Running a One Shot for Beginners would appreciate advice

[BiosTheo]

So this coming week, or next, I will be putting together some kind of one shot, at level 3, for about four new beginner players with two experienced players helping out the newbies. Heres what I have in mind:

The party is given the quest (plot hook involving one of the experienced players), and are offered some chance for RP (Tavern scene, drunken brawl, something along those lines).

First encounter involving CR equivalent group of baddies.

Chance for RP afterwards (maybe one of the baddies surrendered and they need information).

Second encounter involving BBEG at CR+2 (this should drain 60% of party recourses meaning they have a 40% comfort barrier to play with).

So, any ideas for plot hooks, plot devices, what to use for the encounters, est. would be appreciated.

What I am thinking for the encounter is some bandits that kidnap someone important and the party has to go rescue them. Its vanilla cheese but whatever it works, but I am more than open to suggestions in changing this.

Also, the reason for level 3 is simple: the players have enough HP to be out of the one-shot zone of levels 1-2 but they don't have to many levels that they become overwhelmed in everything they can do.

[Vicon]

Move away from the cliche' -- you know it's vanilla cheese, so you and your players deserve better. Instead, as level 3 guys they are obviously experienced warriors, so have them all be rounded up or approached by a village/town elder who asks them to deal with a disturbing gang of bandits that have taken up residence In a ruined keep nearby.

You could have them ambush or be ambushed on the road to the keep, and offer numerous conventional and unconventional means of infiltrating or invading the keep (disguise, taking bandit outfits from road encounter, attacking a defended hole in the wall, sneaking into the dungeons below and coming up inside the walls) ... Have them find documents, or interrogate, or overhear info about the nature of the bandits -- revealing they are not what they appear to be. Perhaps they are forward recon from a neighboring hostile realm, maybe they are emptying forgotten graveyards in or around the keep to raise an undead army, are an evil cult, something like that.

Have the final climactic battle take place on high ground in the keep, and when the boss is killed, have the party see a fire breaking out back at the village they came from... Some awful aspect of the plan the baddies have been hatching is just coming to fruition...

Ending on a cliffhanger. The heroes are victorious, but if you have them hooked, you may want to keep the game going. Even if it IS just a one-off, if you played again with any if these players you could weave the events of this one-off into the history or plot of another campaign.

Good luck. And starting in bars is hackneyed! We can do better!

[BiosTheo]

Thanks that actually goes very well with what I had been thinking conceptually but hadn't thought up the entire concept for the encounter with the BBEG and you know what this fits absolutely perfectly! Thank you so much!