EDIT- [I wrote this February and haven’t touched it much since then besides a quick pass through Grammarly because I want to put out the best quality content possible.
I just want to know if my readers would be interested in this content before I cut it from the site. Be sure to comment on your thoughts. If people are still interested, I may keep it around. Enjoy!]
Hey guys,
So I’ve made several passes at articles for this section, but each I’ve felt would be boring or unhelpful. So I decided to post something simple as an icebreaker.
But first, I guess I should introduce myself. My name’s Antonio. I’m a fantasy and sci-fi author. I’ve been dungeon mastering twice a week for almost a year now and I’ve felt the starting out process was a bit intimidating with learning rules and coming up with content, so that’s what some of this section attempts to tackle. Also, I’d like to potentially post some campaign diaries in addition to homebrew.
With that out of the way, let’s dive in.
Picture this. You’ve prepared all week for a game session. You have your monsters, NPCs (non-player characters), and descriptions down pat then inevitably someone or multiple players in your party calls out. What do you do?
Do you continue and try to scale back some encounters? If so, how do you explain the player’s sudden disappearance? Or maybe you do a one-shot instead? With so little time, how do you prepare one on short notice?
I want to address this conundrum in multiple articles. In this article, I want to walk through how to build easy dungeons in multiple different ways for numerous play styles and have an overview of creating one-shots. Enjoy!
Where to start
Most modules can be broken down into three things. Players, goals, and obstacles. This is the roadmap and landmarks to follow, but how you get there is up to you.
Storytelling mostly follows the same path. Somebody wants something, and they are having a hard time getting it. That’s the base template.
I wanted to say formula, but it’s not that simple. That’s the problem with giving templates like this is that it oversimplifies, and if you’ve ever run a game before, you know plans are easily broken.
These are just some things to keep in mind. Half the fun I’ve learned DMing is I never know what to expect from my players.
For example, this came from one of my favorite sessions.
One of my players: “Could I have cast charm person on the extra-planetary purple time baby while I was with him?”
Me: [sweats profusely, turning over my notes] “Sure, make a roll for it”
Rolls thirteen. It was then I realized I didn’t make stats for the god I pulled out my back pocket. Three players had been praying over their friend who had been suffocated by spiders (long story).
Me: [closes notebook] “You three look up from where you had been praying and a cosmic purple swirl opens in the corner of the room. There appears to be a rift in the fabric of the universe.”
What followed was one the best and longest deviations from a module I’ve ever had the luxury of running. The point is don’t be afraid to flexible to the possibilities.
One: Players
Theoretically, this where all campaigns and stories should start. They need to focus and adapt to the players, so the world feels real to them, and above all, they are having a good time. So this first to consider designing our one-shot dungeon. This will help us logistically scale encounters, and tailor your content to your player’s interests.
If they already have made balanced characters, great; let them use them. If not, they could make new characters for the one-shot, but that takes time. If you want to dive right into the action, premade characters are a good option.
Personally, I like the printable pdfs like these, but these might be a little too optimized for some DMs.
My plan is to post an article with links content and tools I’ve used. Let me know if any would be interested.
If you want something even simpler than premade, consider the point array system in the player’s handbook. I’ve also used straight 10’s for stats. There would be no modifiers except for the proficiency bonus. This creates a gritty Dark Souls style campaign where any encounter could be your last. The Commoners in the back of the PHB are also useful.
It’s normally important to get feedback on what kind of game your players would like.
If one of your players is a pirate, maybe give them knowledge of the sea and boats. Maybe even give them their own ship, if you feel the game doesn’t lose its balance. Cater to your players and make sure they have fun. That should go without saying.
Two: Goals
So you once you have the numbers squared away. Then we can continue to the goals of the one-shot.
Our goal will be to slay the beast terrorizing the village’s cattle. The local lodge has placed a bounty of five hundred gold for the head of the monster destroying the farmers’ livelihood.
Now from here, the rest is blank. I didn’t say where the beast is, what it is, and how they’re gonna find it, and I did this on purpose.
I want this vague concept to get you the juices flowing. It’s okay; let’s think about this. What’s the beast? It can be ordinary or typical, like wolves or displacer beasts. Or it can be an aberration, maybe gigantic like a Roc or even a dragon.
Then comes another question, do the villagers know what it is?
When I ran this, I did it for the opening quest of a campaign, and the village didn’t know. The assumption was wolves stealing the sheep in the night, but the Ranger using his tracking determined from the feathers and the lack of tracks that it had to be some kind of bird. I used a Peryton.
What the villagers did know is that they hear howling. And in the night, the sheep cry out going west towards the cliffs and the forest.
This gives the party direction to start there. You don’t have to do the investigation. In fact, if you are pressed for time or without a ranger, you can drop the party off at the start of the dungeon saying you’ve traced the beast back to here. It can actually be that easy.
So now we have the players and the goal. One thing I might need to mention is the motivation with the goal. It may help to try to tie the character’s backstory into the quest. Like their families being farmers or may be part of an elite hunters guild sent to take down the worse marks.
It’s up to you. Usually gold is enough for a one-shot, but this being drag and drop, it’s something else to think about.
Three: Obstacles
So we already know that tracking the beast is an obstacle to overcome. Some players might like the intrigue and detective work of pieces not adding up. Howling and a bird? That’s the advantage of the Peryton.
Let’s talk about what other obstacles we can have.
Let’s think outside the box. Remember catering to your players?
Maybe your group’s style is roleplay heavy. So maybe there’s a twist. There is no one beast. In fact, it’s the druids of the region stealing cattle in the name of animal rights, and sheltering them in the abandoned dwarven mines to the west.
There are more questions. Who’s the real bad guy? The thieves? Or the farmers with their neglected and mistreated animals? The line between right and wrong is blurred.
Now your players have to navigate the web of diplomacy with the tribe on the city’s behalf and bring the animals home to collect their bounty. If your party fails, the druids could declare war on the village. There’s more at stake.
But if your party is anything like mine, diplomacy is an afterthought. More than likely, your one shot’s will be a dungeon crawl. Dungeons usually consist of three things: monsters, traps, and puzzles.
As far as mapping the dungeon, there are free generators online like donjon that have proved helpful to me.
Back to obstacles, monsters are probably the most common obstacle of any encounter. Some things to consider. The challenge of the monster shouldn’t be more than the beast to avoid being anticlimactic.
Theoretically, it should be a steady climb with the players feeling like the progress is earned. The monster should also fit the setting.
My dungeon was an abandoned dwarven mine, so it was inhabited by the duergar and zombies that moved in. Duergar can be pretty tough. Zombies, on the other hand, are not. So chose wisely. Kobold Fight Club can help with most of these.
For the other two components, traps can be found in the dungeon master’s guide and can be easily placed.
Again, consider the lethality wisely. Puzzles sadly seem underused. I know they are hard to make, but they can be pretty rewarding. Let me know in the comments if you guys have used any interesting puzzles.
Putting it all together
Let’s put this to the test. Here’s what I came up with for a sample.
Introduction Flavor Text-
“The party of five is a renowned guild of hunters and received word from the local village of disappearing sheep and livestock at night. A reward of 500 gold has been set. Normally, you wouldn’t hunt for such pennies, but several townsfolk disappeared while on the trail. Only of a party of this expertise can hunt this mark.”
Obstacle One: The Village
The party then can investigate the town DC 13 Investigation to find the farm. The villagers would at least know the direction the townsfolk went missing should the party fail the check. and DC 15 Survival to track the creature to the caves.
If they succeed, they can insight into what they are up against without being told directly. This helps the players feel smart when pieces together. In this case, there are bear tracks. Should the players well enough, you can even through in feathers. This will keep them guessing.
Obstacle Two- The Forest
There are several bear traps on the journey to the caves that have angered the nearby druids. DC 13 perception for traps. Should they encounter a druid, they’d be in disguise as an animal following at a distance DC 16 perception check. I normally have the druids in small scouting parties in beast shape.
Should they be spotted, they will wander off, but still follow at a distance. This gives leeway whether they are friend or foe, and gives the DM the flexibility to throw an NPC to come to the party’s aid if need be.
For diplomacy, I keep a tally mark system of positives and negatives based on persuasion and intimidation. Set a target number I like three, five, and seven. With the higher you go, the harder the encounter. Criticals count for two tally marks.
The druids will be hard set on protecting their land and wildlife. The local hunters desecrated it with traps and litter. The party’s goal is the safest passage to the caves. The druid’s goal is to protect their home and values. These two are in opposition.
Obstacle Three- The Dungeon
DC 13 perception for feathers caught in the bushes in front of the cave. This will help keep the party on their toes in case they missed the feathers up until this point. If they roll 16/20 they can hear growls and screeches inside the cave.
Inside the cave, it’s dark. There are a few leftover traps from fallen hunters and the former inhabitants. DC 12-16. You might want to make the players roll for stealth for the monsters inside.
Ancient necrotic magic resurrected two fallen hunters as zombies from the cursed cave. Deep in the bowels of the dungeon lies two owlbears protecting an unhatched clutch. The rotten meat blasts the party’s nostrils as they enter. The carcasses have been used to fatten themselves up for winter with scraps saved for the new fledgling kits.
This makes a moral conundrum for those parties that need it. Should the party venture to close to the nest they will attack. Make it stealth versus perception.
Should the party decide to loot the fallen hunters, then roll two D20’s for copper pieces.
Closing remarks
In conclusion, we have our hunting guild as our players, the bounty is our goal, and the locations as our obstacles.
Should you guys have any thoughts for more content let me know. I’m planning on posting two more solutions I’ve had to address this problem. Let me know if you are interested and if this content is helpful.