Having played since 1974 and DM’ed since a lttle less than a year later I always am looking for suggestions that others have found for gaming that is balanced to provide a mix of the game’s 3 tiers. Right now it is pretty much AL at most shops though one advertises their D&D night os NOT AL for whatever reason.
What are the canned adventure sources you use when you want a balanced game for your players?
And yes I could create a third home brew world setting (previously original D&D and AD&D) but being efficient (aka lazy) I, in my 70’s, would rather skip all that work.
Having played since 1974 and DM’ed since a lttle less than a year later I always am looking for suggestions that others have found for gaming that is balanced to provide a mix of the game’s 3 tiers. Right now it is pretty much AL at most shops though one advertises their D&D night os NOT AL for whatever reason.
What are the canned adventure sources you use when you want a balanced game for your players?
And yes I could create a third home brew world setting (previously original D&D and AD&D) but being efficient (aka lazy) I, in my 70’s, would rather skip all that work.
Gracias,
.
Out of the Abyss.
rime of the frost maiden
tomb of annihilation
curse of Strahd
min that order have the best balance that I can think of off top of my head
Are you looking for hardcovers or AL modules? There is a truly vast number of AL modules out there though the number for tier 4 is kind of sparse. Approved AL modules have been created by WotC and by 3rd parties. The 3rd party modules were originally labelled "CCC" for convention created content and more recently are called DC standing for DungeonCraft allowing anyone to create AL modules. Instructions on how to create DCs and any limitations and restrictions are available on the D&D Beyond Discord in the AL channels.
In terms of hardcovers or published multi level adventures, EightPacks list is pretty good. I am currently running Out of the Abyss, I've played Rime of the Frost Maiden and Tomb of Annihilation and I have also run CoS. They are all good adventures though some require more or less work on the DMs part. Out of the Abyss needs a bit extra work by the DM, mostly due to the travel in the underdark over long distances though you can also hand wave that a bit to avoid it becoming too much of a grind. Tomb of Annihilation is also good but like OotA the jungle travel can get a bit monotonous and the encounters there are mostly random. However, ToA can easily be supplemented by pulling in some extra AL modules either from season 7, CCC's that fit the theme, some AL Guild Adept content from DMsGuild.com or even bits like the Hidden Shrine of Tamaochan from Tales of the Yawning Portal.
Level ranges are something like ... OotA: 1-15+, RotFM 1-12+, ToA: 1-12+, CoS: 1-12+. When running them as AL, I ask the group to only bring one copy of items found in the adventure, only level up after the sessions where I ask them to, and don't bring outside traded items into the adventure (these are all intended to keep the play experience as close to that in the book as possible while still being AL). I also add in whatever free level 5 item they ask for from the ALPG. This can be essential for some characters since all of these adventures have a very limited selection of magic items and there is no guarantee that a character will find a magical weapon that their character could really use. Hardcovers tend to work best in AL with a consistent group.
All of these have a decent mix of role playing, combat and exploration - though some of that depends on how the DM runs everything.
Another hardcover that has a decent reputation is Storm King's Thunder but that is a pretty sprawling adventure covering most of the Sword Coast from IceWind Dale to Waterdeep.
I've only played a few of the levels of Dungeon of the Mad Mage but it seemed to be mostly dungeon exploration and combat with limited role playing opportunities though some of the other levels in the dungeon might be better than the ones I played. However, if you have players that love dungeon crawling then Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Dungeon of the Mad Mage can be used to play from level 1 to 20.
If you are looking for more info then I'd suggest googling the hardcover names to get some reviews and other opinions.
Having played since 1974 and DM’ed since a lttle less than a year later I always am looking for suggestions that others have found for gaming that is balanced to provide a mix of the game’s 3 tiers. Right now it is pretty much AL at most shops though one advertises their D&D night os NOT AL for whatever reason.
What are the canned adventure sources you use when you want a balanced game for your players?
And yes I could create a third home brew world setting (previously original D&D and AD&D) but being efficient (aka lazy) I, in my 70’s, would rather skip all that work.
Gracias,
.
Marked with the sign of the Z!
Out of the Abyss.
rime of the frost maiden
tomb of annihilation
curse of Strahd
min that order have the best balance that I can think of off top of my head
Blank
Are you looking for hardcovers or AL modules? There is a truly vast number of AL modules out there though the number for tier 4 is kind of sparse. Approved AL modules have been created by WotC and by 3rd parties. The 3rd party modules were originally labelled "CCC" for convention created content and more recently are called DC standing for DungeonCraft allowing anyone to create AL modules. Instructions on how to create DCs and any limitations and restrictions are available on the D&D Beyond Discord in the AL channels.
In terms of hardcovers or published multi level adventures, EightPacks list is pretty good. I am currently running Out of the Abyss, I've played Rime of the Frost Maiden and Tomb of Annihilation and I have also run CoS. They are all good adventures though some require more or less work on the DMs part. Out of the Abyss needs a bit extra work by the DM, mostly due to the travel in the underdark over long distances though you can also hand wave that a bit to avoid it becoming too much of a grind. Tomb of Annihilation is also good but like OotA the jungle travel can get a bit monotonous and the encounters there are mostly random. However, ToA can easily be supplemented by pulling in some extra AL modules either from season 7, CCC's that fit the theme, some AL Guild Adept content from DMsGuild.com or even bits like the Hidden Shrine of Tamaochan from Tales of the Yawning Portal.
Level ranges are something like ... OotA: 1-15+, RotFM 1-12+, ToA: 1-12+, CoS: 1-12+. When running them as AL, I ask the group to only bring one copy of items found in the adventure, only level up after the sessions where I ask them to, and don't bring outside traded items into the adventure (these are all intended to keep the play experience as close to that in the book as possible while still being AL). I also add in whatever free level 5 item they ask for from the ALPG. This can be essential for some characters since all of these adventures have a very limited selection of magic items and there is no guarantee that a character will find a magical weapon that their character could really use. Hardcovers tend to work best in AL with a consistent group.
All of these have a decent mix of role playing, combat and exploration - though some of that depends on how the DM runs everything.
Another hardcover that has a decent reputation is Storm King's Thunder but that is a pretty sprawling adventure covering most of the Sword Coast from IceWind Dale to Waterdeep.
I've only played a few of the levels of Dungeon of the Mad Mage but it seemed to be mostly dungeon exploration and combat with limited role playing opportunities though some of the other levels in the dungeon might be better than the ones I played. However, if you have players that love dungeon crawling then Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Dungeon of the Mad Mage can be used to play from level 1 to 20.
If you are looking for more info then I'd suggest googling the hardcover names to get some reviews and other opinions.
If you run Heist you will need to make some changes. Stick part of the mcguffin in the enemies lair before getting the keys to the vault.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.