D&D 5E Tomb of Annihilation - how's it going so far?! **spoilers**

[pukunui]

As far as I can tell you get the customised stat blocks for more specialised monsters, though many creatures use the generic ones, eg nobles, veterans or acolytes.

I'm talking about the ones where it's like "Use the veteran statblock but make these changes". Do you get a custom statblock with those changes built in, or do you just get the generic statblock?

An example would be Hew Hackinstone, the crazy dwarf guide. The book says he's a berserker with 5 changes.

 

[Stormdale]

They just have the standard stats with the changes listed in bullet points in the main text as per the book by the looks of things.

 

[CapnZapp]

The content is pretty overwhelming, and it can be tough for GM's new and old to put all that data into something that can actually be run at the table.

I'm hoping someone has collated the available rumors and pieces of info for easy overview.

Something like (making things up here no spoilers):

Essential Quest Structure:
First you need to learn that you're after Soulmonger and to destroy it. You need to learn about likely "power places" in the jungle where it can be kept. Ask Batiri Goblins or Drunglunggung Grungs (etc). Then you find out about 1) Ziggurat 2) Wondrous Gardens 3) Lost heart - you can get more info at either place. Then you search for sacred city, and start the tomb raiding end of the campaign.

Locations
* Guide Wagga tells party about the location of Niagara Falls after being hired
...
...


Treasures

Port N
Rumors at inns and taverns
* Guide Ho-Ho knows where to find Fabled Gold Statue of Boa



There are literally dozens of NPCs scattered about, and many of them hold some clue. A list of all the NPCs, all the clues, all the locations and all the treasures is mandatory to be able to run this as a sandbox, without walling off parts of the adventure merely because it's impossible to prep everything at once. Instead, the slow travel is the DMs friend: it is actually impossible for the party to be everywhere at once, so you only need to prep, what, the locations within half a tenday's travel at a time (unless you run mammoth all-day sessions)

 

[pukunui]

They just have the standard stats with the changes listed in bullet points in the main text as per the book by the looks of things.

OK. That's disappointing.

 

[CapnZapp]

I don't agree that it ALL needs to be read. I didn't read all of Princes when I ran it and that turned out fine. Frankly, details of the Tomb of the Nine Gods can be left for later. I do think the adventure needs to be front loaded with plot hooks and NPCs though, and a few foreshadowings, but in our short 2 to 3 hour sessions, there's only so much that can be crammed in. I could spend three sessions in Port Nyanzaru if I wanted, and that may happen still, I don't know yet, we have not started.

There are several "fabled treasures" in the tomb, but the descriptions... are also in the tomb.

I would like to foreshadow them with rumors, but where to start these rumors?

 

[CapnZapp]

So AFAIK this is no different from any of the other adventures form WoTC for 5e.

This is because you are utterly ignoring what is making it different from the other adventures.

 

[CapnZapp]

and will have at least the first few areas right around PN generally prepped (Fort Beluarian, Port Castigliar, Camp Righteous).

Port Castigliar at least will be easy to prep...


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[CapnZapp]

[MENTION=6863518]dropbear8mybaby[/MENTION]: Let it go, man.
[MENTION=6801401]HawaiiSteveO[/MENTION]: I just got my copy in the mail yesterday, and I've only made it up to the "Finding a Guide" section (although I skimmed through the whole thing), but already I want to run this. I have been running the Tales from the Yawning Portal adventures, but I'm thinking I might segue into this one after The Forge of Fury -- cutting out Hidden Shrine, White Plume Mountain, and Dead in Thay -- before going back in for Against the Giants and maybe capping it off with Tomb of Horrors as a rematch against Acererak (now reduced to his demilich form again).

Isn't one of the Yawning Portal tombs taken from a jungle setting exactly like Chult?

I think I'll have my 5th level players pop up into this tomb (can't remember name right now) and place it close to Flaming Fist camp.

I will not start a clock right away, since I feel this will severely detract from the sheer joy of exploration.

Instead, they will hear about the Soulmonger, but not as pressing business. When and if I manage to kill one of them, this will change!

Hopefully they will have ~50 hp at that point, so they have at least one month and then some to complete the main quest.

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[CapnZapp]

I agree. I don't see the need to start at 1st level.

I feel like Hidden Shrine makes more sense in Maztica than Chult, but I did notice that one of the trickster gods has a Maztican/Aztec-sounding name so ... But yes, it's a possibility.

And there's always the chance that the PCs might get captured by the Red Wizards, in which case running Dead in Thay would make sense as a follow-up.

Keeping the options open is always good.

Cheers!

I imagine all the hotlinks must be quite useful. No book flipping. I'm curious, though: when a customized monster or NPC is presented in the book, do you get a customized statblock, or does the hotlink just send you to the generic statblock, and you still have to take into account the changes yourself? (One of the reasons I have not yet started using any online platform to help with DMing is because I like to have full statblocks for all the customized monsters as well as the generic ones, and I'm not sure if the online platforms do that for you or not.)

I would assume you get the same info as with the books. Unique NPCs are given their stat blocks while customized NPCs ("like a Goblin but with +4 Survival") are not.

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[CapnZapp]

They just have the standard stats with the changes listed in bullet points in the main text as per the book by the looks of things.

In other words, no employee at Beyond sits and builds these custom NPCs prior to release. If WotC doesn't provide stats, the online services don't build them for you.

It is just as I expected.

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