While earlier editions of Dungeons & Dragons received many pre-made campaign modules from its publisher, the current, fifth edition sees just about about four per year. Recent additions include The Candlekeep Mysteries, Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and Curse of Strahd. These provide players and Dungeon Masters plenty of professionally crafted campaign stories to play out, but several of D&D's older books deserve to be brought forward to 5e's rules.

To keep players up to date with ever-changing rules, Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast puts out new Player's Handbooks whenever the game sees major changes. D&D is now in its fifth edition, but including revisions and expansions, there have been nine total handbooks since the game first launched in 1974.

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Some of D&D's classic stories from those formative years have received a second life through republication, such as Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and The Keep on the Borderlands, which were both updated with 5e's ruleset and new artwork. The recently released Tales from the Yawning Portal is a compilation of several original campaigns, such as Steading of the Hill Giant Chief and Tomb of Horrors, updated to 5e. Still, there remains a number of retro Dungeons & Dragons campaigns modern audiences would likely enjoy playing.

Old D&D Campaigns That Need A 5e Refresh: Queen Of The Spiders

Old DnD Campaigns Queen Of The Spiders

Written by Gary Gygax, Queen of the Spiders takes place in D&D's Greyhawk setting and is a compilation of seven smaller modules, beginning with Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. Following a trio of modules dealing with hordes of attacking giants, players are whisked deep below the surface world into the Underdark, which is filled to the brim with new foes. Queen of the Spiders marks the first introduction of the drow, or dark elves, to Dungeons & Dragons. It is an advanced campaign, designed for players to start at level eight.

In 2004, Dungeon magazine (via The Shop on the Borderlands) gathered "a dozen or soD&D designers to review and rank every official campaign up to that point. In a list of the top 30, Queen of the Spiders was ranked the overall best. Despite this, the module compilation has yet to be updated for 5e rules.

Old D&D Campaigns That Need A 5e Refresh: The Temple Of Elemental Evil

Old DnD Campaigns Temple Of Elemental Evil

The Temple of Elemental Evil, an expansion of The Village of Hommlet, was published in 1985 for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. This campaign, set once again in D&D's Greyhawk world, starts in medias res, with the party called upon to defeat villainous raiders in the town of Hommlet.

Unbeknownst to the players, a cult has formed in the nearby Temple of Elemental Evil to learn about pure forms of evil and grow their power. The party must travel to the evil-ridden city of Nulb to defeat the cult. The module has seen a sequel, a video game, and a co-op board game adaptation, but it has yet to be updated to Dungeons & Dragons 5e.

Old D&D Campaigns That Need A 5e Refresh: Beyond The Crystal Cave

Old DnD Campaigns Beyond The Crystal Cave

The plot of Beyond the Crystal Cave is fairly straightforward; the party has been hired to go to the Cave of Echoes, a place rumored to grant all wishes, and rescue a newlywed couple. Players then find themselves faced with an enchanting mystery and a magical garden where it's summer all year.

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The most intriguing part of this story is that players can move through the whole adventure without entering combat once. Beyond the Crystal Cave was designed to reward experience points for using a character's intelligence and charisma to outwit foes rather than slaying them, encouraging pacifist Dungeons & Dragons gameplay. Wizards of the Coast did update Beyond the Crystal Cave for 4e in 2011, but not yet for 5e.

Old D&D Campaigns That Need A 5e Refresh: Palace Of The Silver Princess (Orange Edition)

Dungeons and Dragons Palace of the Silver Princess

Palace of the Silver Princess' "orange edition" is marked by controversy. It was originally written by Jean Wells, the first woman on original D&D publisher TSR's design team, but was recalled and destroyed shortly after printing for art TSR deemed objectionable. Few copies of the original, orange-cover version remain, and Tom Moldvay rewrote the module for the "green edition."

In Wells' version, players are tasked with exploring the ruins of the deceased Princess Argenta's castle. Moldvay's version has the party rescuing Princess Argenta from a fierce warrior and dangerous dragon. The green edition also changes several monsters and makes the location much less customizable, essentially making it an entirely different campaign from Wells' vision. It would be interesting for Wizards of the Coast to modernize and adapt both versions of Palace of the Silver Princess for 5e.

Old D&D Campaigns That Need A 5e Refresh: The Gem And The Staff

Old DnD Campaigns Gem And The Staff

The Gem and the Staff is one of the few D&D campaigns designed to pit players against one another. In fact, this two-person Dungeons & Dragons module puts one DM and one player on opposing sides. It requires the player to take the role of a preconstructed character - a level-eight thief named Eric the Bold - and tasks them with completing two thieving jobs in a real-world half hour. They must first steal a gem from Tormaq, an evil wizard, then steal a magical staff from Tormaq's rival, Felspel.

Most Dungeons & Dragons campaigns are played until completion, regardless of how long that takes, so The Gem and the Staff's set time limit creates an interesting tension for the player. Originally published in 1984 for the Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set rules, this unique campaign would make a great addition to 5e.

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