#31 : The Name of Rumpelstiltskin | A D&D 5e Fairy Tale One-Shot for 2-3 Players
He wants your firstborn. But not for the reason you think.
A baby prince has just been born in the kingdom of Goldenmere. Three days later, a strange creature appears and demands the child — claiming the queen made a deal. The dying king hires your party to discover the creature's true name before sunset on the third day. Speak the name, break the bargain, save the heir.
Simple, right?
Except the queen really did make that deal. She was locked in a room, facing execution, and a small fey creature sat at a spinning wheel and saved her life. The price was her firstborn. She agreed freely. Now she wants to keep her baby — and the creature's entire world will die if she does.
The Name of Rumpelstiltskin is a D&D 5e one-shot adventure that takes the fairy tale you think you know and reveals the story no one told you. Your players have three days, a dying king, a desperate queen, a guilty miller, ambitious nobles circling the throne, and a fey creature who might be the only honest person in the room. The name is the key. The question is which door it opens.
What's Inside:
• Complete 4-act adventure for 2-3 players, levels 3-5
• 2.5-3 hour estimated play time — perfect for a single session
• Zero prep required — read the background and go
• 3 unique adventure hooks to fit any campaign
• 6 fully-statted creatures with tactics and negotiation notes
• 3 fairy tale-themed pre-generated characters with full sheets
• 4 battle maps for key encounter locations
• 3 distinct endings where every choice has real consequences
• DM Quick Reference with NPC tracker, clue guide, and timeline
• "What If?" section covering 8 common player decisions
• Scaling notes for 2 or 3 players throughout
Part of The Twisted Tale Series
Classic fairy tales. Twisted choices. No happy endings guaranteed. Each Twisted Tale adventure adapts a story everyone knows — then reveals the truth they never told you. Sympathetic villains, moral complexity, and endings where every choice has a price. Designed for small groups. Completable in a single session.
Perfect For:
• DMs who want a session that makes players argue about the right thing to do
• Small groups of 2-3 players who want adventures built for them, not rebalanced
• Fans of morally complex fantasy like The Witcher, Neil Gaiman, or Dimension 20's Neverafter
• Anyone who suspects the fairy tales they grew up with weren't telling the whole truth
Four hundred and thirty-seven lives depend on a promise one woman made to survive.
Your players hold the name. They hold the choice. There is no right answer.
Read the Review: https://anvilnink.com/the-name-of-rumpelstiltskin-dnd-5e-fairy-tale-one-shot/
Get the Paperback: https://amzn.to/3MWTXOi
