In a previous blog I listed my favorite published Dungeon and Dragons campaigns.

Favourite published DnD campaigns – Blog of Holding (blog-of-holding.ca)

Besides the Wizards of the Coast adventures Curse of Strahd, Rime of the Frostmaiden, and The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, I mentioned I was just running Rise of the Drow and it was fast becoming one of my favourites. Now that I have completed reading the campaign and I am past the halfway point I can honestly say it is by far my favourite published campaign. So much so, I thought the Rise of the Drow deserved a separate blog review to explain why.

1. The Story – Rise of the Drow starts out in the remote village of Rybalka where a religious artifact is stolen by Drow. Our adventurers soon learn that the Drow also captured hundreds of slaves and escaped to Adrik’s Folly. The adventurers journey through the forest and the mountains and confront the Drow. They soon learn that the slaves have been taken to the Drow city of Holoth and of an entry point to the underworld – Krelgar Keep. The adventurers go to Krelgar Keep, enter the underworld and journey to the Dwarven city of Embla and find the underworld is at war and something is amiss in Holoth and with the ruling Drow House Gullion. The adventurers proceed to Holoth and discover all is not well. There is an evil pact, sacrifices, Drow houses that both oppose and support the adventurers, and an evil that threatens to destroy and enslave the entire underworld.
2. The Detail – Rise of the Drow describes each major location in grave detail. More than enough for sessions upon sessions of side-quests if the party so chooses it. The cities of Embla, Stoneholme, Fungii Forest, and Holoth are described in detail. (along with locations along the way between them) This content is ready to be enhanced and built upon by an enterprising Dungeon Master to weave hundreds of hours of additional adventures. Or the party can choose to head directly to Holoth – the choice is there for the players. I can definitely see myself creating homebrew adventures in the world that Rise of the Drow is set in.
3. The Difficulty – Rise of the Drow is probably the most difficult campaign I have run. The need for Healing Potions and magic items is real. The adventurers will have to be smart and strategic to survive the challenge. Sometimes they will need to fight and sometimes they will need to talk their way out of a jam. That said, the delicate balance between combat and adventure is achieved and only in a few spots does the combat get repetitive – but that ends quickly.
4. The Depth – The non-player characters in Rise of the Drow are complex and their history is fully fleshed out. This provides the opportunity for the Dungeon Master to use as much or as little of the details as they like. There is history, rationale, and motivation as to how the plot is unfolding. This is unique among other published campaigns I have run.
5. The Book – Where do I start? The book is absolutely gorgeous. 544 pages in a beautiful hardcover book with two tasseled bookmarks. Wonderful illustrations and maps. In addition, the book and all it’s components are also available on Fantasy Grounds for a totally reasonable $59.99 if you would prefer to play online: Rise of the Drow: Collector’s Edition for Fantasy Grounds
6. The Feel – I was looking for a campaign that felt more like an old school Advanced Dungeons and Dragons campaign. This campaign definitely delivered on that desire. The campaign is unique and original but still stays loyal to the original style of the Advanced Dungeon and Dragons game.
7. The Ending – The last half of the campaign is paced exceedingly well has a steady build up to the climatic battle. It never has the feeling of being forced. The story continues to be exciting, consistent, and logical all the way through. The decisions made by the NPCs and their motivations all make sense and weave a wonderful story. I was enthralled reading the book and couldn’t wait to see how it concluded. I was not disappointed.

Do yourself a favour, pick this campaign up!

You can find it at the Adventure-a-Week website:

Rise of the Drow – AAW Games (adventureaweek.com)

Happy Adventuring!