One of my favorite old-school videogame RPGs was 1992’s Darklands. Set in medieval Germany, the game was brutally difficult, seeped in superstition and folklore, and — way ahead of its time — a massive sandbox you could explore. It was also incredibly buggy, had UX issues, and required some some serious autoexec voodoo to get […]
Tag: D&D
It’s been a busy 2020 on the 1shotadventures blog! This year, 9 new free adventures were published for systems ranging from D&D and Call of Cthulhu to GURPS and Savage Worlds. Special thanks to everyone who gave me feedback or dropped a note to here or on Twitter. I originally started this blog because I […]
Fantasy roleplaying games are home to many magnificent, fictional cities. From the sprawling metropolises of Waterdeep, Lankhmar, and Sigil to the corrupt and insidious Arkham, Menzoberranzan, and Bögenhafen, these great cities connect players and stitch campaigns together. How many adventurers have had an ale in Baldur’s Gate? How many investigators have saved Arkham from cosmic […]
There are many sub-genres of fantasy adventure — high fantasy, low fantasy, style sword and sorcery, whatever Planescape is, and lots more. But my favorite type of fantasy for a one-shot adventure is savage fantasy. Savage fantasy’s defining pillar is that it is dangerous, unpredictable, and unbalanced. Tough and unpredictable adventures are perfect for one-shots, […]
The first adventure for a generation of roleplayers was Bargle’s underground lair. Featured in the 1983 red box set, this D&D solo adventure did a fantastic job of teaching rules, introducing bizarre monsters (the dreaded rust monster!), and even giving characters a compelling emotional reason to delve into a dangerous dungeon — the murder of […]
This month, it’s off to Heroic Greece with The Honey Tree of Pelion, a GURPS adventure that challenges the PCs to assuage angry gods, perform mighty physical feats, and save a city from the hubris of its king. As I hearkened back to my love of Clash of the Titans to write this adventure, I […]
As much as I love themed fantasy worlds, I haven’t had a lot of luck running longer campaigns in them – they seem to fizzle out before the group can really get into the theme and discover all the interesting quirks about the world. As a GM, running an adventure set in a themed fantasy world adds […]
About two years ago, my 10-year old son discovered Dungeons & Dragons. I started him and his friends in the old red box version (still the easiest to get into), then briefly into Castles & Crusades, and then into 5th edition where they completed Hoard of the Dragon Queen (an adventure I’d give a C+, but Sly Flourish does a much […]
