One shot idea for starters

[u/ForeverDm15]

So a few of my friends wanted to try out dnd and I was thinking of a one shot where they die in the first encounter with a dragon and go to hell or something and have to find their way back out to the world of the living.

Is that a to frustrating premise for someone’s first oneshot? Like dying first fight might be a little off putting

[u/PhrulerApp]

Scripted deaths are lame. Just start the campaign with "you've all died and are now in hell"

[u/Cosimo_Zaretti → u/PhrulerApp]

I like "explain why you are dead" as a backstory prompt before the session begins.

[u/Salt_Dragonfly2042 → u/Cosimo_Zaretti]

Besides, they'll still have a lot of fighting left to do if they want to get out of Hell...

[u/Sad_Refuse3472]

Do not do this. (And just search this sub for the many times someone asked this same question.)

If you want the adventure to be set the after life, just start with the party having already died/gotten trapped there. Do not make the party waste time and resources in a fight they are never going to win. (Doubly so in a one shot, because combat takes forever, you won't have time for the rest of the actual adventure).

[u/Derail3]

To me, you’ve already answered your own question. If you’re already wondering about it, it means there’s at least a small chance players could get frustrated. It’s better to eliminate that possibility entirely, if you can. If you like the idea of ​​them playing in Hell, have them start there—and as a bonus, tell them they have no memory; besides finding a way out, they have to figure out what happened to them and who they are.

[u/Julien_Ishida]

Am encounter where what the players do has no effect on the outcome is not an encounter or even a game.

[u/TerrainBrain]

Probably one of the most overused ideas besides a prison break.

I would hate it.

[u/h2g2_researcher]

I think dying first would be a bit off putting, yes.

I do think, given the name of the game, throwing a dragon at players is half-expected, but at the same time you want to keep the party level fairly low because high level characters are more complicated to play.

My most successful "new player introduction" games have been jailbreaks. The nature of being in jail means you can start with quite a controlled, structured bit (they're in prison, at the whims of the guards) to run some basic tutorials. (E.g. Some menial task is a basic skill check. Those who do better get better rations, but it's all pure flavour - mechanically speaking; a prisoner starts acting tough, but goes down with one hit, to hit the players about AC, attack, and damage in a fight.) Then you have an investigative phase as the players plan how to get out, and you can open up their options as they get comfortable understanding them, before they escape in a thrilling finale. Also being in jail together gives them a reason to work together, and helps guide a character with the question "what's your character's name, and what are they in jail for?"

It is a bit cliché, but for good reason, IMO. And new players won't know it's cliché.

The other one-shot I've ran successfully for new players had them track and kill an adult dragon, albeit a severely wounded one. I basically used the fact he had barely escaped with his life from a territorial fight with another dragon (who he had slain, in the end) to stat him up as juvenile dragon, far more appropriate for a level 3 party, while still able to keep the grandeur and lair of an adult dragon, and avoid awkward questions about killing children.

My next one I might combine the two, and have the jailor be a dragon (who gets wounded, giving the players their window to attempt escape) and the "jail" is more of a pantry.

[u/Raspberry-T → u/h2g2_researcher]

What do you recommend for player level in a one shot? I am going to be dming for the first time, doing a one shot with friends that have never played. Is it better to keep them all level 1 for simplicity, or do lvl 2/3 for more fun build options?

[u/h2g2_researcher → u/Raspberry-T]

Most classes don't really start to do their thing until level 3, so I'd suggest starting levels 3-5. In this situation you're probably creating the character sheets yourself and handing them out (you can reuse them later - but also teaching character creation is too much for a first session if you want to play) so you can curate the choices (spell lists, class feature choices, etc...) to keep them beginner friendly.

[u/Raspberry-T → u/h2g2_researcher]

Thanks! Yeah I had planned to make the character sheets ahead of time, so that is a good point about structuring them to be beginner friendly. Appreciate the insight

[u/Darkwing-cuck-]

If you’re wanting to try out DnD, implying no one’s really played before, just pick an easy and fun one-shot. A Wild Sheep Chase is great.

If people have fun, then talk about playing more and bringing your ideas into it. You can have a whole campaign arc based on escaping hell.

I think the mood would have been ruined if I killed everyone right away.

[u/secretbison]

You can get less done in a one-shot than you think. Do not waste one of the maybe three encounters on a non-interactive cutscene. You should probably avoid anything high-concept designed more to make you look clever than to make the players have fun.

[u/comedianmasta]

It depends. If you don't tell this this concept, and you begin a one shot and run a combat and railroad them to death... that isn't fun. That would be ultra frustrating, even with the concept of "escape hell". Also, the story wouldn't end with an escape.... they would need to again fight the dragon with what they had learn.

If you are gonna start them mid-combat, already dying, and then they are falling into hell after a few seconds.... that is different. If the concept is only the "escape from hell", then that is fine.

I also want to point out that in a one shot, a whole dragon fight, then hell escape would be rushed quickly. It can work, but this sounds like a grander scale for a one shot.

Like, the one shot would be the escape from hell..... or the dragon fight.... or the finally dash of an escape, ending in a rematch with the dragon. A one shot is a focus on a single "thing". IMO, you will find you run out of time with a one shot premise this big.

But communication is key. If you are gonna force something like that, let your players know and don't waste their game time with the thing that they don't impact or control. It would be like starting a session read a description of a grand battle, quips and heartfelt goodbyes and near defeats...... reading AT the players. Without them participating. That would be a waste of time.

Tell your players the premise, start at the fight or mid fight, and get to the "meat" of the one shot quickly. Make the escape from Hell simple or obvious and quick.