D&D 5E Yawning Portal: Tamoachan

[godfear]

I picked up Yawning Portal and am planning to start with The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan. A couple of things jumped out at me.

So, the first 30-some-odd areas are filled with poison gas that deals damage hourly. So, if the party doesn't make it through that and open the door before they need to take a long rest, are they just stuck out? I kind of assume taking damage while you're sleeping prevents one from getting the benefits of a long rest. I can see hand-waving the short rest bit, particularly since I have shortened it to 5 minutes (with limitations on taking multiple short rests consecutively), but barring some method of magically mitigating the ongoing poison damage, I'm not sure what they're supposed to do.

The other thing that has jumped out at me so far is the math on Tloques-Popolocas and what I assume is a typo in the treasure section. The text says he's a vampire spawn, then outlines a few changes to that. Bracers of armor don't stack with "natural" armor, right? If that's the case, then with a ring of protection, a vampire spawn should have AC 16, but the text says AC 17. Even if they do stack, shouldn't the AC be 18? I know that it's a minor quibble, but it's still irritating. That and the fact that they seem to have swapped out the ring of protection with a ring of animal influence in the treasure section of that room.

Just wondering what other people think.

 

[JonnyP71]

I like the way they've altered the gas, not as nasty as the tournament original (in which the characters were highly likely to die - the players being given scores based on how far they got!). Tamoachan is a deathtrap for 'gamer-type' players who want to kill and loot everything - to be successful they need to ignore the shinies and get the hell out as fast as they can. In that sense, it was great in its original form, and looks to be good enough in its 5E incarnation.

I'm much more optimistic about this conversion than the Tomb of Horrors one being discussed in great depth elsewhere on the forum.

 

[LordEntrails]

...
So, the first 30-some-odd areas are filled with poison gas that deals damage hourly. So, if the party doesn't make it through that and open the door before they need to take a long rest, are they just stuck out? I kind of assume taking damage while you're sleeping prevents one from getting the benefits of a long rest. I can see hand-waving the short rest bit, particularly since I have shortened it to 5 minutes (with limitations on taking multiple short rests consecutively), but barring some method of magically mitigating the ongoing poison damage, I'm not sure what they're supposed to do.
...

Simple, take a long rest and die. Or don't take a long rest and maybe live.

 

[godfear]

Simple, take a long rest and die. Or don't take a long rest and maybe live.

Heh. Straightforward, anyway. ; ) This, along with JonnyP's advice to get out quickly brings me to a different question.

The group has certain assumptions about the nature of adventures based on our time playing previously. I ran most of the players through the Tyranny of Dragons adventures, and barring a couple of instances, time was rarely a factor. I don't want to push them in any particular direction, but maybe after the first time they take poison damage I should hint that they might try to find a way out to take control of their resting situation or "die in obscurity."

 

[LordEntrails]

Or be straight up honest out of character with them before you even start.

"Hey guys, this next adventure is a classic. It should be really fun. BUT, it is completely different than what you may have experienced before. I will tell you straight up, it's designed to be dangerous. If you approach it casually, in character or out, all of you just might die, permanently."

Then let them talk about it. Go ahead and tell them that they may have to play differently than they normally do. That they just may have to go all-in gonzo to accomplish it and that "winning" may not be defined differently than they have considered it in the past.

 

[godfear]

Good points.

As for the editing quirks, just adjust and move on? : )

 

[ccs]

Good points.

As for the editing quirks, just adjust and move on? : )

Unless you'd prefer to remain stuck & bitch about it....
But yeah, what're you going to do? Editorial mistakes happen & it's up to us DMs to overcome them. So pick an AC you like & remember: You don't owe the players any explanation of the why behind the monsters #s.

 

[zaratan]

I didn't read yeat, just some small parts, but was planning to running it. One of the character would be a pureblood yuan-ti, look like I'll need to make some changes, lol.

 

[Shiroiken]

Assuming the amount of damage doesn't actually kill you for taking a Long Rest, I could see an argument to refresh everything except HP and HD. That keeps the pressure on, but allows for some resource renewal.

 

[LordEntrails]

I believe the rules do say that the benefits of a long rest only happen when you are safe, etc. Being in a poison atmosphere certainly would not fit my definition of a safe environment