D&D 5E Prince of the Apocalypse - Order in which elements are encountered

[Olaf the Stout]

My group is about to start playing throught the Princes of the Apocalyse adventure. I'm normally the DM of my group but another player has graciously agreed to have a go at running the game so that I can get a chance to play.

Given that I'm a player, I'd like to ask that everyone

PLEASE KEEP THIS THREAD SPOILER-FREE!

I'd hate to ruin the adventure for myself.

To say thanks to my player/new DM, and because I think it would add to the coolness of the game, I want to buy and paint up some of the minis that Gale Force 9 have produced for the adventure.

There are 8 sets in all, 4 sets are a Myrmidon of each of the 4 elements. The other 4 sets are the 4 elemental cult leaders and a priest from that cult.

Given how slowly I paint, I figured it would make sense to paint the minis in order in which the party will encounter the various cults.

So, without spoiling the adventure, is there a particular order in which the cults are encountered? Or does it vary from group to group, depending on the choices they make?

For example, we just finished the 3.5E Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil adventure. In that adventure the 4 elemental temples are set up in a ring around a crater. So the order in which you encounter the elemental temples depends on which entrance you take into the crater mines and then whether you go clock-wise or anti-clockwise.

 

[Luz]

There is no set order in which the elemental cults ares encountered, it totally depends on the decisions of the players where they will end up. But there is a recommended order, should the DM wish to steer the party in a certain direction: air, water, earth, and fire.

 

[Rhenny]

Tough one. Theoretically, it is up to the players where they go and how they advance the story in PotA. I can't really say anything else without giving away some DM info.

Ninja'd

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Sounds similar to RttToEE then. So maybe I start with the air minis and then just see how it goes.

Roughly how many sessions into the adventure would it be before the party encounters a Myrmidon and/or the cult leader?

We haven't started the adventure yet (we're playing through Lost Mines of Phandelver at the moment, but apparently won't be playing that through to the end), so I've got a little bit of time.

 

[Rhenny]

It will probably take a while. If you start at 1st level it could be 10-15 hours or more before even getting to a temple. You will most likely encounter a single earth cult priest before any other true cultist, unless your DM uses random encounters. (I hope this doesn't give anything away)

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Ah, cool. That definitely helps without spoiling anything for me. Given the fact that our group has just played through RttToEE, the fact that there are 4 elemental temples run by a head priest is not exactly a big spoiler (for our group at least).

So maybe I'm better off painting up the priest mini from each temple then?

 

[Rabbitbait]

It really can be any order, and you may encounter the leaders earlier than you think (or later). It really is sandboxable (ooo have I made a new word) enough that depending on your DM you may end up going in a totally different direction than anyone (including the DM) expects.

 

[Unwise]

My reading of the adventure is a bit different then I think. As I plan to DM it, it is pretty clearly Earth -> Air -> Water -> Fire.

That is not to say you are done with one then move onto the other, but that is the most common order to meet them I think. As for myrmidons in particular, I have no idea sorry.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I did wonder if there would be no real consensus.

Given that, I think to begin with I may just paint the 4 priest minis and then see where the adventure leads us.

 

[designbot]

My reading of the adventure is a bit different then I think. As I plan to DM it, it is pretty clearly Earth -> Air -> Water -> Fire.

Of course you can go in any order you want, but you might want to check the "Character Advancement" sidebars on pages 41, 75, and 113.