If you like detective noir atmosphere in 5e I can put “Sharn: City of Blood” on that list. Loved it when @Darthbinks ran it.
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Talking about Age of Worms here.
ah … 
yeah I changed it a lot … less dungeons more talking
edit: also for open hop-in / hop-off campaigns as V.A.L.U.E., an episodic format works better
thanks a lot for the praise 
yeah that gem was one of the best adventures I ran in V.A.L.U.E. so far 
a few modern gems:
- “Written in Blood” (2022; from the Radiant Citadel anthology)
[quote] the Alexandrian: “is an adventure so good I’d give my left arm to run it.”
… won’t trade my arm 
… but agree that is very good
ran it 3 times
[Spoiler] Story of a young girl who lost her friend to the crawling claws and the dark waters of the lake … and now her friend has come back.
- “The Canopic Being” (2021; from the Candlekeep Mysteries anthology)
[quote] the Alexandrian: “This adventure is a rare gem.”
agree here … the hook is the best I have read in years and is followed up with brilliant execution
- “A Deep and Creeping Darkness” (2021; from the Candlekeep Mysteries anthology)
I run this right now with a group … and its amazing
I guess it works far better in campaigns than as an oneshot
non-D&D stuff:
-
City of Lies (L5R; 1998)
this is imho the best rpg supplement published ever!
is a samurai investigation sandbox
… the adventure here works better for a finale of a long campaign -
My Big, Fat Caped Wedding (Champions; 2005; is in the Villainy Amok anthology)
super funny superhero adventure
I only changed the NPCs to Marvel characters, so the players recognized the NPCs
ran this gem 4 times, 3 of those times at an indie Thursdays night -
[German] Namenlose Nacht (The Dark Eye / DSA; 2014)
investigation scenario in a bathhouse, where the aristocracy are having an orgy
best DSA single adventure
the only downside (and advantage) is, that is so build into the setting, you cannot play it somewhere else while keeping the impact
ran this once -
[German] Die Herren von Chorhop (The Dark Eye / DSA; 2002)
political adventure in the city-state of gambling
looks like a single adventure but there is so much material there,
that you will need a year to finish it
ran this once -
Lotus Blossom’s Bridal Path (Tenra Bansho Zero; not sure about the year ~ 2012)
amazing adventure about love, war & loss
one of the best oneshot experiences I had as a gamemaster
ran this 3 times, 2 of those times at an indie Thursdays night -
Jail Break (Unknown Armies; 1999; is in the One Shots anthology)
“Four convicts. Five Hostages. One Gun. Do the Math.”
very good if you have a lot of players - we basically LARP-ed this
ran this once
edit: added more gems 
Star Trek has some excellent scenarios
only a few gems:
- A Cry From The Void (STA)
- A Doomsday Like Any Other (FASA)
- A Star Beyond the Stars (STA)
- An Imbalance of Power (FASA; Klingon scenario)
- Back To Reality (STA)
- Border Dispute (STA)
- Decision Point (STA)
- Graduation Exercise (FASA; Klingon scenario)
- The Taste of Ashes (Decipher-fan)
Mmm … not sure that citing a guy who’s written extensively about “the decline and fall of D&D adventures” is going to convince me that we’re living in a golden age of scenario writing.
Some things peak early. I’m not happy about it either.
Just because I’m curious. What are your “MUST SEE” adventures. (Mostly because I haven’t run much, if any, before 3rd ed. adventures. Always looking for good stuff )
Probably? A lot of people think it’s the best thing published for 5th edition.
TL;DR = no
if you like the themes, it is nice … if you are not, then you won’t like it
at least it does not have the “great sandbox ruined by buggy railroad at the 2nd part” problem of other hardcover 5E adventures
edit 1: p.s. the old Castle Ravenloft is so different, that those two a completely non-comparable adventures - the setting is partly the same, but the set-up and tone is very different
edit 2: p.p.s.: Waterdeep: Dragonheist is still my favorite hardcover 5E adventure … ran it twice^^
Masks of Nyarlathotep is probably the most common choice for greatest campaign ever. Orient Express is on the list, along with some of the shorter Call of Cthulhu stuff. Crack’d and Crook’d Manse? I may have gotten the title wrong, because there are so many of these. The Condemned, perhaps. Couple more. The Burning Stars is less widely known, but often pops up in best scenario ever conversations.
Enemy Within for Warhammer.
Great Pendragon Campaign.
For D&D, Tomb of Horrors. Barrier Peaks. Ravenloft. Choose what you like from White Plume Mountain, Temple of Elemental Evil, Tamoachan, etc. Mud Sorcerer’s Tomb.
And speaking of choose what you like, if you count solo gamebooks: Sorcery!
Incomplete list, obviously, and insert inane comment about depending on taste here. But those are things around which there’s some sort of rough consensus, at least as close as you can get in RPG matters.
(just my opinion)
you have to change the names for those who can understand German though 
at least in the original print
- Tomb of Horrors is just awful and very bad
- Barrier Beaks was innovative back then … from today’s perspective it’s solid
- Ravenloft is great, and also replayable
- White Plume Mountain was innovative back then (but you won’t recognize that today) … also if you do not like dungeoncrawls, you won’t have fun
- Temple of Elemental Evil has some stuff that was just plain bad … if you take the core concept and build your own stuff, the adventure will be
better (Return to the ToEE was a bit better) - Tamoachan is solid … if you love dungeons
- Mud Sorcerer’s Tomb … is like Tomb of Horrors but beatable … so if you love dungeons it’s fine, but won’t consider it great from today’s perspective
we played that and it did not work … maybe our players / GM’s fault … dunno
(I was a player)
(again … just my opinion)
old but still good:
-
D1-D3 Descent into the Depths of the Earth / Vault of the Drow (1978)
solid
adventures
… but please do not run Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits after those, that is unsalvageable
… instead you could use The Harrowing from Dungeon Magazine #084 as the finale -
Dark Tower (1980)
finally a dungeon with an interesting level design -
N1Against the Cult of the Reptile God (1982)
low-level investigation in a rural village
has some neat ideas/twists that still work today
a certain NPC is a disaster for the story … but that is fixable -
B4 The Lost City (1982)
very neat sword & sorcery adventure - inspired by a Conan short-story
to be fair: it needs heavy lifting to make it work
(the 2nd part of the dungeon is basically unuseable)
ran it once … was awesome 
-
UK1 Beyond the Crystal Cave (1983)
non-combat adventure
has some problems but is fixable
obviously WotC added combat in the 4E (2011) reprint
-
I-6 Ravenloft (1983)
replayable heist adventure in a gothic-horror castle -
RM2 The Created (1993)
takes a very specific DM AND gaming group to make it work
still awesome -
Red Hand of Doom (2006)
especially the @BufoBufo version
war-campaign against a goblin army
… I suggest that you switch the last two chapters -
Reavers of Harkenwold (2010)
fight an evil merc. army in a points of light setting -
Way of the Wicked (2012)
evil campaign of Asmodeus cultists taking over a paladin-loving island nation -
Kingmaker (2010; re-releases for PF 2E 2022)
hexcrawl / sandbox / kingdom building
sooooo much work for the DM, but def. worth it, if somone pulls that off
the re-release is actually better and fixes a few issues
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Regarding Ravenloft 5e / Curse of Strahd as a must-play, it depends. Yes, if you’re into gothic horror. No, if you’re looking for more light hearted games.
In my experience CoS games can also vary widely, depending on how the GM runs them (lethality, lightheartedness, how depressing it gets, etc) which in turn can influence how people experience the game. with a GM that runs the game in a way the players enjoy and at least a little interest in the genre, it is an amazing campaign.
compared to other wotc campaigns the quality is quite good. stuff is a little all over the place organisation-wise, but that’s often the case with sandbox games with a limited page count. and while there are amazing community contributions out there (and a lot of them), it’s still a decent campaign if run straight from the book.
I might be a little biased though, I’m a sucker for gothic horror in general 
Another really good adventure is “Shadow of the Sun” from the Radiant Citadel book, i ran it yesterday. For me it’s the best I’ve read and GMed in 5e. It’s level 11, which might be a turn off for some, but if you’re willing to play/run tier 3, i can warmly recommend it.
It has actual choices that influence the ending in a substantial way, with both being completely valid courses of action (and only small adjustments needed for a third option). That’s something i have yet to see in any other 5e adventure (full disclaimer, i have not read everything).
Fixing Enemy Within is practically an industry. But yeah, the bit you’re talking about is funny.
(Still a stone cold must-play.)
In any case, this isn’t necessarily my list. It’s the modules that will probably pop up in these conversations with the greatest frequency. If it were just my opinion, I’d tell you that our 4th Tournament was a must-play because it featured the greatest puzzle ever found in an RPG (and it’s not close), but that’s just me.
(Somebody called me humble on discord. Have to restore balance to the Force.)
As for the other stuff, Tomb is really good at what it sets out to do. It’s the single most iconic D&D module for a reason. Agreed about the others, for the most part. There are some weaknesses there - ToEE drags, etc. - but this style of adventure writing was just so good at creating memorable moments. Like Tamoachan: you came away from that with three of the best moments I’ve seen in this group. That’s quite something. Same with the ones on your list, or Isle of Dread, or Castle Amber …
(Regarding the if you like dungeons qualifier, well, if you don’t, you might not exactly be the target audience for Dungeons & Dragons in the first place …)
you should join us for those adventures!
it’s different, it’s fun, it’s deadly
I have the new version, you’re welcome to borrow them. They went all out on historical background so it’s interesting.
I did a lot of research into running Orient Express. There are some acknowledged critical flaws where entire campaigns can fall apart if Keeper isn’t careful, and if things don’t go exactly right at times, there’s a lot of “it happens this way because it has to.” Lots of promise, but when reading through it, I could easily imagine a campaign going badly.