Summary
- Dungeon of the Mad Mage focuses on combat and dungeon-crawling for levels 5-20 in D&D 5e.
- Ghosts of Saltmarsh offers sea-faring adventures.
- Baldur's Gate: Descent to Avernus can be a fitting module for BG3, taking players to the Nine Hells.
One of the reasons Dungeons and Dragons is such a beginner-friendly tabletop game is the sheer volume of pre-written campaigns on offer. This takes the pressure off first-time DMs, or just those too busy to dedicate the time to crafting their own world, lore, and story on top of making the time to run a weekly game.
Best Dungeons & Dragons Campaigns For Beginners
There is a lot of Dungeons & Dragons material, but which modules are perfect for newcomers?
These campaigns are all excellent, good fun, and the balance between story and combat makes them good contenders for video game adaptations. As there are so many, it's unlikely any are going to be picked for their own dedicated game, but maybe the next best thing is to include them in an excellent RPG. Say, Baldur's Gate 3?
8 Dungeon of the Mad Mage
A Dungeon-Crawling Expansion for Players Who Want Combat, Combat, and More Combat
- System: 5e
- Levels: 5-20
Emphasizing the dungeon part of Dungeons and Dragons, Water: Dungeon of the Mad Mage is one of the most sprawling, taking the players all the way from measly level 5 to the hallowed legendary 20, the mark of a master adventurer. Rather than balancing out story, role-play, exploration, and combat, Dungeon of the Mad Mage leans towards the latter two more than anything, as the campaign is just one big dungeon crawl.
While this won't be everyone's cup of tea, those who favor combat in their games over everything else will find much to enjoy with Mad Mage, and would likely enjoy it bolted onto a video game such as Baldur's Gate 3. It's not unusual for games to include a mode where they just face countless enemies, such as the Mercenaries game mode in Resident Evil or Devil May Cry's Bloody Palace, so they won't be venturing into uncharted territory.
7 Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Take to the Ocean on a Sea-Faring Adventure
- System: 5e
- Levels: 1-12
Ghosts of Saltmarsh isn't one but many campaigns rolled into one and made for the 5e system, allowing players to live out their dreams of playing a sea-faring pirate, if they so wish. Ghosts, armies of lizardmen, and a race of humanoid sea-creatures, Saltmarsh contains a variety of modules so DMs can choose to run their group through all of them, or chop and choose between them, which Larian could also choose to do.
Horror Games Set At Sea, Ranked
The ocean can be an incredibly terrifying thing to some. Here are some of the best horror games that are set at sea, ranked.
They could spread the modules across the game to make them feel like a more natural part of the story, or as one complete and larger module. The ocean and sea exploration is largely absent from Baldur's Gate 3, so it could just be one of the few missing things from the game.
6 Tomb of Horrors
More Challenges for Fans of Honor Mode
- System: 1e
- Levels: 10-14
Tomb of Horrors is the D&D campaign synonymous with death, specifically designed to be a brutal challenge that will push players to their very limit, just like Honor Mode in Baldur's Gate 3. Attempting to gain entry into a wizard's crypt, the party finds themselves contending with more danger than just enemy encounters, as traps can prove equally deadly. The deadly lich Acererak is said to remain below, but unbeknownst to the party, he has transcended from the form of an ordinary lich to a demilich.
Fighting such a legendary Dungeons and Dragons figure in a modern-day video game is just a pipe dream, but what a dream it is. And for players who want more of a challenge out of BG3, this would be the perfect campaign for them to delve into, forcing them to not only circumvent the nasty traps but also the deadly encounters, especially the final boss. Strategic thinking would be a must.
5 Storm King's Thunder
A Campaign of Epic Proportions
- System: 5e
- Levels: 1-11
Giants are one of the many races that make up the Faerun populace, their temperament normally kept in check by the presence of the Storm King, Hekaton. But in this campaign, he is notably absent now, leaving the giants free to invade. The Frost Giants raid the Sword Coast, Cloud Giants bear down upon Baldur's Gate, and Fire Giants ravage the desert. Now the party must work together to find ways to stop them before everything they know is razed to the ground.
This campaign would take players to various locations and confront them with fights of epic proportions, from infiltrating giant strongholds to grappling with dragons and krakens. There are also choices players can make freely throughout the campaign, which fits in well with an RPG focusing on player agency, such as choosing which faction to ally with, which can even include teaming up with a few giants.
4 Vecna: Eve of Ruin
Save the Multiverse from the Threat of the Legendary Lich
- System: 5e
- Levels: 10-20
The campaign that preluded One D&D by one month, Vecna: Eve of Ruin, is one of the few campaigns focused on higher-level players, taking the party from level 10 all the way to 20, as no less would do to face the legendary lich. On a quest to dominate the multiverse in order to become the most powerful godlike figure in all of existence, it is up to the party to pluck up the courage and set out on an adventure that will take them to many different places, such as the war-torn Ebberon and the dreaded domain of Barovia.
The Strongest Boss Monsters In Dungeons & Dragons, Ranked
Dungeons & Dragons is plenty challenging, but these boss monsters make things tough for even the most experienced players.
Of course, stuffing all of this into a game would require a lot of work on the developers' end, and a mighty bit of hard drive memory available on the players' end, but imagining how great this could be if done properly would make it all worthwhile. Monsters, exploration, new places, and new friends, there is so much to experience in this campaign, perfect for late-level players, so it could even take place after the main story of Baldur's Gate 3 is wrapped up.
3 Out of the Abyss
Escape from the Underdark
- System: 5e
- Levels: 1-15
The Underdark is a Dungeons and Dragons location feared and loved in equal measure. Set deep underground beneath all the cities and life of the surface world in the Sword Coast, all the creatures and races have acclimatized to living in total darkness, such as the drow, riders, and mind flayers. Now, players find themselves amid the curious creatures, trapped underground looking for escape, until it is discovered that demonic forces are seeking to also make their escape to the surface world, and it is up to the adventurers to stop them.
With the Underdark already being an established place in Baldur's Gate 3, they already have a starting point to work on, only needed some new locations, monsters, and characters to create a full Out of the Abyss expansion. It could be that on their way out of the Underdark at the end of Act 1, they find escape not so easy, and now they must not only find their own escape but stop the Demon Lords from doing the same, or something compels them to return later on in the story.
2 Baldur's Gate: Descent to Avernus
Baldur's Gate is Already a Location Used within the Game
- System: 5e
- Levels: 1-13
What with Baldur's Gate already being a location of significant importance in Baldur's Gate 3, Descent to Avernus is a module that could undoubtedly fit nicely into the story. The party's arrival at the story could kickstart the events that land the party right into the Nine Hells to stop the machinations Archduke Zariel has put into motion, and restore the city of Baldur's Gate to what it was before infernal influences took hold.
The Nine Hells is a fascinating location in Dungeons and Dragons that fans barely ever get to visit, outside of homebrew campaigns that take players into these fiery pits, so it would be excellent to see it realized in a game as in-depth and graphically impressive as Baldur's Gate 3. Not only would players have to contend with the hostile devils of this plane, but environmental challenges would be present as well, adding an extra layer of difficulty.
1 Curse of Strahd
Dine with the Legendary Count
- System: 1/2/3//d20/5e
- Levels: 1-10
By far, one of the most popular D&D campaigns of all time is Curse of Strahd, which introduced players to one of the Domain of Dreads, Barovia, and its cursed lord, Count Strahd Von Zarovich. Originally a module made for AD&D and originally titled Ravenloft, this 5e adventure sees the party swallowed up by mist, with the campaign book providing many reasons why this could happen. Now trapped, the party has no choice but to gather the mystical artifacts scattered throughout the land and take on the Count to escape.
The mists can reach anywhere, any place to ensnare victims, so it is entirely plausible for it to appear at any time during BG3 and take the unsuspecting characters into the nightmarish world. Larian has already proved they are a dab hand at combining horror and fantasy in Act 2, so there is no doubt they could craft a terrifying Barovia and an intimidating yet alluring vampiric Count to boot.
Baldur's Gate 3
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 96 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- August 3, 2023
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Larian Studios
- Engine
- Divinity 4.0
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- Full cross-platform play.
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, macOS
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
