Keep in mind, you can trade for a Tome
Based on the text of the Curse of Strahd amendment, I'm guessing Tomes are not tradable:
"As an uncerted item, the
tome of understanding may not be traded, even if the owner possesses campaign documentation that allows the trade of uncerted items."
Although the FAQ refers to sources outside the ALPG and other documents when it describes 'campaign documentation', I'd consider the ALPG as campaign documentation, which this specific rule overrides (as specific beats general). The tome from CoS is therefore permanently untradeable without an explicit change to that listed rule in the CoS Amendment.
or use Dedicated DM if you gave one out from SKT
This only works if the rarity of the item is not legendary or unique. Note that the rarity of items in AL can be different than the listed rarity of the same item in the DMG, and any item not listed in the DMG that doesn't include a cert is considered 'unique'. (See FAQ 6.1, p.9) An item is also considered 'unique' if it has properties/abilities that aren't included in the item's description in the DMG or on the list of Special Features on pp.142-143 of the DMG. (Ibid.)
I leave it as an exercise to the reader to determine the effective rarity of the tomes in Curse of Strahd and Storm King's Thunder.
so it's not that hard to get both Dark Gift and Tome if you try hard enough.
Keep in mind as well, the Dark Gift requires your character to succeed at a saving throw or be taken over by the possessing vestige -- if the character fails, and is not already of a lawful alignment, the character is retired until such time as another character is able to cast a
wish on his behalf, reversing the bestowal of the Dark Gift (and removing the bonus). And note that because of the rule on 'table boundaries' for wish (see FAQ 6.1, p.8), this means that if you don't get a
wish spell during the session your character becomes illegal, then it becomes all but impossible to make the character legal again. So the Maze Engine is not the only hazard in pursuing this.
Miramels said:
Is it even possible to finish Curse of Strahd at a low enough character level to qualify for starting/playing Out of the Abyss?
There is technically no tier restriction on any hardcover adventure prior to Tales from the Yawning Portal -- a group of level 1 characters could legally start Out of the Abyss with a level 10 accomplice. However, all characters must be within the legal range for the hardcover adventure to play any part of it together, regardless of tier. So if the level 10 character joins a low-level party hoping to find the Maze Engine and then levels out of the OotA adventure range before the party finds it, that high-level character cannot continue playing OotA.
The campaign rules do allow for a group to play a single chapter of a hardcover adventure, but they must play the entire chapter, not just a single encounter (such as the encounter with the Maze Engine). Note that the previous rule on 'leveling out' of a hardcover can act as a loophole to this rule; if a character levels out of an adventure before completing the chapter, he is not allowed to continue, despite the rule that would otherwise compel that character to continue.
Of course, all of this presumes a DM that knows and understands these rules; it would be very easy for a DM not to know them, or misinterpret them ("oh, Rise of Tiamat allows up to level 15 characters, so the other hardcovers must, too."); this doesn't make such play legal, but it does underscore the importance of detailed logging so that unintentionally illegal play can be identified and corrected.
--
Pauper
