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

[jayoungr]

How did you resolve the Recognized event? Did you have one or more cultists try to murder the PCs in their sleep? I'm thinking I might have them use more indirect means at first - like poison - in order to draw things out a bit more. Or maybe just have one cultist act on his own.

I had a cultist slip them all some poison right after the "Contraband!" incident. (By the way, it was the newlyweds who had the accident in my game too! They're a good choice because having even one crate of treasure is suspicious, given their cover story.) The situation ended up not escalating beyond that because of the way it played out. The group found the poison in the cultist's wagon after some investigation, and they dragged him out into the woods early the next morning, before the caravan left. He didn't quite admit to having poisoned them ("Look, you found the stuff; anybody else could have discovered it and stolen some!"), and they knew that having him just disappear would be difficult to explain, especially with the rest of the caravan crammed full of his buddies. So they finally came to an agreement that they would let him go, and in return for his life, he would refrain from future attacks and pay them 400 gp each when he reached Waterdeep safely. (He skimmed those coins from the hoard; he was more interested in saving his skin than in dying for Tiamat.)

This created some interesting situations later after "Who's Your Friend?" because the party immediately suspected this guy of being behind the bone splinters in the oatmeal, before they realized they were a hoax. All the same, they really hated the guy and they were very satisfied when Jamna Gleamsilver defenestrated him in Waterdeep later.

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=6702445]jayoungr[/MENTION]: OK. I'm thinking I might have it escalate a bit. Maybe a bit of sabotage at first, then poison if that doesn't work, then murder if *that* doesn't work.

But that leads me to my next question: If a wagon breaks down or if someone falls ill or something, would the rest of the caravan wait, or would those affected get left behind? I can see maybe the caravan consensus being that the wagon or person gets left behind with the presumption that they'll try to catch up later or something.

 

[Eltab]

My group got hired by different wagon-masters; to make things easier our DM had the Guard Sergeant collect everybody and make up platoons / leaders. We just figured that whatever was going on, happened to come from whatever direction was our flank of the caravan.

Do set up a 3-stage Chase for the Golden Stag. My group (which was magic-weapon-light) got an Oathbow out of him ! (Our Wizard12 still owes him a Scroll of Remove Curse)

I enjoyed this Ep the most of the ones I've played through. Now I want to build out a full-length adventure from it.

 

[pukunui]

My group got hired by different wagon-masters; to make things easier our DM had the Guard Sergeant collect everybody and make up platoons / leaders. We just figured that whatever was going on, happened to come from whatever direction was our flank of the caravan.

Two of the PCs got hired as bodyguards (one to the lawyer). One got hired as a regular guard, while the other got hired as a sergeant.

Do set up a 3-stage Chase for the Golden Stag. My group (which was magic-weapon-light) got an Oathbow out of him !

Yep, that's on my to-do list. I had planned on developing a custom magic musical instrument that would allow the druid to summon some critters, but after having seen what he can do with two summoned brown bears, I'm not sure I want to enable him to do that even more often! So I'll have to come up with something else. (The problem is, I've given each of the other characters a special magic item, but I haven't been able to come up with anything good for the druid.)

I enjoyed this Ep the most of the ones I've played through. Now I want to build out a full-length adventure from it.

OK. When I initially read it, I thought it looked like a lot of fun, but now that I'm actually running it, I'm finding it to be something of a logistical nightmare.

 

[jayoungr]

But that leads me to my next question: If a wagon breaks down or if someone falls ill or something, would the rest of the caravan wait, or would those affected get left behind? I can see maybe the caravan consensus being that the wagon or person gets left behind with the presumption that they'll try to catch up later or something.

Well--the "Stranded" incident shows why it's a bad idea to be out in the middle of nowhere without the protection of the caravan. How I would have handled it if it had happened in my campaign is that either the caravan would wait (if it wasn't too long), or else they'd have to leave the damaged wagon behind and either hide the cargo or redistribute it among the remaining ones. If someone fell ill, they could ride on one of the wagons.

There's probably historical information about what really happened on wagon trains in these situations, if you want to go for the true-to-life solution. But the above is what seems most plausible to me. YMMV and all that. Happy new year!

 

[pukunui]

According to the Wikipedia entry on wagon trains, "An accident or illness, for instance, might force someone to fall behind and wait for the next train ...". It also, interestingly, talks about how wagon trains would fan out when terrain permitted so as to minimize the dust blowing onto the wagons.

I can't imagine that any of the cultists would want any of their people to be left behind, though.

 

[Eltab]

either the caravan would wait (if it wasn't too long), or else they'd have to leave the damaged wagon behind and either hide the cargo or redistribute it among the remaining ones.

I don't remember if I read this in connection with the Oregon Trail or the novel Centennial or in Elminster's Forgotten Realms:

A caravan master worth his salt will have a wagon of his own, full of repair parts for the other wagons. He will charge the other merchants for the parts - and labor too, if they need the help. He (or an experienced, trusted subordinate) can decide that the damaged wagon cannot be repaired quickly, and other arrangements must be made so the caravan can move on.

Hmmm, what is the chuck wagon carrying at the end of the road? Not food (any more), but the space is rented out to other peoples' critical stuff !

 

[pukunui]

Interesting. Thanks for that, [MENTION=6803337]Eltab[/MENTION]. That makes sense.

I think maybe for the Contraband event, I'll have it be that the Appledowns' wagon can't be repaired quickly, so Edhelri (my caravan's master) tells them it'll have to be left behind. Of course, various other merchants will offer to take their stuff (and them), but they'll refuse all offers except those from their fellow cultists - which, if my players have been paying attention, will serve as a pretty big clue.

 

[WolfDM32]

I was invited to post to this. I did my caravan to water deep a little differently. Initially I had them hired by a noble in Baldurs Gate that's opposing the cult of the Dragon to be a guard for a lady friend of hers. The truth which the players won't know for a while, if ever, is that the lady promised the support of a vampire lord to the noble, if the noble could get her lord and herself to a safe place to start out new and call it their own. Much research had been done and it had been discovered that a small farming area on the way to waterdeep was a great power outlet for undead. The only problem is it's currently occupied by a wraith that likes the spot and is in the process of a small undead army. I patterned the area off our modern day superstitions around the Bermuda triangle. Most of the time the area is just ruins..... But as the wraith gains power, it's able to come create dimensional shifts where random groups of caravans make it through to the undead location. That's the loose back story that I can build on later....

So, they're meeting up with other caravans cultitsts etc, but they're traveling under guise of guards for a crate of dirt full of exotic roots. Which the players bought into just fine. Heh. The vampire's presence triggers the shift into the undead farm and the characters will be forced to defeat a wraith, some scarecrows (not undead, but cool effect), some skeletons, zombies. In a multiple encounter fashion.

So, zombies, scarecrows first, and 1d3 rounds later the skeletons assemble in response to the wraith's call for his army to awaken. With a party of five level 4 characters, which includes 2 clerics. Despite the encounter rating of deadly, I fear it actually may be too easy. But we'll see.

The lady will request help hauling her box of dirt to the house and thanks the characters for their help once the dead have been eliminated. She'll offer them to come by anytime to see how the farm's going later on with the "exotic roots." Later, on, if the characters do come by the farm a few months later, they may find the noble has fled their for protection because her life was in danger from the cult of the dragon. That's just one of the encounters.

I also like the idea of the party being replaced by fake heroes later on, and fired. Then the players come across the caravan attacked by a band of orcs or something and the fake heroes are all dead in a bloody mess or maybe in the middle of a battle. And losing badly.

I figured out the cultist encounter yet, but once we get past Daggerford, I'll start introducing discussion encounters in the evenings with various NPCs and the characters. Introduce Jasmin, etc.

 

[pukunui]

I'm just reading over Chapter 5 in anticipation for my next session, and I'm wondering something: How is it that the cult is able to transport their loot on wagons that ostensibly should only be carrying road-building supplies? Have they got agents in the High Road Charter Company who ensure the cult wagons aren't inspected? Have they paid off Ardred Briferhew to look the other way?

Did this come up at all in anyone else's game, and if so, what answer did you come up with?


EDIT: As an aside, I was thinking that, since Leosin is technically willing to bribe the PCs with a ruby worth 1200 gp, what if I were to reward the PCs when they arrive in Waterdeep by having their factions give them 1200gp worth of equipment (like spell scrolls and potions and better weapons/armor or whatever)? They *are* risking their lives on behalf of the factions, after all. In fact, 1200 gp doesn't seem like very much at all, in that respect. I could always make it 1200 gp worth of stuff for each of them, rather than in total.

Some of my players are noticing the lack of monetary loot to be found in the adventure so far. I know that's going to change later, but for now, they're suffering a little bit. The wizard especially. He hasn't been able to afford to add more than a few 1st level spells to his spellbook so far.