Tales From The Yawning Portal - 7 Classic Dungeons Updated To 5E!

Coming in April is WotC's next official D&D product, Tales from the Yawning Portal. This hardcover book contains seven classic dungeons updated to 5th Edition, from adventures such as Against the Giants, Dead in Thay, Forge of Fury, Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, Sunless Citadel, Tomb of Horrors, and White Plume Mountain. This is, presumably, the product previously codenamed Labyrinth. It's set for an April 4th release, for $49.95.

When the shadows grow long in Waterdeep and the fireplace in the taproom of the Yawning Portal dims to a deep crimson glow, adventurers from across the Sword Coast spin tales and spread rumors of lost treasures.

Within this tome are seven of the deadliest dungeons from the history of Dungeons & Dragons. Some are classics that have hosted an untold number of adventurers, while others are newer creations, boldly staking a claim to their place in the pantheon of notable adventures.

The seeds of these stories now rest in your hands. D&D’s deadliest dungeons are now part of your arsenal of adventures. Enjoy, and remember to keep a few spare character sheets handy.

For use with the fifth edition Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master’s Guide, this book provides fans with a treasure trove of adventures, all of which have been updated to the fifth edition rules. Explore seven deadly dungeons in this adventure supplement for the world’s greatest roleplaying game:

• Against the Giants
• Dead in Thay
• Forge of Fury
• Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
• Sunless Citadel
• Tomb of Horrors
• White Plume Mountain

Find it on WotC's site here. Forbes has an interview about it here. Mearls says "We're announcing a new D&D product, a book coming out this spring. It is called Tales from the Yawning Portal(out March 24th in local game stores and April 4th everywhere else) It's a collection of seven of the most famous dungeons from Dungeons & Dragons history. They're all collected in one hardcover book. The idea behind it is not only do you want to capture some of the most famous dungeons from the game's history, but we also wanted to give a selection of adventures that you could in theory start at Level 1 with the first dungeon and play all the way up to Level 15 by playing the adventures one after another."

Cover Image

Gibbering Mouther

Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan



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[robus]

If they are new to you, why do you care?

Because it seems like D&D as a concept is stuck in a rut?

 

[Patrick McGill]

I'm pretty excited by this. My main thing when running is usually to convert-on-the-fly. I did the first couple of DragonLance modules that way during the play-test, i've ran a few old Gygaxian ones for a home-brew world (Sinister Secret of Saltmarch among them), and right now I'm running Against the Slave Lords set in Al-Qadim. So I'm happy that Wizards is going to do the work for me. The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan would fit snugly in as a location in the jungle ruins of Zakhara.





And lazy? Really? Converting on the fly is one thing (it's mostly improv and slotting in monsters that are close enough), but updating all of the art, maps, npcs, and monsters isn't a task for lazy people.

 

[Henry]

You're 37 but you're talking as if you're 77!

I'm well into my 40's and I spend a large portion of my leisure time either watching these things or having them on in background (live D&D is particularly good for the latter). Starcraft, Heroes of the Storm, D&D, even X-Wing battle reports! Not to mention multiple board-game streams. A great way to unwind and chill out, too.

Twitch does two things for me - I don't always have to have the latest gaming rig or invest a lot of time and money to sample the experience of the currently hottest games. I don't need to invest five hours building a character, I can sample the experience in an hour, and get the highlights. If i really love what i see enough, i can invest all that time and money into the full thing, and if i don't i'm out no money and a short bit of my time.

Last, back in the day, one of the pleasures of my youth was getting a couple of friends over and playing single player games like Civ I or Doom (yes we did pvp also) and shared in the experience. Watching a good player who is also a funny or entertaining commentator is enjoyable in itself.

 

[bmfrosty]

I'm quoting your post in its entirety because most of your "why not this adventure" alternatives are adventures I thought of as well. I think Saltmarsh or Reptile God are better low level modules. That Isle of Dread would be a cracking fun adventure in 5e.

It's like one of those "Hits of the '80s!" compilations that has good songs in it but not the best songs.

I'm looking forward to hits of the 80s. Volumes 2 and 3 as well some day I hope.

Sent from my Pixel using EN World mobile app

 

[robus]

...explication...

Thanks for the clarification. I'll relax for a bit

 

[JeffB]

I really wonder why they cannot write something new.

We have "inspired by/rehashes of" previous edition adventures jammed into the Realms

And now a collection of previous adventures converted to 5e and apparently jammed into the Realms.

I am a big fan of a couple of those originals, but yeesh... they are really tring to milk the "greatest hits". More vanilla for the vanilla edition.

 

[Patrick McGill]

I really wonder why they cannot write something new.

We have "inspired by/rehashes of" previous edition adventures jammed into the Realms

And now a collection of previous adventures converted to 5e and apparently jammed into the Realms.

I am a big fan of a couple of those originals, but yeesh... they are really tring to milk the "greatest hits". More vanilla for the vanilla edition.

This has already been addressed upthread.

The two Tiamat modules were completely new. Princes of the Apocalypse was inspired by ToEE, but was also completely new and reused no old content. Out of the Abyss was completely new. Curse of Strahd was the first "rehash"; It was a remake of the original module, with a ton of new content added into the landscape around the castle. Storm King's Thunder is completely new.

If you want to say that the two Tiamat modules were a rehash of Dragonlance, well other than the fact that people want to summon a demon dragon goddess there's no similarities. If you want to compare Storm King's Thunder with Against the Giants -well they both have giants I guess?

 

[pemerton]

i've ran a few old Gygaxian ones for a home-brew world (Sinister Secret of Saltmarch among them)

Just a small thing - U1 (and the rest of the U series) are not Gygax. They were written by TSR UK.

 

[Plaguescarred]

from twitter @

JeremyECrawford A thing I dig in Tales from the Yawning Portal: tips for setting the adventures in various worlds—particularly FR, GH, DL & EB.

Now that's sweet of their part!!

Everytime i hear something other than FR like GREYHAWK or EBERRON i get all wet

 

[Plaguescarred]

5 - GIMME UNDERMOUNTAIN! THE REAL ONE!!!!!

I wouldn't say no to an adventure like RETURN TO UNDERMOUNTAIN!!

It was one of the greatest dungeon we played in my youth.