Me too - I had it so that his wife's spirit was being held hostage by the cultists so he had to do their bidding under duress. The PCs had to defeat the cultists (and an Ice Devil) to rescue her and win Blagothkus's trust. That was a fun encounter.
Tyranny of Dragons. Players gone Wild! Advise?
Me too - I had it so that his wife's spirit was being held hostage by the cultists so he had to do their bidding under duress. The PCs had to defeat the cultists (and an Ice Devil) to rescue her and win Blagothkus's trust. That was a fun encounter.
akr71
Hero
Lol! Great minds think alike, or Fools seldom differ. Take your pick.
I had Blag in a deep depression and self destructive spiral over the death of his wife and son. I borrowed Iymrith from Storm King's Thunder and had her kill the wife & frame the son for the wife's murder. The party uncovered the truth, restored Blag's honor, who then helped them defeat Iymrith, securing the giant's help at the Well of Dragons. There was some delicate negotiation to keep the giants and metallic dragons on board, but concessions were made - mostly at the expense of the 'small people.'
[MENTION=6981164]Scott Graves[/MENTION] - if you've not looked at Storm King's Thunder, the second half slots in beautifully to the overall ToD campaign and helps explain why the giants are sitting out the plot. The chromatic dragons have neutralized the giants by abducting the king and effectively distracting them as they start infighting over who should lead. It's much more entertaining than some of the weaker (IMO) chapters in RoT. And Blagothkus provides a great connection point.
cmad1977
Hero
For my campaign the heroes kinda did the standard thing and captured the castle while making an ally of Blagothkus.
Maybe in your case(great ideas above already) this could be a failure condition. If the heroes do not intercept the castle it could escape(maybe the heroes could pursue with some decent rolls) into a blizzard.
Or they could pursue it all the way to the Well of Dragons. At which point you illustrate the sheer might of what they are facing and the Cult gains the castle and riches but the PCs have seen the terrible power of the Cult and must convince the Realms to stand together! There may come a day... when swords break.. and shields splinter... but it is not this... sorry got excited.
Maybe in your case(great ideas above already) this could be a failure condition. If the heroes do not intercept the castle it could escape(maybe the heroes could pursue with some decent rolls) into a blizzard.
Or they could pursue it all the way to the Well of Dragons. At which point you illustrate the sheer might of what they are facing and the Cult gains the castle and riches but the PCs have seen the terrible power of the Cult and must convince the Realms to stand together! There may come a day... when swords break.. and shields splinter... but it is not this... sorry got excited.
akr71
Hero
Ooh, yes! Just because they intend on following the castle, doesn't mean they can keep up. It may even hide in thick cloud cover and they lose track of the castle.
Baring all that, the white dragon is there for a reason. An adult white dragon makes for a pretty good sentry when in the sky. It might spot them. Are they brazen enough to try and tackle an airborne white dragon from the backs of wyverns?
You've been thrown a lot of great ideas. You just need to figure out your villain's motivations and act accordingly. All is not lost - in fact if they follow long enough to discover what is happening at the Well of Dragons, I think it may catalyze the party into acting. "This is bigger than just us. We need to let people know what is going on and help save the world!"
Baring all that, the white dragon is there for a reason. An adult white dragon makes for a pretty good sentry when in the sky. It might spot them. Are they brazen enough to try and tackle an airborne white dragon from the backs of wyverns?
You've been thrown a lot of great ideas. You just need to figure out your villain's motivations and act accordingly. All is not lost - in fact if they follow long enough to discover what is happening at the Well of Dragons, I think it may catalyze the party into acting. "This is bigger than just us. We need to let people know what is going on and help save the world!"
Is there something I am missing regarding controlling the wyverns? Why has the thing not put its tail-spike into the PCs yet? I never picture them like horses. I would say they are either magically subdued, or loyal only to certain riders.
If the PCs do fly off following the bad guys, I would have a couple of paladins of pegasi fly over and attack them. They look a heck of a lot like dragon cultists, flying on wyverns and all. The paladins want to capture them and find out their plans or where they are taking the loot etc. The distraction by the paladins is enough for them to lose the chase, without the fatal results that a dragon encounter would have. It also rewards them with some new allies if they can get the misunderstanding sorted out.
If the PCs do fly off following the bad guys, I would have a couple of paladins of pegasi fly over and attack them. They look a heck of a lot like dragon cultists, flying on wyverns and all. The paladins want to capture them and find out their plans or where they are taking the loot etc. The distraction by the paladins is enough for them to lose the chase, without the fatal results that a dragon encounter would have. It also rewards them with some new allies if they can get the misunderstanding sorted out.
Scott Graves
First Post
There's a lot of this adventure that doesn't make sense. "Follow the treasure" is the mission. That's what they are doing. But since no actual speed is given for the castle, only "The wyverns can catch up because the castle is slow", it makes sense to "follow the treasure" not suddenly turn around and blow up the castle. Why would anyone except a crew of murder hobos turn around and decide to kill everyone.
Also I was looking on the map to plot out another pickup point that would be good for an adventure. Greenest, the start of the adventure and where the enemy base was near, is maybe 200 miles from the freaking Well of Dragons. They go the WAY long way around to drop off that treasure... Things like that make me wonder what drugs the guys who came up with this adventure were on.
Also I was looking on the map to plot out another pickup point that would be good for an adventure. Greenest, the start of the adventure and where the enemy base was near, is maybe 200 miles from the freaking Well of Dragons. They go the WAY long way around to drop off that treasure... Things like that make me wonder what drugs the guys who came up with this adventure were on.
Scott Graves
First Post
The adventure makes the Wyverns rideable for the purpose of catching up to the castle. It requires a good Animal Handling check, but that's about it. The tail spiking isn't even alluded to. Besides, I need them to continue following the castle or else the game is over.
I’ve learned that the adventures work much better when you devise your own connecting story for the events. WotC seems to have no feel for story (or they just tack some stuff on the end and hope no one notices...)
Yeah, the ridiculous journey the treasure takes has been noted since the adventure was first published. I think the best idea is the one proposed by a poster above Blagothkus realizes that his castle is going to reach the end of its usefulness to the cult and decides to make a desperate effort to reclaim control. A mid-air rebellion would be a fun scene to arrive upon!
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