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Adventure collections are the perfect way to shake up a long campaign or jumpstart a one-shot when playing Dungeons & Dragons. However, Quests From the Infinite Staircase takes story collections to a new level, reviving classic tales with modern rules for players to enjoy.
When first picking up Quests From the Infinite Staircase, I was prepared for something similar to Tales of the Yawning Portal. It’s a fun grab-bag of interesting stories perfect for breaking up longer sessions. However, I was not ready for what I found in the newest sourcebooks’ pages. I want to run this book as a full campaign, and everything needed to do so is right in the first chapter of the book.
Key Details
- Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
- Where to Buy: The D&D online store, in-person book and game shops
- Price: $59.99+
- Digital Version: Yes
- Review Copy Provided: Yes
Nafas and the Censer of Dreams Have Inspired Me
Upon opening Quests From the Infinite Staircase, players learn about the Djinni Nafas. Tethered to the Infinite Staircase, he is a profound lover of stories and often steps into the affairs of those with wishes beyond his domain.
Using the infinite number of doors, Nafas can bring adventurers into his Censer of Dreams, or send them out into unknown worlds to trace the origin of wishes he hears from within the staircase.
Nafas and his staircase are the tether that allows players to run Quests From the Infinite Staircase as a full campaign. Players can take on the Dijnni’s quests, returning between adventures to his Censer for interludes. There is so much room for the plentiful content available in 5th Edition’s library, and so many opportunities to shape the premise of Nafas in homebrew.
Six Adventures Revive Classic Stories
Quests From the Infinite Staircase is made up of six remastered adventures from D&D’s history. Each tale has been updated for modern rulesets and the stories have been fleshed out to connect with current tabletop audiences.
Every story has the potential to be expanded on. With the help of sourcebooks like The Wild Beyond the Witchlight and Spelljammer, certain chapters could easily become whole campaigns.
The chapter I found most exciting was “Beyond the Crystal Cave”. This adventure, inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, sees players attempt to discover and rescue a pair of lovers who have run away from home to be together.
The story is rich in lore and encourages players to roleplay as they explore beautiful locations like the Eternal Garden. Unlike the other dungeon-heavy narratives in Quests From the Infinite Staircase, it feels more like a story and leans heavily into the concepts that sparked its creation.
Adventures For Every Level
Quests From the Infinite Staircase‘s adventures scale in levels, with the first chapter meant to be played from level one, and every subsequent adventure raising the levels to match the party as they grow.
This means that players can turn the sourcebook into a campaign that has an entry point for new characters, or DMs can slot an adventure into an existing campaign matching the difficulty level of the chapter chosen to their party’s level.
This is a great system for one-shots as well. Players can pick a favorite pre-made hero and scale their level to match the adventure chosen, then jump in at just the right skill level for the challenges that await them.
Final Score – 9.5/10
Dungeons & Dragons: Quests From the Infinite Staircase is the perfect fuel for wild imaginations. It is a sourcebook that can take on so many roles, depending on the DM, and its roots in classic D&D lore create adventures that are like a field trip through the dungeons of decades past.
This is a must-have sourcebook for D&D fans, with a versatility that will make every use a completely unique experience. I know I already have a notebook of plans for a new campaign, and I can’t wait to see what stories other players write as they embark on their own adventures.
**A physical sample of D&D: Quests From the Infinite Staircase was provided to Bonus Action for the purpose of this review.**
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