One thing I've noticed is that many of the Save or Die type effects have been replaced with "save, or take massive damage" - like 75-100 hit points types of damage. Most rooms have the potential to be very deadly, and a few can be actual TPK's, so the players are being cautious and doing a lot of planning. We've played 7 sessions in the Tomb so far, covering dungeon levels 1 and 2 (sessions 28-34 of our overall campaign). From time to time, the spirits also pass useful information or lore on to their hosts. I can't unsee what you're thinking", and there are couple of character/spirits that are well-paired with each other. We've got at least one Lawful Good spirit in the mind of an evil character, "Ew, your mind is like a bathroom that's never been cleaned. It's created interesting roleplaying, as some of the good aligned characters are hosting evil spirits, and frequently admonishing the spirits that "my mind is now your prison and I will never give in to your evil urges". When the characters succeed in opening a sarcophagus of a trickster god, they gain a useful magic item, and the character has a chance of being possessed by the trickster spirit, which then goads them to try and act in accordance with the spirit's alignment. Each crypt is basically a heist, with puzzles and traps. There were 9 "trickster gods" slain by Acererak, each representing a different alignment, and their crypts are scattered throughout the dungeon. It's a sprawling death trap dungeon filled with puzzles and traps (6 levels, covering 80 or so rooms). The Tomb of the Nine Gods is the capstone dungeon for the campaign. I'd just like to see a Greyhawk Sourcebook, please. My guys ended up as privateers at one point, sailing around Chult and hunting pirates! Overall, WOTC has done a nice job of writing most of their hardcover campaigns to feature open world sandbox adventures - Princes of the Apocalypse, Curse of Strahd, Storm King's Thunder, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and Tomb of Annihilation are all open structures, while Tales of the Yawning Portal and Ghosts of Saltmarsh feature reprints of classic dungeons (many from the AD&D catalog). There are some overarching objectives, but how the characters get there is up to the players. This campaign is a giant sandbox, pure and simple.
#Tales from the yawning portal lich full
This is WOTC's best published campaign, full stop, especially if you grew up playing 70's and 80's D&D. Previous installments are here ( Tomb of Annihilation).
It's been a couple of months since we checked in on my weekly home game, using the Tomb of Annihilation hardcover campaign.