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It can be intimidating for new Dungeon Masters to run their first game. Beyond remembering all of the runes, DMs need to tell an interesting story, roleplay multiple NPCs, and keep the players from completely derailing the entire adventure. Thankfully, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition has a number of wonderful pre-made campaigns available that should provide some assistance for DMs.
Every pre-made adventure module has its own strengths and weaknesses. While most of them are well-written, some are harder than others for new DMs to try (and a few of them are better off not being played at all.)
10 Easiest: Lost Mines Of Phandelver Is Designed For New Players And DMs
This adventure comes with the Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition Starter Set. It includes pre-made character sheets, a well-written accessible plot, and helpful breakdowns for any DM. Everything one needs to play is readily available at an affordable price and contained within a single box.
The adventure is fun without being too complicated. It has a great mix of roleplaying opportunities and action-packed battles against a number of classic fantasy enemies (and some surprising ones.) Just be warned that the first fight against a goblin ambush is notoriously difficult for new players.
9 Hardest: Out Of The Abyss Is Great But Takes LOTS Of Prep Work
Out of the Abyss is set in the Underdark. The adventure takes inspiration from a number of very different sources, and it has some absolutely unforgettable characters and locations. Any player who can play through Out of the Abyss absolutely should.
However, there are two major problems with the campaign that will be tricky for new DMs. First, the book is very concisely formatted and requires a lot more time preparing for each session than is normal. It is written in a dense, convoluted way. But the other issue is with the first level, where players begin in a slave pen. For obvious reasons, this should be handled with sensitivity and new DMs might not know how to handle this.
8 Easiest: Dragon Of Icespire Peak Is Pure Heroic Fantasy
Traditionally, when people used to run a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, they needed three books: The Players Handbook, the Monster Manual, and the Dungeon Master’s Guide. This is technically still the case, but the Starter Set makes it so new players and DMs can jump right in without making such a huge investment of time and money.
The Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit bridges the Starter Set and the more in-depth roleplaying experience of the three core books (but it also can be an alternative to the Starter Set). The campaign, called Dragon of Icespire Peak, is designed for 2-6 players, pitting them against a young white dragon that is terrorizing the land. This quest shows players what it means to be heroes and will be easy for new DMs to run.
7 Hardest: Waterdeep: Dungeon Of The Mad Mage Is A Massive Mega-Dungeon With Confusing Maps
This epic sprawling adventure is a massive delve through the labyrinthine dungeons beneath Undermountain. It is designed for an adventuring party starting at level 5 and it will take them up to level 20.
This subterranean adventure harkens back to older play styles of D&D, taking players through a huge mega-dungeon. The problem for new DMs is that it has massive maps that can easily be overwhelming for a new DM to keep track of. Dungeon of the Mad Mage was designed to be the sequel to Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, but the two games really can (and probably should) be run independently of one another, as they are thematically very different.
6 Easiest: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist Is A Fun Heist
If the name did not make it obvious, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is set in the city of Waterdeep and takes players on an epic heist adventure. What makes this campaign different from many others is that it emphasizes roleplaying and cunning over combat.
A discredited noble has been banished from the city and different factions are trying to find his personal vault of gold to seize for themselves. Warring gangs and malevolent nobles all seek the vault, and soon, the players will be pulled into this quest too. The opening two chapters of Dragon Heist make for an easy introduction for new DMs and the book provides lots of tricks and tips to help run a smooth campaign (though the fourth chapter has a chase scene that can get a bit tricky.)
5 Hardest: Icewind Dale: Rime Of The Frostmaiden Can Be Brutal
Icewind Dale is the name given to the frozen tundra in the far north that is cut off from most of the rest of the world by steep mountains and storm-tossed seas. It is a fan-favorite location that has inspired novels, video games, and a number of great adventure modules. Rime of the Frostmaiden is a fantastic horror campaign, but it is brutal on both players and DMs.
The book offers ten different possible starting adventure hooks, forcing the DM to choose. TPKs are commonplace. Rules for environment damage and a plot that spreads out across numerous locations add a lot of details that can be difficult to keep up with.
4 Easiest: Curse Of Strahd Is Probably The Best Adventure Module Around
This adventure is infamous among D&D players. This gothic horror campaign has a fantastic story, heart-rending twists, and a tragically compelling villain, all set within the hauntingly atmospheric setting of Barovia.
The opening of Curse of Strahd does require a little bit more prep work, as it includes a fortune-telling scene that requires printing out the cards for a Tarokka deck. The open-ended environment can also require DMs to do a lot of reading. However, the early “Death House” level will help a DM get their footing, while the focus on the iconic villain Strahd ties every facet of the plot together with a clear focus.
3 Hardest: Rrakkma Is Just Too Alien
The Gith are one of the cooler but more obscure races in D&D. In fact, they are have split into two separate races, the Githyanki and the Githzerai. Their ancestors were enslaved by the Mind Flayers and after overthrowing their masters, the Gith formed these different factions.
The adventure module “Rrakkma” is about Gith from both groups working together against the Mind Flayers. It is designed as a companion to the book Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes, and it is filled with obscure monsters while much of it takes place in the chaotic plane of Pandemonium or out in the Far Realm. Every part of this adventure deals with alien concepts and obscure lore, making it difficult for almost anyone to run.
2 Easiest: Hoard Of The Dragon Queen Is Designed With New DMs In Mind
Hoard of the Dragon Queen was the first campaign book to come out for Fifth Edition. As such, it was written with new DMs in mind, as this would be the first book that anyone DMing for Fifth Edition got to use. The story involves stopping a group called the Cult of the Dragon who want to break the dragon god Tiamat out of hell.
There is a lot to praise in this adventure module, especially in the early levels where new DMs may be hesitant. Hoard of the Dragon Queen is not perfect, but it is ideal for anyone starting out.
1 Hardest: Storm King’s Thunder Requires Lots Of Adjustments
Storm King’s Thunder is about fighting giants. These classic fantasy monsters are larger than life, so puny low-level adventurers will quickly feel outmatched when these towering foes come fee-foe-fumming out of their usual reclusive hiding spots to spread chaos through the lands.
Many people advise skipping the first level of this campaign and a lot of the book requires DMs to make adjustments for things to run smoothly. That’s not inherently bad, but it is a big task to take on for inexperienced DMs.
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