being missing, then is it really worth the risk and hassle of going out and retrieving it?

3. What was the course of events that lead to the current situation?

You need an outline of events that tells you what happened. No long winded text, it can be a simple bulleted list (I actually prefer those). But you must be able to put the backstory together, to avoid plot holes and other writing errors. You can create a cool monster, make it a threat to a village, and once you outline the course of events you might think “wait, where did this monster actually come from?” Not every possible question needs an answer, but you should at least have thought about it, so you can actively decide whether or not a particular question should remain a mystery.

4. How does the responsibility fall to the characters?

Did the villagers even attempt to solve it themselves? In other words: provide evidence that your threat is not mundane and that the characters are uniquely capable of solving it. The bar could be really low: “We went to the doctor and tried every medicine he could think of, but nothing worked” is enough. This is basically your prepped answer for the inevitable “have you tried turning it off and on again?”

5. Why would the characters work together to solve this threat?

This can be generic, this can be specific to your group of players, but you should at least have an answer. A part of the introduction can be that the players have been a mercenary group for a short while, no further details required (unless the players would like to add more backstory and RP). It can be as extensive as you want it to be, with party-members being family, having a personal history together, or being part of the same guild. Just make sure that there’s a baseline reason for the characters to not just turn around and walk away.

My ways of coming up with One-Shot Ideas for D&D

If you are tasked with running a D&D One-Shot and you have no clue where to even begin, then try some of these strategies. First trick: think of a cool movie or episode of a show that doesn’t take place in a fantasy setting, and make it a fantasy setting. There is so much inspiration out there. Just think of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ‘The Running Man’, but in D&D. Or make it a very cerebral experience by adapting Memento. Imagine the players trying to figure what happened with their characters before they started playing.

If you don’t want to look at other media, then try set pieces. You want the players to cross a rickety bridge deep in a mine. Or you want them to hop over a river of lava across floating rocks. Maybe you really feel like putting the players through a trippy adventure in the Feywild. Take any point of initial interest that you have, and work from there by going through the form and answering the questions.

D&D One-Shot Idea List

I am an avid user of AI (ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, et cetera). I’ve built APIs and tooling, and even some tooling related to D&D, which I’ll share at some point. At any rate, I’ve prompted ChatGPT to create a list of media-based one-shot ideas, and a list of set piece based one-shot ideas.

Media-based One-Shot Ideas

1. Ocean’s Eleven-style heist in a dragon’s lair.
2. Jurassic Park, but with magical creatures instead of dinosaurs.
3. Groundhog Day scenario in a cursed village.
4. Mad Max-style race in a post-apocalyptic desert realm.
5. Indiana Jones-style temple exploration with traps and treasures.
6. Zombie apocalypse in a large fantasy city (reminiscent of Resident Evil).
7. Titanic disaster with a magical, sea-based twist.
8. Mission Impossible-style espionage in a wizard’s tower.
9. The Matrix, but in a high fantasy setting.
10. Haunted house mystery, akin to The Haunting of Hill House.
11. The Godfather-style power struggle in a thieves’ guild.
12. Time travel to prevent a kingdom’s downfall.
13. Survival challenge on a deserted, magical island (like Lost).
14. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during a dark wizard’s attack.
15. A Westworld-like theme park goes rogue.
16. Murder mystery on the Orient Express in a fantasy setting.
17. Blade Runner-esque investigation in a magical metropolis.
18. Saving Private Ryan mission in a war-torn fantasy land.
19. A Nightmare on Elm Street scenario in a dream world.
20. The Hunger Games in a dystopian, magical society.
21. The Great Escape from an impregnable magical prison.
22. Pirates of the Caribbean treasure hunt on the high seas.
23. Interstellar travel to a mysterious, new world.
24. The Hangover with a group of wizards in a magical city.
25. Lord of the Flies survival scenario with a band of lost adventurers.
26. X-Men-style academy for young magic users.
27. The Shining in a remote, enchanted hotel.
28. Tomb Raider treasure hunt in ancient, forgotten ruins.
29. A Quiet Place in a world where noise summons monsters.
30. Breaking Bad drug empire in a fantasy city.
31. The Walking Dead in a land overtaken by necromancy.
32. Fight Club in an underground, magical fighting ring.
33. Ghostbusters in a city plagued by spirits.
34. The Witcher 3-inspired monster hunt.
35. The Da Vinci Code treasure hunt through historical, magical sites.
36. Black Mirror scenario in a high-tech, magical society.
37. The Fast and the Furious-style carriage race in a bustling city.
38. The Truman Show in a town controlled by a powerful illusionist.
39. The Thing-inspired paranoia in an isolated outpost.
40. The Mummy adventure in an ancient, cursed tomb.

Set Piece-Based One-Shot Ideas

1. Navigate a maze that constantly shifts and changes.
2. Scale a cliff while being attacked by harpies.
3. Sneak through a banquet hall filled with hostile nobles.
4. Defend a village from a siege by undead forces.
5. Escape a collapsing dungeon filled with traps.
6. Survive a night in a forest where the trees are alive.
7. Cross a series of floating islands in the sky.
8. Infiltrate a masquerade ball where everyone is a suspect.
9. Solve puzzles in an ancient library to uncover hidden knowledge.
10. Travel through a portal to an upside-down world.
11. Disarm a series of magical traps in a wizard’s laboratory.
12. Participate in a chariot race with magical beasts.
13. Traverse a swamp that alters reality and perception.
14. Break a curse in a town where it’s always night.
15. Navigate a city during a festival with enchanted celebrations.
16. Survive a haunted ship adrift at sea.
17. Climb a tower that disappears and reappears in different locations.
18. Traverse a battlefield amidst an ongoing war.
19. Cross a desert with shifting sands and mirages.
20. Explore an underground city lit by luminous fungi.
21. Solve a murder mystery on a moving train.
22. Escape a labyrinth with a minotaur.
23. Find a way out of a magical mirror room with infinite reflections.
24. Participate in a trial by combat in an arena of illusions.
25. Retrieve an artifact from the bottom of a frozen lake.
26. Cross a bridge over a chasm with invisible sections.
27. Survive in a city during a magical plague outbreak.
28. Navigate a series of booby-trapped corridors in a thief’s den.
29. Find an escape route from a sinking island.
30. Defeat a creature in a dark room where sound is the only guide.
31. Solve riddles in a garden where statues come to life.
32. Disguise and blend into a parade of monsters.
33. Escape a cursed painting that traps the players inside.
34. Survive a night in a cursed graveyard.
35. Navigate a city under martial law by an oppressive regime.
36. Retrieve an item from a temple guarded by elemental spirits.
37. Travel through a dimension where time flows differently.
38. Escape a cave system filling rapidly with water.
39. Infiltrate a dragon’s lair disguised as cultists.
40. Cross a series of precarious rope bridges above a canyon.

Now that you have a way of setting up the initial idea, let’s move on to the next step.