Best dungeon crawl adventure of all time

[Eminence_Grise]

Hello everyone,

After my last campaign, my players asked me to prepare a dungeon crawl heavy new campaign. I'm curious as to know which dungeon crawls are considered to be the best of all time.

Surprisingly, I didn't find any lists out there.

 

[Celebrim]

Depends on what you want.

In my opinion the best published dungeon crawling campaign is Deserts of Desolation (I3-I5). Chronicles of the Dragonlance is arguably as good, but requires a very sophisticated DM capable of generating creative content that supports the game when the players inevitably at some point get off the rails and making the game their own. The railroading techniques provided by the modules are simply too primitive, but probably necessary given the constraints of publishing.

The single best dungeon focused module is Ravenloft (I6).

The best pure dungeon crawl as game is Judges Guild's Caverns of Thracia.

I don't think there has ever been a great published megadungeon, but either Poltus (taken as a whole) or Castle Whiterock would be my recommendation. You could probably do about as well riffing off the old random dungeon generator in the back of the 1e DMG (expanding and theming the random monster lists for more variety and new level themes). Runner up here would be 'Axe of the Dwarven Lords', but its crippled by an over focus on goblins and a belief that Tucker's Kobold techniques represent good DMing. If you do run it, run the goblins until the PC's get tired of your crap, then have the surviving goblins run away rather than grinding it out with PC's well above your level.

In terms of challenging PC grinders, I6 Ravenloft, S2 White Plume Mountain, C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, Mud Sorcerer's Tomb, S1 Tomb of Horrors and it's sequel Return to the Tomb of Horrors all come to mind. In the hands of a ruthless DM, you ought be able to kill scores of PC's with such tools.

 

[GrahamWills]

A new contender is Eyes of The Stone Thief, a seriously cool living dungeon. This dungeon doesn't just sit there waiting to be looted. It comes after you, you loved ones, and most importantly, your home.

If your players are a bit complacent in their ability to conquer stuff, see how they feel when they find their home town has become part of the dungeon ....

My players jumped in (well, actually, "fell" might be more accurate) at mid-tier, skipping some of the earlier stuff, but we've been very much enjoying the areas we have explored so far ... and the various backlots can be adapted for my ongoing campaign with ease, which is helpful.

 

[Eminence_Grise]

I adapted the Mud Sorcerer's Tomb to fit in Numenera. Surprisingly, it was somewhat easy and quite enjoyable! Can't wait for my players to get their hands on the Uzrivoy.

My interested in this thread is two-fold:
1. I'm curious to know which dungeon crawls are perceived as the best.
2. Finding which one could be adapted in my on-going Numenera campaign.

I will read up on Deserts of Desolution, which I have to admit I have never heard of it before.

Concerning the Eyes of the Stone Thief, that would fit perfectly in Numenera! Since it is a super-dungeon and not just a dungeon, I would probably put it at the end of the campaign, if we ever get there.

 

[Gilladian]

I think Castle Whiterock is a pretty good megadungeon; it has a nice feel to it, but has some "gnome tech" stuff that some folks might not like. Ptolus is a neat city and dungeon combo, but has a LOT of built-in conceits that make it hard to add to another campaign setting.

If you can get hold of it, there was the dungeon-a-day project "Dragon's Delve". I guess you can theoretically still join it, but it isn't active anymore. It was a great dungeon - I ran the first five or six levels for a campaign, mixed with a lot of Kingmaker stuff for the sandbox "world" around it.

 

[Ranes]

This dungeon doesn't just sit there waiting to be looted. It comes after you, you loved ones, and most importantly, your home.

I love your priorities.

EG, if you're adapting to Numenera, is S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks too obvious a candidate? It has a science-fantasy theme that would lend itself readily to adaptation.

Otherwise, you've already been given some good choices in the replies above. I'd just advise steering clear of the so-called mega-dungeons. I've never found one of these to be superior to a selection of smaller stand-alone dungeons, but it already sounds like you're thinking in these terms.

 

[Imperialus]

I've been really enjoying Dwimmermount personally.

 

[SirAntoine]

I3-5 and I6 are great, but T1-4: The Temple of Elemental Evil is what I've heard most to be the best dungeon crawl. It's in the mega category. I'd recommend Prism Keep, by Rich Baker, from the pages of Dungeon magazine, and Thunder Under Needlespire by James Jacobs if memory serves.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Caverns of Thracia.

It may be one of the very first published large dungeons but it's still outstanding despite the passage of decades.

 

[Eminence_Grise]

How could I forget Banewarrens by Monte Cook!

I'll take a look at the suggestions above, especially Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. I started collected old out-of-print adventure (such as White Plume Mountain and Keep on the Borderlands) and I'll add it to my buy list.