We've picked out challenging D&D adventure modules for experienced players
Want difficult Dungeons & Dragons adventure modules that are actually hard? You've been playing for a while, and you want to do something that really challenges your skills. Maybe you want to run a difficult campaign or adventure. Perhaps you want a tough encounter, or you want to see if your players can handle something that's really going to push them to the limit.
As it turns out, difficult campaigns and adventures aren't exactly new to the world of Dungeons & Dragons. After all, the original modules were created by Gary Gygax and his team with the express purpose of challenging players. However, they're not something you run across super often when you're looking at the different adventure modules you can try out. Sometimes, it's because an adventure is just so hard that it can't be recommended for regular play, and other times, it's because the module itself is just bad.
Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus
Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus is bad because it presents difficult but well-balanced or intentionally unbalanced encounters for players. It's bad because it's unbalanced (but not intentionally) and requires the Dungeon Master to put in far more prep work than it may be worth to make the adventure work well for the players.
Tales From the Yawning Portal
Tales From the Yawning Portal is specifically designed to present veteran players with a demanding challenge. The encounters are intentionally unbalanced, which forces veteran players to utilize all resources they have at hand and then some if they want to win. As a Dungeon Master, you could always make this adventure a little bit easier for your players, but that would go against the spirit of its creation.
Instead of Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus, you might want to try out one of the Dungeons & Dragons 5e modules in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. On top of that, it offers a handful of different adventures that you can try out, which will suit shorter campaigns or one-shots better than long-form campaigns.
If you play Out Of The Abyss as designed, given that it's a survival horror, it's going to be punishingly difficult – especially if you're under-prepared (regardless of if you're a player or the Dungeon Master). That said, it's still one of the best D&D campaigns, and it's also included in Tales from the Yawning Portal.
Princes of the Apocalypse
Princes of the Apocalypse isn't necessarily a difficult adventure module because of the encounters it sets up for players, but because of its sandbox nature. It requires you, as the Dungeon Master, to flex your skills a little bit and do a lot of preparation prior to the session.
The encounters are well-balanced but difficult, even as you progress through the game, and it's fairly easy to run given that the module has everything parsed out fairly well. If you're looking for something a little bit more linear, you might want to try out Rise of Tiamat.
Rise of Tiamat
Rise of Tiamat could, more than likely, be harder for players to work through, especially in some of the more 'dire' encounters. However, the difficulty of Rise of Tiamat isn't for the players but for the Dungeon Masters who decide to run it for their group. If your party isn't that great at roleplaying or just generally doesn't like it, you can look into something like a dungeon-crawler adventure.
Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage will present that perfect longer dungeon crawl that may end up presenting a serious challenge depending on what you do and where you go. If you're looking for something a little bit smaller but still quite difficult, Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden could be a great choice. It offers a lot of different areas to explore and isn't quite as demanding as Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, but it can still present a serious challenge.
If you're looking for something that's going to give your players a serious run for their money, Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter may be just what you're looking for. You can run it as a sequel to Rime of the Frostmaiden or as a standalone adventure.
