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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AnotherGuy" data-source="post: 9679440" data-attributes="member: 7029930">Just included both comments that relate to each other in the above quote.You're 100% correct - reaching the summoning in time is not the object of game play.The factors that are important are the allies they gain, the hindrances they incur on the Cult of the Dragon etc all of which I assigned mechanical weight to, which affects the final set of encounters.And to answer your question, yes. I provided them a document which reflected the game's scorecard, with the mechanics of their choice of allies and decisions made affect, arriving early/late affects the final battle and even how the clock works.I actually created an entire thread about this, but I'm not very articulate so it didn't gain much traction. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f923.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":ROFLMAO:" title="ROFL    :ROFLMAO:"  data-smilie="18"data-shortname=":ROFLMAO:" />So in the AP there is a spy (Cylanestriel) who provides information on the Cult's activities. She provided an estimated figure for when the Cult would be ready to summon Tiamat based on her undercover work.In the fiction she said approximately 3 months, but in gamist terms this was translated to 90 + 2d10 days which will ONLY BE ROLLED upon the PC's arrival, if after the 90-day mark.Player-facing Mechanic[SPOILER="CLOCK excerpt"]Throughout this storyline the timeline has played an important role, but the Clock only started ticking when an injured elf ranger by the name of Cylanestrial “First Arrow”, a Harper and a cousin of Skyla Artemis, informed the Council that according to her investigation as an undercover operative at the Well of Dragons, the Cult of Dragon were approximately 3 months from realising their objective of summoning Tiamat.In effect, the date communicated in gamist terms was 90 +2d10 days, the rolling of which will only occur upon the PCs arrival at the Well of Dragons.Should the PCs arrive early, there are no changes to the Encounter Budget.However, should the PCs arrive late,(a) The Encounter Budget is increased by 5,900 XP. This addition may be added to 1 or apportioned amongst many of the abovelisted encounters.(b) The Random Encounter probability is increased by 1 for every 2 days.Per the DMG page 86, Random Encounters occur on an 18-20 on a 1d20, the rate of which will be every half hour in this location. Should the PCs arrive at the Well of Dragons 2 days late, the probability of a Random Encounter will increased from 18-20 to 17-20.In short, the Clock’s only purpose is to determine the change in the Encounter Budget, the PCs will always arrive on time for the summoning of Tiamat. i.e. Always during the most exciting moment. [/SPOILER]Well analysed.I appreciate your clarity in this, expressing it far better than I could.</blockquote>

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