tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post9122588129303140831..comments2024-03-23T05:46:31.832-07:00Comments on Power Score: Dungeons & Dragons - Storm King's Thunder ReviewSeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-73075508715502555942017-01-04T17:45:37.421-08:002017-01-04T17:45:37.421-08:00ShyberKryst: Agreed! In the end, IMO, every advent...ShyberKryst: Agreed! In the end, IMO, every adventure is a railroad because you can't prepare for everything. Sandboxes can be railroads too, if the players go off the map or into another plane. Then, you're scrambling just like if a railroad went off the rails. To me, the key is to be up front with your players - Tell them, "You can do what you want, but remember if you veer off of the planned story, I'll roll with it but it might suck." They'll still go off the rails, but the players will be very accommodating and understanding if you need a ten minute break to cook some things up real quick.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-60067610545927067862017-01-03T16:33:47.004-08:002017-01-03T16:33:47.004-08:00Sean, seems like the current trend in RPG's is...Sean, seems like the current trend in RPG's is that "linear" equals "railroad" equals crappy adventure design. I grew up with 1st Ed and 2nd Ed, and as a DM, I love linear adventures. There's still room to improvise if you so choose. The huge sandboxes with minimal maps are very challenging to say the least; I'm looking at you Out of the Abyss.ShyberKrysthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05354952366634724043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-5569849374498670692016-10-06T18:31:22.114-07:002016-10-06T18:31:22.114-07:00Grant Ellis: Poor Eldeth. It seems like she croaks...Grant Ellis: Poor Eldeth. It seems like she croaks in mos people's campaigns. You could always prepare props for entities you know the group will run into sooner or later, that way they are ready when the time comes.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-34911637899385605142016-10-02T16:33:49.886-07:002016-10-02T16:33:49.886-07:00I will say, within the context of an existing camp...I will say, within the context of an existing campaign it does get sort of interesting and a lot more filtered due to lingering hooks... I am using Appendix A, and my Out of the Abyss campaign has left the Underdark at fifth level, having finished their duties in Gracklstugh and have made their way to Triboar to rest up after their epic battle with the Drow... they are set on heading to Gauntlgrym, where they intend to bury Eldeth's bones. I like how the adventure has so many encounters/hooks littered all over (other groups I've played with would have similar connections to this story line regardless of locale)<br /><br />With that said, its hard for me to prep props due to the vast open-ness of the campaign (as opposed to Strahd, where my props were pretty straight forward)Grant Ellishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03303636092209753860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-41078099540801586252016-10-01T21:50:40.972-07:002016-10-01T21:50:40.972-07:00Grant Ellis: You are right. I guess what I meant i...Grant Ellis: You are right. I guess what I meant is that it's a real pain to wedge them in elsewhere and it would be hard to give the group the option to go to one of three cities and then immediately run one of the three vast encounter areas complete with a time table and NPCs. It is a lot of work, definitely. Thanks!Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-69664298887935743122016-10-01T07:07:42.331-07:002016-10-01T07:07:42.331-07:00"In chapter 2, there are three fully fleshed ...<b>"In chapter 2, there are three fully fleshed out scenarios. Giants attack the settlements. We are meant to use just one. What a tremendous waste of space!"</b><br /><br />That's not entirely true, as Chapter 3 points out that the two scenarios that aren't used can be run at a different time; I think it largely depends on what sort of group you DM for and if they follow an adventure hook that would take them to one of the locations that have a big giant battle.<br /><br />It's similar to the end of chapter 11, the PCs might feel they need more firepower to take on the ancient blue dragon, so they follow a hook to take on another giant lord or two.<br /><br />But where we can agree: This could take far more work than the majority of us "Lazy DMs" care to follow up with! Grant Ellishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03303636092209753860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-12559035033706803012016-09-20T02:09:19.738-07:002016-09-20T02:09:19.738-07:00Bronk: I was wondering if people would find Chief ...Bronk: I was wondering if people would find Chief Guh offensive. I love prepublished adventures. It's fun to integrate them into your world. I think a great chase scene can be done, but i don't think anyone has done it yet. Thank you!<br /><br />Jonathan Waits: That would definitely work. I couldn't think if a tidy way to work that out. As far as the hill giants, I just think if you can only pick a few, I doubt many people are going to pick them. Thanks!Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-20589685474768207262016-09-18T18:31:23.289-07:002016-09-18T18:31:23.289-07:00I think maybe an overly simplistic way to solve th...I think maybe an overly simplistic way to solve the 5 lair issue is somehow saying that the pc's need 3 items to get to storm giant kingdom and that way you could make them go to at least three of the lairs. The ice and fire seem to be the coolest stories, the hill giant arc seems like it is there for comedic relief and doesnt fit the tone to me. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00256367448587294387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-58720451272227070702016-09-18T18:29:25.793-07:002016-09-18T18:29:25.793-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00256367448587294387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-40554840156812419102016-09-17T13:44:09.385-07:002016-09-17T13:44:09.385-07:00I decided to pass on this one, pretty much based o...I decided to pass on this one, pretty much based on your play guide and review.<br />We're just finishing up Curse of Strahd right now, and after that it's time for me to take a turn running a PC and letting someone else do all the work ! Strahd was fun but I can't see doing even more work on this one - it sounds like a bit of a mess with some good parts .<br />DMing should be fun too, not a slog and I really think they need to improve and expand these from the ground up.<br />Going to take a look at some older stuff for my next run as DM. <br />Thanks for all the work !Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-75229917032410596252016-09-17T08:54:05.159-07:002016-09-17T08:54:05.159-07:00Thanks for this awesome review! All the articles ...Thanks for this awesome review! All the articles about this Giant adventure were fun to read!<br /><br />I totally agree about how neat it would have been to add in more types of giants. For one thing, if they had done that, they could have left out the hill giants. Truly the gully dwarves of giants... and that hill giant chief lady sounded extremely offensive. They should really be ashamed of themselves for that one.<br /><br />Interesting about the typos, although three seems like a low number! You mentioned how they put chapter sections in instead of page numbers for the NPC list, and it could be because they wanted to update it in the future (although I can't think of any time they've ever done that before), but it made me think back to all the old books and adventures when they tried to put in page numbers, but either got them wrong or left the placeholder 'XX' in there! It sounds to me as if they finally realized their editors have always phoned it in and tried to bypass the problem entirely. Too bad that they chose such a hard to use method as a replacement! If they did that, they should have put in those indentation flip guides like old timey dictionaries.<br /><br />By the way, I love reading your adventure recaps from all of your games, and I think the way you can get all the best of out of all of these prepublished adventures is great. I never use them as written because I like a more free flowing game, and I've always thought boxed text was stilted at best. I usually just get the gist and some of the major place settings and items out and work it into a game already in progress. <br /><br />I hear you about chase scenes! They usually require a new set of rules though, which can be confusing to spring on people.<br /><br />Anyway, thanks for the great blog!<br /><br />Bronkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03037864167096222349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-14447190704020741862016-09-16T23:05:34.607-07:002016-09-16T23:05:34.607-07:00SkullAndScimitar: I agree.. it feels like it would...SkullAndScimitar: I agree.. it feels like it would be hard to use all of the giant lairs. You could, but it just feels awkward. Thank you!<br /><br />Jason Raabis: I am starting to plan a Hell's Rebels campaign for 5e! It might take a while for me to round up a group but I am going to do this thing. Thanks!Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07263753821685936593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-34624745762464132112016-09-16T18:36:32.904-07:002016-09-16T18:36:32.904-07:00Although I'm sure the plot is much different, ...Although I'm sure the plot is much different, your analysis of the Paizo AP that has much to do with giants would be a really interesting comparison. Perhaps Paizo could send you their line for review also! Jason Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10308752560098089761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-422181426312081107.post-12015237365229471822016-09-16T15:15:15.789-07:002016-09-16T15:15:15.789-07:00I can agree with most things said here and I like ...I can agree with most things said here and I like most parts of the adventure (the north, the giants, the plot...). Chapter 3 with its location list was very confusing at first, and can still be overwehelming after you think about it for a bit. The only thing that frustrated me was the forced choice between the five giant lords, it just went against my sense of exploring and completing in games. Of course you can run all five locations (before or after freeing King Hekaton), but it just doesn't feel right. I can't think of a better way to compose them right now, to be honest, and SKT is still a pretty good adventure overall.SkullAndScimitarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14878760472284173946noreply@blogger.com