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

[akr71]

Hi, akr71! Thanks for joining in!

Not at all! You want to have cool roleplay, and it makes a lot of sense that a dragonborn would be able to talk to them "reptile-to-reptile"...so to speak.

The assassin doesn't sound too bad. Maybe you could encourage the others to visit someone who could hook them up with a really good disguise (even a magic item) in Baldur's Gate? If they join a faction, their faction chief(s) could suggest it.

I've been lurking and keeping up to date with this thread for a while. I've made a bunch of changes based on this thread and other resources on the interwebs, but haven't been able to contribute because we hadn't actually stated the adventure yet. I can put together a short run-down of what I have done and what I have planned sometime soon. Right now, my son is telling me its time for lunch (and I concur)!

 

[akr71]

While my players are usually quite accepting of whatever adventure hooks I throw their way (they do 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!

 

[Sloblock]

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!

Have you checked out the Hack and Slash blog? As he has some good thoughts on the cave etc if the PCs want to go in directly...

Check out the notes for chapter 2 and 3 as he increases the difficulty depending on when you enter the caves/tent

http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/p/hoard-of-dragon-queen-index.html?m=1

I read these and then when my PCs used the Wizards familiar to scope out the entrance got told of a larger presence this then lead them to return later. However I guess others would just pile in so to speak

Hope you get some inspiration from these posts

 

[jayoungr]

Have you checked out the Hack and Slash blog? As he has some good thoughts on the cave etc if the PCs want to go in directly...

Check out the notes for chapter 2 and 3 as he increases the difficulty depending on when you enter the caves/tent

http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/p/hoard-of-dragon-queen-index.html?m=1

I second the recommendation to check out Hack and Slash, with a small caveat. The articles there have a great analysis of the adventure and some excellent overall suggestions on how to modify it. The main reason I didn't use more from that blog is because their suggestions change the tone of the adventure quite a lot, tilting it toward the dark and gruesome, a la Lamentations of the Flame Princess. I decided I wanted a brighter and more heroic tone for my group, so I didn't borrow much of their material directly. (That said, if your group likes dark and gruesome, you'll find that blog to be an absolute treasure trove!)

 

[akr71]

Have you checked out the Hack and Slash blog? As he has some good thoughts on the cave etc if the PCs want to go in directly...

Check out the notes for chapter 2 and 3 as he increases the difficulty depending on when you enter the caves/tent

http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/p/hoard-of-dragon-queen-index.html?m=1

I read these and then when my PCs used the Wizards familiar to scope out the entrance got told of a larger presence this then lead them to return later. However I guess others would just pile in so to speak

Hope you get some inspiration from these posts

This thread has been awesome.

You bet - I've borrowed a few ideas from Hack and Slash, including tips on telegraphing traps in the caves as well as some adventures from old Dungeon Magazines for Episode 6.

I want the Mere of Dead Men to be more of a sandbox. I've got some stuff set for the ruins of Holk House, but I don't want to spend too much time, in case they go in a completely different direction. The Black Death might turn them around though - there is a Ring of Myrkul in there. I'm not happy with how the book has the lizardfolk as complacent slaves to the bullywugs. I want to build up the tension there. The lizardfolk are looking for a sign - any sign - to kick off the revolt.

I second the recommendation to check out Hack and Slash, with a small caveat. The articles thre have a great analysis of the adventure and some excellent overall suggestions on how to modify it. The main reason I didn't use more from that blog is because their suggestions change the tone of the adventure quite a lot, tilting it toward the dark and gruesome, a la Lamentations of the Flame Princess. I decided I wanted a brighter and more heroic tone for my group, so I didn't borrow much of their material directly. (That said, if your group likes dark and gruesome, you'll find that blog to be an absolute treasure trove!)

Yes, I felt some of it was a little too dark for my group (my wife, son & daughter) and chose accordingly. I want the cultists to be nasty, but I don't need to be describing torture to my kids...

 

[GuardianLurker]

I want the Mere of Dead Men to be more of a sandbox.

Since I had my players coming in from the north (Lost Mines to HotDQ), I revised the entire Greenest(Greenrest?) to Castle Naerytar (i.e. Ep. 4) trek.

In the revision, the Waterdeep/Neverwinter road is in *much* worse repair, requiring the caravans (in both directions) to travel with road crew (for any troubles with the road, and relief of existing road crew) and guards (to protect against all the wandering encounters). I then established multiple stopping points, each about a days travel (on the finished road) apart. This means that the caravans frequently have to guard against attacks without having fortifications available.

I put the "required" events at the rest stops, with Episode 5 at the last one. Other events got scattered throughout the journey, either at rest stops or as mid-point encounters, as appropriate. I also added one climatic sidequest - the "mysterious" wagon with gargoyle is a cultist transporting the Draakhorn, and when a force of undead (Frost Giant zombie, backed by ogre and dwarf zombies) attack, they make off with it. This let me foreshadow the Draakhorn, and insert a few resources for the Jotunmoot.

 

[Ampolitor]

a few of these people sounds like they have more of a DMing problem to me. Have you ever played the older modules? I mean you can't expect to pick up a module and just run it as is. You have to prep, read it and become FAMILIAR with it. players have a nasty habit of doing the complete opposite of what you want them to do, and you need to be ready for that. I have seen a LOT worse modules than this one. It's all about how you prepare, remember the rules and the story-lines are just guidelines. There are a bunch on here who have added or changed things, that is how you do it, there is no module written to everyone's liking, so change what you want, there is nothing that says you have to have a dragon, if you want to push them, maybe they have family there? maybe they were hired to escort a caravan there, give them a reason to get in there, not just the obvious.

 

[Sloblock]

a few of these people sounds like they have more of a DMing problem to me. Have you ever played the older modules? I mean you can't expect to pick up a module and just run it as is. You have to prep, read it and become FAMILIAR with it. players have a nasty habit of doing the complete opposite of what you want them to do, and you need to be ready for that. I have seen a LOT worse modules than this one. It's all about how you prepare, remember the rules and the story-lines are just guidelines. There are a bunch on here who have added or changed things, that is how you do it, there is no module written to everyone's liking, so change what you want, there is nothing that says you have to have a dragon, if you want to push them, maybe they have family there? maybe they were hired to escort a caravan there, give them a reason to get in there, not just the obvious.

Whilst it may sound like that. I personally feel that if I am paying £45/$60 for a published module that some of the heavy lifting has been done for me and I only need to tweak for my own group etc. and this campaign requires in my opinion a lot of tlc to make it palatable which for new DMs maybe too much that's all

 

[jayoungr]

... and this campaign requires in my opinion a lot of tlc to make it palatable which for new DMs maybe too much that's all

I believe one of the creators (Steve Winter?) did say somewhere that Tyranny of Dragons was aimed more at experienced DMs, since Lost Mine of Phandelver was intended to be the adventure for new DMs. But that said, I honestly didn't change all that much, and most of the things I did change were more for fun than because I had serious problems with what was already there.

 

[Sloblock]

I felt that I needed to do a bit more to keep it going. When they say the PCs can't go into the tent or the caves in chapter 2 that just felt poor and needed some attention.

For the most part HOTDQ was straight forward unlike its sister book which I have had to do a lot more for