By now you know the rules, you have some dice and a way to keep track of your characters, the last thing you need is adventure. You can play multi-session adventures, or single night one-shots; it is up to you.
Before you read on, you will need to find out who is going to be the Game Master (GM) and who will be the players. The GM is the rules arbiter, the storyteller; they run the adventure. Since they run the adventure, they know how it plays, how to solve the puzzles, which bad guy comes up etc. This part is not really for players and sits solely with the GM. So, players skip to the next part where we talk about miniatures and maps, this part is for GM’s only…… Alright O think they have gone, let’s look at some DnD 5e adventures.
DIY
The obvious first option is to make up your own adventure. If you have read the Players Handbook, the Dungeon Masters Guide, and the Monster Manual, you technically have all you need to start running your own adventures. However, this can be daunting. If you have only read the rules and never played a game, you probably don’t know where to start. While there are a ton of good videos and blogs out there that will teach you how to make your first adventure, you might find it easier to run a one-shot or two to ease yourself in. In saying that, my first one-shot was one I made up and hoped for the best, it was liked enough that I am still the forever GM.
Where the dead lie
Speaking of my first one-shot, Where the dead lie is my updated version for 3-5 player at levels 1-3. Players will find themselves in the decrepit city of Milaf’s Port where they will investigate missing people and a long thought dead cult. The culmination of this adventure is dungeon in the crypt of an old, abandoned church filled with undead and other foul monsters. Can your players solve the riddle and save the city? Find Where the dead lie HERE
The Delian Tomb
Originally created by Matt Colville on his YouTube channel in his ‘Your First Adventure’ series. The Delian Tomb is designed to be a simple 3 room dungeon with goblins, bugbears, and skeletons for players levels 1-3. Players will fight their way through a horde of goblins and a bugbear leader, hopefully solve the tombs puzzle and collect the treasure, hopefully without waking the long dead knights. The Delian Tomb is system agnostic, so it can be played with any version of DnD as well as other fantasy RPGs like Shadowdark and Basic Fantasy RPG. The original video can be found HERE, and a downloadable PDF can be found HERE.
Frozen Sick
If you are here because you love Critical Role and want to play yourself, then maybe you might want to run Frozen Sick. Created for the Critical Role book Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount, Frozen Sick is a popular little adventure taking players from levels 1 to 3. An ancient sickness has been released and now people are dying mysteriously in Palebank Village, will your players discover the cure before they too succumb to the Frigid Woe? Frozen Sick can be found for free on DnDBeyond.
Moon Over Graymoor
Another popular level 1 adventure is Moon Over Graymoor. Set in the default DnD 5e setting of Faerûn, MOG is a fun adventure filled with mystery and intrigue. Over several scenes players will solve puzzles, murders, and take down the evil warewolf trying to corrupt a young girl who has recently caught lycanthropy. This adventure can be played in a single sitting, however it does have a set break that can be used to split it up if the night wears on. If this sounds up your alley, head over to DMs Guild and pick it up LINK
What’s next?
Now you should have everything you need to play a game of DnD with your mates. But if you want to kick it up a notch, come back for part 4 where we will look at Miniatures and Maps.