Baldur’s Bowl is a one-shot adventure for D&D 5e by Dana and Benji Floberg for a 5th level party.

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An up-and-coming assassin named Raz stumbles onto an ancient temple of a forgotten demigoddess filled with treasure beneath Baldur’s Gate, propelling them to the heights of the criminal underworld. With their newfound wealth, power, and magic heirlooms, they rapidly expand their territory – which also brings them to the attention of the Zhentarim, who see a profitable alliance to be made.

After an encounter with the kingpin’s lackeys, the players become aware of this plot and attempt to disrupt or outright stop the deal. They need to infiltrate one of Raz’s most popular criminal enterprises, a brutal underground fighting ring called Baldur’s Bowl. They can schmooze and play various games, and of course participate in the fighting pit, all to gather enough information to deal with Raz and their group – and maybe find the secret vault themselves and plunder its vast wealth.

It reminds me a bit of Dragonbowl, if it were a one-shot – in a good way. Underground fighting ring in one of the major cities, with various games for the players to engage in, with a grand prize at the end. Depending on how much your players mess around, this might take 2 sessions, but I don’t expect it to need more than that – it’s a pretty contained adventure (though you never know what your players will come up with to derail the plot, of course).

There are 3 detailed maps for the relevant areas, as well as 2 new magic items, NPC statblocks, and, as a fun little bonus, 6 recipes for cocktails. You can probably try to make them, though, considering all of them have poison as the final ingredient, you might want to adjust the recipes a bit.

Overall, Baldur’s Bowl is a fun little one-shot with enough action as well as a bit of investigation, that will give your players enough opportunities for whatever they might be looking for.

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