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Top-Rated D&D Stand-Alone Adventures
Chris Flood
United States
Oakland
California
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Although a lot of the greatest modules of all time seem to fit together into a variety of awesome and affordable campaigns, many are best run as stand-alone adventures perhaps with pre-generated characters or as introductions to a new setting that lacks additional adventures of the same caliber.
This list initially includes modules drawn from my greatest ever list as well as a few that almost made it onto that list. However, I welcome others to add their own favorite stand-alone adventures to the list.
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Chris Flood
United States
Oakland
California
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This massive $32 module is described as being even more difficult that its inspiration, S1 The Tomb of Horrors, already regarded as the most challenging dungeon ever. Designed for PCs of 13th to 16th level, one might think that such an adventure would be perfect for these high-level characters. However, multiple reviews repeatedly suggest that you just use the pre-generated characters that come with the book. The chances of character death are so high that a DM risks his own demise at the hands of the players if he sticks their long-developed personal favorite characters through this meat grinder.
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Chris Flood
United States
Oakland
California
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This $11 adventure is the second-highest rated module on RPG.net. Based in a steampunk fantasy setting, it earned the rabid praise of several reviewers and is the first in a three-part trilogy compiled into a single $50 tome. Its sequels have not received the same level of attention, and more recent comments on this module have revealed some weaknesses as it reaches a wider audience. Therefore, it's probably best used as a one shot, an interesting alternative adventure that can potentially evolve into something longer if you like it.
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Chris Flood
United States
Oakland
California
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This module is the quintessential adventure series that ties a role-playing game directly to a strict storyline. Many role-players have come to find this style of play, with its attendant "railroading" by the DM, less than ideal. However, if you want to try it out, then the Dragonlance chronicles are one of the highest forms of it. It makes little sense to develop your own characters from 1st level to the 3rd or 4th level prior to playing this module; simply use the main characters from the novels and dive in.
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Chris Flood
United States
Oakland
California
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This $3 module is the 12th highest rated adventure on RPG.net, though it hasn't seemed to garner much love elsewhere. Set in a fantastical Russia, it seems ideally suited to one-shot play, providing a break from traditional fantasy settings but not enough to absorb players over the course of an entire campaign.
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Chris Flood
United States
Oakland
California
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This $30 module for extremely high level PCs is in the top 20 of all modules over on the Hahn Library's extensive ratings database. However, given the dearth of well-regarded modules in the Companion Series, which are necessary to advance PCs to a high enough level to play this module, it seems like a better fit for a simple one shot.
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Chris Flood
United States
Oakland
California
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Like many other modules of its time, the $7 Ghost Tower of Inverness could theoretically be plopped nearly anywhere in any campaign. Also like many of its fellow early modules, this one was originally designed for tournament play, but it retains some of the tourney qualities like character rating scorecards that are dropped from similar adventures. Moreover, the fantastical aspects of the tower itself seem particularly extreme, making it harder to justify its presence in some worlds. Play it as a one-shot, and may the best player win!
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Perfect intro module for an inexperinced group to whet their appetite for more.
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Kyle
United States
Lincoln
Rhode Island
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This is a great adventure but it's unsuable, as written, in an actual campaign. I consider it to be one of the best and worst modules at the same time.
Any module with Hickman as an author is not very good for campaign use. He likes to tell a story, as opposed to letting the PC's tell the story. His stuff is way too railroadish for my tastes.
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Posted Wed Feb 3, 2010 1:42 am
