What Adventure Should You Play in D&D 5e? | A Tutorial for New or Experienced DM's

Go back OUT OF THE BOX ENCOUNTERS: bit.ly/OotBEPledgeManager
TIMESTAMPS:
Introduction: 0:00
The 3 Dumb Tropes to watch out for: 2:58
Lost Mine of Phandelver: 4:48
Hoard of the Dragon Queen: 8:04
Out of the Abyss: 10:13
Curse of Strahd: 13:26
Storm Kings Thunder: 17:16
Tales from the Yawning Portal: 20:31
Tomb of Annihilation: 21:40
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist: 23:34
Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage: 27:26
Ghosts of Saltmarsh: 29:01
Dragon of Icespire Peak: 32:10
Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus: 35:53
#dnd #dnd5e #adventures
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[@AndsenPhren]

Out of Context DND: "is this the game I killed the kid in? "yep."

[@loveoffthedamned]

I mean, have you even played dnd if you`ve never accidentally killed a child or too tho?

[@TerrariaGolem]

@@loveoffthedamned An enraged Goliath getting Halfling Coochie from a barmaid may seem like a way to get the attention of the gods of love/passion or at least a demon of taboo, but I became the sponsor to the God of Murder... Then my Goliath learned... Halflings mature later in life anyways... Now the halfling family required a sincere apology that upheld to tradition & of course my imprisonment... Yet my Goliath had consent! Intimidation got me into this, but intimidation... Couldn't get me out... I took several of her older plumper sisters as future wives, to uphold the traditional Goliath values of honor in skilled & fair competition, I somehow persuaded the halfling guards to give me a trial by combat, as my party, who overheard the tussle feigned ignorance. Still, I didn't use rage, & fairly one with only the guard captain... Upheld the Goliath love for fair play & self-handicap for the talents I was supreme in. Was told to leave the town & now I have two halflings in a cage. These are, thankfully honest about their age when I intimidate them to give coochie. lol, this isn't a true story, only by DMs girlfriend plays a lustful character, which is a bard, who also always rolls low performance in bed with men, but nat 20s with plot important NPCs turned campaign spanning important NPCs... Though, sometimes anyone's girlfriend can make a campaign horror story, even if they're intetested & know how to play, lovely pleading and the shadow of great financial power over any DM in a relationship can slightly affect the beauty of the loot, none give an unfair advantage, but some are cooler than others... :'( why bröther, did I not share enough oats? 🍯🐖

[@buboniccraig896]

In my campaign my party found a room filled with baskets and barrels of dismembered children parts.

[@hmcloud8487]

Alina Nikulina Shocking grasp. Apparently Kenkus don’t have tons of hp T.T

[@Sheep________]

@@loveoffthedamned my dnd group set fire to a orphanage once.... I never saw them after that.#truestory

[@Flanagax]

So you're saying that these "tutorial missions" are mostly for the PCs to earn XP...to level 3?

[@philswiftdestroyerofworlds1988]

I see what you did there, Now to re-enter my bag of holding, waiting for the next great D&D pun to emerge.

[@EmilyKveldulv]

well done my good lad

[@loweffortproductions1985]

Didn't his channel have a different name before? Did he ever explain why the name was changed and if there was any significance?

[@hellfooliver1497]

I'm curious about that now

[@Isgolo]

@@philswiftdestroyerofworlds1988 well, I hope you find some regularly or you will be in a gasping situation

[@DavvyChappy]

Glad I could make time to cameo in your review!

[@jackkatos3651]

Nice

[@floopthevolcano2330]

Hi Davvy!

[@danielefavaretto174]

Why are you not verified Davy?

[@oibruv3889]

@@danielefavaretto174 Gloabal Conspiracy my Friend. Also just an underrated channel.

[@Daonehelios]

Nice! I love your channel Mr. Davvy! It’s helpful as I’m a new Dm!

[@hex_mex]

"It's really short, only about ten sessions." ok so if you take my players into account... and if someone brings their switch... carry the 2... Ok, that should only take my group about 45 sessions.

[@guyvingelli9046]

Just eat all their switch games so they can’t play

[@ZowZout]

Do people really go to play D&D and bring their switch? I’m new to the hobby but that seems pretty crappy lol

[@hex_mex]

@@ZowZout I play at school, people sometimes bring there switch to play after class.

[@hoddtoward5681]

@@ZowZout waiting for a wizard to choose a spell, that’s why

[@zabeerfarid7687]

Well how’d the campaign go

[@nimbusnarrator]

Spencer: “I get to marry this guy.” *Boop* Jacob: .... “Sorry.”

[@spooderous]

Does he say this in the video? I must have missed it...oh wait...

[@NikushimiZERO]

Same. I feel that Jacob energy with my own fiance when they say they're gonna marry me. "I'm sorry."

[@bullrext]

1:43 here's the timestamp for the boop

[@somebodynobody718]

1:38

[@MikaGlitch]

Obligatory "Awwww"

[@filthy.kasual]

Davvy Chappy just IS the forest at that specific angle

[@sanddry738]

*Ominous voice yells “Fuck the Fey” from within the Chappy Forest*

[@Jwilhoftstg]

ESPECIALLY the wizard

[@filthy.kasual]

*ESPECIALLY* the wizard

[@sarahtorgerson9658]

"You have to kill a drow wizard guy" Me: don't you disrespect Magic Brian like that

[@dusktomidnight7207]

Finally a Taz fan who watches this channel

[@TylerLawlawsy02]

That was probably when I became addicted to Balance 😂

[@Glareflare]

Lol yes! XD

[@ferociousbiscuit]

I have to remind myself Magic Brian isn't his real name.

[@sylph8005]

@@ferociousbiscuit What about Barry... I mean Sildar Hallwinter?

[@GrapplingHookJones]

Talks about Decent into Avernus: "this game gets dark, guys" We played it as a one-shot and our party was a skeleton, an awakened monkey, a faerie dragon, and an awakened shrub

[@alextrollip7707]

A SHRUBBERY YOU SAY

[@ferociousmaliciousghost]

@@alextrollip7707 Legends say the shrubbery gained enlightening by drinking the blood of a particular rabbit.

[@CitizenCain1]

Awakened Shrub stats are trash, how did you modify it?

[@BramLastname]

@@CitizenCain1 you need to modify it?

[@Grigeral]

@@BramLastname Considering it's a 6-12 month campaign for most groups, I'd say there's no physical way you can run this properly as a one shot. So yeah, heavily modified lol.

[@greed3574]

The end was really adorable.

[@red99Baron]

But Spencer is right and anyone who says otherwise is a heathen.

[@thejsg3720]

@@red99Baron i disagree

[@MortemusII]

@@thejsg3720 HEATHEN.

[@silvertheelf]

Red Baron, then you can call me a heathen.

[@thejsg3720]

KeenBread maybe that’s why I’m not allowed in Churches

[@jewelboy999]

The way they fight at the end is adorable

[@damienmalkavian]

My takeaway from this video: Dragon Heist and Curse of Strahd were worth the investment.

[@andrewpaul8732]

I said the same to myself. And descent into avernus is good to have on the shelf if you're fan of Gothic lore type stuff

[@laughingpanda4395]

Curse of strahd is amazing and has insane replay value as it's a little different every time. It's worth buying the big 100$ box set as well. Doing the card reading with the actual cards is always fun. Truly the best they have released to date.

[@CloydRoyal]

I've come to that conclusion as well, but my compulsion is to buy everything.

[@Elenrai]

As someone that have run dragonheist. NOOOOOOO! seriously, it is full of so many serious plot holes that any halfway competent party will almost certainly break the winter adventure, the adventure, despite supplementing the pdf with a roll20 prebuilt module, it was still the worst dnd module ive ever run, even warhammer 2nd fantasy had better prewritten modules for DMing 5th. TLDR; your better off converting warhammer 2nd edition to 5th ed dnd, or even a game like fable. In terms of effort, its been easier to learn DMing in entirely different TTRPG systems from the neolithic era of RPGs, than it was to run Waterdeep with all possible aids... Also good luck trying to find a good excuse for your players to railroad em into staying in waterdeep!

[@damienmalkavian]

@@Elenrai As someone who has also run Dragonheist since making this comment: My party had a lot of fun with this one and we plan on running it at least three more times to try the different seasons. D&D ain't about plotholes mate, it's about fun. I never really had to railroad my players because they were so interested in the setting, story and and characters of Waterdeep that they didn't want to leave. Save for the one time they wanted to climb a mountain outside the city for the hell of it, which I let them do. Even gave them a miniboss to fight and some cool loot because why not? Warhammer is honestly not really my thing, though I can understand why people like it. Just not my preferred brand of fantasy. I do like the idea of running a game set in Albion though, that would be really cool.

[@T1J]

i'm running SKT right now but I'm basically ending up pulling stuff from other sources and/or homebrewing everything except the main storyline. but i'm having fun doing it so it's cool.

[@DustySquitoNM]

Fellow STK DM here. I feel your pain. The "check out princes of the apocalypse" section for Red Larch really chapped my ass.

[@mor_hunter5349]

@@DustySquitoNM Fellow DM, also points you at Rise of Tiamat for the one giant ghost. They just expect you to have all the books it seems.

[@michaelvillynch9643]

Oh snap, I didn't know you played DnD on top of making bomb ass content

[@TroublingPath]

I’m about to do the exact same thing in my SKT game. Also, holy crap, my wife and I are patrons of your channel and I had no idea you were a DM.

[@deltagodangel]

Woah hii

[@ThisManIsBored87]

Me: I wish there was a good guide for which module to get. Jacob: I’ve got you fam.

[@sandropazdg8106]

So I guess, Heist to learn how to play, and then Strad to learn how to die horribly. Got it.

[@keegangates5073]

Sandro Paz DG only problem I have with it is that the combat mechanics of 5e can kind of ruin the mystery-horror atmosphere, but other than that it’s damn good

[@JacksonOwex]

I think the die horribly adventure is in Yawning Portal(Tomb of Horrors) which he did a video on recently(or at least a video I WATCHED recently).

[@sandropazdg8106]

@@keegangates5073 good horror in RP needs to have players against unwinable encounters, but always escapable encounters.

[@keegangates5073]

Sandro Paz DG I’m well aware of what makes a good horror encounter, but just how 5e, and a lot of other systems run their mechanics, makes designing the horror encounters like walking a tight rope. I’ve seen a group of 6 level 5 adventurers kill a CR 17 red dragon. And I’ve been DMing for about 10 years. I only ever see this shit in 5e.

[@sandropazdg8106]

​@@keegangates5073 Great, horror for the PCs and Horror for the DM. Also if a party of lvl 5 can kill and adult dragon the DM is playing the dragon WRONG (most of times), which is usually what happens whenever I hear the details of all the "this low level party killed this absurdly high CR monster" stories. Also 3.5 is way more unbalansed, I can without a doubt belive a low lvl party can kill a high CR monster in 3.5, just look at "explosive runes" and tell me that thing is not explotiable as hell, just carry a few of them on paper scrolls, and you trigger a chain reaction for absurly high amounts of the least resisted damage in the game.

[@andrewroby1130]

Re: the "The big bad shows up at the beginning and the players are helpless," it can be a storytelling tactic that gives players a sense of the stakes and (for new players) their vulnerable standing in the world. It can drive a lot of investment and curiosity in the story.

[@investigativebatman]

Do me a favor and just turn each of these books into a video with tips on how you think it should be done, especially for new players.

[@TheBayzent]

That...would probably take several videos...and end up being way too general anyway, run them once and see how your group likes it, if they missed more combat or roleplay, they will tell you.

[@Draykidsbuthol]

@@TheBayzent i mean, you don't get to just run the same campaign for the same group. Guides to running a campaign are valuable.

[@PJ-mb3ue]

Yeah this would be nice, especially for curse of strahd to make it even better

[@timraup4888]

@@TheBayzent The nice thing I've noticed about the campaigns released for 5e is that if you only ever play it once as a player, there are things you can, and likely will, miss. Stormking's Thunder, for instance, has different paths you can take early on. There are things you will miss out on there. It's like playing the same video game twice. Try it with a different character, do things in a different way or different order. I'd say even if you're a PC in the same adventure, it'd likely be very worth it.

[@shadowgear7032]

I love the shock on Spencer's face when Jacob put all the books down at once

[@rosehorror1422]

That ending was worth the 40 minutes

[@marimbaguy715]

Would love to see an update to this with Rime of the Frostmaiden, Candlekeep, Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Strixhaven, Call of the Netherdeep, and Radiant Citadel when it comes out!

[@The328th]

"I feel like when we get to Hell it'll be a little bit better." -Everyone after 2020

[@renneves4683]

Ey what you doing here?

[@jetstreamjackie3437]

“It’s really short, you can complete it in about 10 sessions.” uhhhhhhh that’s 10 whole weeks

[@patryklesnau4388]

Me and my group can meet only once per month :( so for my playgroup its a hole year xd

[@Blitzwaffen]

I have a party that disproves that session count

[@phenjaws569]

@@patryklesnau4388 oof.

[@HugoGlz56]

10 months for my crew.

[@brendancrosby2965]

My group's on session 7 and they're only halfway through chapter 2.

[@kenzuji5578]

I tried to run tomb, but my players just ended up being potion merchants.

[@ericgropuis]

Canadian Lowlander I ran Waterdeep Dragon Heist and my players ignored the fact they came to Waterdeep for finding the stash of half a million gold and wanted to be NPCs running a tavern/inn/strip club

[@hellfire286]

I’m running Tomb right now. Piece of advice for anyone thinking about running it: DON’T ALLOW CLERICS. Edit: or paladins.

[@ferociousmaliciousghost]

That sounds kind of fun.

[@CrownlessStudios]

@@hellfire286 naw, Clerics and Paladins are fine. If you're going to ban something: 3. Totem-Warrior Barbarians 2. Druid 1. RANGER They just let the party ignore the adventure part of the campaign. Which is most of it.

[@hellfire286]

@@CrownlessStudios those classes at least have creative solutions to things. Clerics and Paladins just use turn undead every second.

[@reeven1721]

The other MASSIVE thing that makes Curse of Strahd stand above and beyond the other modules is the sheer amount of polished community ressources available for it, especially on the reddit. Two full guides there expand and tweak every chapter: adding the Fanes, adding Dark Power patrons and boons, overhauling Death House, overhauling the Dinner with Strahd, overhauling the Brides and their involvement in the story, giving better directions for NPC motivations, etc. Plus, the custom OST made by Travis Savoie. No other module boasts that level of extra material and fixes.

[@coleswasey294]

I ran Dragon of Icespire Peak with some friends, and during the mimic/gnome part of the story, the mimic was hiding in a room full of props and storage containers. Each player picked an object to investigate, and one by one, they searched their object. However, the rogue (who went last btw) decided to attack his object. He rolled a crit, and everyone was so surprised (including me) I allowed him to get a sneak attack on it. So rather than talking to the mimic or having an interesting fight with the characters essentially playing prop hunt, the party all rolled high on initiative and killed the mimic before it could attack. 🙃

[@Cz82]

Jacob: will you marry me? Spencer: roll a persuasion(charisma) check Jacob: uuuuh Spencer: with advantage ;) Jacob: Ooooo

[@muumis]

So whos the cute chick

[@buboniccraig896]

he got a nat 20

[@faldostick123]

By far the most nerdy KZbin comment to ever exist

[@floopthevolcano2330]

That sounds more like foreplay.

[@snoochieboochies2011]

Guh hayyyy

[@icantthinkofagoodname.3983]

I didn’t expect Davy Chappy to make a cameo, but hey he did.

[@guyvingelli9046]

He signed an NDA so he couldn’t talk about it

[@quonomonna8126]

Jacob, I think the reason Lost Mines starts out the way it does is to begin with a bang, to introduce new players to combat and show them how dangerous it can be. Some don't survive the first encounter, especially if they are surprised

[@FentonHardyFan]

I dunno, having a new player's first ever character die in the first session or two seems like a turn-off for new players to me.

[@quonomonna8126]

@@FentonHardyFan one my players' characters died in the cragmaw hideout on their first time ever playing D&D and that was a year ago, they are still playing D&D

[@LizzyThatB]

@Quonomonna my first time playing dnd was absolutely atrocious, not really a good argument.

[@OiCroco]

@@FentonHardyFanI may be a year late, but I’d like to mention the encounter specifically says if the players die they are just unconscious not actually dead. If the whole party wipes they have the cart they were transporting stolen too which becomes a new side quest for them to retrieve.

[@Kasino80]

I bought the starter set and the essentials kit to run for my son and his friends. We're Danish, and only the starter set is translated, and it is my first go as DM and dnd in general. When we're done with LMOP I think we're giving TDOIP a go. Now I know more about dnd so I'll have more time to translate the story.

[@lockwoan01]

LMoP isn't too bad, although I missed out on half of it - Dentist Visits coincided with D&D time!

[@screwtapee]

You Danes got a book translated? Here in sweden we only got the English versions

[@Kasino80]

@@screwtapee yeah, a place called Faraos Cigarer got the rights to translate the starter set, and they did a really good job.

[@Vitskugga]

It's funny that they translated it to Danish for you when everyone knows Danish people sounds like they have sausage, beer and porridge in their mouths while speaking at the same time so no one except another Danish person can understand them ;)

[@siege1289]

Spencer : *"Is this the game that I killed the kid in?"* What is it with red heads that play dnd and killing kids? *cough cough* Marisha Ray *cough cough*

[@bezretmet]

i'm so bummed that we never get to see that moment live.

[@BritishLuver]

Omg yes, I have a redhead pc and they are SO bloodthirsty!!

[@skaterjoe1669]

they eat souls.

[@austinvanderveer213]

Lots of people kill kids in D&D. I know a brunette that burned down an orphanage (by... accident?)

[@bonogiamboni4830]

There's also the half orc bard who commanded an army of skeletons to build an orphanage but they used the orphans as mortar.

[@DMKen]

That stare at the end hit home. I can't tell you how many times my wife and I have done that. Usually over who chooses dinner.

[@guyvingelli9046]

Who wins most of the time?

[@DMKen]

@@guyvingelli9046 I'd say she wins a good 60% of the time.

[@UGNAvalon]

“I run this campaign for my 6th-8th graders.” Perfect wife material right there. May your children have many decades worth of campaigning under their parents’ care; and may those children drag many friends into their own black hole of campaigning.

[@w.kuiper316]

Timestamp?

[@UGNAvalon]

@@w.kuiper316 32:40

[@w.kuiper316]

UGNAvalon Thank you

[@theDMLair]

Useful information as I haven't played most of the modules. I especially liked your thoughts on what aspects of the modules you found fun or not fun. That's useful to know for DMs who do lots of homebrew, too.

[@ashenwuss1651]

You guys are engaged!? That's amazing.

[@Ramperdos]

I think I missed out on a great adventure with Curse of Strahd. Our GM had no roleplaying in it and it was just a huge boss gauntlet of enemies. And the best part of it was the Death House...?

[@Tortue-et-Fitness]

I'm sorry for you But if you want a tip, for these kinds of DM I generally advise them to run a "kill the mage" premise. For example, the PC are a group of mage killers in a pogrom or something, and they are sent to attack a wizard's tower or dungeon. (For the fun of it I usually advise the players to have non-magical characters) It makes it easier for DMs that aren't at ease with heavy RP but are great at running dungeons/fights. The best way to run these is in an episodic manner (meaning: a full dungeon per game)

[@mattwilcoxuk]

What? The entire point of COS is the role play. The dripping rich thick role play. We ran it and could go weeks without combat and yet be begging for more games in the week. The combat was like seasoning to ensure that you remained fucking terrified of bad choices. Its not a game designed to have your party seem all heroic and invulnerable. Its there to almost break you. Through role play. Not combat.

[@Macabrellian]

I-- What?? _Curse of Strahd_ is entirely built around in-depth roleplay, though. It's one of the most roleplay-heavy adventures released for 5e yet, in fact. There are such amazing encounters, story hooks, the BBEG is an ever-present figure who can and WILL travel his lands as he pleases to deal with you personally-- honestly, one of my favourite things about this module-- and just everything about it is _oozing_ with atmosphere, intrigue, and gothic horror-y goodness. The idea that someone would run this without any of its best features is a notion that legitimately saddens me. Of course, I've been a fan of the Ravenloft setting for a long time, so maybe I'm biased, but... Oof. I'm sorry that you didn't get to experience all the adventure has to offer, man. Hopefully you get to play through the game again sometime with a DM who doesn't chuck all that good shit out the window!

[@TheBayzent]

That's...that's really not how Ravenloft should be played at all. Tell your DM to get high on the good Castlevanias, and watch all of the Hammer Dracula films (except the ones in modern day), and THEN he'll be in the correct mindset.

[@incompetenmedic_4603]

At that point just play the ravenloft board game

[@AJBernard]

I thought the Death House was an incredibly memorable part of the adventure, and I really enjoyed it. our DM started us there at level 3... maybe that's the thing... but we had a ton of fun there. Please, do not skip the death house.

[@huib0N]

I agree. I've played Death House twice now and had a blast both times. It's creepy, gross, and mysterious, and so much fun. But I guess people like different things. I mean, I played in SKT and thought it was great. People have different preferences, like, some like misteries, some dungeon crawls, some horror, some just a shit load of combat.

[@bluefyr22]

@@huib0N starting at lvl 1 and fighting a shambling mound at lvl 2 is death waiting to happen if you play it as written... it is terrible.

[@tylerhulbert9529]

@@bluefyr22 So then let your players "die" ;) The first and only time I ran CoS, I included Death House and it became one of the most memorable parts of the campaign for my group. Reading ahead, I knew it was going to be potentially deadly, so I had a contingency plan in place if that happened. Essentially, in the canon of my Barovia, the Death House isn't real. It's all an illusion created by Strahd to mess with and test the party, and learn their strengths and weaknesses right off the bat so he has intel/leverage over them as soon as the campaign begins. So if they "die" in Death House, they don't actually die. Instead, what happened was I let the surviving players try to escape, while those who died watched on. And when they escaped from the house, I cut to a different scene with the dead players sitting in a room with the sound of organ music playing (they were essentially in Castle Ravenloft). And then the voice of Strahd spoke to them, taunting them and saying they were weak and that he had hoped for more worthy adventures to enter his lands, and then their vision faded. Back at Death House, a black carriage being pulled by Beucephalus (Strahd's horse) pulled up to the steps where the players who survived had just exited, and the carriage doors swung open on their own to reveal the players who had "died" sitting inside alive and well. They had their reunion and then turned around only to see that the house was no longer there. Death House is fantastic for setting the tone of the campaign right off the bat and making sure that players feel like they are in the realm of a powerful entity and need to tread carefully. After Death House, my players were pretty much in a constant state of paranoia and it was great. It's a total mindfuck for players, if ran right, and I honestly couldn't imagine running the campaign again without including it.

[@AgentSteffi]

@@tylerhulbert9529 uh I like that idea! I am currently preparing for running CoS (first time DM) and was thinking of making the encounters less deadly, but that is a valid option I have to keep in mind!

[@IneffablyBisexual]

I will never forget the time I accidentally awoke an evil broom stick and almost died fighting said broom stick in the death house, I loved it

[@quonomonna8126]

would love to see you guys review and play Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden!

[@trinxty6099]

Before watching prediction: probably curse of strahd is the best. Edit: yeah obviously

[@rnspurgn3015]

But Jacob says Dragon Heist is the best..... and Jacob’s words are LAW

[@trinxty6099]

@@rnspurgn3015 but Spencer said Strahd

[@rnspurgn3015]

요르단벤 but JACOB

[@trinxty6099]

@@rnspurgn3015 but SPENCER

[@dirkbaldorad3634]

but RUNESMITH

[@Zoltri]

I feel like situations in D&D where there's something happening at the start of the adventure which you can't simply fight through is really good, I feel like the issue is just the DM needs to paint a clear objective in the players mind to express that A: This isn't something to fight, but B: You need to achieve something during the duration of the conflict. Having a situation where a group of death knights leads an undead hoard against the town, and the players go from trying to save Npc's, getting trapped at the walls and breaches and the streets overrun, and need to try and sneak through and escape the city with smaller-scale fights, and skill checks peppered through I feel could be done super well and make a really engaging and memorable experience. Having played Hoard of the dragon queen, I feel like the issue with the opening section is that the threat really doesn't feel all that dire, the dragon is simply a set-piece and doesn't really force action to happen, it might as well just be a Gif in the background of a video game, and the attacking army always felt more like a smaller squad of goons then a real sizeable threat.

[@funnybusiness6491]

Wow, I’m really glad that I found your channel. You guys did a great job with your reviews, and you helped me decide on which module to run (CoS). I am a brand new DM in the middle of LMOP, and I am really looking forward to this new adventure. Thanks for all of your hard work on this.

[@feistierthread294]

IMO Death House is one of the best intro adventures. It really hammers home the bleak atmosphere of the setting, and (most importantly) it sets the expectation that *not every encounter will be conventionally winnable*, which is key for surviving for any length of time in this campaign. Every time I've run death house my players have loved it

[@jacobperez7329]

God bless your marriage. You guys are really cute and I'm super happy that you found each other. I've been watching your channel for a long time and I hope nothing but the best for you two. Stay adventurous and good-aligned. Your best adventure is each other

[@ZerkMonsterHunter]

Just Curse of Strahd castlevania good

[@bishop6881]

100% Castlevania, time to get a party of 4 together to whoop some vampire ass

[@ismailaldienrazi1236]

Does your DM say " But what is a man a miserable pile of secrets" for Strahd

[@ZerkMonsterHunter]

@@ismailaldienrazi1236 I have at least twice. I also once made strahd blonde and let him cast time stop

[@gabrielreis9733]

@@ZerkMonsterHunter is that a motherfucking jojo reference?

[@ZerkMonsterHunter]

@@gabrielreis9733 YES! YES! YES!

[@albanribet4938]

The way our DM had us play curse of Straud was simply amazing, it turned into decent into avernus and into ancient Greece, back to curse of straud turning into my character eternally fighting another character who became the new Straud eternally

[@RicardoKugo]

I know its been a year, but I just wanted to say how your reviews are really informative and helpful. Its nice that you gave your honest opinions and graded them based on your own experience, but made it very clear why you are rating it in that manner and how different groups could have better experiences with the books that you did not like personally but could work for others.

[@getsmoked7219]

Just watched VSauce's "What's the scariest thing?" and thought that the 40 min length was a glitch

[@Shepper99]

Same

[@thegreyman1575]

I think “Out of the Abyss” would be a good way to bring DND5e and Call of Cthulhu together and make an amazing story, IF the story was revamped

[@zekeleary1085]

I ran decent into avernus as a first time dm, it was a heck of a learning curve, but it was the most fun game I have run so far. But I totally agree, it was only okay till you went to hell, then it jumped to a real fun game. Highly recommend

[@beezer524]

This is an excellent video for getting an idea of how these are played. I wish more people put out videos like this. And I like that you included a player's input as well and described your experiences with each. As someone who purchases and runs these modules a big thumbs UP. I love how you also have each adventure labeled at the bottom of the video. Consider doing reviews for future D&D campaigns.

[@wait4tues]

I honestly thought this kid was a 16 year old high school kid with an eccentric KZbin hobby. I had no idea he was old enough to get married. Mind blown. Congrats, man.

[@nietzopaniquen]

I would've loved to watch the extremely long in-depth version! ❤😊

[@cantharellusxxii]

31:06 the random islands were really fun, we got to over through a small government, establish democracy, kill a beholder type thing, and find out the island could talk. It was awesome and was my favorite part so far. It's a great addition to the campaign

[@jakedunson9098]

36:17 Made me die, the way you polish the book with your top and she looks at you like “really..”

[@Biotic_Warlock]

"start baldurs gate in Candlekeep* Oh dear, [laughs in Gorion]

[@schwann145]

I c wut u did thar

[@KoryLunaa]

*Oh no*

[@TheBayzent]

Time to rehash that dearly "Highlander in the Sword Coast" I loved so much in my childhood...a shame you can't tell Sarevok "There can be only one", but you can say that to Zariel...

[@andordimeny6130]

Just started watching. Calling it: they'll diss Hoard CALLED IT!

[@Bidniss.]

Straahd good Hoard bad Upvotes to the left

[@kendrickrochelanzot2053]

I hate that you called it... I love hoard

[@Snowie7826]

I'm currently playing it and the DM just keeps throwing random sidequests at us that our characters don't care about, but have to complete, or the plot won't advance >_>

[@goblinbastard603]

Yeah we tried to play it then just stopped because it was bad

[@nick2d2]

I'm gonna run my first adventure and i chose Hoard because "oooh it follows up with Tiamat, that's cool". Now i've seen 2 dnd youtubers that i like dissing Hoarde and i'm just... this is fine :)

[@visjordan4281]

Coming in late with this, but Dragon of Icespire has expansion content as well. A trilogy of adventures to take players to level 13 that you can get for free on DnD Beyond with a code from inside the Essentials box, which gives it even more value than just an intro campaign. Worth noting for if people want something with longevity and might be put off by the small book.

[@carpedm9846]

One thing to note about Dragon of the Icespire, make sure the players have magic. Because there is a sections with a wererat ambush. Which is not good if you have non-silver melee classes. That or rule it so that wererats dont have immunity against nonmagic. I mean, my cleric couldve probably spritual weapon-ed her way through(dm said that I would most likely die, but I am fuelled by hubris) but it is not as fun for the other players

[@zakjumah]

Jacob about Waterdeep Dragon Heist: " We played and beat this over on Arcane Arcade!" Me: "LIES! You left waterdeep and jumped into Strahd when the player interactions got a bit too complicated!" ...not that I'm salty about it or anything...

[@zeet8251]

Isn’t the lost mines of phandelver what the Adventure Zone started as?

[@maximumdm9612]

Yes

[@TylerLawlawsy02]

You threw my dog in the fire!!!

[@MrCanadiaMan]

I've personally ran Death House three times, and each time me and my players have all enjoyed it a lot. It worked really well as a way to pull characters from other planes into Barovia and having Strahd waiting for them at the end to measure up the new arrivals is a great way to introduce him to the party before they arrive in Barovia proper.

[@artie1523]

I'm playing Out of the Abyss as my first full- force campaign and there are three PCs and 10 NPCs and we are all trying very hard to make our DM have a conversation with himself and keep all the NPCs alive for as long as possible :) it's a great time so far!

[@jadenthomas5261]

The best part of this video is watching Spencer react to Jacob’s antics

[@rebekaersek5324]

Omg this was perfect timing😍 I needed this video so much right now! I'm a new dm who has to choose a module really quickly. Thank you! 😁

[@username_unavailable7592]

Me: Realizes the Lost Mines of Phandelver is the campaign that The Adventure Zone started off with. Me: *surprised pikachu*

[@panzerii8384]

Well, my newbie player moment was done by me... first campaign, first character... We had obtained a mythril chest from fighting a plant like boss. We were not sure if it was a mimic, but it was shut tight. Before the dm spoke about a mythril smith that could open the chest, i decided it would be a good idea to guiding bolt the chest open. The dm laughed it off, and let me roll. Nat 20. The dm, surprised, took a deep breath: and described the scene: From your finger, a beam of light emerges from it. It hits the chest, bounces off a tree, and creates a crater in the surface of the moon. The dm then smiled, and said mythril was immune to magic. The entire party, including me, died of laughter...

[@aniallater33]

I’ve been playing for years and didn’t know that. Sounds awesome.

[@chiefen2443]

Love the idea of bringing Spencer into it so we get the aspect of the player and the DM. Really solid video, yet again :)

[@kachiechan]

Me: Oh boy I just started running Princes of the Apocalypse, I wonder what Jacob thinks of- Jacob: I have never touched Elemental Evil and never plan to. Its trash. Me: 💔 in all seriousness, I love Dragon Heist so much but my group had no patience for it. They immediately wanted to wander out of the city and do sandbox stuff as soon as I tried to run it. I had to switch to PotA because they were so intent on roaming. So I agree with this list but my group has a totally different taste in adventures, they'd probably love Storm Kings Thunder XD

[@Dresiris]

I mastered that campaign and my group had the time of their lives. I prefer it over Curse of Strahd actually. Personally, I think the mix of the master and the players make the game fun or boring, not the other way around.

[@kachiechan]

@@Dresiris My players are loving Elemental Evil! I'm glad yours are too. I have to put in a few more hours prep than Dragon Heist because of the sandbox but that just means more improv

[@ericgropuis]

My players were the opposite they wanted to stay in Waterdeep and be Tavern running NPCs with just doing odd jobs for the guilds instead of doing the main quest

[@cleanestorclol3709]

I just love the last few seconds of Jacob and Spencer messing around with the order of Dragon Heist and Curse of Strahd

[@GodoftheCards]

I did run Dragon of Icespire Peak as my first DnD Experience as an DM and it was awesome

[@Shaso-xv3tw]

“Is this the game I killed that kid in?” My dude, you have made best choice in wife

[@SladePate]

Spencer’s makeup is nice today.

[@TheMariosack]

It is

[@ROYBGP]

So is Jacob's.

[@ROYBGP]

Andrew Stevenson okay, calm down creep.

[@TheBayzent]

@@averystevenson7155 Not gonna get any with that attitude... Also *really* not cool to thirst on other people's fiancees.

[@wafflesarelove5801]

I'm currently playing through Tyranny of Dragons which to my understanding is Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat rewritten into a single adventure with modifications. The DM is really amazing and incorporating backstories and lots of fun RP. Having tons of fun!

[@analeigholdeworlde4178]

"This game made me cry." Spencer!!! You cannot say things like that and not elaborate!?!? ....

[@NeoDemocedes]

Congrats on your engagement! It's so great that you can share this hobby with each other.

[@bigs5078]

I liked Death House a lot, actually. It gave a lot of memorable moments for my party, and it certainly lived up to the name.

[@SchrodingersCatalyst]

Princes of the Apocalypse is good!!! Starts out with mystery and fact-finding and intrigue, and can easily become a guerilla war between four inter-linked themed multi-level dungeons.

[@fuqinrandomchannel]

I´m currently running Out of the Abyss and i gotta say it plays really well. The early on NPC Problem is easy to solve, i didn´t even have to try hard to get rid of them. One of the wererats was killed by the drow in prison, because of a tantrum and they made an example of him (great to terrify your players). The other wererat and the dwarf failed the escape, for different reasons. One out of a desire for revenge, the other made an honorble last stand, to get my players to actually escape (great way to traumatise your players). Oh yeah also a PC died. The infected drow also didn´t survive prison, because of a fight they had and the drow resentment against their traitor. To me the early deaths really came logically and were not scripted. And before sloopludop the hunting party caught up to them and almost completely overwhelmed them. A PC died, the raging Quaggoth-NPC died because they were giving the drow a hard time. The Orc and Buppido were captured. Again all as a consequence of a battle and not my initial intention. Now they are just travelling with the myconid and Jimjar, as the fishperson hermit left them after the darklake. Eventually i figure the drow will dispose of Buppido, once they realise he is a psychopath. But the dwarf and orc (who initally hate each other) will come up later on in the campaign, possibly as friends. The party is about to finish Gracklstugh and i gotta say so far it was great and i can´t wait to see their reaction to Neverlight Grove. Only thing i struggle with is how to keep the travel parts interesting. Played the darklake as it was proposed in the book and it felt a little lackluster. But it seemed important to do it that way, to give them more of a survival experience, which i made my group aware of, before we started the campaign. They knew what they were getting into. Now the journey starts to shift from a gritty survival game, to a dark epic story, as they level up and gear up and are starting to figure things out. cheers ;)

[@SerpenThrope]

I've run Death House multiple times as a one-shot, and people always loved it.

[@tripatomz3441]

Same

[@JochenThe1]

The Death House is really fun, I runned it as start of Curse of Strahd and it has a lot of connections. The Fighter got a cursed plate armor (I was a little creative), and the mill-owning-documents are a great hook, exploring the history of the house has a dense atmosphere and so on... So the review Video here is not true if you run it right

[@TheDangerNoodle]

Thats as a one-shot, where there’s no story for it to connect to. In the full module, it just wastes time

[@philgagnon275]

Death house has so much potential if you put the effort in. I've run it 4 times (1 one shot, 3 times as an into into barovia. Most hilarious thing happened in final room... Witch bolt on the "boss")

[@lebombjames3911]

While Storm King's Thunder was on the pile, I thought it said Stephen King's Thunder.

[@shanehiggs1779]

Great roll-up of the 5e adventures. I'm running a hybrid of LMoP and DoIP - stuck a bigger plot over the two, gave different uses/histories for the quest locations, using both dragons, inserted regional politics etc. My kids are enjoying it thus far, and I think I can take a couple of the books you reviewed here and add more to the campaign. Digging your videos - thanks!

[@hawkthetraveler6344]

fantastic reviews, great team and banter, love your "tropes" comment (I've always called the demon/dragon appearances as "fun park" rides), and returning for the final ranking was of course fun. I'd love to see an update video based on what you played this year ! subscribed in hopes of more great, fun hearted impressions of the game.

[@potato4dawin1]

"This game is dark as hell" you might even say, dark as the Nine Hells

[@alexyuri9846]

I demand to see the longer video! Seriously though, it would be nice to watch videos about your in depth opinions on all of the sets. It probably is a pain to edit longer videos but I personally think that it's best to hear your complete thoughts about most, if not all of the aspects for each set. Keep up the great content!

[@TaberIV]

I watched this video a while back and got started with Dragon of Icespire Peak with a group of totally new players and they have all really enjoyed it so far. I recently bought Tales from the Yawning Portal and I'm considering dropping plot hooks for White Plume Mountain after they defeat the dragon. Also considering starting a new campaign with other friends starting with Sunless Citadel, and also might pick up Out of the Abyss in case they decide to delve into the Underdark, just as "sandbox" stuff. Thanks for helping my get started as a DM with this video!

[@roninanwar]

This is a really helpful informative video. Going through every single adventure helps new dms like me figure out what I'll wanna do after my first campaign. Thank you.

[@windwatcher460]

Personally, I appreciate the ending of this video

[@denosaur4444]

Wow, I can't believe there was a Davy Chappy cameo.

[@essbiebrown8839]

"Yawning Portal's good" I love how optimistic you were and how it tells me this was before you even noticed Tomb of Horrors.

[@adama9300]

Oh my God the way you were both looking at eachother through out Wish you two the best

[@tystill]

That was a perfect way to end the video I love it

[@JoeyBilbo]

Just started Curse of Strahd. We haven’t had session 1 yet but we had session 0 yesterday to set up everyone’s characters

[@eliasfurufors5230]

This Monday I'm gonna have Session 1 of it with my sister, her bf and one of my friends. I don't usually have Session 0's, but i guess I've only DM'd like 4 times so... Best of luck for both of us!

[@AgentSteffi]

@Storyteller cleric is necessary?

[@nathanbemiller1553]

It’s crazy how this video came out a weekend before I want to try and run my first game with friends. This helped a lot with what adventure I wanted to run

[@custardpanda6209]

Are we just going to ignore how good Jacob's Jon Snow impression was?

[@Jaspertenpenny]

“Is this the game I killed the kid in?” “Yup” YOU CANT YADA YADA OVER KILLING A KID!!

[@ZmanImaGamer]

It’s dnd. If it doesn’t have a name then you can yada yada it

[@lulustan1750]

It's dnd. Everybody killed a kid at some point.

[@TH3_W1ZARD]

Lulustan my friend once killed a newborn and it’s mother in front of a father by accident. they were slaves and he threw a flaming corpse down onto guards that were harassing the slaves during a riot and he hit the baby

[@skeletonwithheadinhishands1024]

One dumb kid in my campaign just straight picked up a knife and swallowed it to prove the DM wouldn’t kill anyone on session one. He died

[@hellfire286]

I killed 300 kids in a few fireballs because they were cultist kids.

[@NyctophileXIII]

This was a lot of fun. Great to get Spencer's input! And super cute at the very end. :)

[@bloodhexesillustration1977]

I rewatch this video constantly. I love the vibe so much.

[@Gibbydude]

My first session dming was Lost Mines. My party went completely off the rails at the beginning and negotiated with the cave of goblins for information and the release of the NPC they were holding captive. Some dice rolls later and the party was best friends with the bugbear and goblins and had a guide to go to where gundren was being held. It was a really fun session. I’m also (against my better judgement) running hoard of the dragon queen. So far the party is having a great time with it thankfully.

[@schemingdmandpc621]

LOL, love the ending 😂 Great video overall, great to go though all the adventures and get opinions from someone who has run them - just what I was looking for 👌

[@CJojo_13_]

Descent into Avernus in a nutshell: at least one character will die at the first fight. Deadeye is a stong boi.

[@mikegould6590]

Princes of the Apocalypse is basically "whack a mole". Leave town. Find cult. Kill cult. Return to town. Rinse. Repeat. If the cultists really wanted to win they would unite. Their unwillingness to do so even in the face of defeat is implausible. And thanks for the additional "Out of the Box" plug. I was a blast writing it.

[@Leviathan9173]

Honestly I love the ending of this video. It summarizes the channel perfectly.