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Written Review – D&D 5th Edition: Tales from the Yawning Portal

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Hey there, everyone! Today, I’m bringing you dungeons, dungeons, and yep, you guessed it, more dungeons. Tales of the Yawning Portal is an April 2017 release by Wizards of the Coast and it features several dungeon modules from previous editions that have been updated for D&D 5th Edition.

Wizards has compiled some of the best dungeons from 1978-2014 in this volume and reworked it with new art and updated rules. I have to say that I was rather impressed with the production value of this book and I love the art that was chosen for it. Hats off to WotC for those creative decisions. One of my favorite decisions made in this book was to give all the dungeons locations within the various D&D realms so that a group could plug and play, no matter if you’re in Krynn, Eberron, Greyhawk, or Faerun.

Now lets look into this grand tome and see what it contains.

  1. The Sunless Citadel – This is a module produced back in 2000 by Bruce R. Cordell and involves ancient traps and warring tribes of goblins and kobolds.
  2. The Forge of Fury – This is another module produced back in 2000, and it was designed by Richard Baker. It involves searching the Stone Tooth for a cache of Durgeddin’s superior blades. Along the way, you’ll encounter all sorts of monstrous inhabitants.
  3. The Hidden Shrine of Tomoachan – This Aztec themed module was designed by Harold Johnson and Jeff R. Leason in 1980 and involves hidden shrines and ruined pyramids.
  4. White Plume Mountain – Produced in 1979 by Lawrence Schick, this modules sees your adventurers delving into a mysterious mountain where all sorts hideous events might occur.
  5. Dead in Thay – This module was produced in 2014 by Scott Fitzgerald Grey. This finds our adventurers dealing with the infamous red wizards and delving into the dreaded Doomvault.
  6. Against the Giants – produced in 1981 by the godfather of gaming himself, Gary Gygax, this module sees your party facing off against the various races of Giantkind. It’s considered a particularly deadly adventure.
  7. The Tomb of Horrors– The Granddaddy of dungeon crawls. This module was produced back in 1978 by Gary Gygax. This especially lethal adventure is the boogeyman of D&D dungeons. It’s a labyrinthine crypt of monstrous abominations and deadly traps.

 

After the sections containing the various dungeons, DMs will find an appendix of magical items (mostly cursed!) and of new and horrifying monsters.

All in all, I find this to be a great resource to add to your D&D 5th Ed collection. This is a high quality product that I suggest one buys if they want some well-known and challenging dungeons for their players.