D&D 5E Looking for Campaigns for 14+ level PCs

[GadgetGirl]

I haven't been DM'ing for very long, it's been a bit of a learning curve. I took over from our usual group DM a while ago. We've run Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and Rise of Tiamat, but with a LOT of modifications, and these left me with a rather poor impression of the official published adventures. However, my players are having a fun time playing high level characters, generally, they have died long before now, or we have switched campaigns or DM's and started over. So I'd like to keep them going with some more high-level hijinks, but I also don't want to waste my money on poor adventures. In general, I like the overarching campaigns and enjoy throwing in a few one-off side quests, for when the whole party can't be there. What are your favorite adventures & campaigns for PC's 14 level & up? Making my own right now isn't an option. I've got way too many things on my plate.

 

[robus]

I attempted to adapt Out of the Abyss for my party after completing those two, but it became a boring slog.

Sadly there’s not much official 5e content for those levels. DMs Guild has quite a few options however. Not sure if this link will work:

DMs Guild high level adventures

 

[Quickleaf]

D&D Adventure Lookup has 22 listed 5e adventures for 14th level or higher: https://www.adventurelookup.com/adventures/

 

[GadgetGirl]

Thanks I'll go give some of those a closer look.

 

[Enrico Poli1]

Actual good high level adventures that I have played from older editions (easily adaptable):
BECMI: Red Arrow Black Shield, Test of the Warlords, Death's Ride, Sabre River
AD&D2e: A Paladin in Hell, Return to the Tomb of Horrors
3.0 / 3.5: Lord of the Iron Fortress, The Lich Queen's Beloved, The Razing of Redshore

 

[Paul Farquhar]

D&D simply doesn't work well at that level, especially when it comes to sidequests. Anything powerful enough to challenge a 14th level party is far to powerful to be relegated to a mere sidequest. You need a string of world/universe/multiverse threatening archvillains.

The traditional D&D approach is for character's of that level to take up running a kingdom, but 5e doesn't really have the management sim rules to support that. Then, many years later, a new threat forces them out of retirement to face the final enemy: old age.

There is a long history of literary support for this approach. It's pretty much exactly what happens in Beowulf.

 

[Quartz]

What are your favorite adventures & campaigns for PC's 14 level & up?

Take a look at the Shadows of Istivin mini-campaign from Dungeon. Take a look at Dungeon magazine generally. There are loads of high level adventures.

D&D simply doesn't work well at that level, especially when it comes to sidequests. Anything powerful enough to challenge a 14th level party is far to powerful to be relegated to a mere sidequest. You need a string of world/universe/multiverse threatening archvillains.

I disagree.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

14th level characters are basically the Avengers. Unless you have a threat like Ultron or Thanos it's not worth them getting out of bed. And Ultron and Thanos do not hang around on street corners mugging little old ladies.

 

[ninjayeti]

I ran the giant lairs from STK for a party of 4 PCs from levels 11 to 14 and found that worked out really well. You will probably need to buff the encounters a bit if you are starting at level 14, but the main thing I found was pushing the party to clear each lair without the benefit of a long rest made it a solid challenge for them. The other obvious choice would be the lower levels from DotMM which are modular enough you should be able to run the ones you want without the whole dungeon.

I know you specifically said you want to run a high level game, but I am concerned you are setting yourself for a lot of unnecessary frustration. High level games are tricky to run even for very experienced DMs (one of the main reasons there is so little material for those levels) and if you are fairly new running a game at lower levels will be a more forgiving experience.

 

[Jer]

Actual good high level adventures that I have played from older editions (easily adaptable):
BECMI: Red Arrow Black Shield, Test of the Warlords, Death's Ride, Sabre River

In addition I quite liked running "5 Coins for a Kingdom" back in the day. Also "Where Chaos Reigns".

So I disagree with Paul Farquhar in one respect. Your 14th level players don't need to be the Avengers, they can be the bridge crew of the Enterprise instead. Planar adventures for high level characters are where it's at IMO - get them away from the game world and off on a journey of exploration in the Outer Planes and you'll find that there are tons of places you can steal at least adventure ideas from, if not whole adventures.