The First Published D&D Adventures (and Why They Still Matter)

Before streaming tables.

Before hardcover campaign paths.

Before “What edition do you play?” debates.

There were modules (photocopied, tournament-tested, sometimes brutal adventures) that taught an entire generation how Dungeons & Dragons worked. These early published adventures didn’t just tell stories. They taught DMs how to build worlds and gave players permission to dream bigger.

Below is a widely accepted list of the first 50 foundational published D&D adventures, primarily from the early TSR era (late 1970s–early 1980s). While there’s no single “official” ranking due to early regional releases and tournament modules, these are the adventures most historians agree shaped the game forever.

A Piece of That History Still on the Table

Some of these adventures aren’t just titles on a list, they’re books that still sit on shelves, get pulled out, flipped through, and talked about decades later.

One of the most influential of all is sitting right there in this photo: B2 – The Keep on the Borderlands.

This single module introduced more players and Dungeon Masters to D&D than almost any other adventure ever published. It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t scripted. It didn’t tell you how the story should go.

It gave you:

• A place of safety (the Keep)

• A place of danger (the Caves of Chaos)

• And complete freedom to decide what happened next

For many of us, this was the first time the game quietly said: “The world is yours now.”

And that idea changed everything.

Why These Adventures Matter

These early modules:

• Defined dungeon design

• Established campaign structure

• Normalized player choice and consequence

• Inspired countless homebrew worlds

Many DMs read these and thought: “I could do this… or I could do it my way.”

And that mindset is the heart of original campaigns.

The First 50 Foundational D&D Adventures

The Very Beginning (Late 1970s)

• Palace of the Vampire Queen

• Tomb of Horrors

• The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan

• The Ghost Tower of Inverness

• White Plume Mountain

• Expedition to the Barrier Peaks

• The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth

• Steading of the Hill Giant Chief

• Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl

• Hall of the Fire Giant King
  

The Rise of Campaign Play

• Descent into the Depths of the Earth

• Shrine of the Kuo-Toa

• Vault of the Drow

• Queen of the Demonweb Pits

• In Search of the Unknown

• The Keep on the Borderlands

• The Village of Hommlet

• The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

• Danger at Dunwater

• The Final Enemy
  

Expanding the World

• Against the Cult of the Reptile God

• The Lost City

• The Isle of Dread

• The Secret of Bone Hill

• The Assassin’s Knot

• The Sentinel

• The Gauntlet

• The Master of the Desert Nomads

• Temple of Death

• Night’s Dark Terror
  

Horror, High Fantasy, and Experimentation

• Ravenloft

• Castle Amber

• The Isle of the Ape

• The Lost Island of Castanamir

• The Veiled Society

• The Scarlet Brotherhood

• Baltron’s Beacon

• The Shattered Circle

• Rahasia

• The Forest Oracle
  

Toward Epic Campaigns

• The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun

• Dwellers of the Forbidden City

• The Temple of Elemental Evil

• Lords of Darkness

• Test of the Samurai

• The Endless Stair

• The Lost Tomb of Martek

• The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (wider release)

• The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (expanded)

• Castle Amber (expanded influence)
  

What These Adventures Gave Us

These modules taught us that:

• Dungeons could tell stories

• Villains could have motives

• Worlds could extend beyond one map

• Failure was part of the fun

Most importantly, they showed us that D&D didn’t belong to publishers, it belonged to the people at the table.

From Modules to Homebrew

Many of today’s DMs:

• Started with Keep on the Borderlands

• Survived Tomb of Horrors

• Fell in love with Hommlet

• Or were terrified by Ravenloft

And then…they started changing things.

Adding towns.

Inventing gods.

Rewriting endings.

Creating entirely new worlds.

That’s how original campaigns were born.

The Geek Clan Question

🎲 So now we ask you:

Did you start with published adventures… or jump straight into homebrew?

And if you’ve played an original campaign, what made it unforgettable?

Drop your stories in the comments.

That’s how legends are made.

No matter your fandom. No matter your edition.

You belong here.

~ Geek Elder Tiberius Stark 🧙‍♂️