I ran a two year homebrewed D&D campaign with some close friends and it was without a doubt both my favourite gaming experience and creative project to date. The thing is, over a campaign that long things tend to get quite serious. High stakes. High jeopardy. Dramatic revelations. World saving stuff. So I wanted to write a oneshot that served as a bit of a seriousness tonic and get back to some fantastical role-playing levity. This is such a one-shot. I wrote it with younger players in mind and my playgroup consisted of a 10,12,36 and 63 year old and they all had a blast (though all my players likely possess similar levels of maturity anyway).

I also wanted to run a session in which collaboration and friendship between players characters wasn’t default. In fact in this case, hostility between players was the starting point from which their rivalries could deepen or transmute into friendships at the players’ discretion.

I’d recommend adding your own silly grievances (in section 1.b) to match the humour of your playgroup as it really provides a lot of narrative backbone and content for your players to riff on. I found that the more petty the grievance and the harder it was doubled-down on, the more laughs were had. So make it your own and enjoy.

This session was designed with four players at level 3 in mind but can be scaled and adjusted accordingly.

I’ve included links to some battlemaps from 2minutetabletop.com that I used for this session so the descriptions here will align with the maps but feel free to adapt and use your own. That being said, these assets are pay-what-you-want and wonderful quality so if you can support them then please do! Mob statblock links are also included and will appear highlighted like this.

One-shot Summary: A tense alliance between rival Gnomish royal families is just holding the kingdom of Gerellia together but when the region’s power source – The Manalith – is stolen, chaos threatens the realm. Can our bickering royal families, each lead by their representative monarch, finally work together to thwart a malicious force, return the Manalith and save their land? Or will one take the opportunity to finally topple their centuries-long competitors and claim the crown? That’s up to you.

0. Running Order: 

1. Intro / Setup / First Meeting
2. The Interrogation 
3. The Sleeping Forest / Ruins of Baboo
4. Nastyclaw’s Cavern
5. End Fight
6. Conclusion

1. Intro / Setup / First Meeting

1.A Setting

• The Kingdom of Gerrelia is an abundant and fortuitous land, home to a technologically advanced population of Gnomish inventors and adventurers. 10 years ago the cruel tyrant King Fogwaffle was overthrown and since then the lands have been ruled by a fragile alliance between the four noble Gnomish houses who each govern their own region of the land. The four regions have tentative trade agreements in place to exchange resources with each other to keep the kingdom afloat. Equally shared among them however is the magical energy from The Manalith. Housed at the centre of the kingdom where all four regions border each other, the energy created from this great artefact is used to provide power to their homes and infrastructure and is essential for the continued survival of Gerrelia and its people. 
• Each of the four families is led by a prince/princess who meets in council with the other representatives to discuss and attempt to decide how the Kingdom should be run. Constant arguing and bickering make proceedings slow and tensions between the families high. Age-old rivalries and unsettled conflicts still bubble beneath the surface of the strained alliance but their beef is put aside for the good of the kingdom…sometimes. 
• While the ruling representatives were kept busy quarrelling among themselves as usual an evil force had been quietly gathering strength and plotting against them. While their royal backs were turned, The Manalith was stolen from its guarded chamber and taken away. With no power to fuel their lands, the Kingdom of Gerrelia was plunged into confused chaos and is on the brink of collapse. The Manalith must be recovered but the question remains – can the houses work together to solve the mystery and save the Kingdom? 

But before we get into that, let’s learn about our royals and their houses – 

• Have your players choose their character’s first name, family name and then name the lands that they govern
  • Example – X of House Y, Prince of Z

• Have each player pick a random house option from below and explain their feature and benefit (add more House options with more players if necessary or multiple players could be from the same house.) –
  • House A – Powerful merchant house with trade monopolies and more money than sense. Perk: advantage on anything trade or persuasion related
  • House B – Strong military history with tactical minds and short fuses. Perk: gets +4 to initiative roll
  • House C – Scholarly house interested in the preservation of their land’s history and culture aka nerds. Perk: advantage on wisdom checks
  • House D – Family of master craftsmen who can make something out of nothing, sometimes the thing they make is half decent! Sometimes…Perk: advantage on intelligence checks.

DM NOTE: Despite how many players are playing ensure one player is assigned House D. This is important for later in the session.

• Ask each player to introduce their character name and house, describe their character’s appearance and tell us a bit about their personality and history
• Add x2 healing potions into each of their inventories

1.B Grievances

Let each player pick two random options from the grievances below – 

*Optional – include mini-quests related to the resolution of each grievance that rewards inspiration points e.g. If their grievance is The Insulted Pie from the list below, then grant them inspiration if they were to hit their rival with a pie, or something similar that provides either retribution or resolution to their grievance.

1. The Insulted Pie: Many years ago, your Great Great Great Grandmother baked a delicious pie and gifted it to another house. They failed to sufficiently appreciate and compliment the pie – a grave insult that has never healed. For centuries your family has secretly plotted to one day take revenge and hit an esteemed member of the offending family with a pie which has been deemed the only route to justice. You carry a pie in your inventory, just in case.
2. The Stolen Dance: One of your ancestors claimed to have invented the now famous dance move, The Gerrelian Get-Down, but its creation has since been credited to another house. They have never been able to forgive the THEFT of their beloved dance move. (We had the player who rolled this grievance invent the dance move on the spot and it became a staple of the session!)
3. The Rejection: Generations ago, one of your family members offered their hand in marriage to another house’s member but had it refused stating that “they’d rather marry a sack of hot turds, get kicked by a horse and then die in a fire”. The rejection and insult has never been forgotten.
4. The Disrespect: When your ancestors built their grand manor home they also built a stunning garden and prestinely kept lawn. Another house kept allowing – nay – ENCOURAGING – their hounds to poop on the aforementioned lawn. The bad blood has never been settled. Though the poop has since been picked up. 
5. The Vandalising: One of your ancestors held a great ball to which the other houses were invited. One of the other house’s members had too much fun, drank far too much berry wine and puked on your ancestor’s priceless antique rug. To this day the smudge-y pink stain on the rug remains and the hatred persists. 
6. The Treasure Theft: One of your adventuring ancestors brought home with them an enchanted pair of talking shoes that alerts the wearer when someone is lying. They went missing one night and the next day a member of another house was wearing a suspiciously similar pair. When your ancestor asked them if they stole the shoes they replied “no, of course not. How very dare you.” The shoes began to scream “HE’S LYING. HE DID STEAL ME.” Insufficient evidence meant the accusation went unresolved. Your house never forgot and still wants those shoes back. 
7. The Fashion Crime: One of your great ancestors fancied themselves at the forefront of Gerrelian fashion. One day at court they debuted their bold new look – wearing two hats stacked on top of each other. The next day a member of another house turned up wearing three hats stacked on top of eachother. Refusing to be outdone, the next day your ancestor wore four. And so it went on until eventually your ancestor’s spine collapsed under the weight of wearing 44 hats simultaneously. Your family has never forgotten their loss and holds the rival family responsible. 
8. The Evil Curse: For many generations your family has suffered from an unfortunate condition known as “coward’s bowel”. When the sufferer is exposed to a high degree of fear their body will involuntarily let out its own decree of panic – you can guess where from. Your family has assumed this to be the doing of a witch’s curse hired by a rival family to shame and embarrass them. They await the opportunity to exact revenge, so long as they don’t get frightened. 
9. The Great Debt: Many years ago one of your ancestors attended a great festival filled with celebration and food. A member of another house wished to purchase a pie but had forgotten their coin purse so they asked your ancestor to borrow a copper coin. Your ancestor agreed but only on the condition that their debt doubles each day that it goes unpaid. This was 500 years ago. Accountants have estimated their debt to be valued at 128 gigatrillion gold – a number that they had to invent for the purpose of this calculation. Your family will not relent until this non-existent number has been paid back, in full. 

Once they’ve read out their grievance, have them roll to determine which family the grievance is with (for three players roll a d6, 1-2 = House A, 3-4 = House B, 5-6 = House C)

1.C The Emergency Council Meeting

• Panicked and outraged by the news of The Manalith’s disappearance, the Princes hold an emergency council meeting to discuss what must be done. You each make their way to the designated safe-place and council meeting spot, The Quarterfort – a grand tower built on the border where their four lands intersect. 
• As you each arrive they are greeted by Bibsby Bumgardner – a loyal servant to the Kingdom who helps to officiate their meetings when things get a bit heated. Bibsby is an ageing gnome with combed parted white hair, an angular white beard and small spectacles perched on the end of his round nose. He’s wearing his usual smart Noblegnome attire which is soaked through with sweat as he attempts to suppress the extreme distress he is clearly experiencing. He guides each of you to your seats around the central table. 

• Bibsby explains the situation – the missing artefact means no power which could lead to tension, unrest and rebellion in the Kingdom – they have to get it back
• He implores that the players work together – with each of their skills they could be a formidable force and it would provide a sign of hope for the people that their leadership was capable and strong.
• If there is hesitation, perhaps they can come to an agreement or deal to work together.
• As they come to an agreement, a military captain appears at the door – 

“I beg pardon for interrupting my lords but we’ve managed to catch one! We caught him laying traps in the woods after the Manalith had disappeared. We’ve got him chained up in the cellar. Reckon he could do with a bit of interrogation – get some info out of him.”

2. The Interrogation

• Make their way down the tower via the central elevator which, due to power being out, is being winched by profusely sweating gnomes. Does anyone say anything to address the tension in the elevator?

• They reach the cellar and find an angry thrashing Hobgoblin called Dingus (the Unpuking) tied to a thick wooden support beam. He is wearing a ragged tunic and on investigation is seen to be wearing a silver anklet which looks very out of place on him. It’s enchanted and means he feels no pain though he still takes damage (gift from Dark Lord Nastyclaw aka Uncle Tumbert, in exchange for his allegiance)

“I won’t tell you anything, tiny pompous babymen!”

• Torture won’t work unless his anklet is removed. He is however very ticklish and will wilt and concede if someone blows raspberries on his belly 
• He reveals that he swore his allegiance to The Dark Lord Nastyclaw who wants to rule the world by stealing and combining “the seven great artefacts” which includes The Manalith. He claims to have three already and already has the power of a demi-god
• He also reveals that they have a base of operations within their lands, hidden beneath the Ruins of Baboo deep in The Sleeping Forest. He doesn’t know for sure but suspects that is where they’ll find the Manalith and the Dark Lord Nastyclaw
• He tells them that the main entrance is protected and revealed by a carved stone head that won’t open unless you can solve its riddles (he can’t give you the answers as the answers change). There’s a second entrance down a nearby well but it’s quite a drop and leads directly to a busy area 
• Bibsby encourages them to set off to The Sleeping Forest and find a way into the hidden base but asks what they should do with Dingus before they leave. Come to a conclusion regarding Dingus’ fate

3. The Sleeping Forest / Ruins of Baboo

Roll to determine whose land the Sleeping Forest resides on (d8)

3.A Sleeping Forest Mishaps and Good Fortunes

During travels through the woods they each roll a D8 to see what happens to them. Have any doubles roll again so the same one doesn’t occur twice – 

1. 1 – You fell down a very large and obvious hole. Take 1d8 fall damage 
2. 2 – Feeling hungry, you stuck your hand into a hive of angry bees to steal their honey. Bees attack your face. You are no longer hungry but your face has swollen to twice its usual size. Your half-shut eyes give you disadvantage on perception checks until you next heal 
3. 3 – You step in a bear trap. It clamps around your ankle dealing 1d4 damage and locks in place. While it remains on your leg you have disadvantage on athletics checks. You can attempt to remove it with a +14 strength check but a failed attempt will deal another 1d4 damage to you
4. 4 – You spot a delicious looking mushroom that you’re certain isn’t poisonous. You’re wrong and now you feel unwell. Lose 1d8 temporary max hit points and gain disadvantage on constitution checks
5. 5 – You get stuck in a giant magical spider web. A phase spider appeared and took a bite out of your arm dealing 1d4 damage. You felt its magic fuse with you as you gain the Spider Climb ability 
6. 6 – You come across a traveller’s pack stashed inside the base of a hollowed tree and find x2 healing potions 
7. 7 – You find an ancient shrine to a god that you like and leave an offering. You gain Guidance (can add 1d4 to any ability roll) 
8. 8 – A find a fairy giving a rousing speech to a group of badgers wearing military clothes. The fairy asks that you promise not to tell anyone of the impending badger rebellion and in exchange they’ll give you a magical ring that allows you to cast Magic Missiles once per short rest.  

3.B Baboo’s Great Noggin 

Map – https://2minutetabletop.com/product/ruins-of-xibalba/

[Describe stumbling across the Ruin and the great big head statue at the centre]

Head statue eyes glow and you hear a voice boom out – 

• What has a head and a tail but no body? (A coin) 
• I’m tall when I’m young and short when I am old – what am I? (A candle)
• You cannot hold me or touch me but if you do not keep me then I will break – what am I? (A promise)
• What is something you can hold in your left hand but never in your right hand? (Your right elbow)

• Upon answering the riddles correctly, the head opens up revealing a secret stairway downwards into the ruins.
• Alternatively, if they don’t want to go in this way and forgo the riddles then they can jump down a well if they either discover it via successful investigation check or have been told about it by Dingus. They’ll take fall damage as they enter the Hideout and immediately enter combat as they fall into 4.b Southern Corridor.

4. Nastyclaw’s Hideout

Map – https://2minutetabletop.com/product/sanctum-of-xibalba/

You carefully make your way down the stone spiral staircase. As you descend you feel the atmosphere thicken with ancient dust, the heat of burning torches and the smell of hobgoblins. You reach the bottom of the stairs and look around you to see a series of torchlit hallways and tunnels constructed from old smooth stones, the floors and walls covered in overgrown vines and the occasional smear of dark reddish-brown colour which you dearly hope is paint. 

DM NOTE: If your players wish to inspect any mobs while in the Hideout, be sure to mention that they all seem to be wearing various items of out-of-place looking silver jewellery. These are the currency with which Dark Lord Nastyclaw has been paying them with in exchange for their allegiance.

4.a The Briarthorn Wall

To the right of the bottom of the stairway is a dense wall of sharp magical thorns that they cannot penetrate. If they damage the vines in any way then they immediately grow back in place. They have to find the source of the vine’s creation and destroy that to open up the way. If they listen carefully they can hear chanting and yelling from beyond the vines. 

4.b Southern Corridor

When they make their way south they’ll hear the sounds of conversing goblins and hobgoblins – “Shuttup Grub! Everyone knows that I look the best with this dashing anklet, and besides the Darklord has promised me more jewellery. He even said he’d make me a special tiara!” etc…

If the enemies (x3 goblins and x2 hobgoblins) see them then combat will break out. 

At the end of the Southern Corridor they’ll find the Magical Mirror of Truths. As they approach a voice speaks to them through the mirror – “Hello Little Monarchs. I am the Mirror of Truths. Share with me an interesting truth and I may share with you an interesting truth, for I see many things.” They can ask the mirror one question each if in exchange they share with it a juicy truth or secret. This is a good opportunity for more truths about grievances to be revealed and cause more conflict! The mirror may reveal who is controlling the magical vines or perhaps that The Darklord Nastyclaw is not what he seems. 

4.c Western Corridor

There are three trip wires that trigger dart traps, each shooting a volley of four darts. They can be discovered with a perception check of +14. If the trap is triggered then players can make an athletics check (+14) to get out of the way or take 3d4 piercing damage. 

4.d South Western Room

The first room is a messy dormitory where the goblins and hobgoblins live. It smells and there are clothes everywhere. They can find a few gold pieces and some goblin weapons if they want to rummage. 

At the end of the South Western Room is a large wooden chest. If the chest is opened then the mimic reveals itself and combat begins. When they beat the mimic they find 40 gold and a magical hat inside that allows its wearer to change their physical size to that of another humanoid race – The Hat of Varying Sizes

4.d North Western Room

As you walk into the North Western area of the Hideout you notice that there seems to be much more plant life here. Thick vines cover the walls and dense shrubs grow from the floor. You even see a dense tree hunched over in the corner. You can hear chanting in the distance. 

• As they approach the shrine room they see a dryad (Dave the Dryad) kneeling in prayer. When he sees them he yells “INTRUDERS” and summons x3 awakened plants and attacks
• Once they kill him, the magical vine wall blocking the way will drop

Western Alcove – if the players look in here then they find boxes full of silver anklets (x20) like the one that all of the goblins and hobgoblins seem to be wearing.

The party can now make their way back to the vine wall and make their way to the main chamber. 

5. Final Fight 

5.A The Fighting Begins

They return to where the vine wall once stood to find that they have wilted and rotten, falling apart leaving a big pile of branches and thorns on the ground. They can jump over and proceed. 

You come across a large room filled with candles where a group of five goblins are bowing before an altar in prayer – 

“oh Dark Lord Nastyclaw, we ask that you show yourself to us so that you may guide us! We have taken the Manalith, as you commanded! What is the next step in your divine plan, my lord?” 

You spot the Manalith on top of the altar but before you can make a move towards the artefact, black smoke begins to gather and twist around it. Suddenly a humanoid form appears from the smoke, cloaked and wrapped in shadow he lifts his arm and points a long sharp metal claw at the worshippers –

“My loyal subjects! I hear your pleas. With this powerful artefact at our disposal we will soon strike back at the world! We will start with those puny kingdoms above – those disgusting gnomes! We will see their kingdom BURN! Oh – there appear to be a group of them standing in the doorway.”

The goblins pause and turn to face you. There is a moment of hesitation as they await their orders, unsure of what to do next. They glance back to Nastyclaw.

“GET THEM, YOU IDIOTS!”

[Roll initiative] 

5.B The Nephew’s Choice

DM NOTE: The big twist here, is that Dark Lord Nastyclaw is really an uncle of the player who was assigned House D (the maker’s house). Uncle Tumbert will reveal himself to the player and plea for them to turn on the others and join him. The player ultimately has the choice to betray the party in a bid for royal supremacy or stick with the alliance.

• Once Dark Lord Nastyclaw gets involved in the fight or takes damage he quickly recognises his nephew [Player in House D] and disengages. He pulls down his hood and drops his illusionary appearance, revealing his face to them. They recognise him as their Uncle Tumbert.

“My sweet nephew [NAME]. What in gods name are you doing here?!?”

“Well, I’m trying to save our family and take back control over Gerrelia! Come on – join me and let’s execute these fools. They’ve given us nothing but trouble since this silly alliance was formed! Now is our chance!”

What do you do?

• If they join Uncle Tumbert then the fight resumes with them having switched sides and they gain the Tumbert’s Aide buff (their attacks deal an additional 1d6 damage) 
• If they reject joining Uncle Tumbert then the fight continues on until he dead
• If any goblins are still alive when Uncle Tumbert is revealed they get confused and can be convinced to fight against him. Otherwise he will try to win them over with promises of more silver and jewellery 

6. Conclusion 

There are a fairly wide variety of potential outcomes here, but below are some examples of how you may want to conclude based on what happens –

6.A Royal Alliance Winning Ending

And so it was – the bickering monarchs cast aside their petty squabbles in the name of the greater good and worked together to halt the treacherous Uncle Tumbert and his plan to dominate the Kingdom. Victorious, they returned the Manalith to its conductor and power was returned to the kingdom. The people celebrated its return and allegiance to the New Alliance strengthened after the stories of their heroic deeds began to spread. Are there still quarrels and quibbles? Of course there are. But the monarchs found that things seemed to go much smoother when their pride could be put aside for the good of their Kingdom. 

6.B Betrayal Solo Winning Ending

And so it was – [Player X] and his Uncle Tumburt turned on their rival families in a vicious play for power over the Kingdom. With the Manalith in their possession and no adversaries to oppose them they could return to their lands telling tales of the conspiracy they’d uncovered – that the other monarchs were behind the theft of the Manalith all along! And who could argue against the most powerful remaining House in Gerrelia? Especially when they were in possession of the land’s power source. Uncle Tumbert assumed his place on the throne and his relative became their Duke/Duchess and his successor. For fear of rebellion, rival families were imprisoned bringing an end to the Age of the Four Families. 

I hope y’all can either enjoy this oneshot in its entirety or salvage it for parts that you think work. I had an absolute blast running this one and hope to run it again in the future.

The ending can go so many different and unexpected ways, so be ready to improvise and let your players take the wheel. In my group’s play-through, the rivalries ran deep so when the opportunity for betrayal arose my player took it. Then after taking heavy damage and seeing his Uncle slain, he realised his chances were slim and he made a bid to negotiate with the others. One of the other players had been knocked unconscious at this point, so he pitched to the remaining two conscious PCs that rather than kill him that they all just turn on the already unconscious player and claim his lands and treasures divided between them. During the ensuing argument, he snuck over to the altar and made a mad-dash with the Manalith and left the two remaining players to fight to the death over the unconscious player’s land. He escaped and decided to go on the run with the artefact. It was pretty unhinged, unexpected and very funny.