The wife and I are finally making the move out of state in a few months. Group requested I run them through the new "Tomb of Horrors" before I say sayonara. I haven't previewed the new version yet, but I wonder if it's shudder-worthy (I'll know Monday, when our 5E player hands me the Tome).
Anybody got their copy already? How does everything look? Got that "forged in fire" feel? (eet can keel...)
Emi Tanji's artwork is fantastic, and is really the brainchild behind the 'realistic' art approach of 5e.
Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-rif5ag9bY
I'm a fan of Tanji's artwork. Tempted to pick this up just for her art as I have all the classic modules as is.
It is really nice art. Kind of a shame though that the had to change the appearance of monsters in the original modules to look like they do in 5E. Keeping everything on-model isn't a great way to approach fantasy art. Is "I have seen that before" really the reaction you want from your players when you show them the art for the monsters they are facing?
I bought the book but haven't really looked at it much because I'd like to play it before I read it. (Spoilers, etc.) A few of us were discussing the "lose your magic items forever" aspect of ToH that apparently was done in some of the pre-release convention versions, and I never liked that about the original ToH. (They said that they played ToH in a 4-hour time slot, so the adventure must have been chopped down significantly.)
The title is awful.
It sounds like the title of one of the parody sci-fi books written by the Jermaine Clement character in Gentlemen Broncos.
Quote from: Just Another Snake Cult;953924The title is awful.
It sounds like the title of one of the parody sci-fi books written by the Jermaine Clement character in Gentlemen Broncos.
When you are trying to invoke a spirit of adventure, "yawning" may not be the best word to reach for.
Quote from: Baulderstone;953936When you are trying to invoke a spirit of adventure, "yawning" may not be the best word to reach for.
People wait a looooong time for folks to return. It's their pastime. I suppose between the drinks and waiting, the yawing inspired the name...
I was under the impression that "The Yawning Portal" was a famous tavern in Waterdeep. I'm not very familiar with the Forgotten Realms, so that may be an error and I don't know if there are better names of taverns in the city.
Quote from: finarvyn;953960I was under the impression that "The Yawning Portal" was a famous tavern in Waterdeep. I'm not very familiar with the Forgotten Realms, so that may be an error and I don't know if there are better names of taverns in the city.
The particulars (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Yawning_Portal). Basically it is the primary entrance to the Undermountain dungeon.
Isn't there like 7 adventures in this release? Of all of them they are jonesing for a goodbye Tomb of Horrors run? Ok... :confused: Whatever floats their boat! :D
Quote from: ZWEIHÄNDER;953541Emi Tanji's artwork is fantastic, and is really the brainchild behind the 'realistic' art approach of 5e.
Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-rif5ag9bY
Technically, the art is nice. But I get no sense of emotion (like from the critter in the cage) or any sense of motion (all the figures feel posed--even the ones that aren't head and shoulders portraits). I love the maps, and usually I don't like "artistic" maps, since the art usually gets in the way of clarity, which doesn't happen here.
Quote from: Opaopajr;953990Isn't there like 7 adventures in this release? Of all of them they are jonesing for a goodbye Tomb of Horrors run? Ok... :confused: Whatever floats their boat! :D
Believe me, they've been warned.:-)
Does anyone play Tomb of Horrors and actually enjoy it. And not as a "let's just play it to say we did" type thing.
Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;953998Does anyone play Tomb of Horrors and actually enjoy it. And not as a "let's just play it to say we did" type thing.
Killer dungeon is killer dungeon.
It's definitely a
been there, done that adventure. But the first time we played it? We were ready to throttle the DM at the start, and then began to enjoy how utterly unfair it was designed to be like.
Thanks Uncle Gary!
I don't like the cover art, to be honest. The rest of the material? Bog standard, nothing too revolution.
Just got my copy. I like it from a quick browse, and a read-through of the Tomb itself. For all you old school guys who've played them all, it wouldn't be worth it. But I don't have, nor have I played, any of these.
Will give a better read through and post reviews here (and elsewhere) shortly.
TOH is fun if approached in the right spirit as a one-off. And don't you get all your magic items back if you defeat the Lich at the end of the module?
I recently reread The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan and it stands up well today as a dungeon with a still-unique flavour. White Plume Mountain is super goofy but I remember having a blast with it as a kid.
I wish they did a reprint of David Cook's classic modules. If you look in the DMG map of the planes they located the Isle of Dread in the Plane of Water so I suspect that a rewrite of that classic could be in the cards as they like to plant easter eggs for future adventures in current books.
PS. Goodman Games just announced an agreement with WoTC to publish special editions of the classic TSR modules, with the original modules, a 5e conversion and even the original designer and artists including commentary and notes. Sounds sweet for the scholarly set if a bit collector scummy. Hopefully they're reasonably priced.
My party had a lot of fun in ToH. I gave them each 3 lives and heavily emphasized that the point was to see how far you could get, so they went in with the right expectations. After everyone lost a life on the green devil face, it went pretty well.
Quote from: fearsomepirate;954832My party had a lot of fun in ToH. I gave them each 3 lives and heavily emphasized that the point was to see how far you could get, so they went in with the right expectations. After everyone lost a life on the green devil face, it went pretty well.
That's a great way to go about it (lives). What level were the characters, just out of curiosity?
Quote from: fearsomepirate;954832My party had a lot of fun in ToH. I gave them each 3 lives and heavily emphasized that the point was to see how far you could get, so they went in with the right expectations. After everyone lost a life on the green devil face, it went pretty well.
So you effectively turned it into a video game. That's actually pretty clever. Would definitely have made more palatable for me and my friends when we tried it out.
That is a clever idea. I like the fact that ToH becomes more of a challenge to the players than a way to kill their characters.
Amazon just told me I should have it Wednesday, which means I'll probably have it tomorrow or Wednesday. :D I like the idea of the Tavern being a central location if you want to string the modules into a campaign.
So, anyone actually played any of it yet?
Quote from: RPGPundit;956837So, anyone actually played any of it yet?
I'm waiting for a local game store to give me the official okay to run it there. I plan on going through all of the dungeons, in order, starting with level 1 PCs.
If it happens, I'll happily post summaries here.
Yah, good idea with the 'extra lives' mechanic. I was going to do a similar thing if I ran Tomb of Horrors in Earthdawn (with a greayer Named spirit providing the extra chances because Artificer is a bastard and likes to watch adventurers kill/ maim themselves).
Quote from: Christopher Brady;954984So you effectively turned it into a video game. That's actually pretty clever. Would definitely have made more palatable for me and my friends when we tried it out.
It also resembles the Character Tree from Dark Sun, which was implemented for pretty much the same reason.