D&D 5E Prince of the Apocalypse - Order in which elements are encountered

[Rhenny]

Of course you can go in any order you want, but you might want to check the "Character Advancement" sidebars on pages 41, 75, and 113.

Yes. This is key. Because it is sand-boxy and loosely designed, pcs can go anywhere, but they may run into a world of hurt if they try to fight some of the more powerful cults too soon. The DM will need to telegraph relative strengths so that the party can make safer decisions. Look carefully at ac and hit points for the different cult members.

 

[LordMorbien]

My PCs literally stumbled across Rivergard Keep while trying to pick up a lost trail, so there's only so much you can do to point them in any particular direction. Luckily, they were kept out of the Fane by it's guardian, so it wasn't difficult to convince them that they needed to deal with the surface cult and Temples first. And a little taste of the fire temple was enough to send them back to town to seek fire protection, where I plan to introduce them to their first Devastation Orb.