D&D 5E Isle of Dread

[not-so-newguy]

Thinking about running this for my next campaign. How is the play-test version?

 

[thalmin]

Playtest version was done before the monsters had been playtested, so you will need to replace with MM versions. Watch the CR of the monsters, as some changed.

 

[alienux]

I played around with it during the playtest and I think it would be fine as long as, like thalmin said, you use the MM monsters, and also keep the encounter difficulty tables in mind.

 

[sunrisekid]

This was one of the best D&D game experiences of my life. Hands down the most fun I've had as a DM, can't recommend it enough

 

[not-so-newguy]

This was one of the best D&D game experiences of my life. Hands down the most fun I've had as a DM, can't recommend it enough

What did you like about it?

The last time I played this module was thirty years ago, so my memory is pretty vague.

 

[dave2008]

Where can you get the play test version?

 

[machineelf]

Thinking about running this for my next campaign. How is the play-test version?

I love the Isle of Dread. I took the original and re-purposed it for my 5e campaign. Here's what I did, and feel free to use this idea. I found the core idea online and so took it for myself, anyway.

Take the Isle of Dread, and plug in different other classic and fun dungeons on different hexes of the Island's map. That way, if your players happen upon that particular hex, they may be thrust into another classic dungeon, so it becomes a classic dungeon within a classic dungeon.

In my campaign, I also populated many different hexes with other interesting things, including teleport circles which would port them to other various parts of the map. They were one-way portals, so that if the players chose to activate it, they wouldn't know where on the map they would get taken to, and wouldn't have a way back to the place they came from unless they walked the whole way back across the island, or if they found another portal that brought them back to that particular spot. I put about 15 different portals across the whole island, each taking them to a different place. This helped break up any linear path they may originally have wanted to take.

With regard to the other classic dungeons I placed onto the map, I used dungeons that sort of fit the theme of the island itself. So for example, I had The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan in one spot on the island. When my players came across it, a dragon swooped down and began to stalk them. When they ran (it was way too high for their level) they fell into a collapsed underground chamber, rubble filling the hole they fell into, and they were stuck in the Shrine of Tamoachan, and had to find a way out as the poison seeped in.

Adding in those other classic dungeons onto the map of the Isle of Dread really made it for an epic and long adventure (their ultimate goal to try to get off the island, but not before they made it to the section of the island they needed to find to complete the main quest).

* You will have to do some work to translate the monsters and traps to 5e rules. (I've never used that playtest version you were asking about.) But it's really worth it.

 

[not-so-newguy]

Where can you get the play test version?

A google search provides a PDF download for the play test version. No idea if it's legal or safe.

 

[dave2008]

A google search provides a PDF download for the play test version. No idea if it's legal or safe.

Never mind, I already have it. I had forgotten that it was include with the play test materials along with several other adventures and conversions.

 

[Bad Fox]

If you can, I might recommend holding off a couple months until the next Wizards adventure is announced.

I mean, the next adventure could be anything, but perhaps there's a chance that it's an Isle of Dread rework.