Sometimes, DMs need help. This is why there are adventure modules; to provide ready-made campaigns to play. Most of these are playable, but some of them are beyond epic in scope. Lord of the Rings…that’s for brand-new players. The Dragonlance Chronicles…not epic enough.
Most of the following campaigns are fairly recent creations, but a couple of them are classics from the earlier days of D&D. Every one of them, though, provides an incredible adventure for players old and new.
Updated July 29, 2022, by Jeff Drake: There certainly isn’t a shortage of adventure modules for D&D DMs to use. Depending on how far back someone wants to go, there are potentially hundreds of premade campaigns. Some of them are a little so-so, but there are numerous campaigns that are definitely worth checking out. The best part, for the DM, at least, is that only a minimum amount of planning is required. For those in need of inspiration, this list has been updated to include more fantastic campaigns that every D&D player should play through at least once.
20 Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
One of the most interesting places in any D&D setting is the famed city of Waterdeep, also called the City of Splendors. This is a massive city that’s situated at the base of Mount Waterdeep. There is enough intrigue and action in this city to satisfy any type of role-player.
Dragon Heist is a campaign for lower-level characters, and being in Waterdeep the adventure involves a little less hack-and-slash, and instead focuses more on diplomacy. That’s not to say there isn’t any combat in this campaign. In fact, depending on which path the party chooses they will have to deal with one of three powerful foes: Manshoon, an evil wizard known for his numerous clones; Jarlaxle Beanre, a drow mercenary whose wit matches his battle prowess; or a beholder named Xanathar, who runs much of the underworld in Skullport (located beneath Waterdeep).
19 Against The Giants
This module was created by the creator of D&D, Gary Gygax. Against the Giants involves three separate, but linked, adventures that end with some of the most epic battles many players will ever experience. The journey begins when the players are recruited to discover why the various giant clans have begun working together and raiding the nearby human kingdoms.
Like many early D&D campaigns, Against the Giants is a dungeon crawl. For players who favor adventures with more dialogue and intrigue, this module might not be as well-received as the more modern campaigns on this list. However, for those who prefer to forego all the talking and get right into the action, then there are few campaigns better than Against the Giants. Players can download this module for free at archive.org.
18 Princes Of The Apocalypse
In Princes of the Apocalypse, the party must stop four prophets that serve the evil Elemental Princes. Each prophet is building a temple to their lord, which will bolster the power of these evil Elemental Princes. To stop the prophets, the players must sever their links to the Inner Planes.
The path eventually leads the players into a confrontation with the Elder Elemental Eye. The whole adventure is similar to the classic Temple of Elemental Evil module. The campaign is designed for characters starting at levels 3-4, and they will finish around their 14th level.
17 Tomb Of Horrors
Sometimes, player-characters get so powerful that they feel they can challenge the gods themselves. For a DM, it can be hard to create an adventure that will challenge a party of adventurers like this. That is why Gary Goya created this adventure module way back in 1978.
This is an extremely tough campaign designed to humble players who have maybe gotten a little arrogant. The goal is to search the tomb of a powerful wizard. This tomb is filled with traps and false paths to follow, and at the end of the adventure, the players must face one of the most powerful creatures in D&D: a lich. This can be downloaded for free at archive.org, though there is also a recent re-release that uses 5th ed. rules.
16 The Dancing Hut Of Baba Yaga
In this campaign, the party must explore the hut of Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga seeks immortality and can control the night and day cycle of any world in which her hut appears. This incredibly powerful being lives in what appears to be a small hut sitting atop giant bird legs. However, the hut is much like Doctor Who’s T.A.R.D.I.S. in that it is bigger on the inside.
There are several factors that make this one of the best campaigns of all time. Firstly, it provides a unique challenge. Players must navigate the randomly placed rooms (36 in total on three floors). This randomization gives the campaign incredible replay value. Additionally, since the hut can plane shift, DM’s are free to place it in any campaign setting they are currently using. This campaign module can be downloaded for free on archive.org.
15 Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus
This 5th ed. adventure module begins in the city of Baldur’s Gate; a city made famous by three role-playing games for the PC, that are generally considered among the best RPGs ever made. This campaign forces players to journey to the first layer of the Nine Hells, Avernus, in an effort to redeem the corrupt city of Baldur’s Gate.
One important aspect of this module is an appendix that provides a wealth of information about the current state of Baldur’s Gate. This adventure is, surprisingly, for low-level characters and is one of the very best Dungeons and Dragons campaigns of all time.
14 Lost Mine Of Phandelver
In ancient times there was a mine close to Neverwinter (in the Forgotten Realms). This mine was run by a cooperative formed by dwarves and gnomes, with the help of human wizards. At the heart of this mine was the Forge of Spells – a powerful relic that harnesses the mine’s ambient energies for crafting magical items.
An orc assault led to the mine collapsing, and its location being lost. It is up to the players to find the lost mine and the treasures within. The campaign is designed for 1st-level characters and can be very challenging for beginning players. Still, for those up for the challenge, it can be an awful lot of fun.
13 Tyranny Of Dragons
For a group that is looking for a campaign of epic proportions, Tyranny of Dragons might be the right. This quest pits the party against the Cult of the Dragon. The Cult of the Dragon is best known for creating dracoliches, but in this campaign, they have a new goal – to bring Tiamat to the Prime Material Plane.
The campaign is spread over multiple modules, with Hoard of the Dragon Queen being the first. This adventure sees the party traveling across Faerûn, so some Forgotten Realms supplemental materials might be required.
12 Tales From The Infinite Staircase
This adventure takes place in the Planescape setting, and as the title suggests, the campaign gives the DM a lot of leeway to improvise. The campaign centers around the Infinite Staircase, which connects all the known planes of existence. This epic adventure has players traveling to such locations as Baator, Arcadia, and the Astral Plane.
There is a standalone campaign titled For Duty and Deity that uses this adventure module as well. This is another great campaign where the players must rescue Waukeen, the god of wealth on Faerûn (Forgotten Realms), who is being held captive in the Abyss. Players can download it at archive.org.
11 White Plume Mountain
Some players don’t like role-playing diplomacy. Those players like D&D for the fights and adventure. White Plume Mountain is a campaign for the latter type of player. This is a classic dungeon crawl adventure set in the world of Greyhawk. This module was originally released in 1979 but is such a great adventure that it has been given numerous updates over the years to conform to the current D&D rule sets.
The goal of this adventure is to retrieve three powerful, sentient, weapons from a wizard named Keraptis who lives in the depths below the White Plume Mountain. This has long been considered one of the best D&D campaigns of all time and for very good reason.
10 Tales From The Yawning Portal
Based in Waterdeep and the dungeon beneath it called Undermountain, Tales from the Yawning Portal is a favorite among many players. The Yawning Portal is an inn in Waterdeep that offers an entrance to Undermountain for adventurers foolish enough to explore its dangerous corridors. Meanwhile, the patrons above place bets on when (or if) they will return.
Undermountain has portals leading to multiple other realms, so the adventure modules in this campaign aren’t confined to the Forgotten Realms. This is a very challenging campaign, so it might not be appropriate for beginning players.
9 The Rod Of Seven Parts
This is an older campaign, but still one of the best. In it, the players are questing for the seven parts that make up the Rod of Law. Trying to stop them are minions of the Queen of Chaos, including the criminally underused wolf-spiders. The Rod was used to imprison the Queen of Chaos’ general, Miska the Wolf-Spider, The Prince of Demons.
The adventure is far-ranging, as the parts of the Rod have been scattered. The players must get to them before the Queen of Chaos’ minions, or track them down if they can’t. The party has help from the Wind Dukes, lawful immortals opposed to the Chaos Queen. This module can be downloaded for free at archive.org.
8 Ghosts Of Saltmarsh
The Saltmarsh series of adventure modules go all the way back to 1981 when The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh was released. Over the years this series received six additional modules, with the last being The Styes in 2005. Ghosts of Saltmarsh is an anthology of all the modules in the series.
These campaigns have been updated to be played with the 5th ed. rule set. Players might consider hunting down the special edition of Ghosts of Saltmarsh, called the Sinister Silver Edition. This version has physical props to accentuate the adventure.
7 Temple Of Elemental Evil
This adventure module should be in every Dungeons & Dragons collection. Created by the legendary Gary Gygax, it was converted into a great PC game in 2003. The adventure is based in the small town of Hommlet in the Greyhawk setting. Close to Hommlet is the enormous Temple of Elemental Evil.
It is up to the party to enter the Temple and stop the forces of evil from releasing the demon queen of fungi, known as Zuggtmoy. The campaign is for 1st level characters, but by the end the characters find themselves facing off against a foe that rivals a lesser deity in power. The adventure can be downloaded for free at archive.org.
6 Tomb Of Annihilation
In this campaign, a terrible affliction is causing people to become sick, waste away until death, and prevent them from being raised. The players must find the source of this plague and end its effect on the people of Faerûn.
This campaign takes place in the jungles of Chult. It is an interesting setting, as it includes dangers not normally seen in D&D adventures – dinosaurs. This adventure has a ton of great, powerful, treasures for the players to claim. The final dungeon is huge and presents a challenge for even seasoned players.
5 The Lost City
The Lost City is another classic campaign from the early days of D&D. This campaign regularly shows up on lists of the best D&D campaigns, and for good reason. The adventure takes place in the long-forgotten city of Cynidicea, which has sunken beneath the sands of a desert. There are several factions within the city, but the main antagonist is Zargon and his priestly followers.
No matter what play style the party prefers, there is something for everyone in this campaign. If players want to try diplomacy and unite the other factions against Zargon, they can. If they want to take over the city and rule it, or ignore the other factions and try to get to Zargon for a direct encounter, or simply explore the large sunken city for loot, they can.
4 Out Of The Abyss
Out of the Abyss is another favorite among D&D players. This module starts with the players trapped in the Underdark. After their escape, the main goal is to return to the surface world. However, the party’s objectives change when they are asked to lead a war band to stop demonic forces set to invade the surface.
This adventure is epic in nature and features everybody’s favorite enemy: the drow. Some of the demons the players must thwart include Demogorgon and Zuggtmoy. This is an extremely challenging campaign but is also a fairly open adventure that is less linear than most. That means more prep-work for the DM, though.
3 Curse Of Strahd
It is rare to find a Ravenloft campaign that is accessible for all players, as Ravenloft is not the most forgiving of realms. Strahd von Zarovich, a powerful vampire, was the first realm-lord of Ravenloft. The players find themselves victims of the Mists, and visitors to Barovia – Strahd’s domain.
They soon find themselves working for the Vistani gypsy, Madam Eva. The campaign is for characters of 1st level, and they will typically be around 10th when it is finished. This is maybe the most challenging campaign on this list, but not so difficult for beginning players.
2 The Ruins Of Myth Drannor
Every D&D player has probably heard of Myth Drannor, a fabulous city where all races lived together in peace. Myth Drannor was the sparkling jewel of Faerûn before it was overrun by evil creatures and fell into ruin. After centuries of guarding the ruins of Myth Drannor, the elves decided to retreat from the region – allowing adventures to go into the ruins for the first time.
Myth Drannor is not a friendly place. There’s a ton of great loot to find, but players are just as likely to lose their lives. Demons and other fell creatures still roam freely, wielding powerful weapons and magical items plundered from the ruins. Players must also learn to work within the limitations placed on visitors by the city’s mythal: a vast magical barrier that affects all those within. This module can be downloaded for free at archive.org.
1 Storm King’s Thunder
Set in the frozen Savage Frontier region of northern Faerûn, this campaign pits the party against the giant clans of the north. This is an epic adventure that includes raiding giant strongholds, battles against dragons, and a fight against a Kraken.
The main goal is to help re-establish the caste system among giant-kind. Until the players can do this, the giants will continue to rampage the towns of the “small folk.” The players have many avenues they can take to achieve their goal, including allying with some of the giants. This is designed for 1st level characters and is challenging, but not too difficult for beginners.
