#65 : Imp Bowl: A Dungeon Full of Disposable Demons
Two demon lords made a bet — and you're the imps they're betting with.
For once, you don't play the heroes. You play a swarm of expendable little imps, flung into a deathtrap dungeon so two squabbling demon lords can finally settle whose minions are superior. Your job is simple: reach the trophy at the center before the rival lord's imps do. Surviving is optional. Winning is eternal.
Dying, in fact, is half the fun. The traps here don't maim — they grind, launch, boil, and impale. But when one of your imps meets a spectacular end, the next simply teleports in to take its place, rolled fresh off a d20 table of names and quirks. You are not precious heroes. You're a renewable resource, and the comedy lives in exactly how badly each imp goes out.
Read the Review: https://anvilnink.com/imp-bowl-play-as-an-imp/
Get the Paperback: https://amzn.to/4dCaKiY
Imp Bowl is a fast, funny, 5e-compatible one-shot built to be opened and run the same night — no prep required. It races through four acts: a hall of lying signs and lethal traps, a backwards puzzle room where everything does the opposite of what it promises, a lava-chase gauntlet against a bored, dice-loving guardian, and a free-for-all arena finale where the rules change mid-game and your own teammates become the competition.
What's Inside:
- A complete 70 + page one-shot adventure, fully written and ready to run start to finish
- Four full-page battle maps — one for every act of the dungeon
- A d20 roster of ready-to-play imp characters, plus four distinct imp archetypes, so your players arrive with zero prep too
- Full stat blocks for the dungeon's guardians, from a bureaucratic suit of animated armor to a chained stone brute and an iron golem who'd rather play dice than fight
- A knucklebones mini-game, multiple opening hooks, Game Master guidance for the strangest tables, and closing hooks to carry the chaos onward
- Tuned for 2–3 players, levels 2–3, and a single 2–3 hour session
Perfect For:
- Game nights when nobody had the time — or the will — to prep
- Groups of two or three who want a short, chaotic, laugh-out-loud session
- A one-night palate cleanser between heavier campaign arcs
- New players and Game Masters easing in through low-stakes, high-comedy play
- Anyone who has ever wanted to play the monsters instead of slaying them
How it plays: Each player runs a single imp backed by a shared reserve pool — your true "life total" for the night. Skill checks and combat decide how many imps you burn through clawing toward the center, while the rival team's numbers shrink based on how well you do. Then, in the final chamber, a booming voice changes the rules: the first imp to the trophy ascends to glory, and everyone else — including your friends — is suddenly in the way.
Part of the Ready Adventure Series: complete, plug-and-play one-shots designed for small groups and busy tables. Open the file, gather two or three players, and run a full night of fire, betrayal, and beautifully stupid imp deaths.
No prep. No heroes. No mercy. Just imps, fire, and one golden trophy. Drop it onto any 5e table and run it tonight.
