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Enhancing "Hoard of the Dragon Queen" (Practical stuff to try at your table!)
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<blockquote data-quote="akr71" data-source="post: 6849860" data-attributes="member: 6801213"><p>While my players are usually quite accepting of whatever adventure hooks I throw their way (they <em>do</em> want to play after all), I thought a group of 1st level characters charging into a village under attack by a dragon was a little bit much.</p><p></p><p>I added a Prologue section where they were travelling with a trade caravan from Berdusk. About a half day out from Greenest the caravan is attacked by the cultists and Lennithon. The dragon's presence caused all sorts of panic with the wagon horses and an out of control team smashed into the wagon nearest the party, knocked them unconscious and trapped them under the wreckage of the two wagons. The cultists left them for dead. They waken, make their way to Greenest and check into an inn. No one believes their dragon story... until dusk the following day when Episode 1 starts with the party already in town and padded with a few extra XP.</p><p></p><p>I added an extra 'Barracks Siege' which I said was the walled compound in the north west of the village - they had to help break the cultists attempt to siege the guard barracks. I wanted to reinforce that there were going to be some tough decisions and they would not be able to finish all the missions, especially if they intended to rest at some point.</p><p></p><p>Speaking of rests - I let them level up on a short rest. Episode 1 was tense enough and I view level 1 & 2 as apprentice levels anyhow. This led to a level 3 assassin accepting Cyanwrath's challenge. I have to say, he held his own pretty well! I thought I would was going to have to come up with some other villain for Ep. 3! The assassin got Cyanwrath down to 15 HP and in fact, if I hadn't rolled a 20 for his next attack, I'm certain the half-dragon would have fallen.</p><p></p><p>So far, in Ep. 2 they over-powered the Stragglers quite easily. While they succeeded on their Intimidation role, in my opinion didn't ask the right questions and never found out about the Rear Guard. They were surprised by the Rear Guard, but I ended up rolling quite horribly, and they rolled well and the ambush didn't amount to much. They are now in the camp, trying not to look like they belong, awaiting nightfall in order to make a daring rescue. The assassin is itching for a rematch and I let them glimpse Cyanwrath going to and from the command tent.</p><p></p><p>This group tends to like to do things backwards, and somehow succeeds quite spectacularly. I expect they will either try to attack the command tent or enter the caves (or both) before heading back to Greenest even though I have tried to reinforce it is a spy mission first, rescue mission second.</p><p></p><p>In Ep. 3, I did stretch the Hatchery some and added some extra chambers below the troglodyte area. We'll see how that goes!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="akr71, post: 6849860, member: 6801213"] While my players are usually quite accepting of whatever adventure hooks I throw their way (they [I]do[/I] want to play after all), I thought a group of 1st level characters charging into a village under attack by a dragon was a little bit much. I added a Prologue section where they were travelling with a trade caravan from Berdusk. About a half day out from Greenest the caravan is attacked by the cultists and Lennithon. The dragon's presence caused all sorts of panic with the wagon horses and an out of control team smashed into the wagon nearest the party, knocked them unconscious and trapped them under the wreckage of the two wagons. The cultists left them for dead. They waken, make their way to Greenest and check into an inn. No one believes their dragon story... until dusk the following day when Episode 1 starts with the party already in town and padded with a few extra XP. I added an extra 'Barracks Siege' which I said was the walled compound in the north west of the village - they had to help break the cultists attempt to siege the guard barracks. I wanted to reinforce that there were going to be some tough decisions and they would not be able to finish all the missions, especially if they intended to rest at some point. Speaking of rests - I let them level up on a short rest. Episode 1 was tense enough and I view level 1 & 2 as apprentice levels anyhow. This led to a level 3 assassin accepting Cyanwrath's challenge. I have to say, he held his own pretty well! I thought I would was going to have to come up with some other villain for Ep. 3! The assassin got Cyanwrath down to 15 HP and in fact, if I hadn't rolled a 20 for his next attack, I'm certain the half-dragon would have fallen. So far, in Ep. 2 they over-powered the Stragglers quite easily. While they succeeded on their Intimidation role, in my opinion didn't ask the right questions and never found out about the Rear Guard. They were surprised by the Rear Guard, but I ended up rolling quite horribly, and they rolled well and the ambush didn't amount to much. They are now in the camp, trying not to look like they belong, awaiting nightfall in order to make a daring rescue. The assassin is itching for a rematch and I let them glimpse Cyanwrath going to and from the command tent. This group tends to like to do things backwards, and somehow succeeds quite spectacularly. I expect they will either try to attack the command tent or enter the caves (or both) before heading back to Greenest even though I have tried to reinforce it is a spy mission first, rescue mission second. In Ep. 3, I did stretch the Hatchery some and added some extra chambers below the troglodyte area. We'll see how that goes! [/QUOTE]
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