Festive Christmas One-Shot Ideas For DND

Christmas is a wonderful time to play a fun, lighthearted Dungeons & Dragons one-shot with your friends. They are a chance to participate in a festive adventure over the holidays that will take just one session to complete.

To help you plan out your festive D&D session, here is a selection of Christmas-themed ideas for you to build upon. These ideas could be used as a one-off side quest in your main campaign or completely unrelated, giving your players a chance to try a completely new character. Either way, you are in for a fun experience with these one-shot ideas.

Updated on December 13, 2024, by Alfredo Robelo: The celebration of Christmas as a concept goes beyond multiversal boundaries, with many players wanting to take their characters through the season of joy to spread some cheer or maybe to escape it with some good old dungeon crawling. We’ve updated this article to include even more adventuring ideas for new and old characters to go through.

17

Evil Santa Comes For The Party

They Are On The Naughty List

A lot of players like to justify the questionable actions of their characters as just ‘something they would do,’ utilizing some form of tragic backstory to get away with theft and murder. While the party and maybe some NPCs might be OK with the actions of the characters, they might still end up on Santa’s naughty list once Christmas day arrives.

You should start this one-shot with the characters receiving a piece of coal with a letter, listing all the potentially evil actions they did in their backstory or throughout the campaign. Then, at night, they would be ambushed by Santa, attacking them with all sorts of magical items, angry reindeer, and gnomish minions dressed in green.

16

Assassination At A Christmas Party

End The Joy Or Protect It

A grand Christmas party (or the equivalent holiday in your setting) can be a great excuse to gather the powerful and wealthy from a given city in one place. Such an event might be the only time the party has to get close to a given character, but they would have to contend with the entire security detail if they try to strike in the open.

Of course, the party could also be hired to protect a target, in which case they would be hunting for an assassin who might try all sorts of tricks, from disguises to poison. These two unique ways of approaching the same scenario give a lot of replayability to whatever you may end up planning, and it is easy to adapt for characters of any alignment.

15

The Return Of The Holy One

A Nod To The Real World Celebration

If the version of Christmas in your setting mirrors the one in the real world closely, then you could tie it to some form of significant religious event. You can even lure your players with the promise of some lighthearted Christmas fun, only to have the moment be highly relevant to your setting as a whole.

Since D&D is filled with Fiends and Celestials, it isn’t that hard to have your players follow an angel and witness the birth (or rebirth) of some good deity’s chosen one. You can have several demons or devils try to crash the event, with the party acting as holy defenders of the future saint.

14

Rise Of The Snowmen

An Army Of Snowmen Come To Life And Wreck Havoc

This Christmas One Shot for DnD starts peacefully with a beautiful day in the snow. The party will see families making snow creatures and having snowball fights. It’s a lovely day, but as the sun sets, a magical curse spreads across the land, and every snowman in the area is brought to life. The party is awoken at the tavern they are staying at by screams and chaos from outside. These snowmen are not friendly, and their numbers are many.

In this combat-focused adventure, the party must fight through hordes of snowmen (you could use the stats for Snow Golems or any other fitting enemy you like the sound of), save the townsfolk, and seek out the source of this curse.

If you want to keep some levity in the situation, the party might befriend one snowman, who will accompany them on their quest, lobbing snowballs at their enemies to cause distractions.

13

Santa’s Helpers’ Day Off

The Silly Adventures Of Some Overworked Toymakers

Preparing presents for everyone in the universe is trying work, and Santa’s elves, reindeer, and other helpers desperately need a day off. In this silly one-shot, your players will take on the role of these helpers as they sneak out of the grotto, steal some magical teleportation dust, and get whisked away for the first time in their lives to a random part of Faerûn to explore.

This can be a primarily player-led adventure as they decide what shenanigans they’d like to get up to, and you will provide the consequences of their actions. Alternatively, you could turn this concept into a short, episodic campaign, with each session following a new group of Santa’s helpers in entirely different parts of Faerûn. Each episode ends with a disgruntled Santa arriving on his sleigh to pick up the runaways and return them home.

12

Bringing Christmas To The Domains Of Dread

Boost The Spirits Of Those Trapped In A Horror Realm

The domains of dread are a terrifying plane of existence where many inhabitants have given up on all hope… until now! Your party has been tasked with venturing into these evil realms and bringing Christmas cheer. The players need to try to deliver presents and help the people they meet have a wonderful Christmas.

But of course, the Dark Lord of the realm will stop at nothing to prevent this happy day. The main idea is that the players face a grim, evil realm with overwhelming positivity, creating a silly contrast.

Alternatively, perhaps the players are all Hexblood who have decided to visit their Hag-mother for the holidays. The Hexbloods must follow some unorthodox festive traditions in the hag’s domain. This might include a mysterious ritual or dealing with cursed Christmas dinners. You can devise plenty of silly rules that the players must either go along with or attempt to change.

11

Do A Die Hard

Sneak Around A Wizard’s Tower And Stop An Elaborate Heist

Although often contested, Die Hard is technically a Christmas film, and movies are often a fantastic source for one-shot concepts. Instead of crooks infiltrating an office building during a Christmas party like in the movie, you can have your players attending a party in a tall wizard’s tower or sprawling castle.

They put all their weapons away and enjoy the festivities until the inevitable heist begins. The players are out of the room when all the other guests are taken hostage and must now keep a low profile and figure out a plan to save the day.

With none of their items, weapons, or spell components, your players will need to get creative, sneaking around this maze-like building, doing what they can to take down these mastermind high-leveled criminals without risking the hostages’ lives. Will they try and take down the enemies one at a time, or perhaps they’ll go after the leader immediately? This will be a Christmas they’ll never forget.

10

Santa Is Missing!

Search For Clues Of Claus’ Whereabouts Before It’s Too Late

In this Christmas-themed DnD one shot, the party visits Santa’s grotto, but Santa is not there. The elves are distressed, as only a few days are left until Christmas Eve. It is now down to the party to find Santa before Christmas is ruined!

There will be plenty of social encounters as the party tries to find anyone who knows Santa’s last known whereabouts. They can search the grotto for clues and head out into the winter wilderness to find him. Perhaps he’s been kidnapped by the Easter Bunny, who’s jealous of the popularity of Christmas. Maybe he’s just been on an extended holiday. No matter the reason, it is a race against time to get Santa back.

9

Tavern Alone

Young Adventurers Defend Their Tavern From Bumbling Crooks

Your players can play as younger versions of their characters for this fifth edition Christmas One Shot. They have been left alone in their tavern while the rest of their family has gone off on holiday. But, like in Home Alone, they realize that some dastardly crooks are planning a heist. They have just a day to prepare the tavern for the invasion as best they can.

This one-shot is a chance for your players to create their own elaborate puzzles and traps to fool the villains. It is intended to be quite silly, so the more ridiculous their plans are, the more you should try and help make them succeed. Just like in the movie, the crooks should be easily fooled by the players’ schemes.

8

A Change Of Heart?

Convincing The BBEG To Become A Goodie-Two-Shoes

In this one shot, your players are a villain’s minions, attempting to melt their cold heart this Christmas. They need to stop the villain’s malicious schemes and help them see the error of their ways. As an alternative to minions, your players could be Christmas spirits, navigating through the villain’s past, present, and future to determine what will convince them to be a force of good. The villain will constantly rebel against this idea. It is up to the party to keep them on the right path.

This A Christmas Carol-themed idea acts as a lighthearted what-if scenario, where your players can see how the main campaign could have ended if the villain suddenly decided to stop their evil scheme.

7

The Big Festive Festival

A Relaxing Day Of Low-Stakes Games And Fun

The party has decided to visit a local Christmas festival. You can organize minigames and competitions for them, such as a baking contest or a race. This can be a low-stakes, cozy story to enjoy as a DnD holiday one-shot.

There are ways to include some conflict in the story. Perhaps the party needs to gather items to prepare for the event. Maybe they have been hired as security and must stop some nearby bandits from sabotaging the big day. A mystery could unravel during the event, such as a stolen prize for the village raffle. A small, simple plot provides some structure to this chill one-shot.

6

Christmas Curse

Forced To Deliver Presents To The Entire Realm In One Night

This fun one-shot puts your players in the role of Father Christmas themselves. After annoying the wrong powerful witch, they find themselves cursed to deliver presents to the entire realm all within one night. The night will not end until the task is complete.

You can place plenty of fun obstacles in their way, such as disgruntled Christmas elves or thieves stealing the presents. Will your players go along with crafting toys and sneaking into houses to deliver the presents? Or, will they rebel against this curse, instead focusing on finding out how to transfer the role of Santa onto someone else?

5

Home For Christmas

An Epic Journey To Get Back In Time

At a local tavern, the party notices an NPC from a player’s backstory, looking distraught. They were hoping to be home in time to spend Christmas with their family, but the journey is far too dangerous to attempt on their own.

Luckily for them, your party is here to help. The journey is long and perilous, crossing dark forests, vast oceans, and snowy mountains. There is no time to spare. The party only has a few days to reach the NPC’s hometown. They must decide on the best route to take. Perhaps faster methods are available but with greater risk, such as a wizard’s untested portal spell. As time passes, this is a thrilling adventure that will hopefully end with a Christmas celebration.

4

The Party That Stole Christmas

A Party Of Grinches Hatch A Dastardly Plan

A nearby town is far too into Christmas, annoying your villainous party. They have festivals every day, and everyone is just too darn happy. Your group of Grinches hatches a plan to ruin Christmas for everyone. Perhaps they want to steal all the presents before anyone wakes up. Maybe they plan to kidnap the mayor before their big Christmas speech. Your players could have a creative plan of their own instead.

You can reverse the perspective of many classic Christmas films, with the townsfolk doing everything possible to stop the party’s evil schemes. Maybe even Santa Claus attempts to confront the party, leading to a climactic final battle to save or destroy Christmas once and for all.

3

Santa’s Rivals

Rival Present-Givers Are Running Santa Out Of Business

In this idea, your players could already be friends with Santa or play as his elves. Santa has noticed this year that he’s received far fewer letters from children than usual. Your players are tasked with finding out why and soon learn that a rival is providing the same service as him. This is unacceptable! Santa asks the group to infiltrate this rival company and bring them down from the inside.

A mischievous group of creatures from the Feywild or a terrifying evil doppelgänger Santa from a domain of dread could run the rival company. Your players will need to get creative to take them down. They could sabotage their delivery service. They could attempt to face off against the big boss directly. Perhaps they’re tempted to start a rival Christmas company of their own and forget about helping Santa entirely. There are plenty of silly ways to go with this rival gift-giving story.

2

Gifts Gone Wrong

Presents Full Of Curses, Traps And Mayhem

It is Christmas morning, and the party awakens to chaos! Everyone’s presents are full of nasty surprises. Evil dolls are running amock. Mimics have replaced Christmas trees. Portals are in the puddings. Christmas has been cursed. Maybe a powerful creature didn’t get a present this year and lashed out in jealousy. Perhaps a child’s wish was twisted. Whatever the reason, it needs to be stopped.

The setting for this idea could be anywhere you like. Perhaps your players all work at Candlekeep, and a delivery of gifts to the library is what causes all the chaos. Maybe the party lives in a small village soon overrun with dangerous toys. Perhaps they have their own spelljammer ship to deliver gifts to other planets! No matter the setting, this one shot will be full of combat and traps as the party attempts to fight the source of this curse.

1

Stranded For The Holidays

A Gritty, Tough Stay In The Freezing Wilderness

The party was on a long journey back home for the holidays when they found themselves hopelessly lost. Perhaps they took a wrong turn or maybe stumbled through a portal. They find themselves in a cold land and must work together to find their way back home.

With just their spells and limited resources, this is a challenging survival experience for your players. It is an excellent one-shot for those who want a more gritty, serious game rather than an overly festive story. The group will need to hunt for food, seek shelter and warmth, and survive for as long as possible. Perhaps they find a mysterious structure and spend the night there. It is full of puzzles and mysteries for the party to solve. If they can make their way through the cold, lonely building, they can find a magical device strong enough to transport them home again.