I want to run Tomb of Annihilation for some players, but I also want to experience it as a player. I haven't read any of it, because I don't know if there are any spoilers in it that would ruin my experience as a player.
So my question is if I DM it first, will I no longer be able to play it, or is the challenge of it more straightforward in a sense that it doesn't matter if you know what's coming, it's still going to be tough?
I'm still running it and this is also the first time I'm giving DMing a serious shot. From what I've learned so far, that at the beginning stuff is pretty open. As long as you don't read every little thing as a DM and allow your players to decide where they will go, you will have a lot to explore as a player. My players haven't even barely touched the overall world. Granted the issue is once you get to a certain point, it funnels down into more of a railroad thing. So the end game might be predictable if you go back to experience it as a player, but I still think you can enjoy it as long as you embody the character and avoid the idea of meta gaming so your party doesn't die. But I think there is enough of a world where you can explore a lot of new stuff that it will have enough stuff you didn't get to experience that it works out to having value as a player. I mean if you actually put the time limit on the party, there is no way for them to explore a lot .You got to push forward if you plan on saving the day so to speak.
Oh interesting! I didn't know there was a time limit! That definitely seems like a good way to add the replayability for even players to attempt it multiple times. Thank you! That was very informative!
You can also let the other players make the "big" decisions where the information you have is too much. If your group you ran things for did something one way, simply try to do it differently unless the rest of your playing group comes up with it on their own. This is where RPing is critical. Always keep in mind what your character actually knows. Encounters will likely be different as each DM will set it up differently. You should probably let the DM know too so they can modify things and throw curveballs.
I'm running ToA for the second time now (with different groups) and the routes/decisions taken by each group have been very different so I'm sure that your experience will be different even after knowing every single detail of the module.
I know that the way I approach some things on it will be approached differently by other DM's so if you have the time to play both as player and DM just go for it. Just avoid metagaming as @Rebound said.
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I want to run Tomb of Annihilation for some players, but I also want to experience it as a player. I haven't read any of it, because I don't know if there are any spoilers in it that would ruin my experience as a player.
So my question is if I DM it first, will I no longer be able to play it, or is the challenge of it more straightforward in a sense that it doesn't matter if you know what's coming, it's still going to be tough?
Published Subclasses
I'm still running it and this is also the first time I'm giving DMing a serious shot. From what I've learned so far, that at the beginning stuff is pretty open. As long as you don't read every little thing as a DM and allow your players to decide where they will go, you will have a lot to explore as a player. My players haven't even barely touched the overall world. Granted the issue is once you get to a certain point, it funnels down into more of a railroad thing. So the end game might be predictable if you go back to experience it as a player, but I still think you can enjoy it as long as you embody the character and avoid the idea of meta gaming so your party doesn't die. But I think there is enough of a world where you can explore a lot of new stuff that it will have enough stuff you didn't get to experience that it works out to having value as a player. I mean if you actually put the time limit on the party, there is no way for them to explore a lot .You got to push forward if you plan on saving the day so to speak.
Oh interesting! I didn't know there was a time limit! That definitely seems like a good way to add the replayability for even players to attempt it multiple times. Thank you! That was very informative!
Published Subclasses
You can also let the other players make the "big" decisions where the information you have is too much. If your group you ran things for did something one way, simply try to do it differently unless the rest of your playing group comes up with it on their own. This is where RPing is critical. Always keep in mind what your character actually knows. Encounters will likely be different as each DM will set it up differently. You should probably let the DM know too so they can modify things and throw curveballs.
I'm running ToA for the second time now (with different groups) and the routes/decisions taken by each group have been very different so I'm sure that your experience will be different even after knowing every single detail of the module.
I know that the way I approach some things on it will be approached differently by other DM's so if you have the time to play both as player and DM just go for it. Just avoid metagaming as @Rebound said.