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Hoard of the Dragon Queen - a solid D effort.
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<blockquote data-quote="GX.Sigma" data-source="post: 6375487" data-attributes="member: 6690511"><p>I'm so glad I'm not the only person who was severely disappointed by this adventure path.</p><p></p><p>I mean, right there in the first episode, there are two "supposed to lose" boss fights. </p><p></p><p>Here's how the first one played out at my table:</p><p></p><p>DM: The dragon is attacking. Some guards are up on the roof to defend. The governor wants you to help. Do you?</p><p>Most Players: **** no, we're going to die.</p><p>One player: Sure, I'll do it.</p><p>Most Players: Are you insane? Don't do it!</p><p>One player: I shoot it with an arrow!</p><p>DM: Okay, the guards attack the dragon and do no damage. The dragon attacks them [not you, for some stupid reason] and a bunch of them are disintegrated.</p><p>Player: I shoot it again!</p><p>DM: It flies away [and still doesn't disintegrate you, for some stupid reason].</p><p></p><p>Great roleplaying, eh? I guess that's what people mean when they say "heroic storytelling." It's a stupid scene with no consequences, no real choices, and is unsatisfying to say the least. The worst part, though, is that it teaches players to follow the railroad. "Just do what the DM wants you to do, even if it's stupid and you don't want to." This is a terrible, terrible thing to teach a new player, and it sets the expectations for the whole campaign.</p><p></p><p>Oh yeah, and then the exact same scene happens 3 pages later.</p><p></p><p>DM: The raiders are leaving, but the half-dragon wants to fight one of you one-on-one [for some stupid reason].</p><p>Players: Um, okay? We say no.</p><p>DM: They'll kill some hostages if you don't. The hostages' family cries. The governor looks to you.</p><p>Player: Sigh, okay, I'll fight him.</p><p>DM: Okay. He wins initiative. Miss, miss, action surge, miss, crit.</p><p>Player: I'm dead.</p><p>DM: You're just unconscious. He leaves [and doesn't kill you for some stupid reason].</p><p>Player: Uhhh... okay...</p><p>DM: They release the hostages and walk away, and you're level 2 now.</p><p></p><p>The creators of this adventure (Baur and Winter, and ultimately Perkins and Mearls) seem pretty smart, so what the hell happened? Should I blame myself, since I (as DM) am responsible for everything that happens at my table? Or should I blame them for creating a broken product that I have to fix before I can use? Well, since the whole purpose of a pre-written adventure is that <em>the DM doesn't have to create the adventure</em>, I'm going for the latter.</p><p></p><p>Also the art sucks, the binding is falling apart, and the general production value is astoundingly low.</p><p></p><p>Looking forward to running the next session next week, though!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GX.Sigma, post: 6375487, member: 6690511"] I'm so glad I'm not the only person who was severely disappointed by this adventure path. I mean, right there in the first episode, there are two "supposed to lose" boss fights. Here's how the first one played out at my table: DM: The dragon is attacking. Some guards are up on the roof to defend. The governor wants you to help. Do you? Most Players: **** no, we're going to die. One player: Sure, I'll do it. Most Players: Are you insane? Don't do it! One player: I shoot it with an arrow! DM: Okay, the guards attack the dragon and do no damage. The dragon attacks them [not you, for some stupid reason] and a bunch of them are disintegrated. Player: I shoot it again! DM: It flies away [and still doesn't disintegrate you, for some stupid reason]. Great roleplaying, eh? I guess that's what people mean when they say "heroic storytelling." It's a stupid scene with no consequences, no real choices, and is unsatisfying to say the least. The worst part, though, is that it teaches players to follow the railroad. "Just do what the DM wants you to do, even if it's stupid and you don't want to." This is a terrible, terrible thing to teach a new player, and it sets the expectations for the whole campaign. Oh yeah, and then the exact same scene happens 3 pages later. DM: The raiders are leaving, but the half-dragon wants to fight one of you one-on-one [for some stupid reason]. Players: Um, okay? We say no. DM: They'll kill some hostages if you don't. The hostages' family cries. The governor looks to you. Player: Sigh, okay, I'll fight him. DM: Okay. He wins initiative. Miss, miss, action surge, miss, crit. Player: I'm dead. DM: You're just unconscious. He leaves [and doesn't kill you for some stupid reason]. Player: Uhhh... okay... DM: They release the hostages and walk away, and you're level 2 now. The creators of this adventure (Baur and Winter, and ultimately Perkins and Mearls) seem pretty smart, so what the hell happened? Should I blame myself, since I (as DM) am responsible for everything that happens at my table? Or should I blame them for creating a broken product that I have to fix before I can use? Well, since the whole purpose of a pre-written adventure is that [I]the DM doesn't have to create the adventure[/I], I'm going for the latter. Also the art sucks, the binding is falling apart, and the general production value is astoundingly low. Looking forward to running the next session next week, though! [/QUOTE]
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