Princes of the Apocalypse

A great follow-up or alternative adventure to the Lost Mine of Phandelver! Princes of the Apocalypse takes you into the Dessarin Valley, a region rife with elemental energies. The elemental cults are working in secret to summon their respective disaster-inducing archomental. Although the cultist stat blocks get repetitive, there is a nice selection of elemental creatures and enemies rather than orcs and goblins. What I like most is that the Big Bad changes based on player actions, making it a different ending for GMs to run every time. The maps by Mike Schley are so quintessential that I've used them in other adventures (my favorite is the Weeping Colossus!).

Perennially underrated adventure. Difficult to DM. A magnificent sandbox in the right hands. This campaign does dungeons really well, and shines when players uncover hidden plots beneath the earth. Great for groups who love classic adventuring—delve into strongholds, explore hidden mysteries and uncover ancient secrets. A grand finale that’ll leave you breathless.

Princes of the Apocalypse takes the premise of Temple of Elemental Evil and says "What about if we spread it out?" The result is not the classic dungeon delve players of the older adventure experienced, but rather a sprawling, sometimes confusing, adventure where the attempt to stave off world-ending cultist activity is intermingled (with middling success) with geopolitics, factional squabbling, and resource management. Unlike its predecessor whose dungeons were often dedicated to one element (earth, fire, water, etc) Princes of the Apocalypse has many different sites to visit, some of which may quickly overwhelm the unprepared player but could result in some spectacular victories to those wily enough to think outside the box. As an adventure, it is really lackluster and difficult for new Dungeon masters to fully grasp, but it offers some moments of brilliance, even if they are only intermittently interspersed. 3/5 "Not Bad...."

Princes of the Apocalypse is a Dungeons & Dragons 5E adventure that brings back the classic Elemental Evil storyline, pitting players against four corrupt elemental cults aiming to unleash destruction upon the world. Designed for levels 1-15, this adventure takes place in the Dessarin Valley, a sprawling region filled with ancient ruins, treacherous dungeons, and warring cult factions. It offers a massive, non-linear sandbox experience, allowing players to tackle cults in any order, but this also means it requires a skilled DM to organize the content and keep the pacing engaging. The Good: ✅ Open-Ended, Player-Driven Structure – Unlike railroaded adventures, Princes of the Apocalypse allows players to explore the world freely, taking on cults in whatever order they choose. This is great for groups that love open-ended gameplay and making their own choices. ✅ Classic Elemental Evil Nostalgia – Fans of Temple of Elemental Evil will appreciate how this adventure expands on its legacy, offering deep lore, elemental-themed villains, and massive multi-level dungeons. ✅ Four Cults, Four Distinct Styles – Each cult represents Air, Earth, Fire, or Water, and their dungeons reflect their unique themes, providing variety in setting, enemies, and challenges. ✅ Lots of Side Content & Exploration – The Dessarin Valley is packed with extra quests, NPCs, and lore, making it a rich setting to explore beyond the main story. ✅ Flexible for Homebrew & Expanding on Player Choices – DMs can easily expand upon the factions, add more political intrigue, or flesh out cult hierarchies, making it a strong foundation for a customized campaign. ✅ Great Dungeon Design – The four elemental-themed dungeons and final Temple of Elemental Evil are massive, well-designed, and full of deadly encounters. They provide a mix of exploration, combat, and problem-solving. The Not-So-Good: ❌ Weak Story & Lack of a Strong Villain – Unlike Curse of Strahd or Tyranny of Dragons, Princes of the Apocalypse doesn’t have a central, compelling antagonist driving the narrative. The cult leaders feel more like mid-tier bosses rather than terrifying, overarching villains, and there’s no personal connection between them and the players. ❌ Too Many Factions & Locations Can Feel Overwhelming – While choice is great, the sheer number of dungeons, cults, and side plots can feel directionless or confusing if not well-managed by the DM. Without guidance, players may feel lost or unsure of what they’re supposed to do. ❌ Requires a Strong DM to Keep Momentum Going – Since this isn’t a linear adventure, it heavily depends on the DM to make factions feel alive, ensure players stay invested, and prevent decision paralysis. ❌ Repetitive Dungeon Design – While the elemental themes are cool, all four cult strongholds follow a similar structure, making them feel repetitive if players tackle them back-to-back. ❌ Elemental Evil Plot Feels Generic – The cults never feel as dangerous or as world-ending as they should, and their plan to summon elemental princes lacks urgency. The stakes don’t feel personal, making the adventure feel like a series of loosely connected dungeon crawls rather than a grand narrative. ❌ Loot & Magic Items Are Underwhelming – Despite the massive dungeons, the magic item rewards often feel lackluster, making progression less exciting compared to other campaigns. Final Verdict: Princes of the Apocalypse is a fantastic adventure for groups who love dungeon crawling, non-linear exploration, and tactical combat against themed cult factions. The open-ended structure and massive world make it great for homebrew customization, but it lacks a compelling villain, a personal story, and a sense of urgency. This is a great adventure for experienced DMs and players who enjoy self-directed play, but newer groups may struggle with its lack of clear structure and motivation. If you love sprawling, sandbox-style adventures filled with dungeons, cult conspiracies, and elemental chaos, Princes of the Apocalypse is worth playing—but it requires a strong DM to bring it to life.

PROS: -The scope of this module is really great, a true classic save the world from evil style adventure. -The maps and art are a lot better than other similar modules. More color, more detail, etc. -It has a lot of dungeons and locations to pull from. -It fits great with a specific style of play, what some might consider call "old-school dnd" (i.e. navigate dangerous territory, kick bad guy butt, and be heroes). CONS: -It cannot feasibly be played as written without a huge time commitment. If you try to play it as written, there are effectively 13 dungeons that players need to get through in one way or another to complete the main quest. Granted, some dungeons are smaller than others and it's possible to bypass certain parts of the dungeons depending on player choices. When you consider that's the bare minimum for the main quest, not including travel, additional plot events, exploration, character development, or anything unrelated to the main plot...it's a lot of sessions. -In my experience, it requires a great deal of customization to keep it fun and engaging. For the aforementioned reason, it's easy to feel like a slog when fighting through and traveling between so many dungeons. -The key villains and NPCs are very one-note in terms of both character and abilities. Other than the bosses, most enemies do not have as much elemental power/flavor as you might expect. For context, I'm still on my first time running this campaign. I intentionally managed to skip several of the dungeons, we're at 100 sessions, and we are ALMOST done. I look forward to running it again with what I know now. As it stands, I cannot imagine a way to run this without circumventing a lot of what the module prescribes and/or adding a lot more flavor/pizzazz to keep it interesting.