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"Are the Authors of the Dungeon & Dragons Hardcover Adventures Blind to the Plight of DMs?"
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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7377524" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>When it comes to D&D's hardcover adventures, I think I'd actually like them to be longer in terms of page count. I'm noticing lots of details that feel like they're missing from ToA in order to hit a 256 page count target, but would have made prepping & running the adventure easier.</p><p></p><p>While I understand that an adventure sells less than a PHB or DMG, and cartography costs are higher, the PHB and DMG are $50 for 320 pages and ToA is $50 for 256 pages. So another 16-32 pages to ToA would have still kept it shorter than the PHB or DMG, but would have allowed for some of these improvements...</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">An index</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A more useful table of contents (esp. for Chapter 2)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">More backstory summarized at the beginning for the DM's convenience (e.g. minotaurs in Omu - what's up with that?)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Details on the culture of Chult, and maybe a glossary of some Chultan words</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Short-form stats for guides (esp. ones different from base monster)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Alternative forms of the Death Curse to reconcile intense time pressure & an exploration-heavy game</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">At least some guideline for milestone based level advancement</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Description of the "Prince of Beggars" / beggar princes & the ziggurats of Port Nyanzaru's Old City</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Guidelines for ocean travel & encounters around Chult – a PC may have the sailor background or the PCs may get a boat in a side quest</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Clues hinting at Omuan engineering & Acererak's magical wards that went into the Tomb – these seem to be poorly foreshadowed, if at all, making lots of work for the DM</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Write-up on some of the islands; for example, <a href="https://www.sageadvice.eu/2018/03/20/chult-what-lies-on-the-close-by-island-of-the-dawn-warrior-pt3/" target="_blank">Ed Greenwood had an entire description of the Dawn Warrior just waiting when asked on Sage Advice</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dungeon roster for the Tomb, like was done for Fane of the Night Serpent</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fleshing out Omu, especially the Palace which is so large that it gets its own column on the Omu Random Encounters chart, yet barely gets 1/2 a page.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Some effort to detail the eastern jungles of Chult known as the Chultengar, and a reason to go there</li> </ul><p></p><p>With the exception of an index, these are all things I'm tackling in my own DM prep. Minus the Chultengar section (which is big because I'm adding to the story in my home game), that's about 12 pages of "supplementary" material I need to run the adventure smoothly.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 7377524, member: 20323"] When it comes to D&D's hardcover adventures, I think I'd actually like them to be longer in terms of page count. I'm noticing lots of details that feel like they're missing from ToA in order to hit a 256 page count target, but would have made prepping & running the adventure easier. While I understand that an adventure sells less than a PHB or DMG, and cartography costs are higher, the PHB and DMG are $50 for 320 pages and ToA is $50 for 256 pages. So another 16-32 pages to ToA would have still kept it shorter than the PHB or DMG, but would have allowed for some of these improvements... [list][*]An index [*]A more useful table of contents (esp. for Chapter 2) [*]More backstory summarized at the beginning for the DM's convenience (e.g. minotaurs in Omu - what's up with that?) [*]Details on the culture of Chult, and maybe a glossary of some Chultan words [*]Short-form stats for guides (esp. ones different from base monster) [*]Alternative forms of the Death Curse to reconcile intense time pressure & an exploration-heavy game [*]At least some guideline for milestone based level advancement [*]Description of the "Prince of Beggars" / beggar princes & the ziggurats of Port Nyanzaru's Old City [*]Guidelines for ocean travel & encounters around Chult – a PC may have the sailor background or the PCs may get a boat in a side quest [*]Clues hinting at Omuan engineering & Acererak's magical wards that went into the Tomb – these seem to be poorly foreshadowed, if at all, making lots of work for the DM [*]Write-up on some of the islands; for example, [url=https://www.sageadvice.eu/2018/03/20/chult-what-lies-on-the-close-by-island-of-the-dawn-warrior-pt3/]Ed Greenwood had an entire description of the Dawn Warrior just waiting when asked on Sage Advice[/url] [*]Dungeon roster for the Tomb, like was done for Fane of the Night Serpent [*]Fleshing out Omu, especially the Palace which is so large that it gets its own column on the Omu Random Encounters chart, yet barely gets 1/2 a page. [*]Some effort to detail the eastern jungles of Chult known as the Chultengar, and a reason to go there[/list] With the exception of an index, these are all things I'm tackling in my own DM prep. Minus the Chultengar section (which is big because I'm adding to the story in my home game), that's about 12 pages of "supplementary" material I need to run the adventure smoothly. [/QUOTE]
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