D&D 5E Princes of the Apocalypse - What I learned from the Encounters PDF (spoilers)

[MerricB]

Princes of the Apocalypse begins today* at D&D Encounters stores. (* depending on timezone). I've got the Encounters pdf, which is a cut-down version of the first few chapters of the full adventure.

Remember how the starter set adventure got a lot of praise for its town with adventure hooks? Lost Mine was designed by Rich Baker. Guess who designed Princes, and who has included a base town to play in? With lots of adventure hooks?

It looks like the pdf actually has removed some of the encounters and hooks from the full adventure, especially some of the NPCs (factional allies and cultists), so I'm even more eager to see the full adventure.

The initial stages of the adventure have the group in the village of Red Larch (Dessarin Valley, Sumber Hills), dealing with a few local problems. (Not all relate to the main adventure). Once they reach 2nd level, an event occurs that leads to a dungeon which sets the main adventure into motion.

The third section of the adventure has the adventurers investigating a missing delegation, which has some nice role-playing opportunities (I love it when you're not sure whether the people you're interacting with are good or bad guys), and two adventure sites - the full adventure apparently has four sites.

Princes of the Apocalypse Credits:
Lead Designer: Richard Baker
Designers: Ed Greenwood, David Noonan, Thomas M. Reid, Stephen Schubert, Steven Townshend, Jeff Ludwig, Robert J. Schwalb
Editors: Michele Carter, Stacy Janssen
Cartographers: Sean MacDonald, Mike Schley

Cheers!

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I am really curious about the Adventure so this Pdf was a great read.

I also really want art now of all of the types of Cultists. The Hurricane's (Cult of the Howling Hatred Monks.) sound like they would look cool.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

... and two adventure sites - the full adventure apparently has four sites.

Princes of the Apocalypse Credits:

I got the feeling there are 5 sites, with the four leading to the last. I really like what I see from this one compared to HotDQ. A good core plot with lots of things to explore and perhaps even an actual dungeon or two to delve!

 

[jodyjohnson]

Looking at the list of people involved, Sasquatch looks like the Wizards design studio spin-off much like Paizo was the spin-off for magazine publishing back in 2002.

Much happier with the art look for EE.

 

[Klaus]

Princes of the Apocalypse begins today* at D&D Encounters stores. (* depending on timezone). I've got the Encounters pdf, which is a cut-down version of the first few chapters of the full adventure.

Remember how the starter set adventure got a lot of praise for its town with adventure hooks? Lost Mine was designed by Rich Baker. Guess who designed Princes, and who has included a base town to play in? With lots of adventure hooks?

It looks like the pdf actually has removed some of the encounters and hooks from the full adventure, especially some of the NPCs (factional allies and cultists), so I'm even more eager to see the full adventure.

The initial stages of the adventure have the group in the village of Red Larch (Dessarin Valley, Sumber Hills), dealing with a few local problems. (Not all relate to the main adventure). Once they reach 2nd level, an event occurs that leads to a dungeon which sets the main adventure into motion.

The third section of the adventure has the adventurers investigating a missing delegation, which has some nice role-playing opportunities (I love it when you're not sure whether the people you're interacting with are good or bad guys), and two adventure sites - the full adventure apparently has four sites.

Princes of the Apocalypse Credits:
Lead Designer: Richard Baker
Designers: Ed Greenwood, David Noonan, Thomas M. Reid, Stephen Schubert, Steven Townshend, Jeff Ludwig, Robert J. Schwalb
Editors: Michele Carter, Stacy Janssen
Cartographers: Sean MacDonald, Mike Schley

Cheers!

Is there art?

 

[jodyjohnson]

Is there art?

Long list.

Interior Illustrators: John-Paul Balmet, Mark Behm, Eric Belisle,
Filip Burburan, Christopher Burdett, Anna Christenson,
Conceptopolis, Wayne England, Jason Engle, Jon Hodgson,
Justin Mayhew, Jim Nelson, Klaus Pillon, Claudio Pozas,
Ned Rogers, Lee Smith, Raymond Swanland, Matias Tapia,
Richard Whitters, Kieran Yanner

Typesetter: Nissa McCormack

And that's just the Sasquatch section.

 

[Mark CMG]

Thanks for the update/info, MerricB!

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I got the feeling there are 5 sites, with the four leading to the last. I really like what I see from this one compared to HotDQ. A good core plot with lots of things to explore and perhaps even an actual dungeon or two to delve!

Nah more like 9 sites. Their are these outposts for the cult. Near the Outposts (For at least the two sites we got) is an entrance that leads down to the Elemental Temple of that cult. All four of them connect somewhere and lead to the new Temple of Elemental Evil according to the adventure. (Note we did not get any info on the temple's)

 

[GX.Sigma]

Seems a lot like LMoP (which seemed like a remake of Scourge of the Sword Coast, a late D&D Next Encounters adventure). Those adventures were good, so I like this direction. I guess Tyranny of Dragons was just a practice one.

Sounds like a lot of good-old-fashioned dungeon crawling, too, which I'm pretty excited about.

 

[Staffan]

Yeah yeah yeah, art, adventure, maps, designers... all that is well and good. But the really important question is: is there a disclaimer? And if so, is it the same as in the Elemental Evil Player's Companion?