D&D 5E Where's the Villain? and other musings. Why some published campaigns are great and some aren't (Spoiler alerts)

[Zardnaar]

I've only used them to drop into ongoing campaigns, I've never run them as a single continuous campaign, so have never used the provided "hook" - which is tenuous anyway.

Same I won't be using it either.

I want to use them in current campaign but already using Forge of Fury lvl 3-5.

 

[TheSword]

Yes, there are a variety of different ways you can set out adventure material. I think it's unfortunate that WotC have settled on one and use it continuously, because it means that style is passed on to others as the "right" way to do it.

What I like to see is different approaches, and different voices. Which is why I maintain that Radiant Citadel is the best thing WotC have put out recently. There is a chance for individual voices to shine through, rather than everything be Perkinized.

When you’re used to most campaign books being arranged into segments with almost everything you need to run it in that segment it’s a bit of a mind blown. The advantage of which is you only need to know a few pages very well and the rest just in general terms.

Whereas this way I need to read and be able to respond to all the NPCs, locations and possible plots and have those at all times in my consideration. Much harder when you’re running someone else’s work but powerful if you can pull it off. I really do think a good VTT system is a game changer in this respect.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I really do think a good VTT system is a game changer in this respect.

If you are creating content for online only, presenting the data in a non-linear fashion is the most logical way to do it.

 

[Starfox]

Candlekeep feels Perkinised, he was a bit heavy handed with the editing. The individual adventures in Golden Vault follow a format, so don't have the same variety. It is very very inspired by the Mission Impossible TV series, down to each episode following the same formula. RC is the best of the set.

There was a row with an author that felt their scenario had been butchered in editing, which supports your line here. Having played more than half of Candlekeep, the scenarios feel somewhat bare bones, but how well this works varies widely. The closer the scenario is to the dungeon model, the better it ended up after editing. It was scenes outside of the final encounter zone/dungeon that feels most under-furnished, I actually bought some 3rd party expansions for some of the scenarios.