D&D 5E Official Adventures starting at level 5?

[Xenonnonex]

Not really, some modules don't really have anyone to talk to, so opportunities for role playing are limited. HSoT for example. Well, there is a crab who might talk, but he doesn't know any standard languages.

Hence the operative words "can involve heavy roleplaying"
The crab in HSoT can converse a lot with PCs.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Hence the operative words "can involve heavy roleplaying"
The crab in HSoT can converse a lot with PCs.

Only if they have Comprehend Languages spell or equivalent.

 

[Enrico Poli1]

Dungeon of the Mad Mage: starts at 5, heavy dungeon-crawl up to 20. If you get bored, you can get out, treating Undermountain as a mini-setting linked to the open world Sword Coast, and re-enter only some dungeon levels.

Dragon Heist: the adventure is for low level only, but it offers Waterdeep as a mini-setting, a host of NPCs and villains, and four villain lairs for high level.

Storm King's Thunder: easily, can be started at 5. Very weak plot - I'll say illogical and pointless - but has some good dungeons. The strong part is the chapter that establishes the Sword Coast as an open world, full of mini quests. You can use this framework to link together DotMM, PotA, OotA, Tyranny of Dragons and any other Sword Coast material, TotYP and GoS.

PotA: very boring, but can be adapted for start at 5 or mined for dungeons.

Tyranny of Dragons: railroady and a bit boring. Can be adapted for start at 5.

Curse of Strahd: easily, can be started at 5. Excellent adventure. Barovia isn't linked to the Sword Coast open world.

Tomb of Annihilation: same as CoS.

 

[Xenonnonex]

Only if they have Comprehend Languages spell or equivalent.

Which a bard, sorcerer, warlock or wizard can all know. As a 1st level divination ritual. Importantly the crab can be reasoned with.

My point why just saying heavy roleplaying is extremely unhelpful is because it gives us no idea what type of game they like. Is it swashbuckling adventures? Is it desert survival? Is it X?

 

[Xenonnonex]

Which a bard, sorcerer, warlock or wizard can all know. As a 1st level divination ritual. Importantly the crab can be reasoned with.

My point why just saying heavy roleplaying is extremely unhelpful is because it gives us no idea what type of game they like. Is it swashbuckling adventures? Is it desert survival? Is it X?

"Hey OP you might like X or X or X or X:
OP: "Nah I will just homebrew"

 

[robus]

"Hey OP you might like X or X or X or X:
OP: "Nah I will just homebrew"

Sounds like he wants something more urban - my new group just voted for something similar because they like to talk to people (lucky me...!) @Mepher - have you looked at Murder in Baldur's Gate for inspiration? It was written for D&D Next but it is well liked. I've not checked it out myself. But now I need to look at it, I think...

Murder in Baldur's Gate (5e) - Wizards of the Coast | D&D 5th Edition | Dungeon Masters Guild

Murder in Baldur's Gate (5e) - Duke Adrian Abdel is a living legend in the city of Baldur's Gate, and much of the city has gathered to celebrate him an

www.dmsguild.com

 

[Mepher]

Dungeon of the Mad Mage: starts at 5, heavy dungeon-crawl up to 20. If you get bored, you can get out, treating Undermountain as a mini-setting linked to the open world Sword Coast, and re-enter only some dungeon levels.

Dragon Heist: the adventure is for low level only, but it offers Waterdeep as a mini-setting, a host of NPCs and villains, and four villain lairs for high level.

Storm King's Thunder: easily, can be started at 5. Very weak plot - I'll say illogical and pointless - but has some good dungeons. The strong part is the chapter that establishes the Sword Coast as an open world, full of mini quests. You can use this framework to link together DotMM, PotA, OotA, Tyranny of Dragons and any other Sword Coast material, TotYP and GoS.

PotA: very boring, but can be adapted for start at 5 or mined for dungeons.

Tyranny of Dragons: railroady and a bit boring. Can be adapted for start at 5.

Curse of Strahd: easily, can be started at 5. Excellent adventure. Barovia isn't linked to the Sword Coast open world.

Tomb of Annihilation: same as CoS.

This is the type of info I was looking for. We have played Dragon Heist and they loved it. They got bored by the 3rd level of DotMM and we decided in the future we will do Undermountain in small bits.

SKT and PotA I was unsure of. After my first glance at SKT I thought it might be better to use in parts as needed rather than run it as a campaign. Maybe I will do that with both of them.

Heard nothing but good things about CoS and ToA but I have heard that many are sick of the dungeon in ToA by the end. Both sound like a lot of fun to me and Ravenloft is my favorite setting, so that definitely gets a thumbs up from me. I guess the next question about them both is how do they play from level 1? Will my players lose any of the story starting at level 5? I do have stuff I can run in and around Waterdeep indefinitely but will definitely consider running a full published campaign after this ends.

 

[Mepher]

Sounds like he wants something more urban - my new group just voted for something similar because they like to talk to people (lucky me...!) @Mepher - have you looked at Murder in Balder's Gate for inspiration? It was written for D&D Next but it is well liked. I've not checked it out myself. But now I need to look at it, I think...

Murder in Baldur's Gate (5e) - Wizards of the Coast | D&D 5th Edition | Dungeon Masters Guild

Murder in Baldur's Gate (5e) - Duke Adrian Abdel is a living legend in the city of Baldur's Gate, and much of the city has gathered to celebrate him an

www.dmsguild.com

I will definitely check it out. Thanks.

 

[Enrico Poli1]

This is the type of info I was looking for. We have played Dragon Heist and they loved it. They got bored by the 3rd level of DotMM and we decided in the future we will do Undermountain in small bits.

SKT and PotA I was unsure of. After my first glance at SKT I thought it might be better to use in parts as needed rather than run it as a campaign. Maybe I will do that with both of them.

Heard nothing but good things about CoS and ToA but I have heard that many are sick of the dungeon in ToA by the end. Both sound like a lot of fun to me and Ravenloft is my favorite setting, so that definitely gets a thumbs up from me. I guess the next question about them both is how do they play from level 1? Will my players lose any of the story starting at level 5? I do have stuff I can run in and around Waterdeep indefinitely but will definitely consider running a full published campaign after this ends.

CoS: if I remember correctly, "true" adventure starts roughly at 5; you can just ignore the first part, Death House, that has the function to bring the party to level 5, and enter Barovia.

ToA: play the adventure without any changes (for me, this is even better). Don't give XPs initially, until the PCs reach level-appropriate areas.
The final dungeon is a GREAT dungeon, but it's long and could result in fatigue. But it's worth.
Beware: this Adventure is VERY difficult. But it's also a ton of fun.

 

[S'mon]

I ran PotA starting at level 5 and thought I worked out very well. At 5th level the PCs can take full advantage of the sandbox aspects of the adventure without potentially getting in over their heads the way a 3rd level party can. I also really love the adventure though if you don't enjoy dungeon crawls it's probably not the best choice for you.

I'll second PoTA. I started it at 1st using the 1-3 optional material, but really at 3rd even my 7 PC group were not ready for the sandbox and nearly got TPK'd. 5th level start (with slower advancement than I used) would have run a lot smoother.