What are Adventures?

Adventures typically come in the form of 256-page hardcover books that can exist purchased anywhere from $30-$60. Adventures come with a story for the DM to run for a party of 4-6 players. The stories are accompanied by a breakup of the NPCs, locations, and monsters that players volition encounter on their run through the adventure.

When getting into the globe of D&D, newer players and DMs often look to the adventures published by Wizards of the Coast (WotC) to introduce them to the world of D&D. Some of the adventures listed beneath are peachy for newcomers, while others are not. We accept rated the adventures based on their difficulty to DM and play through to aid effigy out whether or non the adventure will exist right for your table.

Which adventure Should I Play?

Listed beneath are all of the official D&D 5e adventures. In order to be "official", these adventures must be published by Wizards of the Declension.  The adventures are listed by release engagement, in descending order.

Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep

Check out our full Disquisitional Role: Call of the Netherdeep Review.

Info:
Pages: 224 pages
Published: March 15th, 2022
Levels: three – 12
DM Difficulty: Easy
Actor Difficulty: Easy

About

Call of the Netherdeep is an adventure for the fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons (5e) that takes a "deep swoop" into Critical Role's World of Exandria. This globe-hopping adventure takes players from the Wastes of Xhorhas on the continent of Wildemount, to the oasis city of Ank'Harel, so into the sunken realm of the Netherdeep.

There are no player options contained in this volume. If you lot're looking for Critical Role-specific races and classes, cheque out Explorer'southward Guide to Wildemount or Tal'Dorei Reborn.

DMs will find everything they demand to run this run a risk, including:

  • 168 pages (6 chapters) detailing the risk that takes players from level 3-12
  • 27 new monsters, including a ready of rival NPCs that level up with the party
  • fifteen new magic items

Pros

  • The lore, art, and story are all magnificent. In my stance, this is some of the best content nosotros've seen in official D&D adventures.
  • I love the grim, gritty tone and prefer it to the upbeat, happy-become-lucky vibe of Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos andThe Wild Beyond the Witchlight.
  • The dungeon crawls featured in this book are particularly solid. While there are just two big dungeon crawls, they both comprise a fantastic mix of challenging combat, puzzles, exploration, and role-play.
  • A number of factions are introduced that all have an interest in working with the party. This allows players to make meaningful choices when deciding who they will support and work with.
  • The way the risk ends creates an opportunity for connected adventures in the lands of Exandria. These adventures aren't supported by the book, but hooks are provided at the end for groups that desire to continue their own story.
  • I really like the carnival-style introduction that nosotros've seen in this book andThe Wild Beyond the Witchlight. Maybe "you meet at a carnival" will be the new "yous meet at a tavern."

Cons

  • This adventure contains a set of rivals that are meant to claiming the party at every turn. In that location's really not much stopping a particularly barbarous (and practical) grouping from killing their rivals once they've interfered in their business a couple of times. While killing the rivals won't ruin the hazard, there are a lot of ready pieces that are made better when they are present.
  • This adventure introduces an alien substance called ruidium that tin can spread into items and creatures. While I love its lore and role in the run a risk, its mechanics can be difficult to navigate. To boil it down, using items imbued with ruidium tin can cause ruidium corruption that manifests as physical and mental afflictions. Beyond finishing the take a chance, divine intervention, or the wish spell, at that place is no way to cure ruidium corruption. If, as a DM, you finish up struggling with ruidium, I wrote an article for D&D Beyond that offers some homebrew ways to allow players to cure it.
  • This adventure contains a number of different locations on multiple continents but doesn't include a regional map to allow DMs and players to get their bearings. The area maps provided are good, merely DMs will have to await elsewhere to find a map of Wildemount.
  • This adventure is very much prepare in the World of Exandria. If yous're looking for a setting-cryptic gamble to slot into your campaign, this isn't information technology.

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Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Anarchy

Check out our full Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos Review.

Info:
Pages: 224 pages
Published: Dec 7th, 2021
Levels: three – 12
DM Difficulty: Like shooting fish in a barrel
Role player Difficulty: Easy

About

Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos is a entrada setting for the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons (5e) that takes players to the magical school of Strixhaven. Incorporating actor options, new monsters, and a four-part campaign, this book provides groups everything they demand to play a campaign in the Magic: The Gathering school of Strixhaven.

Pros

  • The chance included in this book makes the setting a lot more accessible to your boilerplate playgroup. Other entrada settings which merely provide an overview of the setting are reliant on the DM to homebrew an entire campaign whereas the Strixhaven book gives tables a good launching off point.
  • The adventure chapters provide plenty of area maps too as battlemaps for of import locations around campus that can be helpful fifty-fifty if you lot aren't going to run the adventure.
  • The NPCs provided in this book are fleshed-out and tin can be useful for running a Strixhaven campaign even if you don't follow the run a risk.
  • The backgrounds provided in this book are very unique because they provide a feat based on the college chosen, on top of actress spells. This makes the student background easily the about powerful groundwork choice released in 5e, though they are quite specific to Strixhaven. They may need some reworking to fit into other settings, but for those players looking to optimize a build for another campaign they will provide a significant power boost.

Cons

  • This book is very much a resource for running adventures in the university of Strixhaven. There are just a couple of pages devoted to the larger magics and mysteries of Arcavios which introduce more than questions than they answer. If you're planning an adventure that uses Strixhaven as a starting point and are planning on branching into the rest of the world, you won't have much information to get off of.
  • Likewise, because this book isn't entirely devoted to the adventure, it is lacking in some areas. We discuss the take chances, what it does right, and where information technology can be improved in the in-depth review beneath.
  • Most of the playable options presented in this book (spells, magic items, background, feats, and even the monsters to some extent) are very setting specific. If you were to buy this book to read, but as well wanted to have access to the content for a separate campaign, there won't be a ton of options that can directly be transferred across without having a wizard school of some sort in your world.
  • Apart from four classes (one for each yr),  classes are skipped over entirely. We have attempted to remedy this situation past compiling 144 course ideas for Strixhaven courses in our supplement Strixhaven: A Syllabus of Sorcery.

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The Wild Beyond the Witchlight

Check out our total Wild Beyond the Witchlight review.

Info:
Pages: 256 pages
Published: September 21, 2021
Levels: one – 8
DM Difficulty: Medium
Player Difficulty: Medium

About

The Wild Across the Witchlight is a Feywild-centric run a risk that takes players from a mysterious circus on the Fabric Plane into the whimsical aeroplane of the fey. The main villains of this adventure are three hag sisters that accept taken control of the fey domain of Prismeer.

In this adventure, players are rewarded for quick thinking and diplomatic discussions rather than solving disagreements with violence. The time spent in Prismeer is rife with impactful player choice, open-world exploration, and problem-solving. The fey inhabitants of Prismeer are colorful and accept their own motives, making interacting with its denizens feel similar they are actually live rather than post-obit a set up script.

Interestingly, this hazard was said to come up with a DM resource for creating Domains of Delight, unlike planes in the Feywild that are ruled over by powerful fey creatures, and Archfey, the rulers of the aforementioned Domains of Delight. This didn't make it into The Wild Beyond the Witchlight but is available for buy on DMs Order here: Domains of Please.

Pros

  • This module goes to groovy lengths in order to provide alternatives to combat or secret weaknesses of powerful NPCs when combat is necessary. These can exist easily overlooked, but once players get in the correct mindset they will begin to remember differently about how to approach encounters.
  • The module takes an open-world, sandbox-style approach to its design. This is fabricated very apparent past the fact that players don't necessarily have to go anywhere or do annihilation. The main limiting factors of this open-globe playstyle are the NPC guides that accept the party between areas of Prismeer.
  • The main villains of the story don't have a negative predisposition towards the political party. In fact, the party tin can consummate the unabridged run a risk without fighting whatever of them. While this may seem anticlimactic to some groups, I like that success in this chance is based on completing a goal rather than defeating a BBEG.

Cons

  • There is a lot of importance placed on a certain item that is randomly assigned to a location in the gameworld before you start the run a risk. While the campaign can be completed without the item, it is mentioned as the only fashion to disengage a powerful curse. Players that miss the capricious hiding spot of the detail tin exist frustrated by the fact that information technology seems exceptionally of import yet is very difficult to find.
  • There aren't a whole lot of combat opportunities without "going against the story". The module seems to want players to reason and investigate their mode to what they want. If your party is looking for a fight, they could be put off by the seemingly docile nature of the carnival.
  • The module can have quite a few things to remember. The thespian's interactions throughout the campaign have a significant impact on events that occur. Luckily, the module includes a "story tracker" that allows y'all to note downward the outcome of these pivotal decisions.
  • Disappointingly, this module but takes players up to 8th level. While I hoped that the Feywild would include higher-level combat threats, the module focuses on non-combat resolutions. Taking it beyond the 10th level would have left a lot of role player abilities unused.

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Candlekeep Mysteries

Info:
Pages: 224 pages
Published: March 16, 2021
Levels: ane – xvi
DM Difficulty: Easy
Player Difficulty: Medium

About:
Candlekeep Mysteries is a collection of "book-themed" adventures. Each adventure incorporates the greatest library in the Forgotten Realms, Candlekeep.

The book is carve up into 17 different "mini-adventures" all of varying length but none of which should have more than than 3 sessions to consummate. While the suggests each of these adventures are "mysteries", I'd more refer to these adventures as "mystery-calorie-free". Yes, they all have an element of exploration and intrigue, merely they all follow a adequately linear path and aren't peculiarly hard to reason out.

The indicate behind this volume is to provide DMs with a agglomeration of 1-shot type adventures that tin fit flawlessly into whatsoever entrada, whether it takes place in the Forgotten Realms or not. While other D&D album books have at least a somewhat cohesive story (Ghosts of Saltmarsh), that thread of storyline is missing from Candlekeep Mysteries.

Pros:

  • Adventures are unique and involve more than roleplaying and exploration than typical adventures
  • Adventures tin can be dropped in whatever campaign with little setup (they fifty-fifty include threads that could atomic number 82 your party into the chance)
  • Yous get access to a adequately thorough map/outline of Candlekeep that is useful even if you don't run any of the adventures

Cons:

  • If you want to run these adventures sequentially, you will have to write the storyline yourself
  • The adventures are adequately disorganized, there is not a single appendix that houses all of the monster stats. Instead, they are included at the end of each affiliate. While this isn't an outcome if y'all are running the chance via DnDBeyond or Roll20, it certainly limits the paperback re-create's effectiveness
  • If you lot are looking for open sandbox, Sherlock Holmes-type adventures you will be sorely disappointed

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Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden

Info:
Pages: 319 pages
Published: September 15, 2020
Levels: one – 12
DM Difficulty: Medium
Actor Difficulty: Hard

About:
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden takes place in Icewind, a northern region of the Sword Coast in the Forgotten Realms. As you lot may take guessed from the championship and artwork, this adventure takes identify in a frigid environment. This ways that players will be dealing with surviving in the environment equally much equally they will be in gainsay.

The take a chance is separate into two principal segments, the starting levels where adventures explore the Ten Towns (1st – 6th Level), and the "real gamble" segment (7th – twelfth Level).

The get-go segment is an open sandbox type setting where players will travel between the Ten Towns and complete quests for different NPCs. These quests are well designed to assist establish these characters in the early days of adventuring in this area. This segment culminates with the players saving the X Towns from an entity hellbent on destroying it.

The second segment works through three principal areas: Auril's island, the Caves of Hunger, and the crashed remains of one of the floating cities of ancient Nether. The culmination of this segment pits the players against the forcefulness that is imposing eternal night on the area and, hopefully, saving the twenty-four hour period.

This adventure has already been praised as one of the well-nigh well-written, well-paced, and unique 5e adventures to date.

Pros:

  • Two entry points, ane at 1st-level, one between fourth and 6th-level.
  • Encounters include much more than just combat. Players are rewarded for being quick-witted, clever, and thinking outside the box during combat.
  • The story contains multiple branching decision points then players don't experience railroaded and even includes multiple endings based on the decisions of the players.
  • The well-structured description of the unlike areas of Icewind can provide DMs a "entrada setting" for Icewind to become off of if they don't plan on following the story.

Cons:

  • Survival and traveling betwixt areas of the Ten Towns can become quite cumbersome.
  • The terminal act of the 1st segment is an extremely difficult fight with serious ramifications if the party even slightly fails.

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Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus

Info:
Pages: 256 pages
Published: September 17, 2019
Levels: 1 – 13
DM Difficulty: Medium
Actor Difficulty: Medium

About:

Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus takes our players from the iconic city of Baldur's Gate to the kickoff layer of the 9 Hells, Avernus.

The Baldur's Gate portion of the campaign is relatively short, even though it contains most 30 pages of backstory on the city. The party starts in Baldur's Gate, gets sent on a fetch quest-based introduction to the story, and so they move on. After the Baldur'south Gate chapter, our players are sent to Avernus in guild to stop the chaos that is leaking out of the 9 Hells onto the Material Plane.

Pros:

  • Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernuscontains an awesome amount of information regarding Baldur's Gate and Avernus which makes this book a good choice-up even if you primarily homebrew your material. The book also introduces vehicles chosen Infernal Machines as well as providing guidance on making deals with devils and demons.
  • The Adventure is straight forward and doesn't dawdle similar some adventures tend to practice
  • The part with the city of Elturel is specially awesome.

Cons:

  • The adventure is very much a long fetch quest. Players encounter an NPC and the NPC tells them to go to a location and get/do a thing.
  • The section of the take a chance in Baldur's Gate is bromidic, particularly when taking into consideration how much endeavor was put into outlining the history, geography, and political construction.
  • The culmination of the risk is very much about a particular NPC, rather than our heroes

For a more than in-depth Baldur'southward Gate: Descent into Avernus review click here.

Dragons of Icespire Tiptop

Info:
Pages: 64 pages
Published: September iii, 2019
Levels: i – 7
DM Difficulty: Medium
Player Difficulty: Medium

About:

Dragons of Icespire Height is included in the D&D Essentials Prepare, along with a set of dice, a DM screen, and an abbreviated dominion book. This adventure is widely regarded to be weaker than the Lost Mines of Phandelver, another "starter kit" blazon production.

The book outlines a situation in which a immature white dragon has taken up roost in a location around Phandelver. The players then begin their story in the town of Phandelver, where they are expected to ready out completing quests off of a chore board. One time the jobs are done, a couple of side quests open up upwardly to give players a chance to further level upward. None of these sidequests explicitly lead the party to Icespire Concur, the location of the young white dragon, just there are options to help guide your party towards the dragon when they are gear up to fight it.

This adventure is heavily compared to the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure. For a full comparison between the two, check out our commodity D&D Starter Set vs. Essentials Kit.

Pros:

  • While hard to loop into the story, the job board provides short, well-structured 1-session adventures.
  • There is plenty of player agency and non-linear storytelling.

Cons:

  • 1st level characters are extremely easy to kill by accident. This module pits 1st level characters against some pretty nasty foes including a CR 3 Manticore.
  • The kickoff of the campaign has an extremely weak plot hook that newer DMs might struggle with.
  • There is no definitive, overarching plot that brings the party to the BBEG's (a young white dragon) lair.

Acquisitions Incorporated

Info:
Pages: 224 pages
Published: June 18, 2019
Levels: 1 – 6
DM Difficulty: Piece of cake
Histrion Difficulty: Easy

About:

Acquisitions Incorporated is a popular D&D podcast that has been running since 2008. This podcast was one of the beginning podcasts to become the 5e gravy railroad train rolling, precursing popular shows such equally Critical Role and Adventure Zone. The story of Acquisitions Incorporated is a dark, wacky take on D&D'southward high-fantasy genre, where the party is working for a corporation to accomplish typical high-fantasy tasks (i.e crawl through this dungeon and bring dorsum the treasure). This bear witness became and then pop that they began selling out conventions for their live-play sessions and began hosting popular guests such as Chris Perkins, Wil Wheaton, and Patrick Rothfuss. The popularity of the show led to the Acquisitions Incorporated team collaborating with Wizards of the Coast to create a campaign setting that will permit groups run their ain games in the Acquisitions Incorporated universe.

This volume contains role player options, DM tools, and an introductory gamble that takes place in the Forgotten Realms and takes players from the 1st to 6th level. This chance has garnered a ton of praise, well-nigh consider it to be on par with the Lost Mines of Phandelver risk, while some say it's even better.

Pros:

  • The take chances nails what makes Acquisitions Incorporated then compelling. It doesn't take itself as well seriously, has a great story, and is just by and large really fun.
  • The theme of this book is that the players are part of a corporation and are trying to move upwardly through the ranks while being sent on dangerous assignments. This is a refreshing breath of air and works extremely well as a plot device.
  • There are plenty of well-written, interesting NPCs, opportunities for reanimation activities, and side quests.
  • While this is a "themed" product, the concept and globe are really piece of cake for players and DMs to grasp. No prior knowledge about Acquisitions Incorporated is needed to run this chance.

Cons:

  • Episode 1 takes players through a dungeon that is packed to the point of condign a slog. This affiliate has xi combat encounters and a good amount of traps/puzzles. While the encounters and puzzles are well-designed, this chapter tends to elevate on.
  • Episode 2 re-uses a set piece from Lost Mine of Phandelver. If you have played this adventure previously with the group y'all are running this take chances with, you may need to suit aspects of this chapter to avoid replaying the same mission.
  • Something that caught me off-guard was the lack of "complete" maps. In this module, if only 4 rooms of a particular building are of import, they volition simply testify the 4 rooms.

Ghosts of Saltmarsh

Info:
Pages: 256 pages
Published: May 21, 2019
Levels: ane – 12
DM Difficulty: Due north/A
Histrion Difficulty: Northward/A

About:

Similar to Tales of the Yawning Portal, Ghosts of Saltmarsh isn't exactly an Adventure, simply instead a collection of adventures from before editions of D&D that have been modified for the 5th Edition. Ghosts of Saltmarsh likewise contains a ton of really helpful information around using Saltmarsh as a entrada location, as well as rules for ships and ocean travel, deck plans for various vessels, and an appendix with rules for new and classic monsters.

Pros:

  • The first capacity 2, 3, and 6 flow into 1 some other and provide a coherent story. When they are combined with the detailed information for the boondocks of Saltmarsh and the surrounding surface area, information technology forms a sort of "mini adventure" for an adventuring party starting at the 1st-level (though they will need side missions to level upward betwixt Danger at Dunwater and The Final Enemy).
  • The adventures in this book are all proven classics, adjusted from earlier editions of D&D.
  • The adventures and nautical mechanics are very like shooting fish in a barrel to fit into other long-term campaigns, so even if you aren't planning on running an entire campaign around Saltmarsh the book can be very useful.
  • The volume comes with some pretty good advice and ideas on how you tin flesh out the story and give it an overarching narrative, but doing then volition crave a expert corporeality on the DM's cease.

Cons:

  • If you get purely by what is written in the adventures then the volume becomes nada more than a series of loosely connected side quests.
  • Some adventures (namely The Final Enemy) have a pretty weak finale.
  • The RAW (rules equally written) for nautical combat leave a lot to exist imagined.

Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

Info:
Pages: 256 pages
Published: November 20, 2018
Levels: five – 20
DM Difficulty: Medium
Histrion Difficulty: Easy

About:

Dungeon of the Mad Mage picks upwards where Waterdeep Dragon Heist drops off. The 2 adventures do not share a whole lot of plot, Dungeon of the Mad Mage is more of a setting extension that starts off in Waterdeep, but mainly takes place in the mega-dungeon of Undermountain. When we say "mega-dungeon" we mean the mega.

This sourcebook is very little other than a 23 level dungeon meant to put the limits of players to the exam as they try to brand a proper name for themselves and delve deeper than whatsoever charlatan has gone earlier.

Pros:

  • Dungeon of the Mad Mage is a set up of 23 dungeons that interlink, each i is like a different world/feel so lots of interesting stuff to see and explore.
  • While information technology is mainly a dungeon clamber, there are certainly a few hooks to depict players at least a couple of levels deep.

Cons:

  • If you are continuing on from Waterdeep Dragon Heist your players may take a lot of acquaintances congenital up in Waterdeep which are non involved in this campaign at all.
  • At the stop of the solar day, in that location is no existent reason for the characters to be in the dungeon. If yous are open to homebrewing an underlying story so Dungeon of the Mad Mage provides a solid framework of encounters. If you are hoping for a compelling story out of the box, Dungeon of the Mad Mage isn't for y'all.

Waterdeep Dragon Heist

Info:
Pages: 256 pages
Published: Sept. 18 2018
Levels: 1 – v
DM Difficulty: Medium
Actor Difficulty: Easy

About:

Waterdeep Dragon Heist,similarly to theLost Mine of Phandelver, is a shortened campaign running characters from level i to level 5. This Adventure takes identify entirely in the metropolis of Waterdeep, one of D&D'south most recognizable locations. Wizards of the Coast calls Waterdeep "a sprawling melting pot held together by house laws and swift justice", which really holds true later reading the 256 page book devoted to fleshing the city out.

Waterdeep Dragon Heist'southward title may be a bit misleading, equally most people who see the championship think that this Adventure would involve a heist. Some may be disappointed to larn that the heist actually happened close to 5 years prior and the players do a lot more investigating than heisting.

One ofWaterdeep Dragon Heist''southunique features is that there are 4 villains that DMs tin can choose to exist the "main villain" of the story, while the other 3 accept more of a backseat role.

Pros:

  • Waterdeep Dragon Heisthas a number of interesting NPCs and good locations gear up out in the city of Waterdeep.
  • It also has an intriguing premise, with the iv different villains who tin can all impact the story in different means.

Cons:

  • One of my biggest gripes withWaterdeep Dragon Heistis the fact that information technology devoted 60 pages of the volume to describing each of the villains lairs in detail only to not accept the players at that place at all .
  • The whole 4 villain premise may have a semblance of replayability, but in truth, most of the Take chances isn't affected by the villian that was called.

Tales of the Yawning Portal

Info:
Pages: 248 pages
Published: April four 2017
Levels: 1 – 15+
DM Difficulty: Northward/A
Player Difficulty: N/A

Most:

Tales of the Yawning Portal isn't exactly an Take chances, but considering its contents, information technology was included in this article. This book contains the framework of 7 dungeons:

  • The Sunless Citadel (Levels 1-iii)
  • The Forge of Fury (Levels 3-5)
  • The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (Levels 5-seven)
  • White Plume Mountain (Level 8)
  • Expressionless in Thay (Levels 9-eleven)
  • Confronting the Giants (Levels eleven-xiii)
  • Tomb of Horrors (Loftier Level)

These dungeons have all appeared in previously published D&D literature, and so whatTales of the Yawning Portal has done is bring their mechanics into 5e and freshened up their concepts a scrap.

All of the dungeons are very unique, ranging from a hack and slash murder fest inThe Forge of Fury to a DM vs actor type dungeon inTomb of Horrors.

Pros:

  • The dungeons described in this volume are very well created and are versatile enough to stick into any entrada or string them all together with a homebrewed story

Cons:

  • Honestly, this volume does not have many cons.Tales of the Yawning Portal is a must-have supplementary resources for running some fun, engaging, and drastically different dungeons.

Tempest King's Thunder

Info:
Pages: 256 pages
Published: 06 September, 2016
Levels: one – xi+
DM Difficulty: Very Hard
Histrion Difficulty: Medium

Nearly:

Tempest Rex's Thunder takes the players dorsum to the Sword Coast region of the Forgotten Realms. The players are confronted with a staggeringly big world that is being torn apart by a behemothic civil state of war. Players are tasked to choose a side, make alliances with the giants, and eventually restore order before the entire region is crushed underfoot by the rampaging giants.

While we take taken a look at some other sandboxes and so far in this commodity, none of them are quite as generous with their size or calibration.Tempest Rex's Thundercovers the entirety of the Sword Coast region and includes information and hooks for 164 individual locations.

Pros:

  • Great balance of roleplay, exploration, and gainsay encounters.
  • Awesomely open up-ended world.
  • The Behemothic Strongholds are extremely well built.

Cons:

  • Tempest Rex's Thunderworks by simply providing locations and events that occur at these locations. It is very much up to the DM to link the locations together.
  • The get-go of the Take chances doesn't really include whatsoever good reasons for your players to be hooked into this Risk.
  • Giants are catchy to run combat encounters with. They have depression action economy but could easily one-shot a histrion under level 6.

Tomb of Anything

Info:
Pages: 256 pages
Published: 19 September, 2017
Levels: 1 – 11
DM Difficulty: Piece of cake
Player Difficulty: Difficult

Almost:

Tomb of Annihilation is another departure from a typical high fantasy DnD setting. Mike Mearls, D&D'south lead designer, mentioned that theTomb of Annilhation'south vibe was "Indiana Jones meets zombies". This rings very true as the majority of the Risk takes place in a deadly jungle surrounded by deadly animal, dinosaurs, and ancient temples.

TheTomb of Annihilation module begins when it is discovered that a death expletive has been placed on the land. The death curse causes the bodies of people that take been raised from the dead to slowly deteriorate. The party is pointed to the jungle peninsula of Chult as the source of the curse. Our adventurers are tasked with stopping the decease curse by traveling into the jungle in order to detect the crusade of the evil magic.

Pros:

  • The creatures (aside from the undead) are alien enough to virtually adventures that they should regularly see new things, and some pretty absurd stuff like unicorn bunnies, zombie T-Rexes, and killer jungle plants.
  • Many things can happen due to the randomness of the encounters in the jungle. This allows for awesome replayability.

Cons:

  • Tomb of Annihilation is pretty dependant on the political party to make their own fun once they have wound up in the jungle. If you've got an immersive party that'southward into roleplay and playing it up a bit, information technology'll exist fine, merely otherwise traveling around a hex filigree volition be tedious and boring.
  • The final temple inTomb of Annihilationhas some pretty ruthless traps that can instakill players. I would recommend removing them or at least scaling them down a bit.

Curse of Strahd

Info:
Pages: 256 pages
Published: xv March, 2016
Levels: 1 – 10
DM Difficulty: Difficult
Player Difficulty: Difficult

About:

Curse of Strahdis an ode to the classic standalone Take a chanceRavenloft (1983) and certainly hits the mark. While not a traditional, Tolkien-esque D&D experience,Curse of Strahdfeatures an awesome villain, a unique setting that provides great adventuring threads, and solid explorability.

Curse of Strahd takes place in the cursed demi-plane of Barovia where players are trapped until they end the story. The landscape features many interesting places to explore and (potentially) finishes off with the iconic Ravenloft Castle. The whole module has a gothic horror experience and, cheers to the in-depth clarification of locations, NPCs, and monsters, creates an awesomely creepy atmosphere.

The Adventure centers effectually the nearly famous villain in D&D history, Count Strahd von Zarovich. In this tale, Strahd is a powerful vampire, a master necromancer, a skilled warrior, and the unquestioned ruler of the domain of Barovia.

Pros:

  • There are frequent hooks to direct players from ane area to another or send adventures to key locations, which makes this a well-designed sandbox as it doesn't rely on the players to only become curious or carelessness plot hooks to come across the most interesting locations.
  • Unlike prior sandbox adventures,Curse of Strahd is fairly contained. The lands of Barovia only characteristic a couple of well built out locations so it is not overwhelming for DMs to prep or players to choose between locations.

Cons:

  • The story doesn't permit for exploration outside of the small area provided for you lot to play in.
  • The plot hooks in the first act are fairly weak. Actress DMing will be required to go your political party invested in the campaign in the early stages.
  • Almost of the encounters with Strahd are left to the DMs discretion. This takes a solid agreement of how Strahd is supposed to be played. Without this, Strahd can come off as a lackluster character.

Out of the Completeness

Info:
Pages: 256 pages
Published: September fifteen, 2015
Levels: 1 – 15
DM Difficulty: Hard
Player Difficulty: Medium

About:

Out of the Completenessfollows the players as they escape a Drow prison, make their way out of the Underdark, spend some time on the surface, and finally head back into the Underdark to defeat some demon lords.

Out of the Abyssis truly all about the Underdark, providing amazing settings and inspiration that tin exist retained and reused in later campaigns. You get introduced to all of the main movers and shakers of the Underdark (Drows, Duergar, and other subterranean races), and the sandbox-like structure is accompanied with solid management based on the NPCs the thespian interact with.

Pros:

  • The first half of the campaign where players are interacting with the prisoner NPCs and trying to survive in the Underdark is very fun and engaging.
  • The terminal boxing is a refreshing deviation from your typical BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy) encounter.
  • This Adventure can essentially serve equally a guide book on how to run the Underdark. If you are going to feature the Underdark in any of your campaigns I would recommend reading through this volume to look at descriptions of dissimilar creatures and places you could use in your encounters.

Cons:

  • The large number of NPCs tin can exist difficult to DM and can significantly wearisome down encounters.
  • The second half of the book (after the party escapes the Underdark) is essentially ane long fetch quest that can get deadening.
  • The second one-half of the book tends to provide your political party with piece of cake encounters that will need to exist buffed if you want your players to face up a challenge.

Princes of the Apocalypse

Info:
Pages: 255 pages
Published: April 7 2015
Levels: 1 – fifteen
DM Difficulty: Easy
Player Difficulty: Hard

Near:

Princes of the Apocalypseis an Take chances that has love for one thing and one thing but: dungeon crawling.

This module consists of 13 dungeons. Of these, 3 are devoted to each of the elements (burn down, earth, air, h2o) and one is a neutral dungeon. The reason players are itch through these dungeons is to rescue a delegation from the clutches of iv crazy cults, each devoted to the 4 elements.

Pros:

  • There are some really cool, unique dungeon designs and encounters.

Cons:

  • The delegation plot claw is super weak. Players should be told alee of fourth dimension to wait to play the typical "hero" who is willing to clamber through 13 dungeons for the good of the realm.
  • The dungeons do get monotonous after a while simply tend to freshen up a bit towards the end.
  • The dungeon'due south locations don't actually brand sense. To read about fixing this bank check out Ability Score's guide.
  • The 4 prophets aren't great villains as they are written.

Lost Mine of Phandelver

Info:
Pages: 96 pages
Published: July 15, 2014
Levels: one – five
DM Difficulty: Piece of cake
Actor Difficulty: Difficult

Well-nigh:

Lost Mine of Phandelveris included in the D&D Starter Set up and is probably the most well-received 5e Risk to date. The moduleice is intended to serve as a basic introduction to tabletop D&D. It contains a set of bones rules, an adventure, several pre-made character sheets, and a set of dice.

The Adventure takes place in a fairly minor, unspecified geographic area, and the story is split into 4 chapters. Lost Mine of Phandelveris a typical high fantasy setting and starts your party on the road equally you become ambushed past a grouping of Goblins. The story continues around the surface area, visiting a goblin cave and a nearby metropolis, and ends with an awesome final boss fight in Wave Repeat Cave.

This take chances is heavily compared to the Dragon of Icespire Elevation adventure. For a full comparison between the two, check out our article D&D Starter Ready vs. Essentials Kit.

Pros:

  • Lost Mine of Phandelveris a peachy starting time to whatever DnD campaign. It is meant to serve every bit a jumping-off indicate for DMs to either get-go their ain adventure subsequently or jump into some other module that starts at level 5 such every bit Tempest King's Thunder.
  • The module features well-crafted gainsay scenarios, a dungeon crawl or two, and a town that's understandable, which all serve as crawly tools to get your party accustomed to the world of DnD.
  • An added bonus of the D&D Starter Set up is information technology comes with five Ready-to-Play Characters, Half dozen die sets, and an introductory D&D Rulebook (note: the Introductory Rulebook is not the same equally the Histrion's Handbook or the Dungeon Primary'south Guide).

Cons:

  • The beginning role of theLost Mine of Phandelver can be pretty deadly for level 1 players. Consider leveling your party to level 2 earlier the initial Goblin encounter.
  • The villain is not neat. Yet, information technology tin be taken advantage of if you sell that he'southward more than of a henchman of a bigger evil when it'south over and the party can ride off to the bigger adventure subsequently.

Tyranny of Dragons: Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Tyranny of Dragons: Rise of Tiamat

Info:
Pages: 96 pages (Hoard of the Dragon Queen) and 96 pages (Rise of Tiamat)
Published: Aug. 19 2014 (Hoard of the Dragon Queen) and Nov. 4 2014 (Ascent of Tiamat)
Levels: ane – 8 (Hoard of the Dragon Queen) and 8 – 15 (Rise of Tiamat)
DM Difficulty: Difficult
Player Difficulty: Hard

Nearly:

Hoard of the Dragon Queen andRise of Tiamat

were the kickoff two published adventures for D&D 5e. Together they make up theTyranny of Dragons Story Arc.

TheTyranny of Dragons Story Arc takes players through the Sword Coast region of the Forgotten Realms as they attempt to stop a cult of Dragon-Worshippers from bringing Tiamat, the goddess of chromatic dragons, to the material airplane.

Existence the first two written D&D 5e Adventures definitely shows for two reasons:

Outset, the actual book way is different from the residuum of the Adventures. These two Adventures are printed on heavy stock, not-gloss paper instead of the glossy paper seen in later on printed Adventures.

Second,Hoard of the Dragon Queen andRise of Tiamat were written before the Role player's Handbook, Dungeon Primary'south Guide, and Monster Transmission was finalized. This has caused some issues with the Adventures, mainly the fact that some encounters are particularly unbalanced.

Hoard of the Dragon Queen andRise of Tiamatare not what I would consider Sandbox Adventures. Players are directed from i location to another, though they are even so tasked with how to handle the situations they find themselves in. Some players may non notice the railroading or may actually like it, just players that want to have more of a hand in the decisions they make will find this frustrating.

Pros:

  • There is a lot of negative talk regardingHoard of the Dragon Queenspecifically, just most of the criticism is followed up with "the story has good bones". I tend to agree with this and Power Score has an crawly commodity on how to alterHoard of the Dragon Queen andAscension of Tiamatto be better experienced.

Cons:

  • These Adventures were congenital before rules and monsters were finalized, which causes some encounters to be extremely deadly for players.
  • Hoard of the Dragon Queen is known to be very railroady, specifically the Caravan section.

Other WotC Published Materials

On top of prewritten adventures, Wizards of the Coast releases a number of books that focus on Campaign Settings and Expanded Rules, y'all can find the links to their reviews below:

Dominion Expansions

  • Xanthar'due south Guide to Everything Review (2017)
  • Tasha's Cauldron of Everything Review (2020)

Campaign Settings

  • Mythic Odysseys of Theros Review (2020)
  • Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Anarchy Review (2022)

Cabalistic Center Adventures

If you lot're looking for more D&D adventures to run with your group, we accept published a number of our own adventures!

Escape from Mt. Balefor

Our most popular adventure, this stealth-based escape mission has been downloaded over 2,500 times! Escape from Mt. Balefor is a cocky-contained eight-ten hour 5e adventure for 3 to five fifth level characters. This premium module includes:

  • A total three-part story
  • Battle maps, and NPC stat blocks
  • New mechanics for stealth-based exploration and gainsay

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The Heroes of Karatheon

A terrifying animal stalks the surrounding surface area of the port polis of Karatheon, destroying crops and endangering the lives of its citizens. The ruler of Karatheon, Archelaos Cirillo, has organized a tournament to crown a champion, bestowing upon them his blessing to slay the beast. Face off against other adventuring parties in the Colosseum, traverse the dangerous wilderness of the earth of Korinthos, and hunt the beast in the mountains it calls dwelling house to merits eternal glory.

Heroes of Karatheon is a cocky-independent 6-7 hr 5e adventure for three to v 5th-level characters. This premium module includes:

  • A full three-office story that evolves based on the players' performance and choices
  • Battle maps and custom NPC stat blocks
  • New rules for chariot racing, a four-phase relay race, and a "capture the flag" encounter
  • A random table for vi fleshed out Greek mythology-style encounters

Become The Heroes of Karatheon

Gathering Darkness: Whisperwind

This run a risk takes place in the cursed littoral village of Whisperwind, a place stuck in a perpetual land of twilight. In one case a thriving hub for fishing and trading, Whisperwind now exists in a place beyond time and space. Those unfortunate enough to end upwardly there can come from whatsoever plane and whatever period of time – past, nowadays, or future.

Gathering Darkness: Whisperwind is a self-independent vi-seven hour hazard for the 5e system and is meant for four or v tertiary-level characters. This premium module contains:

  • A complete story, battle maps, and custom NPC stat blocks
  • Random encounters for entering houses in a haunted village
  • A new mechanic called Blight which affects creatures based on their exposure to the horrors of Whisperwind
  • A table of Lingering Furnishings that reflect the influence of the Nighttime on Whisperwind's inhabitants

The is the first risk in the Gathering Darkness Anthology.

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Mike Bernier

Mike Bernier is the pb content author and founder of Arcane Eye. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his girlfriend, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that take invaded his house. He is the author of Escape from Mt. Balefor and The Heroes of Karatheon. Mike specializes in character creation guides for players, homebrewed mechanics and tips for DMs, and one-shots with unique settings and scenarios. Follow Mike on Twitter.