14 Possibly-Good Pre-Written Horror RPG One-Shot Adventures

These adventures are suitable for the GURPS Horror games I’m organizing to bring new players into GURPS.

You should be able to grab one of these adventures and the set of pregen characters I’ve suppled with the GURPS-O-SCOPIC simplified character sheet format, then go ahead and run Horror with newcomers without much work! So head to your FLGS game night or regional RPG Con right away with these in your bag and you will be all set.

If you want more detail as to what I was trying to do here, see the Horror for New Players Roadmap. This list was moved from there as it has become longer than I expected, and I wanted people to be able to find it via the title.

A Note About The Quality

I have skimmed all of these, read some of them, and actually played three of them. So YMMV, but there were many Horror one-shot adventures that I discarded after skimming them. So there has been at least a little quality control.

Still, there are approximately one billion Horror pay-what-you-want one-shots on DriveThruRPG that I didn’t look at, so feel free to send along any suggestions for adventures that could be set in 1983 and are good for introducing new players to GURPS.

Disclaimer: I prefer adventures that have a lot of detail so that I feel like I have everything I need ready to go. So that is what I am going for with this list, for the most part.

Suitable Adventures

Reminder: All are set in the 1980s, or can be easily adapted to be set in the 1980s.

1. GURPS Horror: The Haunting of Langley Manor (you’ll need to update to 4e rules; this was published in GURPS Horror [look for first edition, ©1987] pp. 85-95; older editions do not have this adventure) Note: not available as a PDF as far as I know. (Search for a used copy of this book in paperback. I found this as a used book for $12.)
2. GURPS Horror: Flight 13 ($4 PDF; you’ll need to update to 4e rules)
3. CoC Play, Repeat, Return ($3.50 PDF; must be adapted to GURPS rules, scenario may be changed to allow external investigators)
4. Delta Green: Last Things Last (FREE; must be adapted to GURPS rules, on pp. 40-50 of Delta Green: Need to Know)
5. GURPS Horror: Zombietown USA ($4 PDF; you’ll need to update to 4e rules)
6. WoD: Nightmare at Hill Manor Apartments (FREE; must be adapted to GURPS rules, on pp. 29-64)
7. GURPS Monster Hunters: The Midnight Bordello (in Monster Hunters Encounters 1 [$4], pp. 3-6; this book also contains another adventure scenario)
8. CoC: Good Vibes Only ($6 PDF; must be adapted to GURPS rules)
9. CoC: The Haunting of Corbitt House (FREE; must be adapted to GURPS rules, must be updated from the 1920s to the 1980s; found on pp. 16-33 of the PDF Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed. Quick Start Rules)
10. SW: Redneckromancer (FREE one-pager; must be adapted to GURPS rules)
11. GURPS Psionics/Illuminati: Pawnshop (FREE reprint from GURPS Pyramid Classic #23; also appears in Best of Pyramid Volume 2 pp. 117-123)
12. SW: Mutant Sharks! from Trailer Park Shark Attack! (this adventure can be found in the Jumpstart version, or as scenario #2 in the complete version of TPSA! [$10]; must be adapted to GURPS rules — and this will work for a group of paranormal investigators BUT as written it is a very deadly, combat-heavy adventure!)
13. NBA: Day of the Wehrwolf (from the Edom Files compilation, $19; must be adapted to GURPS rules)
14. GURPS Horror: Beyond the Pale ($4 PDF; must be adapted to the 1980s if you want to match the other adventures above)

The Corbitt House and Hill Manor adventures were suggested as Halloween one-shots by Mook.

Good luck! Let me know how it goes if you try these!

IMAGE CODA: Generated by DALL-E 3.