Linking book stories for levels 1-16

[ZorroGames]

So.... my question is to those who used the books (and maybe supplemental/additional modules) to run a campaign from 1-16 +/- is what works best for such a campaign?

Okay, I was listening to https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_VIrIOMJovM again and considering what to do.

Until recently I only played and DMed AL so I am coming from the AL school of D&D. Obviously Home-brewed in 1970s and 1980s but not eager to undertake the whole world design process again.

Seriously considering a long term campaign as DM and these were the options I found initially appealing:

LMoP for 5 levels then ToA (Chult is my favorite setting)
LMoP for 5 then CoS
CoS then ToA
LMoP to starting SKT at level 5 (Fast Forward through early parts in Nightstone.)

Reading the CoS thread and and not being a huge fan of Horror genre is leading me to consider:

Dragon Heist for 5 then Mad Mage (dropped into Mad Mage “AL back with Xp and Gold” type campaign at Level 5, 🙄 another thread sometime.). Might be better for me DMing than playing has been so far. Or maybe not...


FWIW the linked YouTube rates them from worst to best as:

11. HotDQ
10. PotA
9. YftYP - nostalgia only goes so far. Widely variable.
8. Dungeon of the Mad Mage - much better if you like Dungeon Crawls predominately
7. RoT
6. OotA
5. LMoP
4. Dragon Heist
3. SKT (with changes/adjustments of three points in story)
2. ToA for straight 1-11 play
1. CoS

Or, I suppose I could just use Chult for my setting and have ToA going on while PCs sandbox their way into history...

Advice, please.

[Imbalance]

Mulling the same, for much the same reasons, sans any substantial amount of personal history with D&D, I'm leaning heavily on the sandbox option at the conclusion of LMoP. On hand I have Hoard and Rise, Tales, Saltmarsh, and Princes, with Thunder on the way and Icespire already expanding possibilities in Phandalin - options aplenty. So, assuming everyone wants to keep going (and their characters survive), my plan is to basically open this up as an interwoven world and let the players suss out which crisis sounds the most appealing. I phrased it to them thusly, "it's like deciding which Elder Scrolls installment to co-op play, by committee."

[Keravath]

ToA is good and there are some good Guild Adept modules (Return of the Lizard King, Ruins of Mezro) as well as a couple of other adventures (Hidden Shrine of Tamochan - TFTYP) which can be used to enhance it.

I've played through ToA from 1 to about 12 as an AL adventure. It was a lot of fun. The only table rule was that we couldn't trade/buy/obtain magic items from outside the modules run for use in ToA (we could keep them on the character sheets we just didn't use them when playing ToA - we also only played the characters in ToA so there were no significant issues with disparate levels).

ToA is a great sandbox but a lot of the content is at the edges of the continent. With the nature of the time deadline for the adventure and the long overland travel times in Chult, there isn't enough time to travel to make use of the content without failing to complete the prime objective within the required time frame. The additional modules are very useful for supplementing the Chult random encounters since those will eventually get tiresome.

If you like Chult as a setting then this could be a good choice for you. There is no real need for other content to cover levels 1-5.

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As an adventure, I have heard good things about CoS but I haven't played it. Elements of it can be deadly and although it is a "sandbox" it is apparently easier to walk into situations in CoS where running will be the best or only option to survive. Vampires, undead, demiplane of dread - gloomy - that tends to be the tone from my understanding rather than campy horror.

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I've played WDH in AL and it was fun. The adventures involved a decent amount of role playing with some combat. We then moved onto playing DotMM. We've done about three levels and I think we've run out of steam. Other adventures usually provide some motivation for why the character's are there. With DotMM, there doesn't seem to be vast amounts of loot or treasure, no real motivation for the characters to risk their lives exploring the dungeon of the mad mage. I'm not sure you can build an effective campaign around a never ending dungeon crawl unless your players REALLY like that sort of thing.

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Most of the modules contain Tier 1 content that could be swapped with LMoP if you like. If you are looking for a dungeon crawl sort of campaign you might want to consider WDH + adventures from TFTYP.

I'm also playing through Ghosts of Saltmarsh at the moment in AL (we just reached tier 2) and this is also pretty good. However, I'm not sure it has sufficient high level content to carry the characters to tier 3 so you would probably need to supplement with other content.


TL;DR ToA good, CoS probably good, LMoP could be subbed in for tier 1 in most modules, WDH good but DotMM may not be as good for on going campaign - could sub in adventures from TFTYP, GSM could be another option.

[Bjarkmundur]

I need an acronym table :x

[ZorroGames]

I need an acronym table :x

Translating AFB...

11. Horde of the Dragon Queen
10. Princes of the Apocalypse
9. TotYP - typo, Tales from the Yawning Portal
8. DotMM - Dungeon of the Mad Mage
7. Rise of Tiamat
6. Out of the Abyss
5. Lost Mine of Phandelver
4. Dragon Heist
3. Storm King’s Thunder
2. Tomb of Annihilation
1. Curse of Strahd

Help? Sorry if confused you.

I always forget what TL;DR means myself.

[Imbalance]

TL;DR = too long; don't/didn't read, usually appears at the end of a WoT (wall of text), either apologetically from the WoT's author (with summary) or critically from a subsequent poster to express their disinclination to reading it.

I kinda hate the common acronyms for the book titles, so I generally prefer to shorten them to a key word. I'm apparently the only one. Oddly, I will pronounce "scag" when referencing the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide in person.

I do want to get my hands on Heist at some point, but it's one I don't think I could easily segue into from the current goings-on. If I were you, I would take Keravath's advice over what I posted above. Ultimately, do what works for your table.

[Zhorn]

Big fan of starting on one of the 1-3+ modules and pepper in links and rumours to a whole lot of different stories and just letting the players pick at the end where to go next. They can be fully aware of what thread connects to what module, or just follow the hook they like the best without concern of where it'll lead.

One of the reasons I love LMoP so much is how easy it is to link into other modules.

• Drow and the Black Spider? If the party loses to them, the next session you have them sold into slavery and launch into Out of the Abyss
• Wondering where all those blights in Thundertree came from? The Sunless Citadel awaits.
• Not done exploring Hamun Kost? Off to Dead in Thay.
• Dragon cultists you say? Horde of the Dragon Queen/Rise of Tiamat.
• Party decides to go to Triboar? Storm King's Thunder or Princes of the Appocalypse.
• These dopplegangers were sure an interesting presence... I wonder where they came from? Maybe their're connected to that crime organisation in Waterdeep, The Unseen... Got to Waterdeep and kick off Dragon Heist.
• Agatha doesn't come back out after we asked our questions... Is she being rude, or can she NOT reappear? Has something pulled her soul away to imprisonment. Might be connected to the Death Curse being talked about. Tomb of Annihilation time!