Tomb of Annihilation Is Here - What Do You Think?

Today's the day - WotC's latest Dungeons & Dragons adventure, Tomb of Annihilation, is out! Head on down to your friendly (or unfriendly) local (or not so local) gaming (or comic) store and pick up your copy. Alternatively, if you use a virtual table top, it's available for Fantasy Grounds and Roll20.

 

[CapnZapp]

Lets look at the Opportunity Cost of a GHAG.

2. The Adventurer's League is

What's with the overblown concern for the AL?

I'm sure WotC can publish an adventure about Ator the frikkin' Fighting Eagle and it's up to the AL to adapt its season. (They won't, but not because of the AL.)

 

[Charles Rampant]

What's with the overblown concern for the AL?

I'm sure WotC can publish an adventure about Ator the frikkin' Fighting Eagle and it's up to the AL to adapt its season. (They won't, but not because of the AL.)

Well, if you make extensive use of a public outreach program to help your game grow, why wouldn't that feature into your planning?

 

[HonorBoundSamurai632]

Now, I can easily see a Planescape AP (esp in the Spring) with a chapter dedicated to Sigil (you can give an overview of Sigil in 20-30 pages, if DMG2 and Expedition to Demonweb Pits are any indicator) and then fit a 10-level AP in with enough room for appendixes for new PC options (like bariaurs and githzerai races), monsters, and stuff. Staple a map of Sigil to the back (Cf CoS and ToA) and you have a solid Planescape product.

(It helps that tieflings, aasimar, and genasi are already in 5e, and factions stopped being a thing since late 2e).

I'm trying not to come off as argumentative, but I don't understand your points.
If adding a book like a Greyhawk Adventurer's Guide would be disruptive to AL and the video game .... then as you said, those entities should ignore the Greyhawk release. If those November releases are so important, how did the AL and Neverwinter function with just ToD, PotA, and the first half of OotA before those November supplements??

If Curse of Strahd was a headache for AL, then I think it will be safe to say that a Planescape adventure would cause the same problems and it shouldn't be done.

My comment about my gripe has kind of derailed this so I'll finish with this. I stand by what I said, they should do a 1 and done book. If the November releases are so important, then how about allowing Goodman Games to do the Greyhawk book? They are converting modules B1 and B2 to 5E to be released Sept. 30th. This way, there isn't a disruption to the main release schedule and those of us hungry for Greyhawk get the bone we've been begging for. Plus, there is a Greyhawk book for 5E and WoTC has little to no risk involved for that release.

Back on topic ....
I've read more Tomb of Annihilation and it just keeps getting better and better!

 

[Quartz]

I've skipped a large number of pages, but are there suggestions for how to compensate characters who normally depend upon armour for the loss of that armour? Or are the encounters rebalanced to account for no armour?

 

[JesterOC]

I've skipped a large number of pages, but are there suggestions for how to compensate characters who normally depend upon armour for the loss of that armour? Or are the encounters rebalanced to account for no armour?

Not that I saw. But at the same time the armor rules for traveling looked a bit forgiving. I am tempted to make heavy armor worse than medium armor. Instead medium and heavy just give you disadvantage on survival rolls. But only if you don't drink enough water. If you do drink enough I see no penalty.
But perhaps I missed something

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[JesterOC]

Page 89
Column 1, end of paragraph 6. Best name of a weapon EVA!

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[dropbear8mybaby]

So far I haven't managed to get through the first chapter. This is primarily because I keep following the rabbit-hole of links (D&D Beyond) to read other sections which link to other sections.

I'd say I've only read about 10% of it, maybe less. If the other 90% is as good as this 10%, though, I'll be writing a 5/5 review.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

I've skipped a large number of pages, but are there suggestions for how to compensate characters who normally depend upon armour for the loss of that armour? Or are the encounters rebalanced to account for no armour?

Not that I saw. But at the same time the armor rules for traveling looked a bit forgiving. I am tempted to make heavy armor worse than medium armor. Instead medium and heavy just give you disadvantage on survival rolls. But only if you don't drink enough water. If you do drink enough I see no penalty.
But perhaps I missed something

Discussing that very thing here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?582133-SPOILERS-Running-Tomb-of-Annihilation-Discussion

 

[vpuigdoller]

So far I haven't managed to get through the first chapter. This is primarily because I keep following the rabbit-hole of links (D&D Beyond) to read other sections which link to other sections.

I'd say I've only read about 10% of it, maybe less. If the other 90% is as good as this 10%, though, I'll be writing a 5/5 review.

Do you like the D&D Beyond version? Im interested in it. I mean how it is presented.

 

[Remathilis]

I'm trying not to come off as argumentative, but I don't understand your points.
If adding a book like a Greyhawk Adventurer's Guide would be disruptive to AL and the video game .... then as you said, those entities should ignore the Greyhawk release. If those November releases are so important, how did the AL and Neverwinter function with just ToD, PotA, and the first half of OotA before those November supplements??

Not following. The AL initially ran under three banners, one based around playing the latest AP, one based around the Moonseas, and one for convention play. What happened was the first two weren't crossing over well; all the fun was happening in in the SC and the AL was wandering around the Moonsea. So they merged the two and started making the AL adventures more relevant to the APs starting with SKT. Now, Yawning Portal was a bit of odd duck (you mostly just played the YP adventures + a few side quests for thee of them) but they are back (and even stronger) to tying AL play to the APs (including PCs getting the Death Curse).

If there was a Greyhawk (or insert setting here that isn't accessible to the Realms) they'd either completely ignore it (and do their own thing ala the Moonsea days), they'd have to suspend the Realms-based AL and everyone roll up new PCs for a season, or they'd take it port to the Realms anyway (thus ruining the point of the other world's uniqueness).

Remember, AL isn't just RPGA/tournament play, its the primary focus for supplemental material. The Pax West/Fathom event module was AL legal. In Volo's Wake was an AL module to tie in with the new book, all the DM Adept modules are AL Legal. WotC is working a lot closer with the AL as an outreach and recruitment tool.

If Curse of Strahd was a headache for AL, then I think it will be safe to say that a Planescape adventure would cause the same problems and it shouldn't be done.

The problem with RL was you couldn't leave easily (and thus, you could only do RL adventures while "stuck" in Barovia). A Planescape/Sigil adventure could, more easily, allow PCs to come and go via Portals.

The bigger question, do you want that kind of "come and go" of Faerunian adventurers wandering around Greyhawk? Dragonlance? Dark Sun?

My comment about my gripe has kind of derailed this so I'll finish with this. I stand by what I said, they should do a 1 and done book. If the November releases are so important, then how about allowing Goodman Games to do the Greyhawk book? They are converting modules B1 and B2 to 5E to be released Sept. 30th. This way, there isn't a disruption to the main release schedule and those of us hungry for Greyhawk get the bone we've been begging for. Plus, there is a Greyhawk book for 5E and WoTC has little to no risk involved for that release.

I'm cool with that! WotC outsourced some of the risk in 3e by giving RL to Arthaus and DL to Wiess's publishing company. GG could easily do GH. Or Kenzer (are they still around?) or Kobold Press, Sasquatch, Necromancer, Green Ronin, etc. The question is there enough will and finance to get those projects going?

Back on topic ....
I've read more Tomb of Annihilation and it just keeps getting better and better!

I have to wait until my DM buys it to run it, and we just started the StarFinder AP.


EDIT: to not derrail the thread further, I'll leave it at this. We'll agree to disagree.