D&D: Five Classic Campaigns That Go From Levels 1-20
Wizards of the Coast didn’t always stop their adventures around 12th level or so, as these classic 1-20 campaigns will show.
Take a look at all the adventures published for D&D 5th edition, and you might get the impression that WotC just doesn’t like to make adventures that go past 12th level or so. Books that do are relatively rare – with Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage and Vecna: Eve of Ruin as two notable exceptions. But that wasn’t always the case.
Look back a decade or two, and you’ll find that D&D is full of campaigns that run from levels 1-20. You could probably go through and convert them if you’re enterprising. Or read them through and mine them for “inspiration” if you want to run a game that goes the distance.
Age of Worms
The Age of Worms was originally published in twelve different installments back in the glory days of Dungeon Magazine. This Adventure Path took place nominally in Greyhawk (but could be adapted to any setting) and followed the rise of Kyuss, the Wormgod. You might be familiar with Kyuss from monsters like the Worm that Walks or the Larva Mage, and in general, this was an adventure that starts with the adventurers following the schemes of a mysterious cult, determined to bring about the Age of Worms. With a little gladiatorial tournament included, as a treat.
Shackled City
The Shackled City was the first Adventure Path. Here’s, arguably, where everything that would go on to make Pathfinder feel like Pathfinder begins to cook in the primordial ooze of 3rd Edition D&D. Again, over the course of twelve different adventures, with a sprinkling of everything from dungeon crawls to political intrigue plots, your party would hit level 20.
In the Shackled City, adventurers explore Greyhawk’s city of Cauldron as one disaster after another befalls it. It goes from being attacked by goblins to being preyed upon by divine assassins, blasphemous beholders performing unholy rituals, and a subterranean volcano eruption right beneath the city for good measure. Surprisingly enough, the city makes it out intact.
Savage Tide
Savage Tide is a sprawling campaign that features one of D&D’s oldest locations – the Isle of Dread. This is infamous in D&D for being one of the first places where overland adventures took place. And it reemerged in 3rd Edition as players work to stem a rising tide of disaster. It’s a fairly straightforward plot as the players discover a phenomenon known as the Savage Tide (a plot by Demogorgon) but they have to learn about what it is, how to stop it, and then actually go and deal with it by joining an assault on Demogorgon’s lair in the Abyss. Extraplanar adventure at its finest!
Ashardalon’s Ascension
Of course, it’s not just Adventure Paths. WotC published a whole saga of adventures that were linked, even if they weren’t technically all one campaign. They built upon one another – with players seeking a way to stop the ancient dragon Ashardalon from carrying out a plot that could doom the multiverse. It all starts in the Sunless Citadel, one of the finest 3rd Edition dungeon crawls ever made. And from its sprawling halls and blighted Gulthias tree begins a tale that ends with fighting a dying dragon who wished to consume a whole well of souls in an effort to stave off death.
The Prince of Undeath
In a similar vein, WotC published a series of linked 4th Edition adventures. This series of nine adventures begins with the kinda sprawling (sometimes unbalanced) Keep on the Shadowfell, and follows the players as they do battle with the cult of Orcus, the machinations of Orcus, and then finally get into a showdown with Orcus the Demon Prince of Undeath himself. It goes from levels 1-30, and perfectly encapsulates both the good and bad of 4th Edition. But if you want to see the model of a campaign all about actually fighting a deity-level enemy, this is a great template to mine for ideas and inspiration.
Happy Adventuring!
