BMaC
Adventurer
I'm currently DMing Tomb of Annihilation and before this I played through all previous 5e releases. They all have something in common: the players encounter a big boss at the end and due to their relatively low-level either the boss is nerfed or the players are significantly buffed. This is because all of the adventures, with the exception of Strahd, involve world-shaking meta plots where the small band of plucky adventures must save the Forgotten Realms from Tiamat, demon lords, evil elemental princes, etc. Strahd is not a meta-plot like the others but still relies on the gimmick mechanic. None of these adventures advance the players to a level that would be appropriate for a straight encounter with these end-game bosses. The lack of high level support for 5e is a gripe of mine, and we're all familiar with the arguments for why this is the case (ranging from "nobody plays high level" to "D&D breaks mechanically"). Regardless of the reason, the combination of meta plot world-ending boss and level 12 characters results in mandatory gimmicks.
The reliance on gimmicks in all published 5e modules is a consequence of the contradictions I have outlined above. The solution is quite simple: either eliminate the meta plot or advance players to level 18-20 and eliminate the gimmick. Eliminating the meta-plot is the most straightforward solution (meta-plots are also stretch credulity--the death curse would, in my campaign world, result in a few level 20 clerics, wizards, and paladins immediately appearing in Port Nyanzaru to address the problem). In my ToA of campaign, the activation of the Soulmonger resulted in localized eldritch-necromancy storms and those caught in the storm (in my case, the players on a ship) are affected by the death curse.
I hope that future releases do not rely on gimmicks at the final stage of the adventure.
The reliance on gimmicks in all published 5e modules is a consequence of the contradictions I have outlined above. The solution is quite simple: either eliminate the meta plot or advance players to level 18-20 and eliminate the gimmick. Eliminating the meta-plot is the most straightforward solution (meta-plots are also stretch credulity--the death curse would, in my campaign world, result in a few level 20 clerics, wizards, and paladins immediately appearing in Port Nyanzaru to address the problem). In my ToA of campaign, the activation of the Soulmonger resulted in localized eldritch-necromancy storms and those caught in the storm (in my case, the players on a ship) are affected by the death curse.
I hope that future releases do not rely on gimmicks at the final stage of the adventure.
