D&D General Best Adventure I Haven't Run?

[Retreater]

I'm looking for a 5e adventure that meets the following criteria. If you have any ideas, please share them.

• Can be official or unofficial.
• Towards the "campaign" length (more Cure of Strahd than like a 32 page module).
• Available in print.
• Nothing too bleak/grimdark (doesn't have to be comical; just wanting some high adventure)
• No megadungeons

Here's a list of what I've already DMed, so ones to avoid.

• Lost Mine of Phandelver
• Hoard of the Dragon Queen
• Princes of the Apocalypse
• Out of the Abyss
• Curse of Strahd
• Storm King's Thunder
• Tomb of Annihilation
• Waterdeep Dragon Heist
• Rime of the Frost Maiden
• Original Adventures Reincarnated: Into the Borderlands
• Original Adventures Reincarnated: The Lost City
• Original Adventures Reincarnated: The Isle of Dread
• Gary Gygax's Necropolis (Frog God Games)

I was looking at Battlezoo's "Jewel of the Indigo Isles," but it requires a custom monster book and will end up costing over $130. It's just a little much to spend.

 

[TheSword]

5e? Dungeons of Drakkenheim… without a doubt hands down.

• Gated Sandbox
• Strong narrative
• Character driven
• Well designed encounters
• Classic D&D
• Plays to 5es strengths and mitigates its weaknesses
• Presents tactical challenge

Particularly knowing the kinds of things you said you liked this is a no-brainer.

 

[Retreater]

5e? Dungeons of Drakkenheim… without a doubt hands down.

I've avoided this one because I had the impression it's a megadungeon. Not the case?

 

[TheSword]

Absolutely not. It’s a tightly defined campaign setting with about a dozen very well detailed mini-dungeons or adventure sites. With between 3-10 locations at each. That effectively form mini adventures. Reached by exploration, rumours or missions from the factions. Couldn’t be further from a mega dungeon.

 

[GuyBoy]

I have the privilege of being a player in Dungeons of Drakkenheim ( @TheSword is DM) and can endorse all the above. It's a superb adventure in every sense.

 

[Mannahnin]

My group played through it and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

[Retreater]

Do the factions get cumbersome? My players tend to not like interacting with factions - or take different sides and end up not working together.

 

[Not a Decepticon]

• Can be official or unofficial.
• Towards the "campaign" length (more Cure of Strahd than like a 32 page module).
• Available in print.
• Nothing too bleak/grimdark (doesn't have to be comical; just wanting some high adventure)
• No megadungeons

Arcanum Worlds:
Odyssey of the Dragonlords - Levels 1-17, but more a level 1-12 campaign followed by expansions taking it to level 17. Greek Mythology inspired, epic heroes on a quest to stop God of Storms and Goddess of Death from destroying the realm.

EN Publishing
War of the Burning Sky - 1-20 campaign set in an empire after Emperor's sudden death.
Zeitgeist: Gears of Revolution - steampunk campaign for levels 1-20.

Ghostfire Gaming
Dreams of the Drowned God - space swashbuckling adventure for levels 1-13 in Aetherial Expanse setting

Kobold Press:
Empire of Ghouls - levels 1-13, very much a World Tour vibe around the Midgard Campaign setting to uncover schemes of underground Ghoul Empire
Tales from the Shadows - anthology of adventures in Shadow Realms, for level 1-8, can be conencted into one campaign
Tales of the Old Magreve - Levels 1-10 it is more an anthology of modules set in one location, the titular giagantic ancient forest.

Legends of Avantris
Crooked Moon - Levels 1-13, folk horror-inspired campaign.

Mr. Rhexx:
Sands of Doom - levels 1-11 - desert kingdom of Tieflings accidentially unearthed an ancient curse and now is threatened by hordes of undead Gnolls.

Other:
The Demonplague - levels 1-20, a meteor striking in frozen north awakens ancient evil, grim & gritty campaign.

 

[Mannahnin]

Do the factions get cumbersome? My players tend to not like interacting with factions - or take different sides and end up not working together.

The factions all have ways in which they can be seen as good or bad, and rivalries. They can all be antagonists if the PCs don't want to cooperate with them. Two of our casters joined the mage faction, three of us joined another faction, and we wound up largely opposed to two others.

From what I saw on the player side of the screen us working with/having different characters join two factions seemed to work fine, but my recollection is that the setup is intended that some choices are mutually-exclusive; in helping out one faction you'll often be clashing with another. Whether managing them was cumbersome is hard to say from the player side, but it didn't seem too much.

 

[TheSword]

The reality is, the factions matter as little or much as you want them to. Our party wizard has a strong affinity for the amethyst academy but the party also completed a quest for the Knights returning an artifact for them, despite their hatred of wizards. It was a distasteful experience for the wizard but he sucked it up because they were able to raise from the dead a fallen comrade. It made for an interesting roleplay experience. The factions are nuanced and have their own objectives and missions that the party can play off.

What effectively happened is our party has stated largely neutral, and when those mutually exclusive decisions come they usually make up for it by completing other quests for the offended party. As a result they are not in anyone’s pocket 100%. Though it has taken some Interesting negotiation to get to that point.