Summary

• Some early DnD 5e campaigns like Tyranny of Dragons and Princes of the Apocalypse have issues with incomplete rules and structure.
• A couple of anthology books can actually be used to run engaging campaigns thanks to strong connections between adventures.
• The best 5e adventures like Wild Beyond the Witchlight and Tomb of Annihilation don't tend to require too much tweaking.

Campaign books are a big part of the soul of Dungeons & Dragons 5e, providing a structured way for parties to adventure through its exciting fantasy worlds. The best campaigns deliver great fights, memorable stories, and interesting dungeons and environments to explore. 5e adventures can vary in quality, however, and the weaker offerings can be a struggle to turn into something fun at the game table.

Not every 5e adventure that's been published is a proper Dungeons & Dragons campaign, and shorter modules can't really be compared with the full-length tomes. Some anthologies of smaller adventures also don't offer enough connective tissue to necessarily qualify as campaigns, although a few do link things in a cohesive enough way.

18 Tyranny Of Dragons Was A Rough Start

Published In 2023

Tyranny of Dragons combines the first two full-length adventures for 5e, Hoard of the Dragon Queen and The Rise of Tiamat. It's arguably better than the sum of its parts, and it's certainly possible to have a good time playing it. The problem is just how rough those parts are, and even some fixes don't turn Tyranny of Dragons into a particularly great adventure.

Tyranny of Dragons was written before the rules for DnD 5e were finalized, and it's loose and fundamentally incomplete in a way that very much betrays that. The early material in Hoard of the Dragon Queen is arguably the worst offender, but even The Rise of Tiamat struggles significantly with issues like encounter balance. Parties that love dragons might still want to look into this one, but the DM should be aware that running Tyranny of Dragons exactly as written doesn't tend to go well.

17 Princes Of The Apocalypse Is Structurally Weak

Published In 2015

Princes of the Apocalypse is in better shape than Tyranny of Dragons, but it's another early campaign book that released before 5e had quite found its footing. Although this one takes a potentially interesting sandbox-oriented approach to a story involving dangerous elemental cults, a weak execution of the concept comes back to bite it.

The first few campaign books for 5e were all outsourced to various third party companies, with Curse of Strahd being the first properly in-house release.

Making Princes of the Apocalypse work well generally requires a DM to put their own work into stringing dungeons together in a meaningful way. A surplus of bland encounters and a lack of structure pushing the party to tackle things in the right order can easily become significant problems, so it's not a campaign for any beginner DM to tackle.

16 Waterdeep: Dungeon Of The Mad Mage Is One-Note

Published In 2018

Unlike some of the weakest DnD 5e campaign books, Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage has reasonable potential to be a favorite for the right party. It's essentially just one big mega-dungeon, and anyone who thinks a sprawling, complex crawl sounds perfect might love it.

As a follow-up to the roleplay-oriented Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, however, Dungeon of the Mad Mage is unlikely to land for those who loved its predecessor. It's also not a perfect execution of the mega-dungeon concept, with some inconsistency in the quality of the crawl and a few design choices that make it difficult for a DM to actually handle play seamlessly.

15 Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus Is Disted

Published In 2019

The Baldur's Gate video games are all excellent experiences, but it's harder to give the same praise to the tie-in DnD campaign book Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus. The whole Baldur's Gate concept feels disted, with the city's appearance coming across as an almost tacked-on beginning segment that doesn't connect well to the infernal adventures that come later.

Even in Avernus, a lot of the content feels disconnected and unmotivated, and the whole thing is filled out by too many fetch quests. These can be too linear, while the overall structure is capable of leaving players confused. The concept is cool, but making it fun can take some work.

14 Phandelver And Below: The Shattered Obelisk Is Messy

Published In 2023

Lost Mine of Phandelver was one early standout for DnD 5e, a short adventure packaged into a Starter Set that did a great job introducing players to the core elements of the DnD experience. It didn't reinvent the wheel, but in getting the basics right, it's doubtless made plenty of converts. Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk revisited Lost Mine of Phandelver to expand it into a full-length campaign, a task completed to ultimately mixed results.

Like Descent into Avernus, this is another disted campaign, with a rough transition from The Lost Mine's material to The Shattered Obelisk. It still offers some good skeletal material to build a great campaign out of, but without doing any of that work, the complete adventure won't be fully realized.

13 Out Of The Abyss Can Be Tough To Run

Published In 2015

As the last of the early outsourced DnD 5e campaigns, Out of the Abyss provides the most uniquely compelling experience of the bunch. Set in the Underdark, the campaign dives into a rich, weird, and potentially terrifying corner of the Forgotten Realms. Increased difficulty and a survival-oriented experience make it a good choice for a party that wants an extra dose of intensity.

Tuning a campaign in that direction can be difficult, however, and Out of the Abyss struggles to do so consistently. A difficulty curve that's all over the place can require some DM adjustment, as easy stretches and TPKs that feel random are both frustrating. In this case, there are enough strong points that putting in the work can be worth it.

12 Storm King's Thunder Has Sandbox Potential

Published In 2016

The big problem with Storm King's Thunder is that it can be an absolute mess. Inconsistent pacing, plot holes, and some narrative elements that never quite connect all add up to limit the default experience of playing the adventure. A lot of what's in it is good, however, and patching it up in the right ways can make Storm King's Thunder a blast to play.

It's ultimately a good skeleton for a great adventure, and it can be one of the more beginner-friendly options when handled correctly.

A party interested in somewhat freeform exploration of a cool setting (the giant-heavy Savage Frontier) could particularly enjoy Storm King's Thunder, provided the DM is good at filling in the gaps. It's ultimately a good skeleton for a great adventure, and it can be one of the more beginner-friendly options when handled correctly.

11 Dragonlance: Shadow Of The Dragon Queen Is Solid

Published In 2022

Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen has a tough legacy to live up to as 5e's defining venture into the time-honored Dragonlance setting, and it can struggle to bear all of that weight on its shoulders. In that regard, the results can be mixed, with both plenty of beautiful details and some decisions that will likely frustrate long-time fans.

Taken in its own right, Shadow of the Dragon Queen is a solid adventure, and it's generally easier to run than the weaker DnD 5e campaigns. A strong story in a war-torn world makes a generally railroad-y approach easy enough to stomach, and some tough combat encounters can be fun for a party that loves the thrill of the fight.

10 Quests From The Infinite Staircase Has Great Adventures

Published In 2024

Quests from the Infinite Staircase isn't the first 5e book to revisit classic DnD modules, and some might argue that Tales from the Yawning Portal is still the best anthology in 5e. The newer book does provide more thorough guidance on stringing them into a campaign, however, qualifying it as a campaign book in a way that Tales from the Yawning Portal just doesn't quite manage.

The adventures here are classics for a reason, and the sci-fi Expedition from the Barrier Peaks is a memorable grand finale. There's also a good bit of variety in the adventures, with some sections catering more to classic dungeon crawls and others offering great roleplay opportunities. Structuring it as a campaign will still feel disted compared to a traditional campaign book, but it could be a great time for a party that doesn't mind that.

9 Critical Role: Call Of The Netherdeep Is Good For Fans

Published In 2022

Critical Role has been a huge part of bringing people into DnD 5e's fold, so a campaign book in Matthew Mercer's Exandria setting makes a lot of sense. Call of the Netherdeep doesn't let down Critical Role's strong brand image, bringing some interesting ideas like a party of rivals to the table. If the party stays on track, it also works straight out of the box in a way that a lot of 5e campaigns don't, although straying from the core path could push more work on the DM.

Like Critical Role, lore and descriptive settings are a big part of Call of the Netherdeep, which will appeal more to some players than others. There are still some structural issues that keep it from being among the best 5e modules, but it's a good choice for fans of the show.