D&D 5E Dead In Thay Gates, How Do They Actually Work?!

[FitzTheRuke]

Not sure why Dead in Thay is in Yawning Portal, since it’s neither a classic nor particularly good.

My only guess is that it fit the level range and page count.

 

[jayoungr]

My only guess is that it fit the level range and page count.

And was already "converted" to 5E, more or less, since it was written for the playtest.

Vault of the Dracolich (which came first and shared the conceit of having four parties enter the same dungeon at the same time).

And where does one find this awesome adventure?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

And was already "converted" to 5E, more or less, since it was written for the playtest.

Yes. IMO, some of the best Adventures WotC ever produced were for the D&DNext playtest. They were all given to me by WotC to run, but as a retailer, I would have loved to have been able to sell them.

They were, IIRC, Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, Vault of the Dracolich, Scourge of the Sword Coast, Dead in Thay, Murder at Baldur's Gate, and Legacy of the Crystal Shard.

All but Dead in Thay are excellent. Dead in Thay was the dud, and it's the one that got the 5e update.

And where does one find this awesome adventure?

I think you can buy it on DMsGuild. There were print versions of all of them, but never for sale at retail. WotC gave them out to game stores and conventions for playtest play.

 

[Charlaquin]

Yes. IMO, some of the best Adventures WotC ever produced were for the D&DNext playtest. They were all given to me by WotC to run, buy as a retailer, I would have loved to have been able to sell them.

They were, IIRC, Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, Vault of the Dracolich, Scourge of the Sword Coast, Dead in Thay, Murder at Baldur's Gate, and Legacy of the Crystal Shard.

All but Dead in Thay are excellent. Dead in Thay was the dud, and it's the one that got the 5e update.


I think you can buy it on DMsGuild. There were print versions of all of them, but never for sale at retail. WotC gave them out to game stores and conventions for playtest play.

I will say, as much as I adore Murder in Baldur’s Gate, it does have (what would go on to be) the 5e misleading title problem. It’s named like it’s supposed to be a murder mystery, but the murder is basically irrelevant except as an excuse to get the PCs involved with the three factions. I also get the distinct impression it was originally written for multiple groups to play through simultaneously (with each working for a different fashion) but got collapsed down to a single group adventure at some point.

I have Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle but haven’t read through it thoroughly. I’ve tried a few times and it just never really grabbed me. But since you praise it so highly maybe I just need to give it another chance.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I will say, as much as I adore Murder in Baldur’s Gate, it does have (what would go on to be) the 5e misleading title problem. It’s named like it’s supposed to be a murder mystery, but the murder is basically irrelevant except as an excuse to get the PCs involved with the three factions. I also get the distinct impression it was originally written for multiple groups to play through simultaneously (with each working for a different fashion) but got collapsed down to a single group adventure at some point.

I have Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle but haven’t read through it thoroughly. I’ve tried a few times and it just never really grabbed me. But since you praise it so highly maybe I just need to give it another chance.

It's okay, but Scourge of the Sword Coast is better (other than leading into Dead in Thay). I like to take Scourge and Dragonspear and make a Daggerford Sandbox. Very similar to mushing the 5e Starters together.

 

[jayoungr]

I think you can buy it on DMsGuild. There were print versions of all of them, but never for sale at retail. WotC gave them out to game stores and conventions for playtest play.

Turns out I already own it but had not gotten around to reading it! Well, now I have something to check out next time I have a bit of downtime.

 

[O-Castitatis-Lilium]

You can use any black gate to teleport to the Gatehouse or any other black gate to which you have the matching glyph key. (So, you need the glyphkey to 1-3 to teleport to the black gate in area 1).


Each glyph key is initially keyed to the zone you find it in. You can give it additional attunements when you find other keys. So, say a key is areas 1-3, then you find the key to 4-7, you can then make each key attune to 1-7.

(There are special keys to get to the Temples of Extraction, but I haven't researched them yet.)



Yes, it's entirely because it's designed for four groups going through it. And because it was run in 1-2 hour weekly sessions, that's why it has the restrictive set-up. As an adventure for a single group... it struggles.

Cheers,
Merric

So...okay that doesn't make sense to me. I thought I had this down lol. Okay so, do they have separate glyph keys, or not? Also, how would I know if I have a glyph key for that black gate? That might be just me and I'm willing to accept that...I might change that bit around then if it is just me, just so that I can run it lol. Also for the attunements, that makes things a little better, I can have them just change it to one glyph key so that it's like a master key, just so they don't have to carry around 8 million necklaces with this keys on them lol. That would get so confusing. I do thank you for the warning, that this struggles with one group. I will definitely be going over it now that I have a slight hang of it, so that it won't be a struggle, but more of an old school adventure lol.

Scourge of the Sword Coast is one of my faves. The only real downside is that the climax to that adventure is the opening part of the original Dead in Thay adventure the bit that got left out of the redone version in the Yawning Portal book).

Oh wow...I didn't know that. I mean that makse sense, when I was reading it, it seems to start so...abruptly? suddenly?...not really sure how to really put it. it doesn't explain in Yawning portal how it actually all starts, just that you are there dealing with this Red Wizard of Thay to take down Szass Tam with no explanation as to why they are doing it lol. It's actually one of the reasons that I am using it as part of a bigger campaign, because it really had no beginning lol.

Yes. IMO, some of the best Adventures WotC ever produced were for the D&DNext playtest. They were all given to me by WotC to run, buy as a retailer, I would have loved to have been able to sell them.

They were, IIRC, Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, Vault of the Dracolich, Scourge of the Sword Coast, Dead in Thay, Murder at Baldur's Gate, and Legacy of the Crystal Shard.

All but Dead in Thay are excellent. Dead in Thay was the dud, and it's the one that got the 5e update.


I think you can buy it on DMsGuild. There were print versions of all of them, but never for sale at retail. WotC gave them out to game stores and conventions for playtest play.

I will have to take a look at these and purchase then, because the daggerford one I actually have an idea for it on something else I'm working on. I'm all about having things like this so that I can add them to main campaigns and whatnot lol. That's why I love Yawning Portal. I want to get Candlekeep and I'm stoked to save up for Infinite staircase. All those classic modules will absolutely bring nostalgia to my players lol. I actually love the look of the alt cover to Candlekeep, it reminds me of the massive book Bastian Bux carried around to read in The Neverending Story for some reason lol!

 

[Charlaquin]

The glyph keys are magical, they don’t work like normal keys. Each glyph key works for every black gate in the zone you got it from. As written, if you find a glyph key from another zone, you can “upgrade” both keys to now work on all the black gates in both zones.

 

[O-Castitatis-Lilium]

The glyph keys are magical, they don’t work like normal keys. Each glyph key works for every black gate in the zone you got it from. As written, if you find a glyph key from another zone, you can “upgrade” both keys to now work on all the black gates in both zones.

Oh, I see...I mean, I get it now...it just seems so redundant to me. I might make it where there are just white keys and black keys, with the special keys, that way it's easier for me to DM. I'm also starting to realize that I might need to make a note for my players to keep with them so that they remember how all this works, because this seems so confusing lol.

 

[Charlaquin]

Oh, I see...I mean, I get it now...it just seems so redundant to me. I might make it where there are just white keys and black keys, with the special keys, that way it's easier for me to DM. I'm also starting to realize that I might need to make a note for my players to keep with them so that they remember how all this works, because this seems so confusing lol.

I think the word “key” is what’s throwing you off. Rather than objects you put into a lock to open it, think of them like the sigil sequences for teleportation circles.