D&D 5E 7 Legitimate Beefs with Hoard of the Dragon Queen

[Boarstorm]

I still feel like the floating castle is just one more bit of evidence that this AP was originally slotted to take place on Krynn. The Rise of Tiamat's storyline only reinforces this perception.

 

[evan]

So if he can't personally be there, Tiamat would no longer be a cause worthy for the Giants to fight? Why does he believe such a falacy?

Not to put too fine a point on it but...He's a dick.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I plan on following up my 'beefs' post with another one to help DMs prep for Hoard. I blame that "not quite right" feeling on the fact that so much about fifth edition was in flux when the adventure was being written.

That would be cool to get some ideas.

 

[MerricB]

That would be cool to get some ideas.

Both Mike Shea and myself have also been writing advice articles for running Hoard.

Mike's "Sly Flourish" articles: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3
My articles: Episode 1, Episode 2.

Cheers!

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Why thank you!

 

[steeldragons]

Both Mike Shea and myself have also been writing advice articles for running Hoard.

Mike's "Sly Flourish" articles: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3
My articles: Episode 1, Episode 2.

Cheers!

I don't really have a horse in this race as I do not have the module and haven't read any of these articles (other than the initial one in the op) though I thoroughly enjoy your AD&D module reviews, @MerricB , so I am sure they are well written and thoughtful articles...but, I suppose my question here becomes, does not the fact there is a need for multiple series of articles on "advice" for the module indicate that the adventure is, in actuality, very poorly constructed?

Lending to the "legitimate beefs" side of things?

 

[MerricB]

I don't really have a horse in this race as I do not have the module and haven't read any of these articles (other than the initial one in the op) though I thoroughly enjoy your AD&D module reviews, @MerricB , so I am sure they are well written and thoughtful articles...but, I suppose my question here becomes, does not the fact there is a need for multiple series of articles on "advice" for the module indicate that the adventure is, in actuality, very poorly constructed?

Lending to the "legitimate beefs" side of things?

Not necessarily.

One of major things that throws people about Hoard of the Dragon Queen is that it is written in a style with which they are unfamiliar. If your background was purely in the 4E HPE adventures, for instance, the style of Hoard will be totally unfamiliar to you. Indeed, if you've been playing a lot of Pathfinder APs, they tend to be more tightly structured than Hoard is.

What you have in Hoard is an adventure that leaves a lot more up to the DM than a lot of people have been accustomed to of late. So, it lends itself to articles on how to run it, and different people can have quite different approaches to it. I know chapter 2 went very, very differently for each table at my FLGS. (We have 6 tables running it!)

In fact, I think we could do some great advice columns on how to run Keep on the Borderlands. When you have an adventure that allows DMs and groups to play through them in differing styles, it becomes very interesting to contrast the methods. (Hoard has more of a plot-line than Keep, of course. They're not all that similar in structure).

So, the existence of tips on how to run the adventure doesn't necessarily mean a failure in how it is written.

That said, I do think that there are legitimate problems with Hoard. There are odd design decisions. There are rules problems. There are areas where it isn't as clear as it should be.

However, I'm still enjoying running the adventure. So, the problems with the adventure haven't yet derailed it. We've just finished Episode 4. Let's see what the next few sessions hold!

Cheers!

 

[jerryb78]

Regarding: Beef #7: The Longest Journey

This one bothered me so I contacted the authors on twitter. Here was the response.

From WolfGang Bauer (@monkeyking): I think it's just that there's no road to the well. Easier to gather stuff centrally and go from there.

From Steve Winter (@StvWinter): Right. Surprisingly few travel routes in that part of FR. And the Cult loves misdirection.

 

[D'karr]

I'm on the player side of this adventure as I'm not DMing it. One of the things that annoyed our group was Beef #3: Dragon Eggs & Unclear Goals. I don't know if this is covered in the adventure or not.

We decided to take the eggs rather than destroy them. There seemed to be no guidance on this for the DM, and it turned into a genuine cluster f#. From that point on we have been just simply following the railroad as we got so frustrated with the situation.

 

[Prism]

I'm on the player side of this adventure as I'm not DMing it. One of the things that annoyed our group was Beef #3: Dragon Eggs & Unclear Goals. I don't know if this is covered in the adventure or not.

We decided to take the eggs rather than destroy them. There seemed to be no guidance on this for the DM, and it turned into a genuine cluster f#. From that point on we have been just simply following the railroad as we got so frustrated with the situation.

So I am interested to know what you did do with them? Did they hatch? Our party just destroyed them with no thoughts but the DM didn't provide us with any hints so we could have easily just taken them. Why did it mess things up for you? Surely you know just have some unhatched eggs to lug around?