Imperial Vault 19: The Perfect One-Shot Adventure

A grieving widow begs you to save her baby. A hedge witch stole the infant and is using its tears to make alchemical potions. Your players will bite on that immediately.

The Hook

Joseph Lewis knows how to start a one-shot. Three weeks ago, the hedge witch Rosetta gave potions to a pregnant widow named Alia - supposedly to help her feel better. Last night, Rosetta returned, stole the newborn baby Nina, and threw a potion that turned the mother’s legs to stone so she couldn’t chase.

That’s evil. That’s personal. That’s a hook players can’t ignore.

The Layout

This adventure is linear. For a one-shot, that’s not a problem - it’s a feature. Your players have one clear objective: get the baby back before the session ends.

Joseph’s layout style is beautiful. Each location breaks down into simple blocks:

A small log cabin leans heavily against a vine-choked elm. Beyond it, a woman with a crutch limps down the dusty trail, her sobs echoing through the ancient forest.

Then separate blocks for the cabin, the woman, what she knows. Whatever your players focus on, you grab that block. No flipping pages.

The Dragon That Isn’t

There’s an ancient stone road carpeted in moss, running down through dead forest to a sluggish brown river. At the river bank sits a creaking black willow. And in the water? Huge grey bones studded with sparkling red scales.

A slain red dragon. Not quite dead - the skull has faintly glowing eyes. Touch it and it breathes fire. That’s it. That’s all it does.

But your players will be terrified. They’ll spend so much attention on this dragon that they’ll miss the actual threat: the Raging Willow. It’s loyal to Rosetta. Mindless, malevolent, violent. Its jagged mouth shouts “TIMBER!” as it pulls three rusty axes from the road and attacks.

The willow is the monster. The dragon is the distraction. Beautiful misdirection.

Arval the Helpful Skull

In the human bones nearby, players can find the buried undead skull of Arval of Dwin. He offers advice. Specifically: anytime there’s an enemy, 1-in-6 chance Arval knows their weakness.

Players carry this skull around. They have to pull him out, ask him - takes an action. But having a sarcastic undead advisor in your backpack? That’s the kind of thing players remember forever.

Wolf Monkeys

Wolf monkeys. Small agile monkeys with the head of a grey wolf.

They always attack the most edible-looking target - the one with the least armour. They work together to drag their prey away and eat it.

Your magic user is going to have a bad time. But it’s nice having monsters with actual tactics, not just “it attacks.”

Rosetta’s Quarters

Past tattered violet curtains, a four-poster bed stands on marble. Silken sheets rot on the grimy floor. Small creatures scratch in the shadows.

On her desk: 15 unlabelled potions.

• 1 potion of healing
• 2 potions of sleeping
• 4 poison potions
• Turtle Essence (grow a shell)
• Monkey Essence
• Snake Essence
• Mutation Cure

Your players don’t know which is which. And they’re about to fight a witch who throws potions.

The Final Fight

Rosetta is a hedge witch with unkempt hair and stained violet robes sewn with potion vials. She’s using baby Nina’s tears to make “liquid chaos” - potions of wild acid that melt victims into hybrids of the last two creatures they touched.

She doesn’t understand why you want the baby. Except to use the tears yourself, obviously.

She holds potions and summons Tug the Jaguar Anaconda. It can bite one creature while wrapping its tail around another. Your players have a handful of mystery potions. She’s throwing chaos potions at them. There’s a jaguar-snake hybrid in the room.

Roll d6 for each potion she throws:

• Petrifying (1/3 of body turns to stone)
• Alchemical Fire
• Rage
• And more…

It’s bedlam. It’s perfect.

The Loot

Players can find an Imperial Burst Crossbow - fires six bolts in a single round, roll attack for each. Can only use it once per day.

That’s the kind of treasure that creates stories.

Bottom Line

Joseph Lewis makes consistently excellent one-shots. Imperial Vault 19 has:

• A hook that demands action
• Encounters that misdirect and surprise
• An NPC skull companion
• Wolf monkeys
• A chaos potion fight
• Loot worth remembering

Perfect for a single session. Zero prep wasted.

Get it. Imperial Vault 19