D&D General Help Me with My Pathological Aversion to Third Party D&D Products

[MGibster]

I have a pathological aversion to third party products designed to be compatible with D&D. When I go to the local game store, if I'm considering a product for use with D&D I won't look at anything that hasn't been published by WotC. I say it's a pathological aversion because my most favorite (original) D&D campaign produced in the last twenty years was Rise of the Runelords by Paizo. My reluctance to even look at third party products has almost certainly meant I've missed out on some good stuff.

I've been gaming since the late 1980s, starting buying my own AD&D books with 2nd edition in 1989, and while I didn't have anything against third party products, I don't recall seeing a lot of them for sale at the local game store. Judges Guild, which I didn't know existed until a few years ago, closed their doors in 1985 before I even started gaming. It wasn't that I refused to consider third party products back then, it's more that I didn't see them very often.

My disfavor for third party products is largely due to my experience with the d20 glut following the release of D&D 3rd edition. It wasn't all bad of course, see my praise for Rise of the Runelords, but there were so many bad d20 products that I kind of shy away from third party producers to this day. But it's time for me to poke my head out from under this rock I've been living under and take a look at some third party products.

So what do you guys think are good adventures, settings, or rule books for D&D 5th edition?

 

[Dire Bare]

While we aren't quite in the days of the "d20 glut" . . . there IS a lot of 5e compatible material being produced right now. And as with everything, some of it is crap. But a lot of it is pretty good too.

My advice is simply . . . if a product speaks to you, take a chance on it! What's the worse that can happen? You don't like it and pass it on to someone else.

And of course, start paying attention to reviews of new products.

Some 5E compatible products that I am enjoying include . . .

• Cubicle 7's "Vault" series, which includes their new fantasy post-apocalyptic campaign Broken Weave.
• Everything by Kobold Press . . . which is a LOT of material. Their "Deep Magic" compilation books offer a lot of alternatives for spellcasters.
• The new (ish) hardcover for the Midnight campaign by Edge Studios. Also the new (ish) L5R 5E book.
• I'm really itching to run the Odyssey of the Dragonlords, a Greek myth inspired campaign. The hardcover is beautiful.
• Green Ronin has 5e adaptations of the Book of the Righteous and the Book of Fiends that are as awesome as their 3E counterparts.
• Peterson Games 5E Cthulhu Mythos monster book.
• The revised Tal'Dorei campaign book from Darrington Press (the Critical Role folks).
• And I'm just starting a new Lord of the Rings 5E campaign with my friends that I'm very excited about, I own the entire line (it's small at current) and we're going to dig, probably too deep, in Moria . . .

 

[Necropolitan]

Chains of Asmodeus.

A 3rd party adventure that runs from 11th to 20th level where the PCs must save damned souls from the 9 Hells, either their own or those of people they care about (or in one case were hired to rescue).

Along the way the party will face temptations meant to corrupt them, run into colorful NPCs, and fight, trick, or sneak their way from Avernus to Nessus.

 

[JEB]

Chains of Asmodeus.

A 3rd party adventure that runs from 11th to 20th level where the PCs must save damned souls from the 9 Hells, either their own or those of people they care about (or in one case were hired to rescue).

Along the way the party will face temptations meant to corrupt them, run into colorful NPCs, and fight, trick, or sneak their way from Avernus to Nessus.

Chains of Asmodeus (along with Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy) has the advantage of being officially a Wizards of the Coast product, while still third-party produced - if that helps make them more palatable to the third-party-averse.

 

[Zardnaar]

Kobold Press is the new Paizo. Some nice stuff from them.

 

[DEFCON 1]

My opinion is not what should you get, but rather what do you need?

Buying any product just to buy it seems rather pointless to me. But if there's something you find missing in your 5E games that a third party product could help fill... then go searching for that specifically and narrow your view. Running Wild Beyond The Witchlight and want to supplement it with more options and additional encounters? Go to DMs Guild and search under that product line to see what is available. Looking for more adventures around a particular location or monster? Go onto adventurelookup.com and search for some good options and then buy them online or on DMs Guild. A Warlord or Psion class to add to your game? Do searches here or on the Unearthed Arcana subReddit or just standard google and find all kind of versions created.

To me... the easiest way to come to the conclusion that 3rd party product is crap is by acquiring and reading material you didn't actually want or need in the first place. Because then you end up scoffing at it for two reasons... one because it was 3rd party, and two because you had no use for it to begin with. But if you only go searching for the product you actually really, really want, you are pre-disposed to liking the material you find regardless of who produced it.

 

[AnotherGuy]

So what do you guys think are good adventures, settings, or rule books for D&D 5th edition?

I would start with a companion guide for an official WotC AP that you run.
The DMSGuild allows you to focus your search to peruse 3pp stuff that is applicable to the storyline you're running.
Once you taste some of what is out there, you will begin to become familiar with names of content providers and who in your estimation produces the kind of content you want your table to consume.

As for the larger publishing companies that produce 5e compatible content, @Dire Bare provided a good start.
There is also Level Up's A5e for a few additional ideas you may want to sprinkle into your 5e game.

I can personally recommend M.T. Black's The Lich-Queen's Begotten which is a pre-cursor adventure for 3.e's The Lich-Queen's Beloved.
TLQBegotten should be played a few years (in-game time) before TLQBeloved.

 

[Corinnguard]

Level Up: Advanced 5th edition is also a good 5e compatible product if you are looking for an additional layer of crunch in 5e.

 

[Enrico Poli1]

Hi!

Yes, many 3rd party products are trash. But then, I found many 3rd party products that I really, really like. Unfortunately, many of them are for previous editions.

Long ago, in 3.5 times, the Dragon and the Dungeon magazines were written by Paizo, that produced the best ( IMO ) campaigns of all times: Age of Worms and Savage Tide. When WotC fired Paizo, and the Pathfinder rettoclone was born, they produced many good items, for example the Reign of Winter adventure path.

Frog God Games produced many fantastic items, such as Rappan Athuk (3.0 edition is the best), Sword of Air, Tomb of Abysthor.

Later I discovered Anthony Huso's adventures for AD&D1e. The highligh is The Night Wolf Inn, but all of them are of very high quality.

The last jewels I discovered are In the Shadow of Tower Silveraxe and Valley of the Manticore, written for OSE.

So please do not limit yourself, you can find some precious treasure out there

 

[Emerikol]

<snip>

• Green Ronin has 5e adaptations of the Book of the Righteous and the Book of Fiends that are as awesome as their 3E counterparts.

In 3e, I thought the Book of the Righteous was perhaps the best roleplaying supplement ever made. I haven't seen the 5e but I think even the 3e would be a useful aid for ANY fantasy roleplaying game with clerics or religions.