The Best Adventures D&D Ever Released

Summary

• The Light of Xaryxis offers a unique space-opera twist to traditional medieval D&D adventures in an episodic format.
• Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep provides lore-rich gameplay and fun fantasy-horror elements set underwater.
• The Isle of Dread offers freedom of exploration in a vast tropical island, diverging from typical dungeon crawls.

Dungeons & Dragons has been around since 1974 when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created it as an alternative to traditional tabletop wargames. Each player made a fantasy character and then the dungeon master guided them through a story, testing their mettle against monsters and NPCs.

Some DMs built their own stories from the ground up, but D&D also has a long history of releasing pre-stories and settings for characters to explore. These adventures vary wildly in theme, tone, and sometimes quality, but can prove fantastic for any table. Here are some of the best D&D adventures of all time.

Updated February 24, 2025 by Jack Filsinger: There’s never been a better time to run a module for your Dungeons & Dragons table. From old classics to revamped modern takes on timeless adventures, there are so many fantastic DND modules for you to choose from. We’ve updated this list to include some additional options, as well as updated some information on adventures like Curse of Strahd to make sure you know just which modules are the best of all time.

24

The Light Of Xaryxis

The whole Spelljammer anthology uses a space-opera aesthetic to put a new twist on the old style of medieval European D&D adventures. Add some pirate intrigue to that, and you have The Light of Xaryxis module.

This unique adventure is designed to take characters through an episodic storyline as their characters progress, with each exciting chapter ending on a cliffhanger. It’s part of a much larger boxed set that contains even more options for the sci-fi-minded hero, Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. These adventures have been in circulation since the late ’80s, but only recently were they released as part of a boxed set that also included a bestiary and an Astral Adventurers Guide.

23

Critical Role: Call Of The Netherdeep

The most recent entry in the D&D adventure library, Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep stands alone as its own adventure, as the Dungeon Master decides, but it’s also intended to tie in with the second season of the web series Critical Role. There’s a ticking clock as well, with a rival party after the same goal as the main characters.

There’s a lot of story and lore to discover here, and the D&D module is an extensive one that’s intended to take an average character from 3rd to 12th level. Part of what makes this module great is the sheer amount of fun things to do in this unique setting, which mixes fantasy and horror with an underwater theme.

22

The Isle Of Dread

This classic D&D module is probably one of the most widely circulated D&D adventures in history. This is because a copy of the adventure was included in the D&D Expert Set. Along with this new scope, The Isle of Dread gives players and dungeon masters a completely new type of gameplay focus: wilderness exploration.

Most D&D adventures up to this point were of the dungeon-crawling variety. The Isle of Dread, however, was a vast tropical island for characters to explore. The overall plot isn’t very deep, but what sets this module apart is the freedom players have. They’re welcome to go anywhere on the island, encounter several civilizations (of human and nonhuman races), and battle against new monsters like “kopru,” and even dinosaurs.

21

Book Of The Raven

One of the many adventures included in the Candlekeep Mysteries anthology, this is one of the modules intended for lower-level players. To add to the creative intrigue of this unique module, you can only find it while researching the Vistani. other planar travelers, and possible routes into and out of the Shadowfell. A raven could also bring the book to you, and should the party choose, they can use the treasure map hidden within to create their own adventure instead of using the existing one.

The Book of the Raven doesn’t have a title, but the backstory about how it arrived in the Candlekeep library involves a raven, hence the obvious name. The book is written like a diary, detailing the story of a young woman, how she broke her leg, and her rescue by a kind group of passing Visanti. The story comes to a mysterious ending outside of a dark castle.

20

Expedition To The Barrier Peaks

When you picture a Dungeons & Dragons game, you probably have a very specific aesthetic in mind. Classic sword and sorcery fare, complete with pseudo-medieval European vibes. What made Expedition to the Barrier Peaks so special was it took that classic feeling and threw it headfirst into a science fiction setting.

Characters in this D&D module set off into the mountains to find the source of the monsters plaguing a nearby duchy. Instead of a cave, what they find is the entrance to a crashed spaceship, still full of semi-functional robots and other alien creatures. This makes for such a unique and memorable adventure that many old-school players still count it among their favorites.

19

Tomb Of Annihilation

Centered around a magical contagion that causes anyone who dies to be brought back from the dead, Tomb of Annihilation is an exploration-based module set in the ancient jungles of Chult. This module has plenty to offer new and seasoned players alike. Between hack-and-slash jungle exploration and some of the best dungeon crawls in the history of the franchise, there’s plenty to enjoy here.

There are some caveats worth highlighting in this adventure. If you and your table are not so big on random encounters, this might be one to skip. Most of the gameplay involves moving across a hexagonal map very slowly, dealing with random encounter after random encounter.

18

Castle Amber

The second adventure to be designed for use with the Expert Set, this module embroils characters in the drama of the Amber family. The party is drawn to a castle surrounded by a thick, deadly mist. The mist is the result of a curse laid by the dead wizard Stephen Amber, as a punishment for his family for murdering him. Of course, it also traps the players’ characters. The only way to escape is to explore the castle, frequently encountering the rest of the Amber family, who seem to be a few scrolls short of a spellbook.

The chaotic nature of the module didn’t appeal to everyone. Some players considered it too random, where a literal roll of the dice could be deadly for the entire party. The D&D module has been described as similar to the work of both Edgar Allen Poe and Lovecraft. Despite the brutal difficulty, many still love the adventure for the atmosphere of the setting.

17

The Sunless Citadel

Players more interested in a traditional D&D experience will enjoy The Sunless Citadel, especially if they’re getting used to the myriad of changes that came with the 3rd edition. The game is straightforward to keep the learning curve less traumatic, which is ideal for players not only new to this edition but to the game entirely.

Experienced players might get bored, but the underlying story is fairly interesting, a step up from the usual generic fantasy adventure. That being said, however, this module has a generic dungeon with a not-so-generic dragon at the end.

16

The Sinister Secret Of Saltmarsh

The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh was an introduction to a brand-new underwater campaign. Players explore the sinister haunted mansion on the outskirts of a town called Saltmarsh and learn the secrets of the evil alchemist that lived there.

The D&D module incorporated horror elements but framed it as more of a mystery that players were trying to solve. It placed a lot of focus on investigation and problem-solving instead of run-of-the-mill dungeon crawling.

15

The Wild Beyond The Witchlight

The first D&D adventure to take place in the various planes of reality that make up the Feywild, the players are tasked with defeating the evil hags as Dungeon Masters take them through various planes of altered reality on their journey.

It’s not just the unique adventure and setting that make this one of the best D&D adventures, but also the new additions to the D&D lore in the form of two new playable races; the Fairy and the Harengon. Other new additions include the ability to resolve virtually every conflict with a non-violent solution.

14

Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

Set in the fabled city of Waterdeep, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is the perfect beginner adventure for first-time DMs and players alike. This adventure is also the ultimate urban-sprawl-style campaign, with the entirety of the game taking place inside Waterdeep itself. There are also a number of super unique features specific to this campaign.

First, players get the opportunity to customize and design their own home base in the form of a tavern. Second, there are also a lot of replayability factors. The villain of the campaign changes based on the season you and your table choose to set the adventure in. This means you can return to Waterdeep up to four times before you’ll get much repeat content.

13

Castle Greyhawk

It seems like a safe, almost stereotypical D&D adventure at first, but then you start to notice the weird inside jokes, parodies, and strangely familiar characters. It’s worth playing just to get into the history of this module, which was created by Gary Gygax himself for personal use with family and friends way back in the ’70s.

It wasn’t until the late ’80s that an official Castle Greyhawk module was released by D&D, and by then it was so chock full of puns, pop culture references, and even a few measured shots at Gygax himself that it put some players off. Updated versions of the D&D module, entitled Greyhawk Ruins and Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, take a more serious tone and eliminate the more cheesy comedy.

12

Desert Of Desolation

The Desert of Desolation trilogy collected the stand-alone adventures Pharoah, Oasis of the White Palm, and Lost Tomb of Martek. The Hickmans originally published the first adventure privately, but when they hit some financial trouble, they decided to sell them to D&D publisher TSR. Instead, TSR decided to hire Tracy as a game designer.

The Desert of Desolation module was presented and formatted so excellently that it became the standard way to present encounters for later third-edition adventures. While the first adventure Pharoah was more of a typical dungeon crawl, the sequels established a backstory and atmosphere that elevated the entire series.

11

Queen Of The Spiders

Commonly referred to as a “super module,” Queen of the Spiders collects a grand total of seven previous adventures in a massive campaign. It starts with the modules comprising Against the Giants, which you might be familiar with if you picked up the recent 5e book Tales from the Yawning Portal.

At the end of that module, players are introduced to the plotting drow priestess Eclavdra, and the following adventures chronicle the adventurers’ descent into the Underdark. It all culminates in the lair of the drow’s patron goddess, Lolth. This series of adventures introduced both drow and the Underdark into the D&D canon, and both remain popular elements of many campaigns to this day.

10

Reavers Of Harkenwold

It’s a small D&D module that’s included as part of the Dungeon Master’s Kit, and since this particular bit of literature is on the “Essentials” materials list for DMs, most players might already own a copy of this and don’t even know it. There are two parts to this adventure, so there’s enough for the players to do but not too much for a DM to digest.

The setting, Herkenwold, is being crushed under the boot of a local tyrant, and only the heroes of the adventuring party can stop them. It’s a simple, almost hackneyed premise, but there’s a lot of room to be creative, and if the players are fairly new, an uncomplicated story is one of the best D&D modules to lower the learning curve.

9

Icewind Dale: Rime Of The Frostmaiden

This module has all of the hallmarks of a classic D&D adventure, plus the added challenge of cold-weather survival and an equally chilling horror theme. In Rime of the Frostmaiden, your party opens a crack in a glacier that leads to the dungeon known as the Caves of Hunger.

Part of the adventure is discovering what’s been hidden here, but you can bet some nice loot is waiting at the end of this frosty, haunted labyrinth. Beyond the dungeon, you can explore the whole region of Ten Towns and the secrets that lie beneath the snow.

8

The Temple Of Elemental Evil

Gary Gygax published a D&D module in 1979 called The Village of Hommlet, which was a fully detailed village where a party could base an entire campaign. Six years later, a follow-up to the adventure added the titular Temple of Elemental Evil, a five-level dungeon with over 200 possible encounters.

The adventure became the new standard for “dynamic dungeons.” Not simply dungeon crawls, The Temple of Elemental Evil was a dungeon chock-full of intelligent monsters and NPCs. These NPCs would react to incursions by the player characters, fortifying and strategizing as necessary. Not to mention there were a total of four factions competing for control of the temple that players needed to keep tabs on, making for an enthralling web of conspiracy.

7

White Plume Mountain

If you’re a DM or player that would rather have a modern fairy tale-type adventure that’s defined by loot and wacky magical beings, White Plume Mountain is one of the best choices of all the D&D modules. This module still has all of the things that make D&D great, such as ruined dungeons and magical, overpowered weapons.

What sets it apart is epic set pieces like erupting volcanoes, enchanted traps, and weird monsters. It’s not an adventure for more serious players, but not everyone is up for the Tomb of Annihilation.

6

Keep On The Borderlands

Perhaps one of the first adventure modules players encountered, thanks to its inclusion in the D&D Basic Set, helped define the iconic picture of the game. Players were based at the eponymous Keep and could make multiple forays into the nearby Caves of Chaos.

The caves were notoriously deadly and unpredictable and notably didn’t scale based on depth. Party-killing encounters can be found on the very first level alongside much easier goblins and kobolds. While it might not have depth later adventures would adopt, it can’t be ignored as one of the best archetypes for every dungeon crawler to follow.

5

Tomb Of Horrors

Here it is, the most infamous module in the history of D&D. Created by Gygax specifically to put overpowered characters in their place, Tomb of Horrors is not designed to be bested. In fact, it’s intended to kill you.

Supposedly a puzzle dungeon, most of the “puzzles” are so opaque that there’s little way to know what you’ve done wrong until you’re already rolling a new character. The very definition of a meat grinder, you might want to have several reserve character sheets if your DM whips out this terrible tomb.