D&D 5E Rank the Official 5e Adventures (Updated)

[BigZebra]

Searching the forum, the sword made quite a big post about it:

D&D 5E - The Runelords Trilogy in 5E Eberron *Spoilers* Discussion, Conversion Notes and Adventure Log

[Edit: Apologies if this is in the wrong place] I’ve been wanting to do this project for a while but the right conjunction of players, time and resources never came about. With the release of Exploring Eberron I decided it was time. The premise is a mash up of the Sihedron Trilogy of Paizo...

www.enworld.org

Thanks for doing what I probably should have done

 

[Bolares]

Thanks for doing what I probably should have done

I had the tab open already

 

[TheSword]

It’s been a lot of fun running. I think the Shattered Star stuff is very optional. Or if you wanted to do parts of it so could see the other shards in various Rise of the Runelords locations like the Thorassic Library, or Rune Forge. The PCs are level 9 and about half way through after playing weekly for a year.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

calling it "Lost Mines" seems to be a really common mistake.

"Lost Mines of Phandelver" is just the name now. It's evidently more common in google searches of it than the actual name that appears on the cover, it just sounds better to peoples ears. I personally have embraced the name change on the basis that although there is one published "Lost Mine of Phandelver" which is a solid little adventure that checks all the boxes of what people expect out of D&D and is a little more handholdy for a first time DM/group, but is otherwise not particularly special, I like to think of all the groups that have played it, and heavily tweaked and filled in the fairly barebones adventure to suit their tastes and the results of their actions, as creating their own plural "Lost Mines".

 

[Urriak Uruk]

It’s been a lot of fun running. I think the Shattered Star stuff is very optional. Or if you wanted to do parts of it so could see the other shards in various Rise of the Runelords locations like the Thorassic Library, or Rune Forge. The PCs are level 9 and about half way through after playing weekly for a year.

I'm a big proponent of using Paizo's high-level stuff to cap off the end of a campaign. 5E publishes very few high-level adventures, which is a little frustrating if you have a group that wants to keep playing beyond a 5E book.

But for example, one could run Storm King's Thunder, which runs to level 10, and then use the second half the Pathfinder's Giantslayer AP, to get your PCs all the way to level 17!

 

[Greg Benage]

Of those I’ve played or run, LMoP and CoS are good as-is. All the others require remixing, and probably for the exact same reason: They’re written by a horde of freelancers, and a generally talented editorial team isn’t given the time or capacity to produce a proper, tested remix prior to publication.

All of them can be great, but a lot of it’s on the DM. I made SKT pretty great. It’s got a great concept- giants are invading - and then most of the campaign is written as if that’s not the case. I pulled in some locations (and Schley maps for the VTT) from the play test adventures - Harpshield Castle and Phylund Lodge in Ardeep, Firehammer Hold, etc. - and made the first part of the campaign all about dealing with forces allied with the various giant factions and figuring out what they’re up to. Everywhere they went, there were destroyed villages and refugees - and dead famous heroes who’d fallen to the giants. I foreshadowed the multiple “twists” (if you can really call them that) that are eventually revealed. I made the party recover three conches so they had to deal with three giant bases.

And on and on. It was all just riffing on material that was in the book, but it probably would have been 500 pages in publishable form.

Anyway, LMoP and CoS both benefited from a more limited scope and narrower focus. If you’ve got limited time and have to work with a team of freelancers, that’s just a better approach.

 

[Raith5]

Of the ones I have played (and my only criteria is fun) my rankings are:

Descent into Avernus
Rime of the Frost Maiden
Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Lost Mines of Phandelver
Princes of the Apocalypse

PotA was only one I really did not like and made no sense.

 

[TheSword]

I'm a big proponent of using Paizo's high-level stuff to cap off the end of a campaign. 5E publishes very few high-level adventures, which is a little frustrating if you have a group that wants to keep playing beyond a 5E book.

But for example, one could run Storm King's Thunder, which runs to level 10, and then use the second half the Pathfinder's Giantslayer AP, to get your PCs all the way to level 17!

To be honest I’ve never thought of mix and matching! It’s an awesome idea. There are several Paizo APs that could beef out a D&D 5e hardback.

Descent into Avernus : Hells Rebels
Tomb of Annihilation : Serpents Skull
Saltmarsh : Skull and Shackles
Storm Kings Thunder : Giant Slayer
Rime of the Frost Maiden : Reign of Winter
Curse of Strahd : Carrion Crown
Dragon Heist : Second Darkness

I always find the hardest thing to convert are treasures and rewards but once you get the hang these resources of full of amazing locations, ideas, NPCs and encounters.

If I’m honest 5e seems to play much better at high level than Pathfinder ever did. Those later modules are more fun in 5e to be honest.

 

[Burnside]

Of those I’ve played or run, LMoP and CoS are good as-is. All the others require remixing, and probably for the exact same reason: They’re written by a horde of freelancers, and a generally talented editorial team isn’t given the time or capacity to produce a proper, tested remix prior to publication.

Interestingly, LMoP and Strahd are two that were not written by committee. Several designers had input, but Lost Mine was essentially written by Richard Baker and Strahd almost entirely by Chris Perkins (not the Death House section, though).

 

[Urriak Uruk]

To be honest I’ve never thought of mix and matching! It’s an awesome idea. There are several Paizo APs that could beef out a D&D 5e hardback.

Descent into Avernus : Hells Rebels
Tomb of Annihilation : Serpents Skull
Saltmarsh : Skull and Shackles
Storm Kings Thunder : Giant Slayer
Rime of the Frost Maiden : Reign of Winter
Curse of Strahd : Carrion Crown
Dragon Heist : Second Darkness

I always find the hardest thing to convert are treasures and rewards but once you get the hang these resources of full of amazing locations, ideas, NPCs and encounters.

If I’m honest 5e seems to play much better at high level than Pathfinder ever did. Those later modules are more fun in 5e to be honest.

Great ideas! I'd probably use Second Darkness with Out of the Abyss, and maybe Agents of Edgewatch for Dragon Heist.