In the otherwise excellent adventure The Sea Wyvern's Wake, I was surprised to find that there were so many discrepancies between the Tamoachan Ruins and the Hidden Shrine originally revealed in the 1st-edition module C1. These include:
- The direction shown as North on the SWW map is East in C1.
- In SWW, room 1 describes "the ziggurat above" and "passageways that once led further into the ziggurat's depths", yet this room was in the middle of the pyramid-temple in C1, while the room numbered 4 in SWW was in the corner. Most of the pyramid-temple would had to have collapsed to expose this chamber.
- Many of the rooms are different sizes.
- The passage from room 1 to room 3 was originally a 4-foot wide circular tube that sloped downwards, but no mention is made of this, or any subsequent alteration.
- The wall that used to stand between rooms 3 and 4 has been completely removed, along with the pillared porch and steps just inside room 4; and a new flight of steps constructed where the porch once was.
All-in-all, it appears that an extensive remodelling program was undertaken on these ruins!
For me, the "Return to Lost Tamoachan" was a disappointing miss in an adventure otherwise full of hits.
Maybe Tamoachan is a big enough place to have had more than one such shrine?
I thought the PCs were exploring a different ruin in "The Sea Wyvern's Wake."
With an island that size, I'm sure that there is more than one ruin availible. Or it could be overgrown with vegetation and only that part of the ruin is accessible.
Creative Director
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Tamoachan's a big ruined city. It's got more than one ziggurat in it, and more than one dungeon below it. The dungeon the PCs explore in "Sea Wyvern's Wake" is an entirely different dungeon than the one detailed in C1: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan. It's got a LOT of similar architecture, since the dungeons were all built by the same architects, but it's most certainly a different place.
If you want to run C1 in this adventure, the best time to do so is probably as the PCs are returning from the smaller complex, bat idol in hand. Halfway back to shore, the ground collapses below them and pow! Area 1 of C1.
Thanks for your reply, James. I had considered the possibility that the Tamoachan Ruins in SWW was a different place to the Hidden Shrine revealed in C1, and almost mentioned that in my first post. However, I discarded the idea for several reasons, such as:
- The shapes of the rooms and their basic layout relative to one another is the same in both SWW and C1.
- The decor is the same in each room: stuffed cats in room 1, statue dressed in skins and skulls facing intricately-carved well in room 2, the model of the city and even the shape of the "paths" in room 4.
- Room 2 states that the well used to contain liquid light, as indeed it did in C1.
- Room 4 has the same name in both: "Ancient Tamoachan".
So you can see why I was confused: they're too different to be the same, but too similar to be different places! Still, it's good to know the official position. I'd have preferred to see a different room layout and room decor, to make it clear that this is certainly a different place. In fact, I'd suggest that DMs running SWW make this alteration themselves - particularly if they're planning to add the original C1 to the AP, as James has suggested, which would be a lot of fun!
I rarely have anything negative to say about a thread, but this one got to me. How freaking anal do you have to be? The rooms have a similar layout. The architecture is similar. The décor is similar. Hey! It was a city built by a people that we can associate with the Mayans. If you have a look at archeological documentation you’ll find the all Mayan ruins have similar layouts, architecture and artwork. I think that most people figured that out. For you to wine about this room not being in the right place or that hallway being the wrong shape and size or the structure not facing the right direction makes you sound like a persnickety nerd. Stop crying and JUST ENJOY THE ADVENTURE!
For you to wine about this room not being in the right place or that hallway being the wrong shape and size or the structure not facing the right direction makes you sound like a persnickety nerd. Stop crying and JUST ENJOY THE ADVENTURE!
Seconded.