D&D 5E Recommend me a 5e campaign book

[Kurotowa]

After nearly 20 years I'm considering trying to step behind the DM screen again. Having a pre-gen campaign to rely on would definitely be a help. Only I haven't paid close attention to the buzz about them until now, so I'm not really sure which I should look into buying.

I'm looking for something not too heavy on dungeon crawls, without a lot of quirks that would trip up a novice DM, and if it's possible something I can slot into Eberron. Looking over the list of WotC offerings the few that stand out at first glace are Storm King's Thunder, Descent into Avernus, and Ghosts of Saltmarsh. SKT because I think I've seen people talk well of it, DiA because it's the new hotness, and GoS because it seems it'd be the easiest to slot into Eberron. Can anyone fill in more details on those, give a reason to suggest a different book, or even have a strong non-WotC campaign to recommend?

 

[GlassJaw]

I highly recommend starting with The Lost Mines of Phandelver. It's one of the best 5E modules and a great way to get back into DMing. I'm a veteran DM and I loved running it for my group.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

I highly recommend starting with The Lost Mines of Phandelver. It's one of the best 5E modules and a great way to get back into DMing. I'm a veteran DM and I loved running it for my group.

@Kurotowa : What Glassjaw just said. Plus, p air it with the Essentials Kit and you've got enough stuff to take your group up to 12th level, easy. Along with dice, goodies, maps, coupons for DNDBeyond, etc. Really, the two of those together are a GREAT deal!

Amazon: Starter Kit
Amazon: Essentials Kit

 

[Nebulous]

I highly recommend starting with The Lost Mines of Phandelver. It's one of the best 5E modules and a great way to get back into DMing. I'm a veteran DM and I loved running it for my group.

I agree with Glassjaw. Start with Lost Mine, you can't go wrong with that one. You can segue to something else later. I'm running it for the second time now. And yes, you can blend it with the Essentials starter set and vastly increase the amount of story and encounters.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

My suggestion is Obsidian Apocalypse by Louis Porter Junior. It is like a second cousin of Ravenloft.

Esper Genesis, but it is sci-fi

 

[Kurotowa]

I highly recommend starting with The Lost Mines of Phandelver. It's one of the best 5E modules and a great way to get back into DMing. I'm a veteran DM and I loved running it for my group.

It wouldn't be my first choice, since I think my group's current Forever DM already pillaged it for maps and locations in games he's run for us. But I'll take the votes in favor of it under advisement.

 

[DEFCON 1]

If you go with Ghosts of Saltmarsh, I'd agree with the recommendation in the book that you set it within Q'Barra in Eberron. Q'Barra has the swamps and lizardfolk already in place for it and the pirate nation of the Lhazaar Principalities is a very good replacement for the Sea Princes. You can also add in some other naval adventures in and around the stuff in the book, like the new Isle of Dread conversion that Goodman Games put out.

 

[Nebulous]

I've heard repeatedly that if you run SKT, it makes it much better by blending the plot with the Tiamat campaign. There's threads on Enworld that can guide you through it.

 

[Shiroiken]

As someone already running a GoS campaign, be ready to put in work to expand it. It's not an AP in the normal sense, but rather a group of similar themed adventures that can be used as the focus of a campaign. Unfortunately, there are a LOT of level gaps you'll need to fill in yourself. They provide 3 location maps with 4 adventure options each, but they don't fully cover it. I'd suggest picking up TFtYP to go with it, as well as the 3PP Isle of Dread to help fill these sections in.

 

[Salthorae]

I've heard repeatedly that if you run SKT, it makes it much better by blending the plot with the Tiamat campaign. There's threads on Enworld that can guide you through it.

I agree with this, but that is a pretty massive undertaking and work on the DM's party.

SKT alone can be fun, but it might make sense to wait until you've gotten back in the chair for a bit longer to blend the two together for that fun experience.. It roams all over the face of the Sword Coast, but to get really immersive and give players a reason to fight against giants, might need some work on your part as DM.

Saltmarsh is pretty easy to run. I haven't played Descent yet so can't comment on it.

Lost Mines is a great way to kick off your 5e adventures if your group hasn't played through it yet. HOnestly since it ends at level 5, there are some easy in-roads to SKT at 5th level. Appendix A in SKT lays out how to get your PC's from Lost Mines into SKT if you wanted to go that route.