For those who have had the benefit and time of involving themselves with every adventure that WotC has published so far (as player or DM), which one do you think is the best? You can answer "why" below and vote above. If you haven't played em all, you may give your most heartfelt answer and explain why.
When my current home brew campaign winds down, I'd like to run one of these adventures. I've already run the Starter Set adventure and have EVERY 5e book published because I'm obsessed like that. ;) This is helping my decision.
I will have to admit that I also own everything as well. I'm not obsessed at all ... no really. I mostly use the books for ideas and adapt what I like from the books into my own twisted imagination. BUT....
I picked up Storm Kings Thunder and got lost in the story so much that I had to give it a try just to see where the adventures ended up. The travel was incredible and depending on the player choice could lead anywhere. This sort of sandbox appealed to me.
I read the whole thing through a couple of times and quickly bookmarked all the pages thought I might need etc. I began running one group through from Nightstone and they loved it. There is just some super epic stuff in there. The flight from Nightstone in the cloud giant tower was to blast to run to run along with the attack Bryn Shander made the players wanting more and more. The one thing that did occur to me is there is a ton of stuff in that book that you will never use. So I started running a parallel second group through but with a different area. Where one group was operating in the Bryn Shander area the other began their story in Goldenfields. This way I could use most of the awesome content. So far it's been great and the story is pretty incredible.
Yawning Portal is good but I have run all of these adventures several times already so I save them for my family group who like that sort of linear game style.
Curse of Stradh would have been my first choice if I had not started SKT first. I think that the original was epic and the new version is excellent but I felt for the newest group of players I wanted something a little bit easier choice wise.
I have a friend running the Prince of the Princes of the Apocalypse and because of the sandbox area where players can go that perhaps they shouldn't their have a few ..... many deaths which is sometimes a issue. As a DM you want to challenge the players but there are some areas that will result in a TPK if they travel there at a lower level etc.
JT
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JT "You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
I will go to my grave not understanding why people like Storm King's Thunder. It is an utterly horrid adventure campaign that looks randomly smacked together by someone on acid. One of the worst campaigns TSR/WotC have ever produced.
The only thing I can think of that is making it popular is the DM's who have to labour through it and change it so that it makes sense and isn't a hodge-podge of stupid. There seem to be a lot of really good DM's out there...
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"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
From what I have gathered after reading through some of SKT, and listening to other DMs speak about the adventure, it seems to be an adventure that takes a little bit more time to prep for, but one that pays off quiet well. It also seems like people running it feel a sense of regret in not being able to utilize all of the material within for a single adventure.
I really like what I see in SKT. There is a lot of material to work with, and some really interesting (deep and dramatic) plots. This looks like an excellent adventure and I think it might be the one I will run after my home-brew campaign is done... Unless something else gets released and it looks like it'll be more fun ;)
From what I have gathered after reading through some of SKT, and listening to other DMs speak about the adventure, it seems to be an adventure that takes a little bit more time to prep for, but one that pays off quiet well. It also seems like people running it feel a sense of regret in not being able to utilize all of the material within for a single adventure.
I really like what I see in SKT. There is a lot of material to work with, and some really interesting (deep and dramatic) plots. This looks like an excellent adventure and I think it might be the one I will run after my home-brew campaign is done... Unless something else gets released and it looks like it'll be more fun ;)
Too little time!
Also the book can be used as source material for a lot of homebrew adventures.
And, as a druid, I really love the beasts there, they are fantastic: Crag cat, Hulking crab and Tressym.
From what I have gathered after reading through some of SKT, and listening to other DMs speak about the adventure, it seems to be an adventure that takes a little bit more time to prep for, but one that pays off quiet well. It also seems like people running it feel a sense of regret in not being able to utilize all of the material within for a single adventure.
I really like what I see in SKT. There is a lot of material to work with, and some really interesting (deep and dramatic) plots. This looks like an excellent adventure and I think it might be the one I will run after my home-brew campaign is done... Unless something else gets released and it looks like it'll be more fun ;)
Too little time!
There is a lot of extra prep and a ton of red herrings that can take players off in a completely strange route. A good example would be trying to locate the Ring of Winter and Artus Cinder. A DM I know had this problem and a group of player dead set on locating this. Still made for a great story arc LOL!
There is a lot of material in the book that will never be used which is sad but as a source book for later it will make a good companion for the Sword Coast book. I did come up with a way to use more of the book and in a way and that is working out well but once again required a lot of extra prep work.
There is a great story in there, but you will need to do the prep work to really get it out.
JT
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JT "You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
I think Out of the abyss, because of the clear objective: We have to get back to the surface.
Players will get the clues to the rage of demon's plot, but their objective is simply get back home for at least half the book. Very "there and back again". They start with little to no gear. they have to work alongside dubious characters and contend with madness and real possibility of starvation. I love it. The villains are great. All the random tables for encouters to spark imagination instead of just linear set encounters.
I like SKT a lot, but (without giving spoilers) changed up how they interact with the Giant Lords, instead of just finding 1 of the thing they need, I am making them get all 5 and having them all be parts of a broken item that they have to reform. (Similar to how something else Giant related was shattered). This makes it so I use the entire book except for the other 2 chapter 2 locations, but I'm fine with that especially because they can hit those towns at any point if they happen to visit them, so I don't feel like I'm missing much. Sure there's a bit of planning but I enjoy that anyway. Also I really like Chris Perkins, so that's probably part of it.
So far my group has only completed Lost Mines of Phandelver and has barely started Hoard of the Dragon Queen, but I own all the books. So far from reading them Strahd looks the most interesting.
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I use summon instrument to summon my kettle drum, hold it overhead like Donkey Kong, and chuck it at the nearest kobold.
None of the above. Published adventures are just too railroaded for my tastes.
Ugh dont be "that" guy. Cant you just answer?
Im going to go with Out of the Abyss. I love the way it starts and how the entire Underdark is a giant sandbox with really messed up stuff in it. None of these are really "railroaded" unless you lack the ability to play with the source information and the tools that they nicely write up and lay out for you.
I guess I got lucky when I just picked two adventures off the shelves. Curse of Strahd seems great and other people seem to agree, and Storm Kings Thunder seems less interesting, but people seem to like that also. Already tried Lost Mines of Phandelver. So based on the vote, Out of the Abyss is next.
This is really hard to answer as many of them are really really good imho. I'm currently DM for Princes of the Apocalypse and really really like it! The only thing missing is some pages with summaries, the rest is top notch. I'm a player in Out of the Abyss, and the stuff I've experienced was really cool and exciting. I don't know how it is to DM though. Lost Mines of Phandelver is also really great. DMed it multiple times and has been great every time. The last one I know is Curse of Strahd, which I've only read, not played in any function. But after reading I'd really like to give it a try!
I've only just started running Curse of Strahd, but I'm having great fun as a DM. The party is already paranoid and creeped the hell out and Strahd hasn't even made an appearance yet. The "Haunted Background" is also a nice addition; one of the players chose it, and I worked with him so that the inciting incident was several members of his dwarf clan being lured to Barovia and disappearing forever. That's already had role-playing payoff in spades due to some luck on the random encounter table and the procession of the dead spirits.
I liked Princes of the Apocalypse a lot. Still running it after one year. In retrospect I should have planned it a bit better, but now that I am at a certain point I have it flowing nicely. If anyone considers running this campaign my best is advice to really drive home some of the retaliations and reprisals. It will seriously help draw the players into the conflict and give them a break from all the dungeon crawling. Run as many side quests that make sense! Relate all of them to their back stories. Consider having players play a race that relates closely to the campaign setting (Dwarf, Aarakocra, Genasi...etc.). Feel free to make up your own sides quests that relate to the overall story. I like this sandbox style of campaign. Yes it requires more prep, but it can also be a lot of fun.
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For those who have had the benefit and time of involving themselves with every adventure that WotC has published so far (as player or DM), which one do you think is the best? You can answer "why" below and vote above. If you haven't played em all, you may give your most heartfelt answer and explain why.
When my current home brew campaign winds down, I'd like to run one of these adventures. I've already run the Starter Set adventure and have EVERY 5e book published because I'm obsessed like that. ;) This is helping my decision.
"What you saw belongs to you. A story doesn't live until it is imagined in someone's mind."
― Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
Oh man, it is quite difficult to make a choice here....i think I go for Storm King's Thunder for the story and the huge amount of diversification.
I will have to admit that I also own everything as well. I'm not obsessed at all ... no really. I mostly use the books for ideas and adapt what I like from the books into my own twisted imagination. BUT....
I picked up Storm Kings Thunder and got lost in the story so much that I had to give it a try just to see where the adventures ended up. The travel was incredible and depending on the player choice could lead anywhere. This sort of sandbox appealed to me.
I read the whole thing through a couple of times and quickly bookmarked all the pages thought I might need etc. I began running one group through from Nightstone and they loved it. There is just some super epic stuff in there. The flight from Nightstone in the cloud giant tower was to blast to run to run along with the attack Bryn Shander made the players wanting more and more. The one thing that did occur to me is there is a ton of stuff in that book that you will never use. So I started running a parallel second group through but with a different area. Where one group was operating in the Bryn Shander area the other began their story in Goldenfields. This way I could use most of the awesome content. So far it's been great and the story is pretty incredible.
Yawning Portal is good but I have run all of these adventures several times already so I save them for my family group who like that sort of linear game style.
Curse of Stradh would have been my first choice if I had not started SKT first. I think that the original was epic and the new version is excellent but I felt for the newest group of players I wanted something a little bit easier choice wise.
I have a friend running the Prince of the Princes of the Apocalypse and because of the sandbox area where players can go that perhaps they shouldn't their have a few ..... many deaths which is sometimes a issue. As a DM you want to challenge the players but there are some areas that will result in a TPK if they travel there at a lower level etc.
JT
JT " You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
I will go to my grave not understanding why people like Storm King's Thunder. It is an utterly horrid adventure campaign that looks randomly smacked together by someone on acid. One of the worst campaigns TSR/WotC have ever produced.
The only thing I can think of that is making it popular is the DM's who have to labour through it and change it so that it makes sense and isn't a hodge-podge of stupid. There seem to be a lot of really good DM's out there...
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
― Oscar Wilde.
From what I have gathered after reading through some of SKT, and listening to other DMs speak about the adventure, it seems to be an adventure that takes a little bit more time to prep for, but one that pays off quiet well. It also seems like people running it feel a sense of regret in not being able to utilize all of the material within for a single adventure.
I really like what I see in SKT. There is a lot of material to work with, and some really interesting (deep and dramatic) plots. This looks like an excellent adventure and I think it might be the one I will run after my home-brew campaign is done... Unless something else gets released and it looks like it'll be more fun ;)
Too little time!
"What you saw belongs to you. A story doesn't live until it is imagined in someone's mind."
― Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
None of the above. Published adventures are just too railroaded for my tastes.
JT " You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
Out of the Abyss hits on a lot of cylinders for me: the Underdark and drow, it's an open sandbox, it's a difficult campaign.
I think Out of the abyss, because of the clear objective: We have to get back to the surface.
Players will get the clues to the rage of demon's plot, but their objective is simply get back home for at least half the book. Very "there and back again". They start with little to no gear. they have to work alongside dubious characters and contend with madness and real possibility of starvation.
I love it. The villains are great. All the random tables for encouters to spark imagination instead of just linear set encounters.
I like SKT a lot, but (without giving spoilers) changed up how they interact with the Giant Lords, instead of just finding 1 of the thing they need, I am making them get all 5 and having them all be parts of a broken item that they have to reform. (Similar to how something else Giant related was shattered). This makes it so I use the entire book except for the other 2 chapter 2 locations, but I'm fine with that especially because they can hit those towns at any point if they happen to visit them, so I don't feel like I'm missing much. Sure there's a bit of planning but I enjoy that anyway. Also I really like Chris Perkins, so that's probably part of it.
So far my group has only completed Lost Mines of Phandelver and has barely started Hoard of the Dragon Queen, but I own all the books. So far from reading them Strahd looks the most interesting.
I use summon instrument to summon my kettle drum, hold it overhead like Donkey Kong, and chuck it at the nearest kobold.
Ugh dont be "that" guy. Cant you just answer?
Im going to go with Out of the Abyss. I love the way it starts and how the entire Underdark is a giant sandbox with really messed up stuff in it. None of these are really "railroaded" unless you lack the ability to play with the source information and the tools that they nicely write up and lay out for you.
I guess I got lucky when I just picked two adventures off the shelves. Curse of Strahd seems great and other people seem to agree, and Storm Kings Thunder seems less interesting, but people seem to like that also. Already tried Lost Mines of Phandelver. So based on the vote, Out of the Abyss is next.
This is really hard to answer as many of them are really really good imho. I'm currently DM for Princes of the Apocalypse and really really like it! The only thing missing is some pages with summaries, the rest is top notch. I'm a player in Out of the Abyss, and the stuff I've experienced was really cool and exciting. I don't know how it is to DM though. Lost Mines of Phandelver is also really great. DMed it multiple times and has been great every time. The last one I know is Curse of Strahd, which I've only read, not played in any function. But after reading I'd really like to give it a try!
Where's Tomb of Annihilation?
I've only just started running Curse of Strahd, but I'm having great fun as a DM. The party is already paranoid and creeped the hell out and Strahd hasn't even made an appearance yet. The "Haunted Background" is also a nice addition; one of the players chose it, and I worked with him so that the inciting incident was several members of his dwarf clan being lured to Barovia and disappearing forever. That's already had role-playing payoff in spades due to some luck on the random encounter table and the procession of the dead spirits.
I liked Princes of the Apocalypse a lot. Still running it after one year. In retrospect I should have planned it a bit better, but now that I am at a certain point I have it flowing nicely. If anyone considers running this campaign my best is advice to really drive home some of the retaliations and reprisals. It will seriously help draw the players into the conflict and give them a break from all the dungeon crawling. Run as many side quests that make sense! Relate all of them to their back stories. Consider having players play a race that relates closely to the campaign setting (Dwarf, Aarakocra, Genasi...etc.). Feel free to make up your own sides quests that relate to the overall story. I like this sandbox style of campaign. Yes it requires more prep, but it can also be a lot of fun.