D&D 5E Best 5E Adventure Paths?

[jgsugden]

Out of Curiosity, which commercially available 5E adventure path that you've read/played strikes you as 'the best' one?

I'm not making this a poll because I don't want to limit it to just WotC products - it could be a 3rd party product.

For these purpose, an adventure path is any product that:
* Anticipates characters advancing for at least 10 levels during the course of the materials,
* Is in one product series (one book or a series of books/magazines/etc...), and
* Can be played back to back without jumping levels.

Something like Yawning Portal meets this criteria. Even though the story is not contiguous, it meets all the requirements. However, Campaign Settings (by themselves) would not as they do not actually include an adventure that spans 10 levels.

(Bonus Question - which Adventure Path from a previous edition would you most want to see updated and rebalanced for 5E rules/monsters?)

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

My favorite AP so far is Princes of the Apocalypse, as it play on old tropes from older video games I played when I was younger and still keep close to my heart to this day. There's nothing new or inovative with delving elemental themed dungeon, but it reminds me so much of Zelda's or FF that I can help to read it with a subtle smile on my face as a prepare it for a group.

A Path I would love is Red Hand of Doom. Again, nothing exotic or new, but its really a well delivered elegant idea.

 

[GlassJaw]

LMoP has been my favorite so far. That will get you to 5th level and easy to go from there into something else. Otherwise, of the hardcovers, Curse of Strahd is my favorite but that is certainly non-traditional as far as adventure "paths" go.

I love the Necromancer stuff from 3ed: Lost City of Barakus, Tomb of Abysthor, and my favorite: Vault of Larin Karr. All those make for awesome sandbox campaigns.

 

[jgsugden]

LMoP has been my favorite so far...

Alas, it doesn't cover 10 levels. It can be run in a few weeks - I'm looking for those things that take a half year or more to run... (10 levels or more).

 

[delericho]

'Best' may be too strong a term - unfortunately, while there is some fantastic material out there, the ones I've seen have all been badly flawed (IMO, of course).

"Out of the Abyss" has the very best material I've yet seen for 5e, but only in the first half. The second half is much weaker, and the ending is, frankly, dire.

"Curse of Strahd" suffers significantly by comparison with the original, particularly as brevity is the soul of wit. Still, for those unfamiliar with the original, it's probably the best overall.

If you discount those two because of their weaknesses, I'd argue "Princes of the Apocalypse" is the least-worst of the paths. But it feels weak - I know WotC can do better, they just haven't managed to do without mis-steps.

(I should note that I stopped buying after "Storm King's Thunder", so can't comment on "Yawning Portal" or "Tomb of Annihilation". Also, I'm not familiar with any third-party paths.)

 

[Shiroiken]

I have not played any APs, except one aborted attempt at Out of the Abyss (we got to the third chapter when the campaign died out. I have heard quite a bit about the official APs, so I'll forward the information I have. Curse of Strahd is the best overall, being fairly consistent from beginning to end. Tomb of Annihilation is very strong until you actually get to the Tomb, where permanent instant death can reduce the party to be too weak to successfully complete the adventure. Princes of the Apocalypse is supposed to be good, but the temple levels should be moved to be separate areas (you go to level 1 of various temples before going to the next level of the temple you're already in, creating a very strong possibility of the party going into a high level area unprepared).

As far as old APs I'd like to see, I'd like to see some of the early stuff... from AD&D. The War of the Lance was basically the first AP, just printed out over a series of adventures. In Greyhawk, the Temple of Elemental Evil, the Slave Lords, Against the Giants, Decent into the Depths of the Earth, and Queen of the Demonweb Pits were combined to become an AP. For something a bit shorter, I wouldn't mind seeing the Desert of Desolation converted into an AP, or maybe even Castle Amber since it was such a long single adventure.

 

[CapnZapp]

Curse of Strahd is probably the best.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

My vote would be for Out of the Abyss or Curse of Strahd. Out of the Abyss does require more DM work to connect the different pieces, as there’s a lot of travelling around the Underdark.

While the Tyranny of Dragons path has a lot to recommend it, I think it shows that it’s an early effort. The first book is more or less one big railroad. I think Storm King’s Thunder is pretty darn cool, but the final boss, when compared to all the other legendary foes of the other paths, feels like a let-down.

As far as past editions go, I wouldn’t mind seeing an updated Slavers or Queen of the Spiders. We have the first half of it Tales from the Yawning Portal, but the second could be used to tie into Out of the Abyss nicely. And I’m still hoping for a return to Undermountain.

 

[TheSword]

I’ll be honest I love a lot of the campaigns. Far better than most of the modules in earlier editions and even the Pathfinder APs.

Curse of Strahd is the best sandbox adventure i have DM’d and probably the best campaign I have ever run. There are lots of opportunities to make the campaign truly spectacular with props, sound effects on syrinscape etc.

Princes of the Apocalypse is the game I wish the Dragon Queen books had been. It’s a classic style, imaginative and engaging locations and bosses with a well developed surrounding area and opportunity to explore the world. Just make it clear to players that going deeper than each haunted keep is the equivalent to going down a level in a dungeon. Most players will want to clear the surface. Particularly if they realise the other keeps left unsolved leave their rear/their base towns unprotected.

Yawning portal is best for one offs/weekends. The links between are too tenuous for my liking. But individual components are solid. Particularly Forge of Fury

Out of the Abyss feels truly original for me and gives great scope for exploration and roleplaying. Some modification required maybe but such an awesome concept.

Bonus: I’d like to see The Night Below updated to the modern era. Awesome campaign.

 

[Eltab]

If you want to go The Full Twenty Levels (and have LOTS of time on your hands), figure out a way to combine Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Rise of Tiamat, and Storm King's Thunder.

The result could feel like the Second World War or feel like Twilight:2000 - The Sword Coast Front.