D&D 5E Maze dungeon adventures (kid-friendly)

[J-H]

My boys and I recently did a real "lost in the woods" maze and had a lot of fun. They're getting close enough to being able to handle D&D instead of the simpler Hero Quest that I want to start looking for what to run them through first.

I think a nice multi-level "Mad Mage's Maze" maze type setup that requires actual mapping would be fun. I'm looking for something that runs from around level 2 to level 8 or 10 . It needs to be generally kid-friendly - more of a kick down the doors and slay monsters type place instead of something with a whole ton of nuance, complex diplomacy, cannibals, gross stuff, or anything dealing heavily with ghosts, deities, etc. Mostly exploration and combat. I see the site header, but it's not in my target level range, and I'm assuming "splintered souls" hits the sort of stuff my kids aren't ready for yet.

I'd like to have something that someone else has done so I don't have to invent it from whole cloth, as I'm plenty busy working on other stuff myself. I know there is an Undermountain book, but I have not heard that it is very good, and I think it also includes some complex social situations with drow and stuff.

I don't think I would want to try to adapt 3.5 or 4e content, but I could probably port OSR stuff over pretty easily (I did the OSR lizard-king's tomb with no issues).

Any specific recommendations?

 

[jgsugden]

It sounds like you're looking for a PG / PG-13 Mega Dungeon without obvious moral ambiguity. I don't have a specific recommendation that fits that to a T, but I can recommend the first two adventures in the Tales of the Yawning Portal as an alternative. They were both part of the same adventure series when originally released, and they have the 'dpeth' that you're looking for, IMO, with a few little turns that work really well with younger players and a DM willing to entertain them with sillyness (Meepo and his dragon, in particular). It'll take PCs to 5th level and both adventures, while not part of the same dungeon, are dungeon focused and can be tied together. There are more in the series from back in 3E era, but the adventuers that follows the ones I recommended (the following ones are Speaker in Dreams and Standing Stone) don't fit your request as well as the ones in Yawning Portal.

If I were you, I'd run those two and then reevaluate what the PCs/players want to do.