D&D 5E Help Running Tiamat [spoilers]

[sunrisekid]

I am DM for our group and getting closer to the final fight.

I would like to hear your experiences of the climactic fight with Tiamat. Specifically, I'm hoping to avoid pitfalls that others may have discovered, or gotchas that players did that made the fight too easy.

For example, a while back someone described how Tiamat flew the entire fight, compelling the party wizard to concentrate on Fly the entire time, thus precluding use of other spells. That doesn't sound fun to me either - maybe Tiamat doesn't need to fly?

Here's another. Tiamat regenerates 30HP/round; Hazirawn precludes healing after getting struck. Was this overly helpful for the players? Or "necessary"?

My group is usually 5-6 players, who will likely be 14th level by the time they reach Tiamat. Have other DMs tried increasing/decreasing the challenge to match the characters present?

Any tips or observations will be appreciated!

 

[Eltab]

The PCs should be preparing to beat a bunch of Red Wizards who are conducting a ritual, after getting through the Cult's defenses (of one of the most fortified places on the map), plus somehow not getting bogged down in a huge military battle outside. If they face Tiamat in person, something went wrong.

Make sure the PCs have learned about the ways to weaken Tiamat, beforehand. It's up to them to implement some / all / none of them, of course.
My Paladin became an NPC when I became the DM and he is now coordinating a "Manhattan Project" to parallel-devise the ritual, so the Council knows what is critical, and therefore how to mess it up.

Full Disclosure: My group is in Chuth's lair currently, campaign on hold due to my seasonal part-time job, looking for another DM to continue in my absence. But I've been thinking ahead.

 

[MerricB]

If Tiamat appears, your players have basically failed. Tiamat then defeating (and eating) the PCs? Sounds fair to me.

 

[bgbarcus]

I know RoT is written so that if arrives the PC's have pretty much failed the mission, but that feels like an anticlimactic end to a very, very long adventure. Getting a shot at fighting one of the all time biggest monsters in the game is a reward. I plan on my group being 20th level by the end and they will be looking for a grand finale to put those 20th level characters to the test.

With that in mind, I'm also hoping to see some comments in this thread about what did and did not play will for groups that fought Tiamat.