D&D 5E Enhancing "Hoard of the Dragon Queen" (Practical stuff to try at your table!)

[pukunui]

I'm also having a little issue with the logistics of the caravan. Since my players opted to have their PCs all hire out separately, they are going to be all spread out during the journey. I'm struggling to see how to make some of the encounters on the road work so that all the PCs can be involved. And the logical part of my brain is telling me that some of the more experienced NPC guards would reasonably get involved in some of them - like the peryton attack, for instance - but that'll really slow things down at the table and also potentially make the encounters too easy.

Anyone who's run the caravan trip already got any tips on how to manage it? [MENTION=6702445]jayoungr[/MENTION]? [MENTION=3586]MerricB[/MENTION]? [MENTION=6790472]vandaexpress[/MENTION]?

 

[jayoungr]

I ran the Stranded encounter for them, and even though I added four worgs to the encounter, it was still way too easy. Partly because they now have quite a few hit points at 5th level, but mainly because the wizard decimated the hobgoblins' ranks with two fireballs, while the druid tore up the worgs with two conjured brown bears. Yes, if they'd had another encounter that same day, they'd have been in more trouble, but that doesn't seem to be the way things work in this section of the adventure.

Yes, that's something to remember--they're always going to be fresh and at full resources for the caravan encounters. It's especially tricky for you because your PCs are a little higher level than expected. My best tips are (1) make sure you space out your enemies enough that your wizard can't catch them all with a single blast, and (2) try to intersperse enough friendlies with the baddies that the wizard can't sculpt them all out easily--either make the baddies rush into melee range or have them grab some caravan members, or maybe have other guards engage some of them. You may also wish to lean heavily on the roleplay aspects of the encounters too, since making them memorable strictly from the combat is going to be tough.

For "Bane of the Mountains" specifically, I added some tension by having the perytons go after a friendly NPC (Orvustia), who happened to be with the group at the time. Having to defend her put more pressure on them.

I'm also thinking about the Golden Stag encounter. I really like it, but I'm wondering whether it might be more fun to run it as a chase scene, rather than having three basic Survival checks. In fact, it could be a three-horse race, as it were, with the PCs trying to stop some of the NPCs from killing the stag.

Sounds great--just think about what you're going to do if the dice don't go the PCs' way!

In terms of chase mechanics, I prefer the alternate rules published in DDEX2-10 Cloaks and Shadows to the ones in the DMG, although I can still use the wilderness chase table in the DMG, just with minor modifications. I can post the results here, if anyone's interested.

I'd love to see that. Please do post it!

 

[jayoungr]

I'm also having a little issue with the logistics of the caravan. Since my players opted to have their PCs all hire out separately, they are going to be all spread out during the journey. I'm struggling to see how to make some of the encounters on the road work so that all the PCs can be involved.

All of my PCs hired out separately as well, but it didn't cause serious problems. Which specific encounters are you worried about?

I had some tips for running the caravan in this post and this one. Of those, I'd stress making sure that there are colorful NPCs working alongside the PCs in each of their separate wagons. (If you don't have anyone placed already, remember that new people can join the caravan at any small town or wayhouse.) Some examples that I used:

1. Radecere, the gambling gnome, was a passenger on one of the PCs' wagons. He would always try to get anyone near him to bet on anything he could think of. This resulted in him getting into debt to our Cleric for 50 gp; the Cleric then made him work off the debt by calling in favors, until Radecere finally borrowed enough from Jamna Gleamsilver to pay the Cleric off.
2. The Wizard's wagon had a mysterious passenger who never came out and was heavily cloaked and hooded any time the door was open; it was, of course, Green Imsa.
3. Sulesdeg the Pole worked on a wagon alongside our Battlemaster. I described him as being super-hot in addition to his height, although not very talkative, but they bonded a bit over both being from desert areas--the Battlemaster is from Calimshan originally. She was disappointed when the Wizard convinced Sulesdeg to leave the caravan.

The main difficulty for me with the PCs split up on different wagons was "Adventuring Life." I handled that by making it so the PCs were not the ones to get fired; instead, their friend Orvustia (who had a crush on the Eldritch Knight, which was causing tension between him and the Battlemaster) was the one to lose her job. She came to them in tears, and they had to find her a new position. The Eldritch Knight let her take over his job, which then freed him to join the Battlemaster's wagon.

And the logical part of my brain is telling me that some of the more experienced NPC guards would reasonably get involved in some of them - like the peryton attack, for instance - but that'll really slow things down at the table and also potentially make the encounters too easy.

I had the same thought. Depending on the encounter, I handled it various ways. For some ("Stranded," for instance), I said that there were actually a lot more attackers than were on the map; the other caravan guards were fighting "offscreen," and I was only focusing on the portion that the PCs were involved in. For others, like "Bane of the Mountains" or "Spider Woods," I told the PCs that their wagons happened to be bunched up in the caravan order and the perytons/ettercaps just happened to attack that part of the line. For "Fungus Humungous," having separate wagons actually made it more interesting, as it meant each PC had to come up with a separate solution. And for "No Room in the Inn," I just had the caravan leader report that the inn was unavailable; the PCs then volunteered to go check it out, but if they hadn't, I'd have prodded them with NPCs.

Hope this helps!

 

[pukunui]

Yes, that's something to remember--they're always going to be fresh and at full resources for the caravan encounters.

Exactly!

My best tips are (1) make sure you space out your enemies enough that your wizard can't catch them all with a single blast, and (2) try to intersperse enough friendlies with the baddies that the wizard can't sculpt them all out easily--either make the baddies rush into melee range or have them grab some caravan members, or maybe have other guards engage some of them.

Yeah, I should have done that with the hobgoblins, but it was getting kinda late, and I was tired, and so I just said they were all within reach of her fireballs. I had the worgs go down to engage the PCs in melee, but the druid's conjured bears were more than a match for them.

For "Bane of the Mountains" specifically, I added some tension by having the perytons go after a friendly NPC (Orvustia), who happened to be with the group at the time. Having to defend her put more pressure on them.

I was actually thinking of doing the same thing! It must be because Orvustia is inexperienced. Makes her an easy target. I've arranged my caravan's itinerary so they have a rest day near the eastern edge of the Troll Hills. I'm going to have the perytons attack then, so the PCs will be more free to move about the area. I'm also going to have six or so perytons, with only three attacking near the PCs, while the other three are dealt with by NPCs.

Sounds great--just think about what you're going to do if the dice don't go the PCs' way!

Indeed.

I'd love to see that. Please do post it!

Will do!

The main difficulty for me with the PCs split up on different wagons was "Adventuring Life."

I decided I wasn't going to use that one.

For others, like "Bane of the Mountains" or "Spider Woods," I told the PCs that their wagons happened to be bunched up in the caravan order and the perytons/ettercaps just happened to attack that part of the line.

That could work.

And for "No Room in the Inn," I just had the caravan leader report that the inn was unavailable; the PCs then volunteered to go check it out, but if they hadn't, I'd have prodded them with NPCs.

For my group, I had Edhelri Lewel get elected as caravan master, and one of the PCs is her guard sergeant. She'd probably get him to accompany her into the inn. And I can't really see some of the more hot-headed guards like Tyjit Skesh not wanting to get involved in the fight. I suppose I could just let the PCs run them. I've statted them all up. Since my PCs are higher level, I was thinking of having the main jerk be an actual green salad (not a young one), while the others are his hired goons. They could be veterans. Maybe gladiators. I dunno. Depends on how hard a fight I want it to be, I guess.

 

[pukunui]

Here's what my timeline for the journey currently looks like, although I might still shuffle things around as we go along.

TIMELINE
Day 1: Leave Baldur's Gate
Day 2: Recognized!
Day 3:
Day 4:
Day 5: Stranded
Day 6:
Day 7: Rest Day
Day 8:
Day 9: Storms
Day 10: Storms
Day 11: Fungus Humongous / No Room at the Inn
Day 12:
Day 13: Arrive Trollclaw Ford
Day 14: Rest Day
Day 15: Leave Trollclaw Ford / Contraband
Day 16:
Day 17:
Day 18:
Day 19:
Day 20:
Day 21: Rest Day / Bane of the Mountains
Day 22:
Day 23: Arrive Dragonspear Castle
Day 24:
Day 25: Animal Abuse
Day 26:
Day 27:
Day 28: Rest Day / The Golden Stag
Day 29:
Day 30:
Day 31:
Day 32: Spider Woods
Day 33:
Day 34: Arrive at the Way Inn
Day 35: Rest Day
Day 36: Leave the Way Inn
Day 37: Payback
Day 38: Arrive Liam's Hold
Day 39: Arrive Gillian's Hill
Day 40: Arrive Daggerford
Day 41: Rest Day
Day 42: Leave Daggerford
Day 43: Unwanted Attention
Day 44: Autumnal Equinox
Day 45: Who's Your Friend?
Day 46:
Day 47: Murder Most Foul
Day 48: Rest Day
Day 49:
Day 50: Arrive Waterdeep


Recognized!
When fleshing out my cultists, I came up with a tiefling dragonwing named Barakas. He's the one who recognized two of the PCs, although nothing has come of it yet. I'm still debating whether to have him try something himself or get some of the other, as yet unnamed cultists to do something for him. And I'm not sure what to have him do. Poison? Assassination? What?

Stranded
I set this up such that the caravan was just coming around a bend when they could hear the sounds of fighting. The caravan master (Edhelri Lewel) called a halt and asked for volunteers to go and investigate. Of course, only the PCs volunteered. One of them asked if they could take Orvustia along to give her some experience, though.

I had two wagons stranded in the road, rather than one, and in addition to the dead horses, I mentioned that the drivers and one guard were dead too. The hobgoblins were hiding in rocks on either side of the road, and both sides were taking potshots at each other. I had four hobbos and two worgs on one side, and two hobbos, two worgs, and the hobgoblin captain on the other side.

Fungus Humongous
I'm running this as-is, with the addition that the caravan will reach the last inn south of the Trollclaws that night, and there will, of course, be ...

No Room at the Inn
After much indecision, I've decided to replace the four assassins with one female cambion (using alter self to appear human) and three human veterans. If the PCs don't start a fight with the cambion and her entourage, the dwarf NPC Tyjit Skesh will.

Contraband
I'm going to have the "newlyweds" be the cultists who have an accident. I'm thinking I'll have them be near the back, and only one or two of the PCs will be able to stop and help. Depending on who stops to help, I might have the cultists target the NPCs rather than the PCs here.

Bane of the Mountains
As I mentioned above, I'm going to have a flock of perytons attack on a rest day. This will give the PCs a bit more freedom of movement. And I'll have some of the perytons fight NPCs off-screen.

Animal Abuse
I'm going to add a few more people to the caravan when the Coast Way joins the Trade Way near Dragonspear Castle. After a few days, I'll tell the druid that he's noticed one of the new guys is mistreating his animals. Should be interesting.

The Golden Stag
I'd like to turn this into a chase scene, as I've mentioned previously. Will keep you posted on the details.

Spider Woods
I think I'll take [MENTION=6702445]jayoungr[/MENTION]'s advice here and have the PCs' wagons happen to be clumped together when the ettercaps and spiders attack here. I'll also have more ettercaps and spiders attacking other parts of the caravan, so that a horse will most likely still need rescuing.

Payback
I'll just run this as written, I think.

Unwanted Attention, Who's Your Friend?, Murder Most Foul
Haven't really given these ones much thought yet.

I'm pondering whether or not to include the High Holy Day event as well. Might ask Steve if he has any ideas about how to make it more interactive. EDIT: If I do use this, I'll set it on the day of the autumnal equinox, when the followers of Loviatar practice the "Rite of Pain and Purity", which apparently involves "dancing on glass, thorns or barbed-wire while being whipped by higher-level Loviatans".


Events I'm not planning on using:
- Adventuring Life: Just doesn't seem that interesting to me.
- Everything Has a Price: The only obvious things the PCs have are their cool magic items, and I don't really want to take one of those away in the manner described in the event description.
- Roadside Hospitality: This seems like one that could be fun if it naturally falls together (like it seems to have done for [MENTION=3586]MerricB[/MENTION]'s group) but could also come across as really forced, so I don't think I'll use it.

 

[jayoungr]

Looks like a good plan, @pukunui!

I will just say one thing about "Adventuring Life": I think it plays better than it reads. I originally wasn't going to run it either, but after I listened to a podcast that did it, I tossed it in at the last minute (had the fake party join the caravan at one of the wayhouses). It turned out to be a huge hit with my group. They spotted the fakes from the first moment, and they absolutely relished showing them up in front of their new employer. They made the group leader come into the inn with them when they fought the slaads, and they laughed mightily when he hid under a table the whole time. And strangely enough, the Wizard later struck up a friendship with that guy and even invested some money in their attempt to start up a new theater in Waterdeep! It's a pure roleplay encounter, and those add a lot to the caravan journey.

 

[pukunui]

OK. I'll consider it. I suppose I could have Aldor the lawyer fire the PC he hired as a bodyguard in order to get a whole troupe of adventurers for less, especially since the PC isn't doing that great a job as his bodyguard (she managed to persuade him not to fire her when she wanted to go and see what was happening with the stranded wagons, but she may not always be that lucky).

 

[jayoungr]

OK. I'll consider it. I suppose I could have Aldor the lawyer fire the PC he hired as a bodyguard in order to get a whole troupe of adventurers for less, especially since the PC isn't doing that great a job as his bodyguard (she managed to persuade him not to fire her when she wanted to go and see what was happening with the stranded wagons, but she may not always be that lucky).

Of course, you know your group and what they're likely to enjoy better than I do, so "use your own judgment" should go without saying. That said, it sounds like you have a situation that's ripe for some interesting roleplay. If you do run it, let me know how it goes!

 

[pukunui]

Of course.

How did you resolve the Recognized event? Did you have one or more cultists try to murder the PCs in their sleep? I'm thinking I might have them use more indirect means at first - like poison - in order to draw things out a bit more. Or maybe just have one cultist act on his own. I just feel like the end result is going to be very similar to that of the Murder Most Foul event, and I feel like that would suck some of the impact out of that later event ... and possibly bring things to a head much sooner than is good for the caravan - the PCs know that they're not supposed to be disrupting the cultists' wagons, but I imagine they'd grow tired of repeated assassination attempts and do something more drastic - and I also don't imagine that the cultists can afford to lose too many of their guards in failed attacks on the PCs.

 

[Skyscraper]

You know the whole argument that going into the town with a dragon flying over it is railroading it is really old at this point. I would like to point out once and for all(ok wishful thinking) that every and I mean EVERY adventure railroads you into it, for every module ever written. If people want to argue how stupid adventurers have to be to go into a town with a dragon then it should be equally stupid to think you can go into an enemy dungeon/cave/castle/anythingelseyoucanpossiblyimagine and kill all the enemies inside when you are outnumbered 20:1 or worse. You're hero's, hero's fight against impossible odds and persevere or they fight against impossible odds and fall. That's what makes them hero's. Let's go really old school(I mean really old) David and Goliath. Man David was such a moron to fight against a giant of a man that had never lost and with a sling no less! What an idiot. Let's go with story that has some actual historical fact to it... Battle of Thermopylae. Roughly 7000 Greek soldiers against somewhere between 100 and 250 thousand Persian soldiers and they stood strong. Knowing they were being flanked on the final day Leonidas sent the bulk of the soldiers home leaving him with around 1500-2000 soldiers to hold the pass and prevent the entire force from being slaughtered.

I could go on with examples for quite a while from both fiction and history, the point is that to be a hero and be immortalized you have to stand up and take a grasp of your destiny. At the start of Greenest you can either go into the town and show you are the hero or you can walk away and find another adventure where you will still be facing mathematically impossible odds and just keep on walking till you find something else you enjoy. I hear Connect 4 and Candy Land are lovely games.

Man for some reason I feel compelled to take a plane to whatever country under war, and take on the entire army by myself, just now.

Goodbye Enworld, it's been a blast, now I'm out to save the world! Singlehandedly!