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)

 

[Chaltab]

Homebrew Campaign (a few months)	Player, Online	Forgotten Realms, pre Spellplague
Ghosts of Saltmarsh (1 session)	Player, Online	Same DM as previous. We were testing out Fantasy Grounds but ended up getting TPKd by stirges in the attic.
Waterdeep Dragon Heist (1 year, ish)	Player; Online	Forgotten Realms
Pirate Campaign (1 year ish)	Player, Online	Sequel to the Dragon Heist campaign with same DM.
The Sundered Earth (2018-2025)	DM, Online	Spelljammer Homebrew. Ran for 7 years with numerous hiatuses due to health issues, 5th - 12th level.
Dark Sun: Valley of Echoes (2021-2023)	DM, Online	5E Dark Sun campaign that went from 3rd to 9th level. Ended abruptly due to health issues.
Menagerie Coast (2022-2023)	DM, Online	Paid Exandria campaign. Ended due to lack of player interest.
Eberron: Masques and Shadows (2024 to Present)	Player, Online	Ongoing, 1st-to-15th level, should be ending this year.
Wrath of the Righteous (2024-Present)	Player, Online	Conversion of the Pathfinder campaign, 1-20th + Mythic Tiers. Paid Game. This game started in A5E but converted to D&D after Foundry updates caused compatibility issues with some of the DMs tools.
The Sundered Earth: Shadow of the Blood Queen (2025-Present)	DM, Online	Sequel to the Sundered Earth campaign, ongoing.

There were a few other 1-shots and campaigns that quickly fizzled out.

 

[Scott Christian]

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.

That is awesome. How easy did you find it to port? How did it go for the players? Did they already know those modules?

 

[Lazybones]

I started playing 5e in 2019 with local meetups in my city (mostly single sessions). I started running campaigns online in 2020 during the pandemic. My Saturday group uses text chat instead of voice chat so it plays through the same content much slower.

Campaign Name; Time Played	DM/Player; Online/In Person	Setting
Daggerford Campaign, 3 months	DM, Online (Fantasy Grounds)	Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Lore, Wednesday group, 1 year	DM, Online FG	Homebrew (Voralis)
Forgotten Lore, Saturday group, 3 years	DM, Online FG	Homebrew (Voralis)
Heroes of Li Syval, Wednesday group, 3 years	DM, Online FG	Homebrew (Voralis)
Heroes of Li Syval, Saturday group, 1 year (ongoing)	DM, Online FG	Homebrew (Voralis)
Liir Valley Campaign, alternating Sundays, 1.5 years (just wrapping up)	DM, In Person	Homebrew (Voralis)
The Lost City, Wednesday group, 6 months (ongoing)	DM, Online FG	Mystara/Custom

 

[el-remmen]

Campaign Name/Duration	Role/Format	Setting	Ongoing? / Level Achieved
Ghosts of Saltmarsh+, 45 sessions/3 years	DM, hybrid in-person/zoom (covid)	Homebrew	No. 7th
Revenants of Saltmarsh, 68 sessions, 5 years, 9 months	DM, online (via zoom, more recently VTT/OBR)	Homebrew	Yes. 6th level currently.
Menagerie Coast, joined in-progress 1 year ago. 16 sessions (out of 44 sessions)	Player, VTT OBR	Exandria	Yes. 12th level currently (joined at 8th)
Dragon Heist, 1 session so far	Player, in-person	Forgotten Realms	Yes. 1st level currently