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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Prakriti" data-source="post: 7717787" data-attributes="member: 6855149">Storm King's Thunder suffered greatly from lacking a central villain -- that and the fact that the Storm King himself isn't mentioned until halfway through the adventure. I hope they don't make that mistake again. If an adventure is called Tomb of Annihilation and Acererak is on the cover, then the tomb and Acererak need to be present from the first or second session. That's what makes Curse of Strahd so successful: the villain is ever-present, and Castle Ravenloft is looming over everything. From the first or second session, the players know exactly what they need to do, but not how to do it.Based on the interviews I've seen with Chris Perkins, I think other posters might be right that Acererak doesn't have a strong presence in Tomb of Annihilation. His machinations might set the plot in motion (with the death curse), but I won't be surprised if he is just one of many threats, or if the curse he sets in motion becomes a greater menace than he is himself. Either way, Chris seems to downplay Acererak's role in the adventure. Speaking of Tomb of Horrors, he emphasized that it was the dungeon itself that was the greatest menace, not Acererak himself. It sounds like the same will hold true for Annihilation. It's the environment (and, presumably, the Soulmonger, whatever that turns out to be) that poses the greatest threat.</blockquote>