Adventure Reports & Advice

As part of my regular play at my local store, I’ve played through many of the hardcover D&D Adventures, and written notes on what happened and advice on approaches you can take to the material. These notes are done erratically, as I find time, but I hope you can find some of the notes of use.

D&D Starter Set: Lost Mine of Phandelver

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This adventure for levels 1-5 introduces players to D&D, providing them with a mix of town, wilderness and dungeon adventuring. It also introduces the factions.

This is a very good adventure to learn the game with. Each of the other hardcover adventures then provide an entry point that leads on from the Starter Set adventure.

Session Reports:

D&D Essentials Kit: Dragon of Icespire Peak

This adventure for level 1 to 6 builds on concepts of the Starter Kit, while providing a new story in the same location. It is possible to combine both products, as I have for a recent play-through. The central feature of the adventure is the Quest Board – players are presented with a set of quests on a notice board and choose which one to undertake, with new quests appearing as the adventure continues.

I find there’s much less of a coherent story, but it can get you used to mission-based adventuring.

Hoard of the Dragon Queen

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This adventure for levels 1-7 is the first part of the Tyranny of Dragons storyline. It was written while the rules were still being written, and so has some rough spots. Despite that, it is one of my favourite adventures released for D&D – I’ve run it three times!

Advice/Session Reports:

The Rise of Tiamat

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This adventure for levels 8-15 is the second part of the Tyranny of Dragons storyline. It’s written with milestones in mind, which makes it quite difficult to run as part of the D&D Adventurers League (though I’ve done so on two occasions). There’s a lot of different types of encounters and scenarios in the adventure, making it a very entertaining one to run.

Advice/Session Reports:

Princes of the Apocalypse

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This adventure for levels 1-15 is part of the Elemental Evil storyline. Inspired by the old Greyhawk adventure Temple of Elemental Evil, it goes in some very different directions, whilst still primarily being a dungeon crawl. The adventure proper starts at level 3, and the sandbox nature of the adventure means that starting at level 5 (after playing the Starter Set is recommended).

Session Reports:

Out of the Abyss

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Out of the Abyss is the last adventure to be levels 1-15 (so far), and the last to have a different name from the season (Rage of Demons). Almost all of the adventure is spent in the underground environment of the Underdark. It’s a tricky adventure to run, with the group being accompanied by many NPCs throughout the adventure – a party of 12+ characters in 5-feet-wide corridors is not actually that fun.

Due to Princes of the Apocalypse taking most of a year to play, this is the one adventure I haven’t run in its entirety, although I’ve run part of the second half.

Session Reports/Play Advice:

Curse of Strahd

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Curse of Strahd is a reenvisioning of the classic AD&D adventure Ravenloft, designed for levels 1-10 (though the main story starts at level 3). While the original adventure primarily described Castle Ravenloft, Curse of Strahd fleshes out the countryside, including many people who have been hurt by the rule of the vampire lord.

This is an exceptional adventure. Like Princes of the Apocalypse, it is a sandbox adventure, and works very well after first playing the Starter Set.

Session Reports/Play Advice:

Storm King’s Thunder

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Storm King’s Thunder is an unusual adventure, structured so that it can be played several times and be different each time: there are three beginning towns, and five giant strongholds, only one of each being visited in each play-through. The adventure proper is levels 5-10, but an introductory section allows play from levels 1-5. Or you can just start with the Starter Set.

Tomb of Annihilation

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Tomb of Annihilation begins with a sandbox hex-crawl as you explore the zombie-infested land of Chult for a solution to the Death Curse, then transitions into the exploration of a ruined city and then one of the most dangerous dungeons in D&D: the Tomb of Annihilation, created by the infamous lich Acererak (he of the Tomb of Horrors).

Both sections have much good material, but the join between them could be better. This is not a favourite of mine, but it is of many others.

I dispensed with a lot of the hexcrawl material and instead ran Shawn Merwin’s alternative start to the adventure, Return of the Lizard King.

Session Reports and Advice

Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is an introductory adventure that takes level 1 characters to level 5. Although many events of the adventure are the same each time, it offers a choice of four different villains which can cause the adventure to move in different directions. You also get the chance to own your very own tavern – although this is an element that I personally don’t enjoy running.

The adventure has a variety of problems with it, with some bits not integrating well together, and others suffering from poor presentation. However, I’ve run it three times and it’s a very good adventure if you like tinkering and expanding on it. It is paired with Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage.

My Review of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

Session Reports and Advice

Third Play-Through reports

Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus

The adventure takes characters from levels 1 up to 13. They start in Baldur’s Gate as it’s under threat from a murder spree and seething with news of the recent disappearance or destruction of the nearby city of Elturel. Then the characters descend into Avernus, seeking to stop Baldur’s Gate from suffering the same fate and hoping to rescue the folk of Elturel.

It’s fair to say that I find this the most problematic adventure released by Wizards of the Coast, due to lacklustre encounters and poor writing. This one I didn’t finish due to the onset of covid. Apologies!

Session Reports & Advice on running Descent into Elturel

Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

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This adventure takes starting characters up to level 11 as their home town comes under attack from a mysterious army. They then need to help defend their nation’s capital from attacks, and ride through a shattered land to stop the Red Dragonarmy from using a new, terrible invention – a Flying Citadel – to win the war.

I think this is an excellent adventure, but a mixed portrayal of the Dragonlance setting. All session reports are complete:

Session List: