So happy I ran this before starting Tomb of Annihilation. During the NPC creation one of my players asked if the NPC could be their sibling and another asked if the NPC could be their ex. This made for some amazing RP moments later in the jungles of Chult and gave the group a solid reason to risk their lives to stop the death curse.

I do feel like the dungeon crawl drags on a bit. Perhaps that's the downside of using a Dysonlogos map rather than drawing one yourself (which I have also experienced) because you end up having more rooms to fill than you really need. It doesn't really matter though. This module is a must for anyone running Tomb of Annihilation!

The first module I ever DMed and still a favourite to start campaigns off with and introduce people to DND. I DMed this for a bunch of first-timers and I saw their eyes light up during the first adventure involving the trade-off with the dragon egg. I think this was because it challenged their idea of what DND could be. Here they were expecting a fight with some goblins in a cave and instead they found themselves in a scene more reminiscent of a crime-thriller.

The format of five separate adventures has it's pro's and cons. It's a great idea for sessions with first-time players because if things take a little longer than you thought you can just choose to skip one or two of the adventures rather than abruptly end the session without any sense of closure. It does lack narrative cohesion though, and any first-time DM running this might want to read up a bit on the city of Phlan and it's history while doing prep.