Looking for an easy game to introduce your friends or family to DND?
Here is the Easiest Beginner One-Shot to Introduce DND to New Players!
Every player is introduced to dungeons and dragons via one way or another; a very popular intro for most folks is the Starter Campaign by the Wizards of the coast. However, that’s committing to a whole campaign, and can be a pretty big learning curve for everyone involved. Instead, I would like to bring to your attention: Hellscouts Camp – a one-shot originally created by Indoor Adventures.
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“I ran this with a few friends and it was tons of fun! Since this game takes place on the last day of summer camp, I had the players make their characters together before we started so they would feel like they know each other – that really helped set a good tone! As a newer DM, having the recording of the game helped to guide me on how to run this and figure out what I wanted to keep or change (for instance, changed the maze scene). Overall this is was the best game I’ve run so far!”
Catherine S
Premise
The premise is set around Tieflings, which if you are not aware, are generally scattered without a homeland and treated poorly due to their infernal heritage. In this game, the headmaster, Skalldir Stonemantle, is a retired adventurer who decided to make a camp for Tiefling children.
Setting: This one shot is based on being a child in a Tiefling 7-day summer camp. Your players are all in the same group and have gotten to know each other a little bit, it’s the last day and the headmaster has put together an end-day surprise.
Players: 3-5 players (4 ideal)
Level: 1
Goal: Win the end-of-camp competition!
The best thing about this one-shot is that you are kids, so it makes total sense that you are level 1!
If you decide you want to put in a session zero to make characters with your players, you can have them think about what kinds of activities they did at the summer camp from hell (heh heh). Then you can choose whether you want to build their experiences into your run-through.
Our Experience & Tips
I actually chose this beginner one-shot in 2020 to introduce my new partner and a couple of his friends to dungeons and dragons, they weren’t really sure about it at the time so I pre-made character sheets for them to choose from; all they had to do was pick a sheet and we could play! Let’s just say that two of the three of them have now run their own campaigns and are major DND enthusiasts!
Protips:
- If the headmaster is too hard to understand, just make him a tiefling
- You don’t need to introduce all the staff, but maybe have them around at the start so your players recognize them
- This game can be run by theatre of the mind, in person with minis, or on an online platform, easy peasy lemon squeezy – but its the most fun to introduce new players in person if you have some fun minis
- Use music from this article on the best D&D battle music
- Add a crush, kids love to have a crush, teens love to have a crush, adults love to have a crush, it’s just fun times all around
- Use funny voices, especially for Dev (Devotion)
- Provide yummy snacks
- Browse the extras below to see if anything is helpful to you
Run Through Example
The original creators actually did a run-through so it’s super easy to use as a tool when getting ready for your game.
They did a great job at showcasing their characters and the DM handled the game like a pro. You can easily follow the Hellscouts Camp one-shot PDF and see each part.
The Indoor Adventurers stream on Twitch and can be found here.
House of Lolth Extras – Major spoilers
Some things that House of Lolth would like to add in case it brings you an easier gaming experience 🙂
Entry Area Map
The benches ended up being kind of huge, but the main point gets across!
This could be used as the start/end area or just inspiration.
Cabin Map
I found the original cabin map to be a little confusing, so updated it with some furniture to give it some pizazz.
Scavenger Hunt Items
I like to see the things that we find if they are important, so put together these little cards for my players to enjoy!
The maze and farm are pretty straightforward, so didn’t bother to make any special files for those, if you have one that you would rather use please show us in the comments!
Team Snake Witch NPC Stat Blocks
These stat blocks are for the rival team led by Dev
Also if you missed the earlier button to the one-shot, here it is again to make things super easy for your beginner one-shot!
This concludes our post on The Easiest Beginner One-Shot to Introduce DND to New Players! If you can think of another beginner one-shot that might work better, or have tried this one-shot, please comment below! We love to see your feedback!
