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The list of published D&D 5e adventures, by the time this question was asked, was:

  • Starter Set - Lost Mines of Phandelver | 1-4 | July 15, 2014
  • Tyranny of Dragons - Hoard of the Dragon Queen | 1-7 | August 19, 2014
  • Tyranny of Dragons - The Rise of Tiamat | 8-15 | November 4, 2014
  • Elemental Evil - Princes of the Apocalypse | 1-15 | April 7, 2015
  • Rage of Demons - Out of the Abyss | 1-14 | September 15, 2015
  • Curse of Strahd - Curse of Strahd | 1-10 | March 15, 2016
  • Storm King's Thunder - Storm King's Thunder | 1-11 | September 6, 2016
  • Tales from the Yawning Portal - Tales from the Yawning Portal | Anthology/Varies | March 24, 2017

I know that both Tyranny of Dragons campaigns are related. Are there any other relations between adventures? Is there a particular order in which they should be played, or are the adventures independent from one another?

This question only covers published adventures up to March 2017.

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The books are designed to let the DM choose how to connect them. There is no 'you must play XYZ book before ZYX book' ordering, except insofar as levels restrict. (It would make no sense to finish Rise of Tiamat then jump into Curse of Strahd, for example, since COS ends at a lower level).

While SKT is written with the assumption that HotDQ/RoT has already occurred, there are even notes inside it on how to invert that paradigm if desired.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Your first sentence is supported by developer commentary, if you care to find it. I remember hearing something in one of the recent WotC podcasts to that effect. \$\endgroup\$
    – Derek Stucki
    Mar 2, 2017 at 1:33
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    \$\begingroup\$ The exception to this is of course Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat, which are essentially parts 1 and 2 of the same larger adventure. \$\endgroup\$
    – Garrett Rooney
    Mar 2, 2017 at 1:58
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    \$\begingroup\$ @GarrettRooney good point, I tend to treat those as a single book but they aren't. \$\endgroup\$
    – RonLugge
    Mar 2, 2017 at 6:58
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Besides the link between the Tyranny of Dragons adventures, Lost Mines of Phandelver, Princes of the Apocalypse, Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and Out of the Abyss can all be used as preludes to Storm King's Thunder, with Lost Mines of Phandelver being the best fit, as the characters will end up at both the right level and in the right area to begin Storm King's Thunder. Linking the other adventures to Storm King's Thunder requires more adjustments, including pulling the characters out of the adventure before it is completed. So it's possible to look at Storm King's Thunder as a kind of sequel or follow-on to Lost Mines of Phandelver.

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There are references to Tyranny of Dragons in Lost Mines of Phandelever, with cultists from the Cult of the Dragon mentioned briefly in part 3 as you fight a dragon. You could do Lost Mines of Phandelever, then Tyranny, then make new characters for Storm King’s Thunder.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the tour if you haven't already, and check out the help center for more guidance. In general, answers are expected to answer the question as a whole; you may want to edit your answer to do so (e.g. by just adding a line at the start saying that most of the official published adventures aren't linked, perhaps with a link to RonLugge's answer that already addresses this). \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast ♦
    Aug 17, 2020 at 22:16

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