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farinal
Learned Scribe
Turkey
270 Posts |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6361 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
 Posted - 03 Jun 2017 : 17:49:17
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| I'm not keen on them re-using Acererak this way. There are plenty of liches in the Realms, already. A sarrukh lich would be a lot more interesting and would make more sense for the area. |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jun 2017 : 17:49:50
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I'm not trying to be negative, but that announcement fails to excite me.
+2: Going to Chult. We do want a 5e map of the peninsula, after the stupidity of 4e.
+2: Sandbox concept.
-1: If you want an RSE in Chult, make it the portal in the Peaks of Flame. Adding a new one is lame.
-1: Acererak isn't an FR character. The Tomb of Horrors isn't an FR dungeon. Quit diluting the Realms.
-1: Have we not yet heard enough complaining about too many high-level NPCs in FR?
-1: Why are you still avoiding the other continents? You've owned the rights for 16+ years. While I like blank slates, I also prefer that you not screw up Ed's work in Faerun. Introducing a new continent would be a big event, without blowing anything up. Win+win.
So on first glance: 0 stars, zero reason to buy this rather than just using the 2e map and making it a "sandbox" on my own. Plus, the cumulative frustration of never seeing anything new is getting to me.
I'm sure the end result will be cool, in some ways, but this announcement doesn't hype me up.
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jun 2017 : 17:53:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I'm not keen on them re-using Acererak this way. There are plenty of liches in the Realms, already. A sarrukh lich would be a lot more interesting and would make more sense for the area.
Truth-bomb. See if Wooly was writing it, it'd be a +1 for naming a sarrukh lich, rather than -1 for importing some dude from another setting. Hope you're taking notes, WotC. |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jun 2017 : 03:27:36
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| this is just plain stupid. Yeah, Wooly's dead on right. Acererak is neat and all, but they've overblown him immensely. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 04 Jun 2017 : 03:28:18
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quote:
Originally posted by xaeyruudh
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I'm not keen on them re-using Acererak this way. There are plenty of liches in the Realms, already. A sarrukh lich would be a lot more interesting and would make more sense for the area.
Truth-bomb. See if Wooly was writing it, it'd be a +1 for naming a sarrukh lich, rather than -1 for importing some dude from another setting. Hope you're taking notes, WotC.
Well... I play Pathfinder, now, and I'm not strong on the rules for that, either... So I'd not be the best person to write game material. 
Besides, where I'm strongest is something like this: taking someone else's idea, rotating this part 90 degrees, respinning this other part, and then tossing in this other angle.
Such as...
Maybe the Ba'etith had a stronghold in Chult. Some of the early work that went into the Nether Scrolls was done in this area. In fact, this work could be why this is one of the few areas in the Realms to have dinosaurs -- perhaps some proof-of-concept experimentation was bringing back/recreating various species of dinosaurs.
And then one or more of the Ba'etith went rogue, because of something they found... Something ancient and evil that predated even the sarrukh. The remainder of the Chultan Ba'etith destroyed the rogues, sealed away whatever the object (or entity) of evil was, and then turned their old stronghold into a deathtrap to keep it all safely contained. Then they headed back north, joined with the rest of the Ba'etith, and made the Nether Scrolls.
Meanwhile, the ancient evil doohickey proved to be only imperfectly sealed off. It raised one of the fallen rogue Ba'etith, one Ash'r'rahkk, and made him a unique form of lich. This ancient evil later corrupted one of Ubtao's nature spirits, turning it into the shadow giant Eshowdow.
The first non-Ba'etith who ever penetrated this hidden stronghold was a powerful human wizard, whose original name has been lost to the sands of time... Encountering the sarrukh lich Ash'r'rahkk and the evil force backing it, this wizard realized too late that his very mind was being overwhelmed by what he had found. He fled, eventually journeying to another sphere entirely, in a vain attempt to hold onto his own personality. In the end, though, his strength was not enough, and he became another extension of that ancient evil doohickey.
Forgetting his own name, he chose a new one from his fragmentary and shattered memories: Acererak. He sealed himself away in his own cunningly-designed deathtrap, intending to contain the evil that had consumed him.
This did weaken the ancient doohickey, though, because now its own essence was sundered. It's still powerful, and still rather evil, but it is no longer the threat it once was... And it's not cool with that.
In the millennia since then, the Ba'etith stronghold has remained forgotten and sealed away... Until the chaos of the Spellplague and the Sundering brought one of the entrances back into the sunlight....
As for that ancient evil doohickey... I have previously suggested that there was some horrible evil that all the gods had to get together to defeat, and even their combined might could only shatter this evil. I suggested that it could have been one of the shards of this evil that made Cyric get so crazy, and another could be imprisoned under and contained by the Wall of the Faithless. Maybe that's what the Chultan Ba'etith found.
Or maybe a simpler explanation could be something like a spawn of Dendar... Or perhaps at some point, Dendar herself was in the Realms. Someone, perhaps Ubtao battled and wounded her, driving her from the Prime and into the Fugue Plane. And when she was wounded, some of her blood splashed on and corrupted some native creature, granting it power beyond that of mortals, but still shy of the true Elder Evils of the Realms.
This spins the whole thing into something new, built on existing Realmslore, but still keeping the ridiculous connection to the Tomb of Horrors. With the similar names and nature of the dungeons, it'd not be unlikely for someone who knew of the Tomb of Horrors to hear about this place and assume they were one in the same. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 04 Jun 2017 03:31:18 |
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Eltheron
Senior Scribe
740 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jun 2017 : 01:20:45
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quote:
Originally posted by farinal
Tomb of Annihilation takes place in the Forgotten Realms in the lost Land of Chult. There players will trudge through dense jungle and encounter dinosaurs, undead, and the snake-like Yuan-Ti. Acererak, the demi-lich from Tomb of Horrors, will make a comeback and appear stronger than ever.
http://geekandsundry.com/wizards-of-the-coast-announce-new-storyline-tomb-of-annihilation/
What do you guys think?
This seems like such a weird choice. I guess they're trying to go for "different" imagery than they've used so far, hence the jungle and the dinosaurs, but I've never particularly been excited by either.
One of their stated goals is to increase exploration, and I can't think of anything worse than exploring a jungle. They're typically hot, overgrown, very hard to see anything, and filled with snakes and bugs. And in the case of Chult, usually Yuan-Ti as well.
Also, Acererak is very un-inspired. It's another reach into the old bag of leftover Gygax material. Either they think it will perform better in sales because of nostalgia, or they just don't want to pay Ed the small amount of money he'd get for developing and fleshing out something new.
I don't think they understand the value of the Forgotten Realms at all. But whether they do or don't, they're utterly wasting its potential by cluttering it up with non-Realmsian Greyhawk material.
*SIGH* 
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"The very best possible post-fourteenth-century Realms lets down those who love the specific, detailed social, political and magical situation, with its thousands of characters, developed over forty years, and want to learn more about it; and those who'd be open to a new one with equal depth, which there just isn't time to re-produce; and those repelled, some past the point of no return, by the bad-taste-and-plausibility gap of things done to the world when its guardianship was less careful."
--Faraer |
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PattPlays
Senior Scribe
469 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jun 2017 : 02:39:54
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As the obscure reference guy, and someone running something on the side that has to do with chult-like themes, think we will find any background references to some..weirder Chult stuff? What about Ubtao, the great deceiver- primordial patron of the celestial, talking, spellcasting dinosaurs of the Beastlands/HappyHuntingGrounds, creator of all of Chult, rival of the World Serpent Dendar, patron of dreams?
Or the creator races?
...maybe? |
:The world's greatest OOTA fan/critic: :"Powder kegs within powder kegs!": :Meta-Dimensional Cheese: :Why is the Wand of Orcus just back?: :We still don't know the nature of Souls and the Positive Energy Plane: :PC on profile, Aldritch Elpyptrat Maxinfield: :Helljumpers, Bungie.net: :Rock Hard Gladiator, RIP Fluidanim, Long Live Pluto: :IRC lives:
https://thisisstorytelling.wordpress.com
T_P_T |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4441 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jun 2017 : 16:19:01
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| Looks like fun honestly. I never had a campaign in Chult and one that goes from 1-11 levels sounds awesome |
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farinal
Learned Scribe
Turkey
270 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jun 2017 : 19:46:09
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http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/tomb-annihilation
Dare to defy death in this adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.
The talk of the streets and taverns has all been about the so-called death curse: a wasting disease afflicting everyone who’s ever been raised from the dead. Victims grow thinner and weaker each day, slowly but steadily sliding toward the death they once denied.
When they finally succumb, they can’t be raised—and neither can anyone else, regardless of whether they’ve ever received that miracle in the past. Temples and scholars of divine magic are at a loss to explain a curse that has affected the entire region, and possibly the entire world.
The cause is a necromantic artifact called the Soulmonger, which is located somewhere in Chult, a mysterious peninsula far to the south, ringed with mountains and choked with rainforests.
Adventure design by Christopher Perkins, Will Doyle, and Steve Winter, with additional design by Adam Lee. Story consulting by the award-winning creator of Adventure Time, Pendleton Ward. |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4441 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jun 2017 : 22:13:35
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| I'm really curious how Clerics and Paladins of Kelemvor feel about this curse and how it'll affect players of those characters. Like, do they try to stop this curse since it's killing people OR are they okay with this because it's returning them to the natural order of when they were supposed to die and go to the afterlife? Obviously they want to stop this terri-bad artifact of necromantic might but the side effects......I think there's some great role playing opportunities here. |
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jun 2017 : 00:11:10
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I think Kelemvor and his priests would be fine with it. Other than the Chult link, I might even think Kelemvor might be behind it all. But it also doesn't sound like it affects undead.
Interesting plotline, but I still don't like the use of Greyhawk material in place of Realmslore.
I also wonder why there's a demilich if the PCs are only getting up to level 11.
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Edited by - xaeyruudh on 06 Jun 2017 00:12:22 |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4441 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jun 2017 : 08:17:04
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quote:
Originally posted by xaeyruudh
I think Kelemvor and his priests would be fine with it. Other than the Chult link, I might even think Kelemvor might be behind it all. But it also doesn't sound like it affects undead.
yikes, that'd be an interesting situation. Helping those dying....again...to their rightful place in the afterlife is going to ruffle some feathers. I like it.
quote:
Originally posted by xaeyruudh
Interesting plotline, but I still don't like the use of Greyhawk material in place of Realmslore.
why not change the name in your game? Seems overly easy thing to do.
quote:
Originally posted by xaeyruudh
I also wonder why there's a demilich if the PCs are only getting up to level 11.
Going by the 5e Tomb of Horrors adventure in Dungeon magazine #213 (Tales Yawning Portal might have changed him) he was a level 14 encounter. Something a group of 4 11th level PCs could handle with some difficulty. |
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Dewaint
Learned Scribe
Germany
148 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jun 2017 : 16:09:19
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I don't like Acerak being imported either.
I like the idea of a Sarrukh Lich or something similar. Pretty sure to adopt it as soon I get this adventure on my desk :)
I lost the momentum in thinking 5e is a new 2e era of FR Lore, or that WotC is trying to care and develop the realms as in such old times. At least there is new material made public, even if WotC is messing up the settings there are some decent pieces of FR lore that can be extracted.
So make the best of it!
As with "Out of The Abyss" there is much room to customize the Adventure to fit your own version of the Realms.
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jun 2017 : 19:24:20
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quote:
Originally posted by Diffan
why not change the name in your game? Seems overly easy thing to do.
Sure, it's easy to make a new NPC or substitute a FR lich in place of Acererak.
quote:
Originally posted by xaeyruudh
Going by the 5e Tomb of Horrors adventure in Dungeon magazine #213 (Tales Yawning Portal might have changed him) he was a level 14 encounter. Something a group of 4 11th level PCs could handle with some difficulty.
Odd. The demilich is CR 18 in the MM. The lich is CR 21.
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Edited by - xaeyruudh on 06 Jun 2017 19:26:48 |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3287 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jun 2017 : 21:02:37
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| Wouldn't be that difficult to plop down in a 1356/57 5E FR Game... |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4441 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jun 2017 : 21:13:32
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quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone
Wouldn't be that difficult to plop down in a 1356/57 5E FR Game...
Pretty much my thoughts as well. Hell I'm a pretty strong believer that you can play in whatever era or timeline using whatever Rules you want. There's not need to keep it the same. |
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moonbeast
Senior Scribe
USA
522 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jun 2017 : 03:01:42
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quote:
Originally posted by Diffan
Looks like fun honestly. I never had a campaign in Chult and one that goes from 1-11 levels sounds awesome
I can't imagine Level 2 characters knowing what to do if a T-Rex ever wanted to use them as a chew toy.  |
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see
Learned Scribe
235 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jun 2017 : 05:43:32
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quote:
Originally posted by moonbeast
quote:
Originally posted by Diffan
Looks like fun honestly. I never had a campaign in Chult and one that goes from 1-11 levels sounds awesome
I can't imagine Level 2 characters knowing what to do if a T-Rex ever wanted to use them as a chew toy.
Easy. Hold completely still so he can't see you, and wait for him to eat someone using an outhouse. |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jun 2017 : 07:01:44
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| If they eat someone using an outhouse, do they taste better or worse (you know, having been recently purged). Just wondering because you know, will dinosaurs begin to equate outhouses to better tasting meals.... |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4441 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jun 2017 : 15:03:52
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quote:
Originally posted by moonbeast
quote:
Originally posted by Diffan
Looks like fun honestly. I never had a campaign in Chult and one that goes from 1-11 levels sounds awesome
I can't imagine Level 2 characters knowing what to do if a T-Rex ever wanted to use them as a chew toy.
Probably roll up new Level 1 Characters and meta-game to not go into that particular area for a while  . But if I were playing there and was a lowly level 2, I'm making a run for it and hoping any sort of spell or magical item or even a good Stealth check gets me to see another day. |
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farinal
Learned Scribe
Turkey
270 Posts |
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moonbeast
Senior Scribe
USA
522 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jun 2017 : 06:39:05
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Thanks for that link to the Polygon review, farinal.
It seems that that "Chultans" are not exactly portrayed (stereotyped) as jungle-dwelling sub-Saharan Africans. They seem to be dressed more like Middle Eastern Arabs, possibly as North African Arabs.
Here is the pic in question:
[image]https://www.polygon.com/2017/6/20/15834134/dungeons-and-dragons-new-module-tomb-of-annihilation-tomb-of-horrors-origins[/image]
Just as well. I did not like the idea of Chult being troped as The Forgotten Realms' analogy of tropical Africa. We need to get away from those real Earth stereotypes. |
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KanzenAU
Senior Scribe
Australia
763 Posts |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2017 : 11:29:02
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quote:
Originally posted by KanzenAU
People might be interested in the prelude story in the latest issue of Dragon Magazine.
NOW THAT WAS GREAT. I honestly loved that read. I only wish they'd made Alfin Biscop a follower of the Red Knight instead of Torm with his love of the lanceboard.
So, something's happened that has diverted the "funnel" of energy from the positive material plane to the rest of Toril. Damn, but its odd when two things I'm talking about seem to synch up.... but I'll be damned if Entropy isn't an extension of the exact opposite of the positive material plane.
Hmmm, wonder if the sphere of annihilation that's part of the Tomb of Horrors is somehow an extension of Entropy? I wonder if the Sundering reseparating Pandorym didn't somehow or other draw Acererak's tomb here? For that matter, how did Acererak become a vestige, and did IT have something to do with that sphere of annihilation .... and somehow Entropy. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
Edited by - sleyvas on 01 Jul 2017 12:04:10 |
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Delwa
Master of Realmslore
USA
1271 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2017 : 22:43:23
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quote:
Originally posted by KanzenAU
People might be interested in the prelude story in the latest issue of Dragon Magazine.
I really, really enjoyed that short story. I kinda wish there were a follow up novel.... |
- Delwa Aunglor
I am off to slay yon refrigerator and spoil it's horde. Go for the cheese, Boo!
"The Realms change; seldom at the speed desired of those who strive, but far too quickly for those who resist." - The Simbul, taken from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Conspectus |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
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Delwa
Master of Realmslore
USA
1271 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2017 : 13:36:34
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
So, anyone want a free Mike Schley map of Chult, very large and made for this adventure?
Got it! Now I'm just waiting for the book to get here.
I looked at D&D Beyond's digital offering for the adventure and I'm stoked.
On Beyond, you don't have to buy the whole tome, they've broken it down to where you can just purchase an individual monster or NPC stat block, or magic item. While it doesn't let you preview those individual stats, it gives a nice idea of what exactly is going to be in the crunchy bits.
Can't wait to see how they stat Artus Cimber and Dragonbait. |
- Delwa Aunglor
I am off to slay yon refrigerator and spoil it's horde. Go for the cheese, Boo!
"The Realms change; seldom at the speed desired of those who strive, but far too quickly for those who resist." - The Simbul, taken from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Conspectus |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11829 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2017 : 14:43:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Delwa
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
So, anyone want a free Mike Schley map of Chult, very large and made for this adventure?
Got it! Now I'm just waiting for the book to get here.
I looked at D&D Beyond's digital offering for the adventure and I'm stoked.
On Beyond, you don't have to buy the whole tome, they've broken it down to where you can just purchase an individual monster or NPC stat block, or magic item. While it doesn't let you preview those individual stats, it gives a nice idea of what exactly is going to be in the crunchy bits.
Can't wait to see how they stat Artus Cimber and Dragonbait.
Dragonbait will be in Chult? I mean, I can see the saurials there, just hadn't noted anything about it. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Delwa
Master of Realmslore
USA
1271 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2017 : 14:48:25
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
quote:
Originally posted by Delwa
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
So, anyone want a free Mike Schley map of Chult, very large and made for this adventure?
Got it! Now I'm just waiting for the book to get here.
I looked at D&D Beyond's digital offering for the adventure and I'm stoked.
On Beyond, you don't have to buy the whole tome, they've broken it down to where you can just purchase an individual monster or NPC stat block, or magic item. While it doesn't let you preview those individual stats, it gives a nice idea of what exactly is going to be in the crunchy bits.
Can't wait to see how they stat Artus Cimber and Dragonbait.
Dragonbait will be in Chult? I mean, I can see the saurials there, just hadn't noted anything about it.
Yep! Scroll down to the Monster Section. He's there.
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- Delwa Aunglor
I am off to slay yon refrigerator and spoil it's horde. Go for the cheese, Boo!
"The Realms change; seldom at the speed desired of those who strive, but far too quickly for those who resist." - The Simbul, taken from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Conspectus |
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Tomb of Annihilation
