I’ve only be DMing for a bit but looking to run more games now that I have some time. What are folks top 10 rankings for WoC campaigns that take players from Level 1 to Level 5/10?
1. Curse of Strahd has the potential to be the best, but it can also be draggy. It really depends on the DM. You have to keep the atmosphere tense enough that your hack and slashers don't get bored.
2. Dragon Heist has the potential to be wildly entertaining, but it can come completely off the rails. It really depends on the players. They have a lot more control over the direction of the adventure than in CoS. And again, if they're hack-and-slashers, they wander off and there's no way to get them back. If they like complicated plans, this is perfect for them.
3/4. All the stuff in Tales From the Yawning Portal and Ghosts of Saltmarsh have stood the test of time, but turning them from modules into a campaign takes a little extra work on the DMs part.
5. Mines of Phandelver/Icespire Keep are classic-style D&D. I rank them slightly under Tales and Ghosts because those are actually Classic D&D. And I'm not sure they get you to 10.
6. I've only played Tomb of Annihilation, not ran it. It frustrated me as a player because I wanted to pull the whole thing off the rails and instead turn the campaign into putting Princess Whats-her-name on the throne of a Unified Chult and drive out the Faerunian vultures who had been picking over the corpse of the unhappy land for too long. And everyone else wanted to solve puzzles and fight liches, like normal gamers. You probably wouldn't have that problem, but I thought I'd warn you. Also, the traps are very Chris Perkins, in that there are several perfectly plausible answers to some of the riddles and you just have to guess which is the right one.
7. I've only read Baldur's Gate DiA, so take this with a grain of salt. A lot of people have said it's way too lethal at low levels. I used the car chase material in my homebrew campaign and it's fun, but on the whole I think the DM has to thread a lot of needles with this one. The Mad Max setting is almost irresistible, though, so I'm going to have to try it someday.
8. I've only read Out of the Abyss. I like the idea of players starting off with zero resources, scraping to survive in a hostile environment, but most players seem to hate it. Go figure.
9. Storm King's Thunder is a huge sprawling thing and I've never heard of anyone finishing it.
10. I've only read Tyranny of Dragons. I can't see anything wrong with it, but it never seems to make it onto these lists, so maybe there's something I'm missing when it comes to game time.
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I’ve only be DMing for a bit but looking to run more games now that I have some time. What are folks top 10 rankings for WoC campaigns that take players from Level 1 to Level 5/10?
Thanks for the guidance 🙏🏽
There are some hi-level campaigns at https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/dungeon-masters-only/43718-list-of-free-dnd-campaigns
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In my preference I'd say:
Most popular: Curse of Strahd
Most "DND" style Adventure: Phandelver / Dragon of Ice Spire Peak
Most "Social": Dragon Heist
Most "Exploration" Tomb of Annihilation
More "Combat" Hoard of The Dragon Queen]
My personal ranking: I don't like horror so much so i will drop curse to 3. Making it..
Dragon Heist
Tomb of Annihilation
Curse of Strahd
IMO:
1. Curse of Strahd has the potential to be the best, but it can also be draggy. It really depends on the DM. You have to keep the atmosphere tense enough that your hack and slashers don't get bored.
2. Dragon Heist has the potential to be wildly entertaining, but it can come completely off the rails. It really depends on the players. They have a lot more control over the direction of the adventure than in CoS. And again, if they're hack-and-slashers, they wander off and there's no way to get them back. If they like complicated plans, this is perfect for them.
3/4. All the stuff in Tales From the Yawning Portal and Ghosts of Saltmarsh have stood the test of time, but turning them from modules into a campaign takes a little extra work on the DMs part.
5. Mines of Phandelver/Icespire Keep are classic-style D&D. I rank them slightly under Tales and Ghosts because those are actually Classic D&D. And I'm not sure they get you to 10.
6. I've only played Tomb of Annihilation, not ran it. It frustrated me as a player because I wanted to pull the whole thing off the rails and instead turn the campaign into putting Princess Whats-her-name on the throne of a Unified Chult and drive out the Faerunian vultures who had been picking over the corpse of the unhappy land for too long. And everyone else wanted to solve puzzles and fight liches, like normal gamers. You probably wouldn't have that problem, but I thought I'd warn you. Also, the traps are very Chris Perkins, in that there are several perfectly plausible answers to some of the riddles and you just have to guess which is the right one.
7. I've only read Baldur's Gate DiA, so take this with a grain of salt. A lot of people have said it's way too lethal at low levels. I used the car chase material in my homebrew campaign and it's fun, but on the whole I think the DM has to thread a lot of needles with this one. The Mad Max setting is almost irresistible, though, so I'm going to have to try it someday.
8. I've only read Out of the Abyss. I like the idea of players starting off with zero resources, scraping to survive in a hostile environment, but most players seem to hate it. Go figure.
9. Storm King's Thunder is a huge sprawling thing and I've never heard of anyone finishing it.
10. I've only read Tyranny of Dragons. I can't see anything wrong with it, but it never seems to make it onto these lists, so maybe there's something I'm missing when it comes to game time.