The 10 Best DnD Heist One Shot Adventures for 5e
We sneak into the vault and pilfer the best single-session heists for Dungeons & and Dragons fifth edition
Over the years, DnD 5e has seen its fair share of adventures featuring epic dungeon crawls and world-shattering heroics. Yet in more recent years, players have begun to experience all the drama, action and thrills of a good old fashioned DnD heist. The trend may have been inspired in large part by the release of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (a sprawling campaign which, despite its name, actually has very little “heisting” involved). And more recently, Wizards of the Coast has released Keys from the Golden Vault, an anthology which includes thirteen heist-themed adventures for a variety of levels and play styles.
Yet if you’re still looking for more heroic hijinks, the good news is that there are a ton of amazing one shot adventures that cover a wide range of capers, crimes and cons that can be played in a single session. So grab your crew and prepare to pull off one more job as we break into… the 10 best DnD heist one shots for 5e.
10. Heist of the High Temple
An epic one shot that blends the best of DnD and the heist genre, this sandbox adventure is designed for 2nd to 5th level characters and can be wrapped up in about 3 to 4 hours of play. The adventure takes place in the city of Mallora (although it can be dropped into just about any campaign world), with the players hired to break into a seemingly impenetrable temple ruled by a power-hungry priest. With a solid story, unique NPCs and impressive set pieces, what really makes Heist of the High Temple stand out is its open sandbox design, letting players decide exactly how they’re going to pull off the job, with the resulting mayhem generating plenty of twists, turns and surprises along the way.
9. Diamond Heist
Created by bestselling DnD 5e writer Ellie Lynn, this heist-themed DnD one shot is designed for 6th to 9th level characters and can be wrapped up in about 4 to 6 hours of play. The adventure takes place in a city inspired by the art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance. The players are hired by a powerful djinni to steal a diamond from the enchanted vaults of a museum. In exchange, he’ll grant the party a single wish. It’s up to the players to decide how to break into the museum and deal with its many magical traps, guardians and NPCs. It’s a fun and fast-paced caper that includes tons of handouts and background information, with plenty of exploration and roleplay thrown into the mix.
8. Dohwar Heist
If you’re looking for a one shot heist set in the world of Spelljammer, then this weird and wild adventure has you covered. Designed for players of Levels 5 to 10, the story kicks off when a clan of Dohwar (a species of penguin-like space traders) hire the characters to infiltrate a stronghold of intergalactic vampire pirates. If that sounds insane, it absolutely is, but it’s also incredibly fun. While this one shot is definitely not for everyone (and would be hard to fit into most campaign settings outside of Spelljammer), it does include a ton of unique NPCs, full color maps, player handouts and author notes for running encounters. The end result is an out-of-this-world caper worth taking on.
7. Goblin Heist
Developed by award-winning game designer Kai Linder, this quirky and chaotic heist-themed one shot transforms goblins from DnD cannon fodder to cunning criminals. The adventure lets players choose from a group of six pre-generated goblins, each of which has its own personality, abilities and handout. The goal is to break into the nearby village of Little Humbleton and steal as many items as possible while avoiding freezing weather, angry villagers and bloodthirsty adventures. It’s a fun and genuinely hilarious single-session experience that also features a number of unique rules mechanics, including variable weather, pursuit mechanics and randomly generated challenges.
6. Night’s Gambit
Set in the world of Eberron, this one shot heist is technically the sixth adventure in the popular Across Eberron series and is designed for Level 4 players. That being said, it can easily be run as a standalone DnD 5e adventure and even tweaked to fit into other campaign worlds. The story kicks off when the players are hired by a mysterious noble to break into the infamous military garrison known as Fort Bones. Their goal is to recover an ancient and powerful necromantic artifact. Players will then have to talk, fight or sneak their way inside, offering a unique adventure filled with capers and constructs that can be wrapped up in about 3 hours.
5. The Great Wyrm Theft
The first in the Waterdeep’s Shadow Heist series from designer Christian Eichhorn, this unique one shot can be incorporated into an existing Dragon Heist campaign (arguably one of the best DnD 5e campaigns of all time), or run as a standalone adventure set in just about urban setting. The adventure takes place in the North Ward of the City of Splendors, with players tasked with breaking into a noble family’s estate to recover a priceless ruby. One of the most fascinating aspects of the heist is that there are no specific PC level requirements. Instead, pulling off the job depends entirely on the players’ ingenuity and ability to improvise. It’s a smart, fast and incredibly fun sandbox adventure that can be wrapped up in about 4-5 hours of action-packed play.
4. The Heist at Nimressa
Designed for Level 3 to 4 characters, this one shot can be pulled off in about 6 to 8 hours (so might be a bit of stretch as a single session). The adventure takes place in a remote kingdom ruled by a despotic baroness. The players are tasked with infiltrating a heavily guarded military garrison where the ruthless ruler has amassed a fortune in ill-gotten loot. As with any good DnD heist, it’s up to the party to decide how to pull off the job and deal with a legion of veteran soldiers, a fanatical wizard and countless traps and magical defenses. It’s a fun and beautifully-designed one shot that can easily be repurposed for just about any campaign and setting.
3. Hellbound Heists
While DnD heists often tend to take place in sprawling mansions or heavily guarded forts, in this unique anthology of one shots, the action takes place in the simmering bowels of the Abyss itself. Featuring nine different adventures – each of which is set in a different layer of Hell – these one shots can be run individually or together. They can be dropped into just about any campaign and would also work great as a Halloween one shot. Designed primarily for Levels 7 to 20, the adventures run the gamut from infiltrating an infernal archive and rescuing a trapped angel from a fiery prison, to attending a demonic ball and robbing a hellbound train. The end result is easily one of the best collection of high-level heists ever produced.
2. Handful of Heists
This incredible collection offers five unique one shot heists for DnD 5e that are just as good (if not better) than what Wizards of the Coast included in the Keys from the Golden Vault anthology. Set largely in and around the city of Waterdeep in the Forgotten Realms, the adventures cover a wide range of levels, locations and heist themes. The one shots can be concurrently or separately and dropped into just about urban campaign. They run the gamut from pilfering pearls in an underwater cavern, breaking into the vault of a notorious fence, and infiltrating the legendary Aghairon’s Tower. The result is a tome of one shot capers that are all incredibly polished, easy to run and an absolute blast to play.
1. Here’s To Crime: A Guide to Capers and Heists
Okay, so this technically ins’t a one shot heist, but we definitely had to include it on this list because it has everything you need to make your own epic one shot heists for DnD 5e. The book offers a treasure trove of advice, tips and rules tweaks to bring your capers to life. The book manages to do this by successfully merging the “flashback” concept featured in the popular Blades in the Dark RPG with the fifth edition rules set. The end result is an absolute masterpiece of fantasy criminal escapades, offering everything you need to bring all the tension, drama and cinematic action of a heist into your own DnD campaign world.
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Ollie Delano is a Staff Writer who lives in Chicago, Illinois where he majored in Journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He’s been playing Dungeons & Dragons for over 10 years and currently plays in a weekly game group where he rolls way too many natural 1s and chugs way too much Mountain Dew. His favorite D&D campaign setting is Eberron and his favorite character to play was a Tiefling rogue named Draxiss who enjoys both literal and figurative backstabbing.
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