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<blockquote data-quote="dropbear8mybaby" data-source="post: 7249405" data-attributes="member: 6863518">In my honest, humble, deeply personal opinion, I think that not starting at 1st level and not using XP misses a big part of the fun and danger of ToA. I don't know if ToA was designed specifically to take advantage of the best aspects of gaining XP, or if it was solely meant to be exploration-centric, however that's how it reads to me. There's a build-up of succeeding against the odds and getting that level-up hit in the middle of some dungeon or esoteric and exotic encounter.I've also found that, increasing difficulty is very challenging in and of itself. Throwing more monsters at something isn't a very satisfying way to do it, nor is all the work involved to either make or find more powerful alternatives. And with ToA seemingly designed around the idea of being a sandbox with only one overarching goal, it becomes next to impossible to plan for unless you do away with that element and railroad it like you suggest. That in turn further waters down the &quot;into the wild unknown&quot; feel of the campaign and location.But again, that's just my opinion. If there was ever an adventure that should be played from 1st-level up (and using XP), I would say it's this one.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="dropbear8mybaby, post: 7249405, member: 6863518"] In my honest, humble, deeply personal opinion, I think that not starting at 1st level and not using XP misses a big part of the fun and danger of ToA. I don't know if ToA was designed specifically to take advantage of the best aspects of gaining XP, or if it was solely meant to be exploration-centric, however that's how it reads to me. There's a build-up of succeeding against the odds and getting that level-up hit in the middle of some dungeon or esoteric and exotic encounter. I've also found that, increasing difficulty is very challenging in and of itself. Throwing more monsters at something isn't a very satisfying way to do it, nor is all the work involved to either make or find more powerful alternatives. And with ToA seemingly designed around the idea of being a sandbox with only one overarching goal, it becomes next to impossible to plan for unless you do away with that element and railroad it like you suggest. That in turn further waters down the "into the wild unknown" feel of the campaign and location. But again, that's just my opinion. If there was ever an adventure that should be played from 1st-level up (and using XP), I would say it's this one. [/QUOTE]

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