D&D General 5e D&D Campaigns

[Scott Christian]

There has been a lot of discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of 5e D&D lately. So, I thought it might be good for us to understand each other's experiences. To do this, maybe we should share an overview of the 5e (2014 & 2024) D&D campaigns we've DMed or played in. A simple chart like this might help. I will start us out.

Campaign Name; Time Played	DM/Player; Online/In Person	Setting
Hoard of the Dragon Queen; 6 months; 1x a week	DM; In Person	Forgotten Realms
Galdr Sten; 9 months; 2-3x a month	Player; In Person	Friend's homebrew based on Yellowstone National Park
Fallen Worlds; 1 year; 2x a month	Player; In person	Friend's homebrew based on an Alaska map
Southlands; 1 year; 2x a month	Player; In Person	Different friend's version of Forgotten Realms
Gone Missing; 1 year; 2x a month	Player; In Person	Different friend's version of Forgotten Realms
Fallen Worlds II; 6 months; 1x a week	Player; Online (Covid)	Friend's homebrew based on an Alaskan map
Tomb of Annihilation; 6 months; 1x a week	Player; Online (Covid)	Chult
Maiden's Voyage; 2 months; 1x a week	DM; In Person	Generic Fantasy Area (they were on a boat the whole time)
Wishwell Pass; 4 months; 1x a week	DM; In Person	Forgotten Realms (But sandbox in one area)
Candlekeep; 1 year; 1x a week	Player; In Person	Forgotten Realms
Infinite Staircase; 1 year; 1 x a week	Player; In Person	The adventure kind of takes you everywhere

There were other games played in this time too, with me GMing and playing. And there were also a lot of convention play (Gencon, Garycon, Orccon, Strategicon, etc.). So, needless to say, I feel pretty lucky. Looking forward to reading about others' experiences.

 

[payn]

5.14
Tyranny of dragons 2x a month to completion. Player, in person until covid and then VTT. Forgettable Realms.
Adventure league free RPG day one shots. Player once a month in person for a year or two. Random settings.

5.24
Playtesting new stuff a few times a month. In person and GM. Random settings.

 

[Shiroiken]

I've DMed the following campaigns, but I don't know exactly how long they lasted. Everything I've done has largely been using Roll20 every other week, for about 4 hour sessions. I've also done several one shots IRL, usually running Lost Mines of Phandelver to teach 5E. This also doesn't include playtesting D&D Next and One D&D, which I don't really count.

Greyhawk Legends: ran Temple of Elemental Evil, followed by Lost Tomb of Tscanth/Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun. This led into Against the Giants, Descent into the Depths of the Earth, and ending against Queen of the Demonweb Pits. We had a supplemental adventure years later where they went to the Isle of the Ape. These are all classic 1E Greyhawk adventures that I worked into 5E14. While I'm not one for Adventure Paths, this worked extremely well, taking the party from level 1 to 18.

Greyhawk Adventures in Nyrond: party did several BECMI and dungeon magazine adventures where the party was forming an adventuring guild. The main feature was I created the Halls of Greyhaven, my own megadungeon for the party to explore. Overall I don't consider this a successful campaign, as it just petered out.

Greyhawk Adventures in Saltmarsh: ran several adventures from Saltmarsh and Tales from the Yawning Portal. Party successfully averted a war with the lizardfolk and helped defeat the saughin. While only went to level 7, it was a very successful campaign.

Eve of Ruin: made a few adjustments to make it better, but overall it worked well.

Greyhawk - Factions of the Free City: my current campaign focused on the Free City of Greyhawk using 5E24. I've used a lot of homebrew for adventures, but am currently running them Against the Slave Lords (the A series from 1E).

Of the offical campaigns I've played in, I've only done the beginngs of Out of the Abyss and Curse of Strahd, as those campaigns didn't last long. I did play in a game of Avernus that actually went beyond the AP that was really good.

I've also played in a game for Medival Thule, Midgard, and three different homebrew campaigns. The Thule campaign is the only one I felt reached a satisfactory conclusion, however, as the others fell apart due to DM fatgue.

 

[Stormonu]

5.14 (All are bi-weekly, playing ~4-6 hours per session)
Mines of Phandelver; DM; In person; Forgotten Realms (3-4 months; completed, ending at 5th)

Ghosts of Saltmarsh; DM; In person/VTT; Greyhawk (1½ years; played to completion of The Final Enemy)

Castle Ravenloft (from Curse of Strahd); DM; In person; Ravenloft (2 sessions; 5th level)

Tomb of Annihilation; Player; In person; Forgotten Realms (Chult) (1½ years; played until the 3rd level of the Tomb)

Unnamed Theros Campaign; Player; In person; Theros (1½ years; 7th level)

Rime of the Frostmaiden; Player; In person; Forgotten Realms (5 sessions; 3rd level)

Unnamed New Cappena Campaign; Player; In person; MTG - New Cappena (1½ years; 8th level)

Tyranny of Dragons; Co-DM; VTT; Forgotten Realms (6 months; dropped out at 6th level)

The Hunt for Doomtree; Player; In person; homebrew (1½ years; ~14th level)

Unnamed Wife's Campaign #1; Player; In person; homebrew (1 year; 6th level)

Unnamed Wife's Campaign #2; Player (current); In person; homebrew (6 months; 5th level)

I also have done several one-shots:

Unnamed Ravnica adventure; DM; In person; Ravnica (homebrew; 5th level)

The Survivor's Journey; DM; In person; Ravenloft (homebrew adventure in Falkovia; 5th level)

The Doom Vault; DM; In person; Spelljammer (homebrew adventure in Doomspace; 5th level)

Cyre 1313; DM; In person; Ravenloft (homebrew version of Cyre 1313; 5th level)

Night of the Shrouded Moon; DM; In person; Ravenloft (homebrew "Mummy" in Ha'Akir; 5th level)