The Snow Stalkers, 5th-Level One Shot (5E)

I game with a group of seven (in person), and we had two players drop out of a session a few days before we were scheduled. Our DM didn't want to have a campaign session without them, so when this happens, one of us players will often host a one-shot. It's a fun opportunity for PCs to try out new characters without affecting the actual campaign setting. Myself and one other player often volunteer to DM a one-shot. However, neither of us had one prepared.

After searching around for easy to run one-shot ideas, I stumbled on a reddit thread recommending the Arcane Library for easy to prep one-shots. I looked around for a bit and settled on The Snow Stalkers. I read through the PDF and realized this was going to be a quick prep! Everything was there, including maps. I was able to incorporate the story as a follow up to a previous session I ran, so I changed some of the locations to be Swordcoast friendly.

The story is pretty linear, so the choice elements are lacking. But for a last minute session, that actually ended up being to my advantage. The story is a lot of fun, and everything was easy to run, especially for someone who has only DMed a few times. And, of course, the most important thing is that the players enjoyed it and had fun. It ended up being about a five hour session, with a scheduled break in the middle. Very happy with this purchase, and if I need another quick one-shot, I'll be back for more.

Well laid out with solid resources and a simple set so setup/running was easy. I added some extras where I wanted and the players all said the module was fun and challenging with great pacing!

Easiest one shot I’ve run! Very comprehensive but easy to follow on the fly. A++

There are so many great points about this adventure! First, it does a great job at foreshadowing what is to come, with the different situations in which creatures have been mutilated so that the players can kinda predict what they might be up against, which also creates great suspense, combined with the mystery of the disappeared members of the Red Scale. Secondly, while this adventure is very linear (which I think is a good thing because it's merely a one-shot, so you wanna keep things clear and moving), the locations on the road do still feel important because of the clues the players can gather there, which influences their knowledge of what has happened and what is to come. Thirdly, the theme is great, with my players actually being horrified throughout the whole session by the things the BBEG was doing. Finally, the encounters are presented very clearly, with only minimal prep time needed (I usually do quite a lot of prep, but was finished prepping this in about 1,5 hour). The thing that cost me the most time and effort was coming up with the initial incentive, the special order, myself, since this was not part of a bigger campaign for us, so I had to come up with something that would be compelling. Maybe a concrete suggestion in the document itself would be helpful. But that is just futile, this adventure is absolutely fantastic!!

Will DM this tomorrow and I can't tell you how excited I am. The story is amazing and the entire document is so clear for a, in my case, beginner DM. Thank you!