looking for a FUN campaign

[da newt]

I need something lighthearted in our gaming. What would you recommend for a published campaign that is more easy to follow plot hooks, gaiety, opportunities for amusing RP, and in general fun simple escapism with many chances to feel successful / heroic? Something that you'd look forward to every session ...

ToA is loosing it's appeal.

[Amnestic]

Madness at Gardmore Abbey is a 4e adventure related to the Deck of Many Things and some of the cards 'coming alive'. I understand it's pretty decent, and I believe there's a fanmade 5e conversion document floating around the internet though you need the original 4e adventure for it to work.

Red Hand of Doom is a pretty straightforward heroic story, there's not a whole lot of intrigue and the plot is pretty simple - hobgoblin horde with dragons invading...stop them. 3.5 originally but there's a mostly complete 5e conversion on these forums (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?577848-Red-Hand-of-Doom-Conversion-Journal-in-one). I'm not sure how much gaiety it has since at its core its a war story and involves an invading army killing a lot of people though.

[Unoriginal]

I need something lighthearted in our gaming. What would you recommend for a published campaign that is more easy to follow plot hooks, gaiety, opportunities for amusing RP, and in general fun simple escapism with many chances to feel successful / heroic? Something that you'd look forward to every session ...

ToA is loosing it's appeal.

Waterdeep: Dragon Heist can be played like that, especially if you use any BBEG aside from the Cassalanters.

It does require a bit of work to give the module your own feel, though.

[Sparky McDibben]

Have you tried Curse of Strahd?

In seriousness, I'd recommend Dragon Heist or Lost Mines of Phandelver.

[Waterdeep Merch]

Seconding the Dragon Heist recommendation. I feel like the Manshoon ending in particular can lead to a very traditional hero narrative. The follow-up in Undermountain is also pretty good for classic dungeon crawling hack 'n slashing, if that's your thing. Or if you just want a natural continuation from Dragon Heist.

While I haven't read it myself, I hear Storm King's Thunder can be this way, too. Usually as a pejorative, but in this case it sounds perfect for you. Wander around the Sword Coast righting wrongs like wandering heroes. Again though, I've never read it.

[Zhorn]

In seriousness, I'd recommend Dragon Heist or Lost Mines of Phandelver.
I've not played Dragon Heist yet, but I'd imagine it holds a similar potential, being set in one of the major hub locations for the Faerun modules released for 5e so far.

Lost Mines of Phandelver is one of my favourite launching points for new campaigns because of how easy it is to segment up, attach content to, or expand on titbits to preview/flesh out other adventures.
Played through this one a handful of times, and each time has become a vastly different experience based on what other Forgotten Realms modules the DM has been familiar with and what other adventures they were prepping in the background.
You have your basic adventure frameworks, with a semi sandbox element for the players to chase down, and it's very easy to flip the order, or plug events and NPCs into differing locations and the adventure doesn't break all that easily.

[Unoriginal]

On the topic of Dragon Heist, I always thought that with a few modifications it could be turned into the D&D version of a Yakuza video game.

That could be pretty fun.

[Theodoxus]

On the topic of Dragon Heist, I always thought that with a few modifications it could be turned into the D&D version of a Yakuza video game.

That could be pretty fun.

I was in a DH campaign this time last year... so the game collapsed thanks to Covid - but the DM incorporated Matt Colville's Strongholds into the base of operations we got - and yeah, it definitely had that Yakuza feel. I'm really sad the game died before we hit 3rd level. It was a ton of fun.

On topic, besides DH and LMoP which I heartily agree with, Hoard of the Dragon Queen (much less for Rise of Tiamat) can be quite campy, and also has that 'run around the Sword Coast and right wrongs' feel. It can also be quite serious if run differently - it's another of my favorites to mod out according to table desires.

[5eNeedsDarksun]

Saltmarsh isn't bad for that in the sense it's a small town, and you quickly gain renown for doing small things. The adventures are somewhat disconnected, but maybe that's what you want. I tried to keep the mood of Pirates of the Caribbean when I DM'd to keep things light.

[Sparky McDibben]

Recommend using the Alexandrian Remix if you're using Dragon Heist. It helps. A lot.

[Unoriginal]

Recommend using the Alexandrian Remix if you're using Dragon Heist. It helps. A lot.

Strongly disagree about this.


Saltmarsh isn't bad for that in the sense it's a small town, and you quickly gain renown for doing small things. The adventures are somewhat disconnected, but maybe that's what you want. I tried to keep the mood of Pirates of the Caribbean when I DM'd to keep things light.

GoS can certainly be played as an heroic/swashbuckling/comedic series of adventures, with a bit of changes on the tone. Just need to make the town of Saltmarsh itself a bit less dour and a bit more full of life.

[Lunali]

Have you tried Curse of Strahd?

In seriousness, I'd recommend Dragon Heist or Lost Mines of Phandelver.

I'd actually suggest CoS seriously. If you do a lighthearted version of most settings, you will usually tend towards your group's norm. If you do a lighthearted version of something normally heavy, you will tend to go overboard on it.

[Unoriginal]

I'd actually suggest CoS seriously. If you do a lighthearted version of most settings, you will usually tend towards your group's norm. If you do a lighthearted version of something normally heavy, you will tend to go overboard on it.

Lighthearted or not, CoS is still a meatgrinder in several places and a campaign where you're only alive because of the BBEG's whimsy. If someone is tired of ToA, I can't see them finding CoS appealing.

[da newt]

Thanks all.

[KorvinStarmast]

Saltmarsh isn't bad for that in the sense it's a small town, and you quickly gain renown for doing small things. The adventures are somewhat disconnected, but maybe that's what you want. I tried to keep the mood of Pirates of the Caribbean when I DM'd to keep things light. We have a winner. You can play it dark or light; it's quite flexible.

Strongly disagree about this. Yeah, if ToA is too grindy, CoS won't be a relief.

[Sparky McDibben]

Strongly disagree about this.

What makes you feel that way?

[Garimeth]

Lost mines of Phandelver:

If you are looking for something lower level, this is a good one. Just really bring the NPCs in the town to life. Ran it for my wife and our niece and nephew as their introduction to TTRPG, they had a blast and ask me to run a game for them every time we visit now.

Ghost of Saltmarsh:

Same thing, you can make this one work, but the town as written, and as pointed out by another poster, is quite dour and drab. You will need to change that to give it a more light-hearted feel.

Storm King's Thunder:

This one can also be good, and you can segue into it from LMoP pretty easily. some of the little sidequests are silly, and so are some of the giants, the hill and cloud giants in particular. There was a intro Cloud giant named Zephyros that my group loved, even though he only showed up once to give them some exposition and travel. they spent the rest of the game quoting a line I made up for his: (think Deckard Cain voice) "In my many travels, which are both far and wide, never have I ever seen...XXX".

Alot of it will be the module, but just as much, or more, of it will be how your DM plays it.

[loki_ragnarock]

I haven't seen it mentioned, so far, but take a gander at the stuff in Acquisitions Incorporated.

It's patently (pending) not heavy.

[Avonar]

Definitely back up Dragon Heist. We spent a lot of time on Trollskull Manor and by the time we were done with it, we definitely felt like we'd left our own personal mark on the city.

[Theodoxus]

Storm King's Thunder:

This one can also be good, and you can segue into it from LMoP pretty easily. some of the little sidequests are silly, and so are some of the giants, the hill and cloud giants in particular. There was a intro Cloud giant named Zephyros that my group loved, even though he only showed up once to give them some exposition and travel. they spent the rest of the game quoting a line I made up for his: (think Deckard Cain voice) "In my many travels, which are both far and wide, never have I ever seen...XXX".

A lot of it will be the module, but just as much, or more, of it will be how your DM plays it.

Fun (broken) sidenote - our table ended up ganking Zephyros when he failed a roll on Contact Other Plane and went insane (although it's much more like catatonic)... the party sorcerer convinced me (the party monk) to kill the giant and steal his magic items... the sorc had a lot of fun with a giant sized Staff of Power... we kinda broke that game and it quickly went downhill...

[Garimeth]

Fun (broken) sidenote - our table ended up ganking Zephyros when he failed a roll on Contact Other Plane and went insane (although it's much more like catatonic)... the party sorcerer convinced me (the party monk) to kill the giant and steal his magic items... the sorc had a lot of fun with a giant sized Staff of Power... we kinda broke that game and it quickly went downhill...


I lol'ed irl at that.