Fantastic Lairs and other Lair books are the easiest way to run a one-shot in Dungeons and Dragons.
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Transcript:
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:25:22
Bennett Tomlin
I play Dungeons and Dragons with a large group of players, which means I end up running a decent number of one shots because we want to play Dungeons and Dragons. But it's hard to get eight people schedules aligned to play this book right here. Fantastic Lairs is the secret to running compelling and easy one shots with almost zero prep. It doesn't need to be
00:00:25:22 - 00:01:03:23
Bennett Tomlin
this book specifically could be something like this book, which is Kobold Press's Lair Book for Tome of Beasts Three. I just highlighted fantastic lairs, first, because I have run almost every single player in this book and they are incredibly fun, can be prepped quickly, and can be integrated into your campaign if that is more your speed. Or one of the really fun ways to use this book, because it goes level 1 to 20 over like 25 lairs or something, is to use it as a monster of the week style campaign, where each week your group moves to the next monster.
00:01:04:01 - 00:01:12:08
Bennett Tomlin
That's enough. Prelude. I'm going to use the sample they distribute from this book to show you how you can use it to quickly prepare a session.
00:01:12:11 - 00:01:19:03
Bennett Tomlin
The very first layer is intended for level one characters and is the caves of the cockatrice, which I probably said.
00:01:19:03 - 00:01:35:07
Bennett Tomlin
We get a bit of background which we can provide our players with so they understand where in the world they are. Then for DMs, we're given advice and how this can be integrated, though often when I'm running these, I will pick one of these ways to be integrated and just tell my players that's what it is like.
00:01:35:07 - 00:01:58:23
Bennett Tomlin
If we're doing a one shot, I will just explicitly tell my players, roll up level one characters. You've been hired to retrieve the McGuffin 2000 and have arrived near the cavern hearing rumors of some strange, unnatural beasts that roam the region and they are straight in. However, if you want it to be better integrated, this book will help you do that as well.
00:01:59:01 - 00:02:18:20
Bennett Tomlin
Players are at the cavern. Next we get a bit of flavor text to read as the end as they enter in a few details we need to know. We then have a great little map here and descriptions of each of the rooms that they will move to. I'm not going through all of these right now. You guys can read and like I said, this is distributed freely.
00:02:19:02 - 00:02:20:21
Bennett Tomlin
But let's start with the first one.
00:02:20:21 - 00:02:37:21
Bennett Tomlin
You enter the cavern and you see a statue of a dwarf, which stands at a junction of four rough walled natural caverns. The walls are approximately six feet tall, meaning some of you may be feeling a bit claustrophobic. The dwarf statue is missing two arms. Its face is downcast.
00:02:38:03 - 00:03:04:22
Bennett Tomlin
If players inspect the statue, we have a DC to let them know if it's petrified. If they inspect the walls, they can hear the running water or find in elven glyph a mark of a dark Lord of the Fey, the Shadow King. There's even a way to use that glyph to bypass part of the lair. You can see quickly how having these different rooms with details and checks already built in, means that it is easy to throw people into them.
00:03:05:00 - 00:03:33:01
Bennett Tomlin
Let's skip ahead to the actual boss encounter for this layer, we are again given some flavor text. A dozen humanoid statues, many of them broken, decorate this broad cavern. Tall columns of stone rise to the rough ceiling, and a rune decorated gateway of worked stone stands before the rock wall to the north, swirling with magical energy. Two podiums flanked the gateway, holding glowing crystals of violet and green.
00:03:33:03 - 00:03:50:16
Bennett Tomlin
The green crystal has a large crack in it and sends intermittent pulses of arcane energy arcing into the stone of the wall and floor. We're also told that the cockatrice is trying to hide, and are also told how it was modified to make it a more compelling boss.
00:03:50:16 - 00:03:59:00
Bennett Tomlin
Additionally, for the DM, we're even given tactics for the boss so you can run this encounter with even less effort.
00:03:59:02 - 00:04:19:11
Bennett Tomlin
Assuming the party defeats the boss. We're even told about the people who became statues and what treasures could be found around here. All of this is basically what you need to run a compelling one-shot in a couple pages, and there's like 25 of them in this book. And like I said, there's other books that work in this same way.
00:04:19:13 - 00:04:48:02
Bennett Tomlin
You have an interesting location with a fascinating story, a compelling boss, great maps and a bit of intrigue, all without you having to do anything but reading a few pages and maybe printing out the map though I just run Owlbear Rodeo. Plus at the end of the lair, the players feel accomplished. They defeated a boss and a boss that was a little bit modified from the Monster Manual, so it feels unique and compelling in a different way.
00:04:48:04 - 00:05:19:18
Bennett Tomlin
Though these lair can be rough, they are tightly balanced and be somewhat deadly. I've run like I said, I think 20 of them, and I think I've had TPK in five of them or six of them often when we were running with three person parties, which is smaller than they recommend. Either way, these lair are fun one shots with minimal efforts from you, and I highly recommend fantastic layers in this technique, but we'd love to hear what things you all do to help make preparing one shots easier.
