Tales from The Yawning Portal (Dungeons & Dragons)

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to dive into the greatest hits of D&D history, Tales from the Yawning Portal is the ultimate playlist of legendary adventures. This book is a collection of seven iconic dungeons, lovingly updated for 5th Edition, and it’s perfect for players and Dungeon Masters alike. From the infamous Tomb of Horrors (a.k.a. “character graveyard”) to the Sunless Citadel and beyond, each adventure is packed with traps, monsters, and enough twists to keep even the most seasoned adventurers on their toes. Whether you're looking for a quick one-shot or a mini-campaign, there’s something for everyone here. The production quality is top-notch. The book features gorgeous art, clean layouts, and well-organized maps that make running these adventures a breeze. As a DM, I appreciate the way the challenges are balanced for different levels, giving you options for a variety of party strengths. The highlights? The Forge of Fury for some good ol' classic dungeon crawling. Dead in Thay, which will test your players’ strategy and endurance. And of course, Tomb of Horrors, for when you’re feeling a little too nice to your players and want to spice things up with a TPK. Final Verdict: This book is a must-have for anyone who loves D&D, whether you’re a DM looking to torture entertain your players or a player ready to tackle the best dungeons of all time. It’s a blend of nostalgia, challenge, and epic storytelling that will keep your table talking for weeks. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pro Tip: Don’t mention you’re running Tomb of Horrors until it’s too late for them to back out. You’ll thank me later. 😈

I was brand new to D&D in 4e when my friend ran his own campaign. When 5e came out, a different group of friends wanted to play D&D, but I was the only one with any prior experience, so I became the DM. We've been going through the 5e starter set, and as they are finishing that up, I'm looking for the next step for their characters. The standard published campaigns are somewhat problematic in that they all start at level 1. If your players want to keep playing the same characters (up to level 20, or whenever they die), its going to take a bit of work on your part. Enter Tales From the Yawning Portal. I have not personally run my players through any of the adventures yet, but I have read through each one pretty extensively. The way they are set up is brilliant, and even as a new DM it seems that they will be very easy to run. Tyranny of Dragons has a good story from what I've read through, but it doesn't seem to be set up in a way that is easy to DM, with a lot of fill work required on your part. Tales is a little different however from the other full campaigns in that they are meant to be sprinkled in bigger campaigns/adventures, not necessarily stand on their own as one over-arching campaign. That being said, you can do that, as the levels of the adventures compliment each other; the first one is 1-3, the second 3-5, then 5-8, etc. There won't be any over-arching story, but that doesn't matter too much. My personal plan is to run Horde of the Dragon Queen next (I will have to modify it as my characters are level 4) and when they are done with that, I will run them through one of the Tales adventures before moving onto part two of Tyranny, Rise of Tiamat. I had already bought those books, and their characters tie in nicely with the story. For the most part though, I can't wait to get to the Tales adventures. After the full campaign is done, I might run them through Tomb of Horrors, the last adventure in Tales. I am doing that last, because of the looks of it, it will kill them. The last thing I wanted to mention about Tales from the Yawning Portal is that the adventures feel very much like they were taken from past editions, but that's not a bad thing. I have several AD&D books that I've skimmed through, and the adventures seem very similar in terms of traps, puzzles and choices the characters can make. Also, most of the adventures seem, at least to me, that they are deadlier than the current 5e lineup. Many sections require smart thinking on the part of the players, not something that is easy to hack and slash their way through with min-maxed characters. The last adventure, Tomb of Horrors, looks especially devious. It was originally created by Gary Gygax himself, as a way to humble even his strongest players. These adventures are tough, but look to be extremely rewarding for those who survive. All in all, this is a solid, easy to use product that adds much needed content beyond first starting level. I highly recommend it.

I'm the family dungeon master. We aren't the most experienced group, but we've gone through Lost Mines of Phandelver, Dragon of IceSpire Peak, Curse of Strahd, and we're on the second adventure in Tales of the Yawning Portal. We're running the adventures consecutively as a campaign, and, so far, this has been our favorite book. My wife says the pacing feels like a book of short stories vs Curse of Strahd being more like a novel. The dungeons are challenging, have unique mechanics, great roleplay opportunities, and are just really fun. I've incorporated downtime activities in between modules. So when a session ends with a finished module, the next session starts with the characters each having had 30 days of downtime where they can decide how they spent their gold to improve their characters in various ways. This makes acquiring monetary treasure a lot more exciting than it was in Curse of Strahd where there was little opportunity to spend money. Then it's pretty easy to insert a new adventure hook where the characters get back together as a party to go tackle a new challenge I loved roleplaying Meepo the kobold in The Sunless Citadel, and the encounter with the white dragon wyrmling was memorable. The magic whistle that summons an undead is also a really cool magic item that the party is putting to good use, and they're carefully keeping track of when it recharges. In forge of fury, I had a blast controlling the duergar who can turn invisible and enlarge themselves. The succubus is great too. So far, the party is very suspicious of the damsel in distress oddly holed up in the middle of the dungeon, and they've resisted her attempt at charming one of them. They haven't quite figured out exactly what she is, though, and she told them some lies that they bought ;) We usually play once a week, but, after last session 2 days ago, everyone was excited to play again, and we're playing again this evening. I don't know why everyone says Curse of Strahd is by far the best 5e adventure. While it was definitely great, we are enjoying Tales of the Yawning Portal much more.

Para jugadores y másters de ediciones previas, este libro les traerá nostalgia por los buenos tiempos y recuerdos traumáticos de personajes perdidos. Para los recién llegados a esta edición, es un excelente suplemento para conocer algunas de las aventuras más clásicas de D&D y su estructura. No es un libro indispensable como los tres básicos, pero definitivamente vale la pena.

I love this book. It contains some of my favorite D&D games from my youth: Against the Giants; White Plume Mountain; and, TOMB OF HORRORS! As much as I loved reading those fascinating adventures as a fledgling Dungeon Master (and tickled pink to see them reborn for the 5th edition game), I bought this book primarily for The Sunless Citadel, written by Bruce R. Cordell for 3rd edition. I had never seen a D&D adventure with such an incredible site to explore... an old fortress built by dragon worshippers, swallowed by the earth in an age long past! The daring heroes were charged with a rescue mission to rescue a previous set of adventurers that descended into it's dark, crevaced lair, never to return! This adventure is a dungeon-delving treat for the players as they seek to uncover the fate of the previous team and and unlock the secrets held within its depths. The Sunless Citadel adventure, as well as all of its fellows, are given great advice on how to set each of their stories into many of the formost D&D settings (Greyhawk, Fogotten Realms, Dragonlance, and Eberon). While they don't mesh together in one on-going narrative very easily, the Yawning Portal inn is certainly an enticing locale from which the players might pick up tales of these challanging dungeons. For those entering the tomb of the demilich, Acererak: "Beware the room of the great green devil!" When I played this adventure, my character never survived beyond it... Get this amazing book and send your players into some of D&D's greatest, and deadliest, dungeons!

Boek is goede kwaliteit. levering had sneller gemogen wat mij betreft maar was ook niet slecht.

Tales from the Yawning Portal est un beau recueil regroupant sept des aventures les plus célèbres et périlleuses de l’histoire de Donjons & Dragons, revisitées pour la 5e édition. Chaque aventure a été soigneusement adaptée, avec des plans modernisés et des notes permettant de les intégrer dans différents univers emblématiques tels que les Royaumes Oubliés, Greyhawk, Dragonlance ou Eberron. Ce recueil a un charme indéniable, surtout pour les vétérans de D&D qui retrouveront avec plaisir des aventures emblématiques qui ont marqué l’histoire du jeu. La nostalgie est au rendez-vous, et la possibilité de vivre ces expériences avec les règles modernes est un vrai plus. Cependant, la fidélité aux récits originaux, bien que louable, constitue également une limite. Les aventures suivent des structures classiques et linéaires, où l’on retrouve beaucoup de donjons à l’ancienne avec leurs lots de portes, monstres, trésors et pièges. Cela peut sembler répétitif ou manquer de la profondeur narrative à laquelle certains joueurs sont habitués aujourd’hui. Cela dit, certaines de ces aventures sont de véritables incontournables du jeu de rôle, et tout joueur de D&D devrait les découvrir au moins une fois dans sa carrière. Malgré ses petits défauts, Tales from the Yawning Portal reste une anthologie à posséder, autant pour les maîtres du jeu expérimentés que pour les néophytes curieux de s’essayer à des classiques intemporels. -------- Tales from the Yawning Portal is a stunning anthology featuring seven of the most iconic and perilous adventures in the history of Dungeons & Dragons, updated for the 5th Edition. Each adventure has been carefully adapted, with modernized maps and notes to integrate them into classic settings like the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Dragonlance, or Eberron. This collection has undeniable charm, especially for seasoned D&D players who will enjoy revisiting some of the game's most memorable adventures. The nostalgia is strong, and the ability to experience these classic quests with the current ruleset is a real treat. However, the anthology's commitment to preserving the original stories is both its strength and its weakness. The adventures adhere to traditional, straightforward structures, often revolving around classic dungeon crawls with their signature doors, monsters, treasures, and traps. This might feel repetitive or lack the narrative depth that modern players sometimes expect. That being said, many of these adventures are absolute must-plays for any D&D enthusiast. Every player should face these legendary challenges at least once in their journey. Despite its minor flaws, Tales from the Yawning Portal remains a must-have anthology for experienced Dungeon Masters and newcomers alike who want to dive into timeless classics.

A collection of tried and tested D&D classics that can be run either as standalone adventures for an average-sized party from level 1 right up to level 15 or so, or linked together into a full campaign. For the latter approach, I'd only recommend running the book as a campaign without excluding Tomb of Horrors if you and your players are fine with a final adventure which may kill many of the characters they've become attached to over the months! Personally, I'd advise against the campaign approach unless your players are experienced at playing a variety of different pre-made adventures, because the inconsistency between adventures may confuse a new group. The adventures presented span D&D's long history, and represent some of the best from their particular editions; and they all bear the stamps of what was typical of the game in their respective eras. You'll find the tricky riddles and puzzles and uncanny monster encounters of early D&D, the granular, detailed rooms of 3rd edition (very nostalgic if you started in 3rd like me), and the cinematic, character-focused storytelling of 5th (note: There are no 4th edition adventures because the more boardgame-like mechanics of that edition probably wouldn't translate well). Each adventure has been lovingly updated to 5th edition rules with new maps and artwork (you can buy high resolution digital versions of the maps online for a reasonable price from the artist, or just draw your own maps out as needed) and comes with a brief description of how it came to be, and how to fit it into your campaign setting of choice. Even if you don't run any of these adventures, they have value as a masterclass in dungeon design from the best, plus a bunch of new magic items to use, but it's likely if you need a standalone adventure for a rainy day, or a short mini-campaign, you'll find something in here.