D&D 5E Rise of Tiamat, Chapter 6 -- How to Resolve a Plot Hole? (SPOILERS)

[Keith Ammann]

I'm prepping for the Second Council of Waterdeep. My PCs went to Oyaviggaton, took out Arauthator, rescued Maccath and won the allegiance of the Arcane Brotherhood, then went on a four-month side quest (a barbarian's not going to just let it go when she finds out the warlord who slaughtered her people has been spotted raising an army in the Surbrin Valley), then tracked down Varram the White and brought him back alive.

So now the possibilities are either (1) they go after Neronvain (hope they don't pick this one -- we use XP advancement, not milestone, and they're not ready to take on a green dragon yet), or (2) they go with Elia to the metallic dragon council (hope they do pick this one, because in that direction lie two more personal PC side quests).

Here's the problem: Elia herself. Here she is at the Council of Waterdeep, cheerfully inviting everyone to come to the metallic dragon council. Only she hates dwarves and is hostile if the party includes any. Well, first, our party contains two of them, and second, Connerad Brawnanvil, the guy she expects an apology from, is sitting right there while she's conveying the invitation! Am I the only one who realized that this straight-up doesn't make a lick of sense?

What solutions have other people found? The easiest one, probably, is to say that Elia isn't the silver dragon representative to the council after all, but rather a different silver dragon who was just sent as a messenger; it's the representative, not her, who's got a thing against dwarves. But that strikes me as kind of a copout, and I don't want to go that route if I don't have to.

 

[Keith Ammann]

Bumping . . . kinda need to figure this out by tonight.

 

[robus]

Bumping . . . kinda need to figure this out by tonight.

The council sessions flopped like a limp ballon for my group so I've downplayed them and just switched to running SKT to the giants recruited to fight their old enemies (instead of the metallic dragons and trip to Thay).

I've tried to ask why WotC puts obviously illogical stuff in their adventures only to be shot down quite vigorously (except for a couple of fellow travelers).

I think you need to cut yourself some slack and go with the path of least resistance, trying to keep the wobbly plates of conflicting "facts" spinning is just going to end in disaster

In short: go with your cop-out and don't beat yourself up.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Apparently no one ran into the same issues you have with it. Or else they just worked around them like you seem to have to.

You're the DM. You can do whatever you want. If you want to remove Elia's distrust of dwarves, then you can do that. If you want her to damand an apology from Connerad Brawnanvil, then you can have Brawnanvil apologize. Or you can just choose not to have Brawnanvil at the council that time for whatever reason (like he's off doing something else while it's happening). Or Elia can put aside her differences with dwarves for the greater good of what's going on. Or you use Elia's distrust of dwarves as a roleplay encounter to have your dwarven players interact with her and seem if they can win her trust.

I mean, you can do whatever you want-- just because the book says one thing doesn't mean you have to go along with it in the slightest. Just know that if you (for whatever reason) feel beholden to follow what the book says to the letter and you're unwilling to re-write things so they make better sense for your story... then be prepared for them to go in the directions you hope they don't. Your PCs will often go down the path of least resistance... so if you have these roadblocks up in the direction you'd prefer them to go, you're better off just moving those roadblocks out of the way. Which is fine, because you're the DM.

 

[Barolo]

Well, most of the dragons in the council have unfinished business with the smaller races, but they are already inclined to somehow help, as the adventure is about the coming of the mother-of-all-evil, as dragons understand it.

Anyhow, Elia is not really hostile towards the presence of dwarves, but unfriendly. She holds a grudge, but she is open to a formal apology, which already points her goodwill in this situation, and she generally believes in cooperation between the small races and dragons, after all she is really working to make the other dragons join this alliance. So all in all, I don't see the problem you are concerned with. She is going as a diplomat, you don't need to play her cheerful. Actually, I would imagine her as a serious type, very formal in general, as she is quite old, and I would make her uncomfortable, distant and somewhat arrogant whenever dwarves are involved in the conversation, but she should be faithful to her beliefs and deliver her mission even if she can't help being a little bit of a jerk when dwarves show by.

 

[Eltab]

My Tiamat group included both an Elf and a Dwarf. So we already had Two Strikes against us. If the players were both smart and lucky, all that treasure the Cult stole was going into dragon hoards, not back to rightful owners.

We never made it that far; the group had to go on hiatus while in the green dragon lair. (They did something really silly, and I haven't figured out if I want to make them pay for it, or just 're-wind' to the lair entrance.)

 

[cmad1977]

It's a council of the people of the forgotten realms. I'm sure a silver dragon understands there might be people there she's not a fan of.
Her hostility and the heroes overcoming it could be the whole point.


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[Keith Ammann]

Eh, I decided to just make Elia the draconic council's messenger. The silver dragon representative is now another one named Hyvantekevaisys.