D&D 5E Avernus Any Good?

[MerricB]

Just reading the plot overview, makes me not want to play it. The first encounter, with the ridiculous shaped Cloud Giant Tower seals it. I can't even finish reading, SKT

You are well advised to skip the opening section of SKT. It gets progressively worse at it tries to get you from level 1 to 5 as quickly as possible. The adventure proper starts with the next chapter.

SKT is unusual because it is best played with a group doing little quests in the region from level 1. At level 5, they help a town when it’s attacked by giants. And then they return to their little quests. However, now they slowly realise (through encounters while travelling) that the giants weren’t just attacking that village; they are everywhere!

And then, at level 7 or 8, Harshnag turns up and the adventure proper begins.

I think SKT is very clever in its structure, but works a LOT better when played as part of a campaign starting with the Starter Set or Essentials Kit adventure. The giants should begin as background, and only gradually become the threat the party are called to stop!

Cheers,
Merric

Merric's Musings

Reviews and Play Advice for Dungeons & Dragons

merricb.com

 

[Todd Roybark]

@MerricB , that synopsis, is immensely helpful. It certainly encourages me to attempt another reading. Thank You.

 

[Weiley31]

Was it Skyrim that had the soul gems? Maybe have Gargoth tell the party they can release the soul inside the soul coin (release it from its contract?). The empty soul coin can then be filled with the soul of a devil that is killed in combat.

I actually haven't thought of it like that ala Skyrim. But yes, your right. My idea was an item or unique spell/Cantrip that pretty much turns a defeated Devil/Demon into a "reverse" soul coin that would then get fed into an Infernal War Machine to power it up.

Just be careful about doing it on an Arch Devil or Demon Lord: unlike regular devil's/demons, they don't get consumed if used as a coin, but try WILL breakout(destroying the Infernal War Machine in the process) and WILL remember quite "fondly" whoever it was that was responsible for that embarrassment.

 

[Mort]

WotC doesn't do Adventure Paths, Paizo does.

What is the functional difference between an adventure path and an adventure module that takes characters from 1st to 3rd+ tier?

 

[CapnZapp]

What is the functional difference between an adventure path and an adventure module that takes characters from 1st to 3rd+ tier?

Not sure what you mean.

Paizo does "adventure paths". WotC doesn't.

To answer your question to the best of my ability, I'd say an adventure path is an adventure campaign that's presented in several monthly installments. To the best of my knowledge WotC hasn't done anything resembling an adventure path for 5E. They do big books where the whole adventure is presented in one big chunk instead. There's no path. Just a chunk.

Adventure chunks versus adventure paths. Yeah, I'm going with that as my answer

 

[the Jester]

It's okay, but has a major problem IMHO. There's a major npc who the pcs need to influence, but she's an evil fiend- literally evil incarnate- and some of the ways they can influence her involve being nice to her minions. Sorry, but that should not make her well-inclined to them; if anything, it should make her more inclined to take advantage of them because they've demonstrated that they're weaklings and suckers.

That said, there are a lot of cool bits in it, especially the vehicle rules.

 

[tommybahama]

Not sure what you mean.

Paizo does "adventure paths". WotC doesn't.

To answer your question to the best of my ability, I'd say an adventure path is an adventure campaign that's presented in several monthly installments. To the best of my knowledge WotC hasn't done anything resembling an adventure path for 5E.

Are the Adventurers League seasons dropped all at once or over the season?

 

[CapnZapp]

Are the Adventurers League seasons dropped all at once or over the season?

I have no idea. I made an offhand comment to a poster seemingly considering Avernus to be an AP, that's all. On second reading, he could be comparing Avernus to an AP, though.

 

[MerricB]

Are the Adventurers League seasons dropped all at once or over the season?

They're released in trilogies of three (roughly) on a monthly basis.

Seasons 8 and 9 form more continuous series than previous seasons.

 

[Zardnaar]

Not sure what you mean.

Paizo does "adventure paths". WotC doesn't.

To answer your question to the best of my ability, I'd say an adventure path is an adventure campaign that's presented in several monthly installments. To the best of my knowledge WotC hasn't done anything resembling an adventure path for 5E. They do big books where the whole adventure is presented in one big chunk instead. There's no path. Just a chunk.

Adventure chunks versus adventure paths. Yeah, I'm going with that as my answer

True but the 5E adventures are effectively APs sold all at once at the same rate as Paizo.

They copied the rate and generally the format of Paizo.

They suffer the same problems as the Paizo ones as well. Never hit the heights Paizo did though.

They're about half the size though.