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One-Page One-Shots, Volume OneClick to magnify

One-Page One-Shots, Volume One

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NEWS FLASH: The much-anticipated Volume Two is available now!

Preview of contents

Travel to the howling peaks of Djinn Cave, brave Madman's Run, survive the attack of a deadly assassin in the city streets and much more in this collection of ten one-shot adventures, each carefully distilled into a single-page format, ready to play.

Game night is saved with minimal preparation and maximum flexibility, focusing the party on a clear mission in a colourful setting while leaving room for improvisation, spontaneity, and endless possibilities for fun. Packed with colourful NPCs, formidable monsters, and clever traps, there is something in this volume for everyone to like.

Dungeon Preview Page How to Read The Adventures Preview Page
Justice Comes to Amphail Sample Page Appendix Preview Page

"So, are you feeling more like a dungeon crawl, or a trek through the wilderness, or maybe a romp in the city?" you ask casually as the players settle in and grab their beverages. Whatever they want, you now have it to hand in an easily-digestible format.

Each of these adventures is designed to give you the DM just what you need to be ready to play in a matter of minutes.

Table of Contents

Skim the page. Get familiar with the creatures. Review the timings. Grab your copy of The Spontaneous Dungeon Master's Companion to bolster your confidence in unforeseen circumstances.

Now get ready to roll.

If you want to take the fun further by creating your own one-shot adventures quickly and easily, be sure to also check out The One-Page One-Shot Toolkit. And for even more fun, check out volume two.


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Reviews (3)
Discussions (8)
Customer avatar
Johannes K December 06, 2022 2:09 am UTC
PURCHASER
I'm torn on this one. On the one hand, the idea is innovative and very practical, the layout is very nicely done. On the other hand, these are kind of rough sketches. If you want more lore or backstory you need to flash it out yourself. So nice idea, personally I opt for some 4-8 pagers, if I want a quick game.
Reply
Customer avatar
Robert P December 06, 2022 8:51 am UTC
CREATOR
Thanks for your comment, Johannes. This series is part of the "spontaneous dungeon master" philosophy, which is about minimising preparation time. If you're into lore and backstory, and like preparing longer for your sessions, you will definitely want to flesh these out. Personally, I do it the other way around--playing one-shots initially in my campaigns to see what sparks my players' interest, and building around that. If you have your own campaign ideas already set, you could think of these more as an emergency kit for when you suddenly get e.g. a group of new players who want to try a one-shot. I'm glad you like the layout and practicality--the idea is that you could be ready for a session in under an hour just by reading this and making a few extra notes. You can also combine this with the many tables in the Spontaneous Dungeon Masters' Companion to run highly improvised campaigns. There's a play-style for everyone, and the all are valid. So, this may or may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm...See more
Customer avatar
Elizabeth V September 11, 2022 10:35 am UTC
PURCHASER
Hi! Thanks for the response to my review. Would love a review copy of your next thing. Thanks!
Customer avatar
Brittany W March 30, 2021 5:18 pm UTC
PURCHASER
This was so fun and helpful. I'd love to see a volume 2 in the future, please!
Reply
Customer avatar
Robert P March 30, 2021 7:39 pm UTC
CREATOR
So glad to hear it! This motivates me to do just that...
Customer avatar
Jack W February 07, 2021 1:07 am UTC
PURCHASER
I am loving these one-shots, do you have more to make more in the future
Reply
Customer avatar
Robert P February 08, 2021 9:44 am UTC
CREATOR
Definitely! I have about 20+ adventures that I have play-tested from rough notes I made using the Toolkit; just need to write 'em up. Thanks for the encouragement!
Reply
Customer avatar
Jonathan D May 18, 2021 10:32 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Robert, I concur with Jack W. I would love another volume. Every session I've played with friends from your one shots has been a joy. The last one I literally had 20 minutes to prep for (last minute decision) and it was a breeze to pull off.

Basically, you made me look like a stellar DM with these one-page one shots :)
Reply
Customer avatar
Robert P May 19, 2021 4:33 pm UTC
CREATOR
>>Basically, you made me look like a stellar DM with these one-page one shots :)

This right here is music to my ears. You guys are definitely motivating me to want to finish and post that second volume. Thanks!
Customer avatar
Jim M December 02, 2020 12:05 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Just purchased this and downloaded it. Only gives me 10 pages.
Reply
Customer avatar
Robert P December 02, 2020 12:25 pm UTC
CREATOR
The print-optimised file is just the ten one-page one shots in black-and-white, optimised for printing. But you should have access to a second file to download that is the 21-page full colour version including an introduction, table of contents, and appendix.
Customer avatar
Chris S October 16, 2020 5:10 pm UTC
PURCHASER
looking forward to trying this! How much time do these average out to as far as gameplay?
Reply
Customer avatar
Robert P October 16, 2020 7:39 pm UTC
CREATOR
They run 2-4 hours depending on party size and play style. You can watch me play out “I’d like to thank the little people” here with a group of three at a brisk pace in about 2 hours: https://youtu.be/54xsUgqEUrc
Customer avatar
Jayme A August 04, 2020 7:22 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Can we get a preview PDF? Or just a full page screenshot of a single one-shot so we can see what to expect?

Thank you!
Reply
Customer avatar
Robert P August 04, 2020 7:41 pm UTC
CREATOR
That's a great idea. I tried the PDF preview, but it only gives a preview of the print-optimised version, which doesn't really represent all the hard work I put in to the main full-colour version. So I've added some screenshots. Hope that helps!
Reply
Customer avatar
Jayme A August 07, 2020 12:56 am UTC
PURCHASER
Thanks for the quick reply! I purchased the PDF, it looks great. I'll definitely get some use out of this. :)
Reply
Customer avatar
Robert P August 07, 2020 6:54 am UTC
CREATOR
Fantastic. Use it well and game on!
Customer avatar
Alex L July 30, 2020 12:04 pm UTC
PURCHASER
You’re on to something here.
I love the idea of “less is more” with adventures. Especially for the minimalist DM or the last-minute-DM.

I’m skimming on my phone, but I loved how the first adventure had an actionable list of actions in act 3 for the boss fight. This got me thinking about pre-programming my own encounters a bit.

I am also thinking about how an adventure can act like a “script” for a DM, you read a room, description and monster description. Then, monster stat is there, maybe close up of the map/area, even a 1-2-3 here’s an opening play/strategy.

And it’s in a format that is most likely how it’ll be encountered.
Nothing frustrates me more with published stuff than trying to find it all. The ‘one page’ concept mitigates this issue. (i’d even take 1 page per room/encounter build)
Reply
Customer avatar
Robert P July 30, 2020 12:08 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thanks so much! Really glad to hear you like both the format and layout/execution. Use it well, fellow DM!
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File Last Updated:
July 29, 2020
This title was added to our catalog on July 29, 2020.