D&D 5E (2014) PotA Worth Buying?

[aramis erak]

I'll say that the Encounters portion of Princes is 3 dungeons, and a couple mini-dungeons, in a semi-sandboxy manner, it's well written, and the theme wore thin with more than half of my regular players by the end of the Encounters portion, but that is, in part, because they'd played through HOTDQ as well, and it's "just more cultists."

The adventure itself, however, is a decent one, provided one hasn't been playing the Rise of Tiamat storyline prior.

 

[Celtavian]

I'll say that the Encounters portion of Princes is 3 dungeons, and a couple mini-dungeons, in a semi-sandboxy manner, it's well written, and the theme wore thin with more than half of my regular players by the end of the Encounters portion, but that is, in part, because they'd played through HOTDQ as well, and it's "just more cultists."

The adventure itself, however, is a decent one, provided one hasn't been playing the Rise of Tiamat storyline prior.

I'm tired of fighting cultists as well. I hope there are next to no cultists in the next module. Very overdone at the moment. Need some adventure that is pure exploration after Rage of Demons. A big old module like Keep on the Borderlands or the old Temple of Elemental Evil that was an abandoned temple with lots of levels to explore. I miss the old exploration adventures.

 

[DaveDash]

I've almost finished Hoard of the Dragon Queen as a player - and I am running Princes of the Apocalypse as a DM.

My opinion is the "story" is better in HoTDQ - especially if you cut out the incredibly pointless traveling component - although it has it's issues. Chapter 4 in HoTDQ is probably by most hated experience as a player in D&D my 20 year history. Our DM does plan on running RoT but with some tweaks, since we're not a very good 'diplomacy' party.

The actual meat and potatoes stuff in Princes is vastly superior, much more interesting dungeons, far better quality encounter design, better quality module. I find it challenging to run at the start however due to the sheer number of NPCs etc, and I've had to 'streamline' it a bit as to not overwhelm the group in the beginning. Some of the end dungeons in Princes IMO are awesomely designed.

In conclusion from my perspective so far*: If you like story, Tyranny of Dragons. If you like classic D&D (exploration and dungeons), Princes is better.

Princes is probably worth it just for the dungeons, which you could run without the backdrop of the forgotten realms or the back story. Meaning, they're pretty easy to slot into your campaign.

*I much prefer classic D&D with dungeon crawls and such, so my opinion *is* biased.

 

[Corpsetaker]

I'd say you would be better off just picking up some of the older FR stuff and creating your own story or using some old adventures.

 

[Rhenny]

I bought the hard cover and started running it in Fantasy Grounds. I spent some time compiling resources and adding monsters for the first few sessions. Then FG released their version so I bought that too. It blows my mind how much crunchy content their is. In some ways it is quite overwhelming. I think the material is well worth the $ I spent, and because it is so large/expansive, I am taking opportunities to modify content and add my own side treks or sub story sections so that it I as DM don't suffer content overload.

 

[ssvegeta555]

Well you can't get worse than HotDQ. What a ****-stain of an adventure. Wasted my money... >_> PotA sounds like a good, classic dungeon delve with some mini-sandbox stuff for good measure.

 

[Birmy]

I wrote a review here: http://www.5mwd.com/archives/2680
That sums up my thoughts on the adventure. But I'm super hard on it. And I'd still consider it worth buying as a resource, being a dozen small dungeons that can be run separate or together.

Just read through this--a nice review. I own but haven't read Princes of the Apocalypse, as I'm currently playing through it in the Adventurers League, but I thought you were thorough and pretty even-handed in your approach to the material. Nice job.

 

[KarinsDad]

I've almost finished Hoard of the Dragon Queen as a player - and I am running Princes of the Apocalypse as a DM.

My opinion is the "story" is better in HoTDQ - especially if you cut out the incredibly pointless traveling component - although it has it's issues. Chapter 4 in HoTDQ is probably by most hated experience as a player in D&D my 20 year history.

My DM dropped Chapter 4 the moment she read it.

 

[Mistwell]

I'd say you would be better off just picking up some of the older FR stuff and creating your own story or using some old adventures.

Have you actually read or played it to come to that conclusion?

 

[MerricB]

One of the things you need to know about Hoard and Rise is that they actually comprise a very large range of scenarios. Each chapter is generally its own little adventure. They all link together and advance the story, but they are by no means all the same thing. It's not "dungeon, dungeon, dungeon".

As a result, it really tests the ability of the DM and players.

Chapter 4 of Hoard, the road trip, was fascinating. The players took great delight in confusing and bewildering the cultists. As the cultists began to suspect them, they threw false leads in their way. The assassins in the inn? They convinced the cult leader that the assassins had been sent after him! I had great fun in introducing NPCs to the group (especially Janma), and gave the group a taste of the Forgotten Realms.

The second time I ran it, the group didn't run with it the same way, so it wasn't as engrossing. They did enjoy the interaction with Jamna, and we had some good encounters, but they didn't own it the same way as with the first group. However, when they got to Chapter 5 and had to do the investigation... they did that so much better than the first group!

That's a large part of why I rate the adventures so highly. Princes is a good adventure, but - for me at least - the two Tyranny adventures are special.

Cheers!