Reddit reviews Tales From the Yawning Portal (Dungeons & Dragons)
We found 19 Reddit comments about Tales From the Yawning Portal (Dungeons & Dragons). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Product is for use in the Dungeons and Dragons role playing gameProduct Number: WOC C22070000Models and games are supplied unpainted and may require assembly or preparation before playAny scenery, paint, or glue is not included.
Tales from the Yawning Portal contains several easy-ish modules. Particularly the first two, The Sunless Citadel and The Forge of Fury.
This gives info on The Yawning Portal as well as rehash some old dungeons and convert them to 5E. :)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786966092/ref=ox_sc_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Lost Mines of Phandelver from the Starter Kit. (there is also a tutorial and alternate start for this on the Dungeon Master's Guld website for $2 https://www.dmsguild.com/product/247519/Before-Phandelver--A-Tutorial-Adventure )
Dragon of Icespire Peak from the Essentials Kit. https://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/essentials-kit
The Sunless Citadel from the official content book Tales from the Yawning Portal. https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Yawning-Portal-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786966092/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Tales+from+the+Yawning+Portal&qid=1572055132&sr=8-1
Wild Sheep Chase as mentioned by ColonelDorkus (see the link in that post).
A Most Potent Brew (uses only the free Basic Rules available on-line and is a short adventure as opposed to a full campaign. There are also continuing titles that could be strung into a longer campaign. Highly rated and designed for newbies.) https://www.dmsguild.com/product/186488/A-Most-Potent-Brew--A-Basic-Rules-Adventure
Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan is set in a Ziggurat and is in Yawning Portal. I think it is a bit UNDER their level but is still an interesting dungeon
The absolute best way to get started is the Starter Set. It's everything you need to get started including some dice and an adventure. As you get more into it, you'll want to pick up the Players Handbook, the Monster Manual, and the Dungeon Master's Guide (If you don't want to get them all at once, I recommend getting them in that order.) Also very useful is a Dungeon Master's Screen. Moving into more advanced stuff, Xanathar's Guide to Everything is a book full of a bunch of optional rules to spice up the game, and Volo's Guide to Monsters gives more monsters for players to fight, and some you can actually play as. If you need more adventures to run, Tales From the Yawning Portal is a nice big book of dungeons.
There are a lot of good resources to learn how to DM, but the most important thing you can do is DM a bunch. In some ways it's probably easiest to start off with a book adventure, something like one of the adventurers league books in DnD with lots of prewritten details you can hang onto, but it's also very valuable to be able to just turn shit upside down on a whim if you've got decent improv skills.
As far as writing off a core subsystem because you don't understand it- no. Bad. The GM doesn't need to be an encyclopedia, but they NEED to be able to make basic rulings on the fly in systems that the entire game is based around, and in DnD magic is core to the experience and eventually a feature of almost every single class (even if some of it works differently for several of them). This isn't Burning Wheel, you need spells. Reread the chapter once, then ask on a forum dedicated to that game, then try a different game you'll be able to play more than a third of if you still can't make heads or tails of it.
Tales From the Yawning Portal is about the closest thing that 5e has. It contains 7 dungeons that are pretty famous from different editions. They include:
Against the Giants,
Dead in Thay,
Forge of Fury,
Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan,
Sunless Citadel,
Tomb of Horrors, and
White Plume Mountain
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786966092/
[5e DM] I'm new to D&D and want to start playing with my friends as a DM, I did my research and have a grasp of how to play so I want to take advantage of the sales amazon is having right now to buy the books.
I'll be getting PHB, MM, DMG, XGE and the starter set, I still have 1 more slot from the amazon limited offer but don't know which one to get.
My choices are limited for the offer:
I'm thinking of running LMoP and after that one of the books listed above. Thank you in advance!
Id go preconstructed but just tell everyone not to start googling each of the preconstructed stories because it will completely break the game.
My DM bought this
Available via Amazon Prime https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Yawning-Portal-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786966092/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504191513&sr=8-1&keywords=yawning+portal
It has multiple different stories. So you each could DM a different one to prevent spoiling the story
Grimtooth's Museum of Death, the old Grimtooth books, and Grimtooth's Ultimate Trap Collection are full of dirty ideas. There is also the classic Tomb of Horrors (converted to 5e in Tales from the Yawning Portal), and Deadly Trappings which collects traps from the Knights of the Dinner Table magazine. Using most of these can be an overkill, but they are great for mining ideas.
Also, watch Indiana Jones.
Get familiar, it's a crazy map. Part of a crazier adventure module. Find it in the book "Tales from the Yawning Portal" which compiles all of the best modules in DnD history. When I first saw it I was impressed. And that's saying something as I'm from the MTV generation, we feel neither highs nor lows.
I've found the Tales from the Yawning Portal to be a good book for when you want to do something completely different than what you've done previous and have a short little side adventure. There's 7 different adventures in it with very different settings.
I ran this two different ways. The first was as if the Bartender was telling a story that had happened many years ago. I rolled up a new party that was an appropriate level for the adventure and they got to play completely new characters for that adventure. Once he was done telling the story, the bartender rewarded the characters with some of the loot the story characters had left to him to give to worthy adventurers. I know this won't work for every group, but they were very interested in switching up their characters they'd been playing for years.
The other way I ran it I had the party descend the well in the middle of the bar with their own characters and entered a portal they had discovered down there placing them directly into a story the bartender was telling. It allowed for moments of narration to occur every now and again that the players could hear which was fun:
"Little did the characters realize, but a colourless, odorless gas was spreading into the chamber at an alarming rate."
"We pushed the boulder behind us sealing the entrance!!"
"The heroes had been successful in stopping the gas from entering the chamber! But quickly became light headed as they searched for a way out. It turns out these heroes rely on oxygen to survive, which this chamber was now deprived of." <- Evil I know, but it got a good laugh and they learned that the narrator occasionally "embellished" what actually occurred and wasn't entirely on their side.
I chose an adventure that matched their level and at the end of the adventure, they found the portal to return to the bar with all their loot and XP they found.
Well actually!
https://www.amazon.com/Labyrinth-Wizards-RPG-Team/dp/0786966092/ref=pd_sim_14_30?ie=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=0786966092&amp;pd_rd_r=FM603Q8RGPB9GAVNJA46&amp;pd_rd_w=wwL97&amp;pd_rd_wg=Ic5X3&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=FM603Q8RGPB9GAVNJA46
Went hunting immediately after I saw this on Amazon.ca the other night. It was buried in the recommended list for Volo's Guide. It's not a F up on someone's part, its a placeholder!
Edit: I do get a laugh out of this though that Amazon.ca was the first place it was easily found. Normally all the Canadian websites are terrible at getting pages up for the latest D&D books.
I have heard good things about the Starter Set. It comes with some basic rules, pre-made characters, an adventure (Lost Mine of Phandelver) and a set of dice. Although I personally haven't played it. For the more savvy players, they can of course roll their own characters.
I personally like the Sunless Citadel module, found in Tales of the Yawning Portal. It's a bit tougher for the PCs, but it's a solid two or three session adventure which will start the party at level 1 and go to about level 3.
I think these shorter adventures are the best place to start as a new group. Once your group tackles a few of these shorter adventures, maybe try an official campaign or homebrew your own.
https://www.amazon.com/Labyrinth-Wizards-RPG-Team/dp/0786966092
That's all I have.
I would also agree with "The Sunless Citadel."
You can grab it on [Amazon] (https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Yawning-Portal-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786966092/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1498073181&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=tales+of+the+yawning+portal) for 29.99 if you have prime in the Tales of the Yawning Portal book.
It basically has 7 stand alone adventures that you could weave together to go from lvl 1-10. This might be a good way to share the DM role as well. Someone could jump in and pick up 1 of the 7 or you could all trade off, each doing one.
EDIT: YES, I would DM if I were you:) Especially since you already have a group of friend who you know are cool and that you know won't be jerks and that you will get along with.
EDIT 2: Check out the APP "Game Master 5" for iPhone, iPad, or whatever. It lets you plan out you encounters. I have started to do this because I wasn't to run The Sunless Citadel myself. It will be my first time DMing:/
You can input all of the NPC's beforehand with all of their stats, keep track of their initiative & HP, and basically plan out every encounter.
Tales from the Yawning Portal is an absolutely awesome book IMO.
It's a collection of "famous" Dungeons from D&D history and has a dungeon for all levels!
Tales From the Yawning Portal Dungeons & Dragons https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786966092/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_V824AbYBZ483G
D&D Basics (Getting started)
The Absolute Basics
First you will want to grab either the Basic rules (Free), the Starter Set (Cheap), or the Players handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and Probably Monster Manual
Then you need to have at least a few items
The starter set is nice because it does a bunch of the work for you, it has an easy to follow adventure, pre-made characters, Dice, and rules for the DM and players. And at half the cost of just the players handbook AND including an adventure, it is an incredible value.
Once you finish that then looking at at least a players handbook for the extra races, classes, backgrounds, and other things is a good deal. That should let you run free adventures people have put online.
The DM's guide will let you get deeper into rules and the right way to call them, break them, and make them.
The monster manual can be a great tool to make better encounters.
If you want to run a commercial adventure after the one's included in the starter set, "Tales from the Yawning Portal" includes the Sunless Citidel, considered by many to be an excellent adventure for those new to the game and just recently brought up from 3.5e into 5e
Common Tools of the Trade
As you start running more complex adventures you are going to want to have a few tools to keep things moving, either as a player or as a DM.
As a Player
The bare essentials every players should have are listed above, but most players agree having a few extras can make the game run really quick.
Spell Cards
These cards have all the spells available for specific classes or from specific books on really well organized cards that make it easy to set aside your prepared spells and quickly reference all the core details.
Cleric, Arcane, Ranger, Druid, Bard, Paladin, Martial Powers and Races, Xanathars Guide to Everything
Binders & Sheet Protectors
Keeping everything neat and organized can be a huge time saver and make it much easier for you to find what you need. Binders can be a great way to keep your notes and other materials organized. In addition many sheet protectors easily erase dry erase markers making it easy to keep track of spells and other changes without ruining character sheets with constant erasing.
As a DM
DMs have their work cut out for them. But a few simple tools can make the game run smooth and leave everyone having that much more fun.
Index Cards
A set of index cards can go a long way to speeding up the game. Players can put details on spells or magic items on them. You can prepare loot for the game ahead of time and hand it out allowing players to look over the gear as the game continues. You can also use them to hide portions of a battle map or commerical map to give the effect of fog of war.
Game Mats
A game mat let's you make single maps by drawing on them with dry erase or wet erase markers. Many are made of vinyl and can last a long time. Normally they will have either 1" squares or hex shapes.
Minitures
These things can be expensive, but giving your game that 3D upgrade and helping players better manage space in a game can be well worth it. You can use actual miniatures (Like those from Reaper), Create custom ones on Hero's Forge, or even just buy some cheap stand in tokens from Game Mash.
If you just need a cheap way to keep track of positions army men, bottle caps, colored game pieces, and even legos can all play the role.
No matter what you use, you can pick up colored rubber bands to mark status conditions or other information.
Where Can I Play?
You can find tons of places to play D&D.
Also:
Critical Role - Voice actors playing DnD, Matt Mercer (The DM) is an amazing Dungeon Master and shows how the game should be played.
Matthew Colville - Amazing videos on being a DM, must watch material for every DM. Even when your opinions differ he gives good reasons and great advice.
Compendiums
These let you ciew all the free open rules (SRD & Basic Rules) for D&D 5e at no cost.
Roll20 Compendium - Has all the open rules for the game, so a good source for monsters, items, spells, etc.
DnDBeyond - A more official source for the content, plus you can buy all the materials released by WotC to use, and has a great character builder.
Adventures & Maps
DMsGuild - Tons of free and paid adventures and other materials. The quality can be varying, but many are free and that can be great.
/r/dndmaps/ - What more can they say, D&D Maps.
Mike Schley Makes many of the maps for the D&D Adventures.
Now that we have dev confirmation via u/Inxanity1 we can surmise it will be here when available for preorder.
https://www.amazon.com/Labyrinth-Wizards-RPG-Team/dp/0786966092/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8