Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What do you want in a published adventure? / Adventure design best practices?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Ilbranteloth" data-source="post: 7163809" data-attributes="member: 6778044"><p>So that sort of thing did occur in some of the early adventures, perhaps a surprising one is <em>Tomb of Horrors</em>. Another one is the <em>Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun</em>. </p><p></p><p></p><p>SPOILER ALERT!!!!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Just in case people are going to play either of them...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So this didn't actually translate to the 5e version because they changed the demilich so much. In the 1e ToH, once you got to the lair of Acererak, he manifests as a "ghost" and pretends to attack you. If you ignore it, nothing happens. In addition, if you don't touch Acererak's skull, nothing happens. You can simply take all of the treasure and go.</p><p></p><p>Now in 1e, you could interrupt spellcasting. All you had to do was hit somebody that was attempting to cast a spell, and not only was the spell lost - but you lost it for the day (the spell slots were lost). So this ghost-thing looks like it's casting a spell, naturally you attack it. When you do enough "damage" it turns into an actual ghost and attacks. Maybe it was a wraith. Don't have it handy. More important, if you had found the false tomb, you already met a fake ghost spellcaster before and might know the trick. On the other hand, almost everything else that appears multiple times in the adventure is not a big deal the first time, and something bad the second. </p><p></p><p>In addition, for the greedy types in the party, the skull of Acererak had some huge gems for several teeth and its eyes. If you ignore that, then you're fine. If you touch it, then it steals a soul.</p><p></p><p>In 5e, the ghost-thingy is useless, because after the first round you'll realize it's not doing any damage, and you can't interrupt spellcasting. Plus, Acererak is probably attacking you at that point.</p><p></p><p>But a smart party didn't have to fight Acererak at all.</p><p></p><p>In the FToT, there is a shadow demon at the end, which is a guardian trapped there. I suppose it qualifies as a BBEG. But then there are several rooms, primarily one set that is a series of puzzles to figure out, and that's where the main treasure is. It's not clear if the shadow demon can't leave its room, or the level. If it can't leave its room, then as long as you ignore the fake treasure room where it is, you don't have to fight it. You can continue to the actual treasure room if you figure out the arcane rituals to do it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ilbranteloth, post: 7163809, member: 6778044"] So that sort of thing did occur in some of the early adventures, perhaps a surprising one is [I]Tomb of Horrors[/I]. Another one is the [I]Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun[/I]. SPOILER ALERT!!!! Just in case people are going to play either of them... So this didn't actually translate to the 5e version because they changed the demilich so much. In the 1e ToH, once you got to the lair of Acererak, he manifests as a "ghost" and pretends to attack you. If you ignore it, nothing happens. In addition, if you don't touch Acererak's skull, nothing happens. You can simply take all of the treasure and go. Now in 1e, you could interrupt spellcasting. All you had to do was hit somebody that was attempting to cast a spell, and not only was the spell lost - but you lost it for the day (the spell slots were lost). So this ghost-thing looks like it's casting a spell, naturally you attack it. When you do enough "damage" it turns into an actual ghost and attacks. Maybe it was a wraith. Don't have it handy. More important, if you had found the false tomb, you already met a fake ghost spellcaster before and might know the trick. On the other hand, almost everything else that appears multiple times in the adventure is not a big deal the first time, and something bad the second. In addition, for the greedy types in the party, the skull of Acererak had some huge gems for several teeth and its eyes. If you ignore that, then you're fine. If you touch it, then it steals a soul. In 5e, the ghost-thingy is useless, because after the first round you'll realize it's not doing any damage, and you can't interrupt spellcasting. Plus, Acererak is probably attacking you at that point. But a smart party didn't have to fight Acererak at all. In the FToT, there is a shadow demon at the end, which is a guardian trapped there. I suppose it qualifies as a BBEG. But then there are several rooms, primarily one set that is a series of puzzles to figure out, and that's where the main treasure is. It's not clear if the shadow demon can't leave its room, or the level. If it can't leave its room, then as long as you ignore the fake treasure room where it is, you don't have to fight it. You can continue to the actual treasure room if you figure out the arcane rituals to do it. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What do you want in a published adventure? / Adventure design best practices?
Top