Tales from the Yawning Portal vs. Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Part TWO! Vote for your favorite adventures

[Prakriti]

In an earlier thread, I asked you what your favorite book was between the Tales from the Yawning Portal and Ghosts of Saltmarsh (spoiler: Ghosts of Saltmarsh is winning by a lot). Now I want to know what your favorite adventures are within the two books. So vote away!

 

[briggart]

FWIW: I've voted (among other things) for Tammeraut's Fate. I really liked the Dragon adventure and was planning of converting it to 5e, when GoS was announced, but haven't actually read the version in the book.

 

[Prakriti]

Oddly, Ghosts of Saltmarsh is winning the best-book poll by a lot, but it's LOSING this poll! Its adventures have only received 17 votes compared to the Yawning Portal's 24. Try to explain that.

Also, lots of love for the lower-level adventures. I guess that's not surprising. More people have probably played them.

 

[Shiroiken]

Oddly, Ghosts of Saltmarsh is winning the best-book poll by a lot, but it's LOSING this poll! Its adventures have only received 17 votes compared to the Yawning Portal's 24. Try to explain that.

Because as I said in the other poll, GoS is better as a sandbox setting book, while TFtYP has better overall adventures. That interconnection makes GoS a better book, but just viewing the adventures themselves... TFtYP is gonna win hands down.

 

[Prakriti]

Looks like if you were to create a super-campaign out of the highest-rated adventures, you would have:

The Sunless Citadel
The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh
Forge of Fury
The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan
White Plume Mountain
Against the Giants
and either Tomb of Horrors or Tammeraut's Fate (both currently tied at 5 votes each).

Good luck coming up with a cohesive story-line for that assortment of adventures.

 

[Todd Roybark]

That line up could absolutely work. The downside is both Tamoachan and White Plume mountain have 1e style magic items in a 5e “ We don’t need no stinking magic items” world.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

That line up could absolutely work. The downside is both Tamoachan and White Plume mountain have 1e style magic items in a 5e “ We don’t need no stinking magic items” world.

There isn't that much loot in The Hidden Shrine, and nothing really powerful. And White Plume Mountain is easy enough to substitute the three powerful items for other stolen treasures that the PCs have to recover (rather than use themselves).

 

[Salthorae]

There is little loot in Hidden Shrine.

It's great fun, my table had a great time trying to handle the fact that you couldn't rest, etc.

 

[Todd Roybark]

Wait a moment people, are you considering the cursed items in Hidden Shrine to not be magic items?

-Bracelet of Rock Magic—-Cast Flesh to Stone x3.... curse can petrify the wielder in particular circumstances.

-Tloques’ Battleaxe: +2 berserker axe ( Olaf, Metal !) that has 12 charges that can be used to cast passwall, gust o’ wind, and burning hands

(in my campaign the axe was powerful enough that a modified Frenzy Barbarian that the player wanted to model the magic item prohibition on the Barb class from 1st edition, forsook her taboos and attuned to the axe....even knowing it was cursed.)

-Stone of Ill Luck.

Beyond these 3 cursed items are 24 other magic items for a total of 27 Magic items.
In Xanathars’ (XGE), on pg 135 under Magic Items Awarded by Tier for character levels 5-10 the book recommends 34 magic items be awarded for the entire tier.

Paul, I mean this as good intentioned kidding, but given you have a degree in astrophysics and teach maths, how is 79.4% (roughly) of the magic items recommended for the 5-10th level tier, all from one single location not a bit abnormal for 5e standards?

Sure there are not the scores of +1 longswords found in 1e and 2e adventures, is that what people are saying, when exclaiming that “ there are not too many magic items” in Shrine?

BTW I love Shrine, so my comments in no way are to be perceived as a non-endorsement of the module.

 

[Salthorae]

Wait a moment people, are you not considering the cursed items in Hidden Shrine to not be magic items?

Hmm, maybe I should re-phrase.

My party was so focused on getting out because of the deadly fog that they didn't acquire many of the items that were available in the module. So not really much loot.