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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 7815859" data-attributes="member: 16069">We D&D.Session #40b Hoard of the Dragon Queen #26b Review.Just a few words (actually a lot of words- sorry) about what we got up to and how much, or little, we enjoyed the adventure. As with the previous review (of Lost Mines of Phandelver) I gave out a questionnaire to each of the Players at the end of the module, and then had an extended chat with the group via e-mail.So, in episode order, mostly- although there are a few other things discussed, see the headings.The Module BookApologies if lots of other people have said this already but, it’s a bit of a mess in places- daft errata, odd asides and a little higgledy-piggledy; at least to me- at times it lacks style, clarity and/or coherency. It feels like episode to episode, a bit of a mash-up. Also, the maps are too dark- too large, and yet too small, and worst of all- not that interesting. Here’s the caveat, I don’t mean the book is terrible, I’m mostly comparing it to Lost Mine which was very nicely written and presented. The plot/story of HotDQ is all good, and the potential action even better. Even the old skool players in my group were ‘stoked’ with the flying ice castle at the end, and the opening Dragon (Cult) invasion was a ripper. As to episode 2, when the PCs had to go place nice at the Dragon Cultist camp, then nearly 100 session later and the Players are still talking about it. The module itself is FTW, but it perhaps needed (at least) one more visit of the red pen before it went to print. The PCsThe guys liked the fact (eventually- see below) that they were playing the converted Dragon Cultists from the previous adventure, and that I had encouraged them at the start to build their PCs with a few social skills. Except for Pete, of course, who duly ignored the latter request.That’s not to say it was a smooth ride.Jackie (playing Watt and the hardly used Derek) decided very quickly that she didn’t want to be playing a Bard (although, of course, she chose to play a Bard), she wanted to play a Rogue, like Hotlips. Oddly when I was writing the story up I kept stating in the text that Hotlips was played by Jackie. I’ve been back through and corrected my errors- so you’ll not find them.  In the PC creation session Jackie ‘allowed’ (her word) Sandy to have a go at playing a Rogue (Hotlips). But she was maudlin for a good while afterwards, Jackie hearts Rogues, they’re her thing, actually up until this adventure they’re the only Class she has played ever, so… there’s that. In the last adventure Jackie played Nimbus (Tiefling Rogue) RIP, and Elvis Pickersgilly (Gnome Rogue).Jackie changed her tune (very droll, tune- Bard, get it) when she realised just how versatile Watt was, as she stated, “he’s the master of nothing much- but very good at everything- cool spells, a bit sneaky, great ranged attacks, plenty of other good skills & powers, and tip-top when it comes to chatter”, which nicely sums up the Bard class.Derek, the Druid, Jackie concluded was ‘funny’, but not something she wanted to try again.Rob (Lummins & the hardly used Hard Bonk) was also unsure to begin with- he felt that he had to play the Cleric (the need for healing), and then… then he was particularly delighted when he got to fifth level and Fireball appeared on his spell list. By the time we finished the module he was full-on converted (get it- converted- Cleric, oh- I’m a wag). Rob will be playing Clerics more often, and chatty ones at that.Rob had nothing much to say about Hard Bonk, the Monk, which is apposite because Hard Bonk gained a reputation for saying nothing much throughout.Sandy (Lux & the party favourite Hotlips) heart Lux. Sandy also heart Rogues- she described Hotlips as a ‘sneaky revelation’. No issues here, move on.Pete (Sgt Bobby, and the hardly used Sgt Harald) is just Pete- the seasons keep changing but Pete… doesn’t. Well, not much. The best thing you can say about him is he’s dependable- like the rain (kidding Pete).And so to the module, or at least our journey through it…Episode 1: Greenest in Flames (Sessions 1-5).“There was too much of it”, said Jackie- and that would be my fault. I said at the start of this write up that I like to get my money’s worth from the published adventures- to do ALL of it. That said all the Players had positive things to say about how the scenario started- they arrive in Greenest and discover the place overrun with Dragon Cultists. Then they have to get to the Keep while preventing the townsfolk they pick up along the way from coming to harm. Nicely heroic, and a trial- with plenty to see, and hear en route. As Jackie said (actually insisted, rather than just said), however- “That should have been the end of the first episode.”Meaning it was time to level up.It took two sessions for the PCs to get back to the Keep, and another three to get all of the missions done. On reflection, and after observing the action from behind the DMs screen, I think that all of the Players were extremely disappointed that they didn’t get to level up when they got to the Keep. They wanted their reward, I think if I played HotDQ again- and I wanted to play through all of the missions then I’d level up the PCs up at the Keep (somehow) and then re-fit the missions for Level 2 and slow their progression later.Again, none of the Players had anything bad to say about the missions, so I’m leaning towards my explanation (because that’s what we do, lean towards our own explanations). They particularly liked rescuing the Priest and the townsfolk from the Church of Lathander- and the first appearance of the Light of Lathander (automatic level up time). Pete described this event as, “Stonking!” So, that worked- and remember (particularly you Mr DM) that the game is (mainly) about just three things- fun & enjoyment (that’s just one thing), a (good, better still- great) story that keeps the Players asking questions and wanting to figure out the next bit, and good action- be it fighting, puzzles, discovery or chatter. It would be nice to get in some character development as well, perfect world, both for the PCs and for some of the NPCs.Oh, and so while we’re at it- nobody particularly mourned the passing of Ray the Zealot, Pete likes to be in-charge, to be the loudest voice- when he has something to say. However, he also likes his PCs to be outsiders- all action and brave, but not the kind of people you’d particularly want to follow. Too abrupt. Too direct. Too… uncomplicated. Not always, but at times. That said Sgt Bobby, after Pete (and friends) knocked some of the sharper edges off the PC, started to enjoy being a part of the team. So, we got there in the end.The use of eight PCs in this section was also not a universal success, again the Players weren’t entirely against it. See the level up thing above, they’d have preferred to be Level 2 and using the same four, scratch that- five PCs to complete the entire adventure.It was at this point that the Players insisted that five PCs in action was the way to go, four was just “too dangerous” (?) according to Sandy.Episode 2: Raiders’ Camp (Sessions 6-7).Not one bad word about this section, from any of the Players, they all loved it- particularly the action at what became known as Camp Dragonclaw- with a bit of investigation, a bucket load of roleplay- lots of it with the PCs/Players put on the spot, and the ever-present threat. “I mean, we’re in their camp…”, Rob stated, “I was EXPLETIVE DELETED myself, not knowing what was going to come next.” They loved all of it- the bad guys, the situation, the story and most of all the fact that they had to keep making up the next part of the script- and roleplaying and rolling the dice to see how successful they were. Jackie thought that this was by far the best bit of the adventure, I had the Players score each episode out of 10- Jackie gave episode 1 a ‘6’, this one got a ‘10’. Point of fact it got a ‘10’ from all four Players.“It was better than combat”, said Pete, which is high praise indeed.If I played the scenario again, I’d pretty much do it the same way.This episode, perhaps even more than the first, also helped to stoke the PCs/Players hatred for the Dragon Cultists- particularly the management (Rezmir and the Red Wizard that fireballed the good citizens of Greenest).Episode 3: Dragon Hatchery (Sessions 8-10).I’ll be honest, this was probably my favourite bit of the adventure, the Players also scored it high. There was a bit of everything here- good fights that left the PCs terrified in places- for some reason they got it in to their heads early on that they were exploring a ‘large’ Cult complex- packed with bad guys. They kept expecting more Dragonclaws to come running and make things even more difficult, this continued even after they had taken a few prisoners and interrogated them. They thought that they were constantly in danger, frightened to take a rest, while not wanting to retreat out of the cavern and by doing so allow the bad guys to escape.I think I got them on the back foot right from the start- there were two or three fights in which I just threw everything at them, basically combining as many encounters as I could in to one great rolling maul. The Brothers managed to take down Cyanwrath and his Hit Point heavy Berserkers- this after fighting through two rooms of Cultists. Then, when they should have been resting, a host of Kobolds (& Urds) got in to action- it was the cumulative effect, for nearly two sessions they were fighting to maintain their foothold in the Cult lair.The Players were also sore amazed when they managed to convince Frulam Mondath to give it up, with a lot of good work from Sandy- Lux. I think it was at this point that three of the Players (Sandy, Rob and Jackie) came to the conclusion that the way to go in future was not to just rush in to the fight. If an NPC had something to say then they were better off hearing it, their various social skill checks backed up with good roleplay could be as effective as the slaughter. Pete, obviously, took a little longer to get on board with this new (and alien) strategy. Sgt Bobby (Pete) was mostly of the opinion that the only good Cultist is a dead Cultist.The interlude with King Urp (the Roper) helped to shake Pete’s old skool (maybe) style of play- the Roper did a lot of damage to Watt very quickly, and also proved to be very difficult to hurt. This fact only served to emphasise the ‘ask questions first’ strategy (or at least introduce it as a possible option) which was being promoted by the other three Players. It also proved to be a very funny and entertaining section of the adventure- the chatter amongst the Players about King Urp’s potential new homes, delivered in Estate Agent speak, “east facing aspect, with hot and cold running Troglodytes etc.” left many at the table crying with laughter.As I said at the start, this section was the most fun for me- I had a ball with Urp, Mondath and Cyanwrath; I love a bit of bad guy acting.The section also did well in setting up the next bit of the story, I didn’t want to rely too much on NPCs just telling the PCs what comes next- I’d rather have the Players extract the information about the caravan north full of Cult treasure from the Cult leaders directly. If there’s ever a choice between giving the PCs info or else getting them to track down and roleplay the information out of a bad guy/NPC, then the latter every time. Earning the info gave it extra weight and pumped up the Player’s kudos- they had achieved something.Last bit, in this section Hotlips joined the Brothers of the First Light for the first time- and all was well with the world. As Rob said latter- “having the Rogue, Hotlips, that made things much easier…” Everybody enjoyed the bar games in session 10, but that was nothing much to do with the scenario, just an excuse to drink beer and do silly things with dice.Episode 4: On The Road (Sessions 11-16).This… this was the least liked section of the adventure, although- there’s always a caveat with me. The problem was at the start the Players were straining to find something to do each day while the caravan plodded along, and a lot of the time it was rinse and repeat- the same thing every day for their PCs. It wasn’t until I made it absolutely explicit that they didn’t actually need to do anything at all for time to pass that things started to get good again.It also didn’t help that the action was diluted (my fault again) there were eight PCs in play and on occasion (particularly with Derek the Druid) the good stuff was happening to one of the secondary characters, while the Brothers of the First Light were just marking time.Up until this point Lux (Sandy) was mostly in-charge of things, on the caravan there was no need (really) to be issuing orders or else constantly making decisions- it was sit still, ask a few questions, and see what happens.If I played this scenario again then I would make it crystal clear from the start that there was no need to ‘find’ things to do, just sit tight and observe- wait for events to happen.Having said all of that there were many moments on the caravan journey that the Players really enjoyed, the following events received positive reviews in the questionnaires-Pete loved the Peryton attack in the Trollclaws, the creature ripping the heart out of one of the wannabe adventurers, and Sgt Bobby of course got to play the action hero. Same again with the Hobgoblins attacking the crippled wagon high in the Trollclaws- Sgt Bobby, again, to the rescue.All of the Players were left giggling like loons in the Terror Fungi session, particularly Jackie (playing Derek the Druid) who turned in to a doomsayer in a matter of moments. I remember her running around the dining table with her hands in the air screaming “We’re all going to die!” like it was only yesterday.There were, of course, lots of other good bits- but overall- too much samey-same, and not enough new information about the Cult and their story, it was an endurance test for the PCs/Players rather than a thrill ride. Also, as stated previously, a lot of the action involved the Players secondary characters- they didn’t want (so much) to be playing these guys- they wanted the action to be concentrated on the Brothers of the First Light- Lummins, Lux, Sgt Bobby & Watt (and maybe Hotlips).  If I play the scenario again then the journey will only take half the time- three sessions maximum, skipping to the points of action, and rushing through the rest of the day-to-day. You live and you learn.These six sessions also worked against me later on, play drifted and there was much more non-game-related chatter (and looking at phones etc.), for a while I thought I’d lost them (a bit), and I knew that there was yet more travel to come…Episode 5: Construction Ahead (Sessions 17-18).This episode proved to be very popular, just goes to show- all you have to do is keep adding more monsters to the mash. It also helped that is section of the adventure (kinda) serves as the climax to the previous episode- the showdown, of sorts, with the Cultists from the caravan. Also, the big reveal- the Cult treasure is heading in to the Mere of Dead Men, carried on the backs of Lizardfolk.It was also very short and intense, and that’s nearly always a winner.The Players loved everything about it- the battle to get to the Carnath Roadhouse, although that was just a bunch of random encounters done RAW.  Some good fights- by which I mean the PCs slaughtered my bad guys, and the chance for Derek the Druid (played by Jackie) to climb on top of a wagon (her chair) and make frog noises. Another one of those moments that are going to live in the memory for a good while, long after the plot of the adventure has been forgotten.I did good with the cliff-hanger at the end of session #17 (at the Roadhouse), this session seemed to revive the Player’s flagging (a little) interest. I also managed to put Sgt Bobby (Pete) on the spot here, he had to roleplay and try to explain why he was so certain that Hotlips didn’t murder the Cult guard in the previous episode. Pete’s always good value when you force him to roleplay- he says he hates it of course, but… the lady doth protest too much.Also, a nice escape from the Roadhouse in to the Mere by the PCs at the end- dumping Jamna Gleamsilver in the process, the murdering Gnome- although none of the PCs/Players figured that the Gnome (and Lux) were in cahoots, and Zhents.Episode 6: Castle Naerytar (Sessions 18-22).Another very popular episode that had a bit (actually a lot) of everything- even the journey to the castle with Snapjaw was cool, Rob agreed- “Snapjaw was great”, Pete adding- “I was really unhappy that he died at the end”. I played Snapjaw like a fervent Marxist revolutionary- the Lizardfolk proletariat trying to overthrow their bourgeoisie (er… Bullywug) masters. Actually, just Master (singular)- I made Fartbox (Pharblex) the target of Snapjaw’s ire. The Players bought in to the Glorious Revolution big time, even going the extra mile to think up campaign slogans- “The best folk are Lizardfolk”, I’m getting that on a badge for work. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Sandy (Lux) had done a Powerpoint for the Glorious Revolution, with a SWAT analysis attached.Then, of course, after the roleplay a hefty dose of pandemonium with the Strike Teams, and lots of bad guys versus the first appearance of Lummins’ (soon to be beloved) Fireball spell, and the PCs are kick-ass Level 5. They adored the crazy sprawling melee that lasted for hours.The Players also (briefly) enjoyed having a Lizardfolk companion for each of their PCs to employ as canon-fodder. Although the arrival of their Lizardfolk helpers seemed to coincide with several Player’s dice going spectacularly bad. At times they just couldn’t roll high, there was a lot of despair to balance out the eventual joy- who knew a small plastic random number generating device could instigate such ire and fury.It made me laugh.Then at the end of the fighting there was just time for me to disappear Azbara Jos and Rezmir, which also served to rile the PCs/Players greatly- good. Ultimately however the ongoing ‘debate’ (that’s the polite word for it) between (mostly) Sandy (Lux) and Pete (Sgt Bobby) as to whether to heal up or to immediately chase after the fleeing Cult management, caused a great deal of consternation in the ranks. It was up in the air for a while, but of course it all worked out in the end, mainly because we’re all grownups.I added a little impetus, and killed Snapjaw and wrecked the Carnath Roadhouse, with the visit of Scaly Dread, the Black Dragon, at the end of this segment. This “betrayal” (Sandy’s word) was not appreciated by several of the Players- apparently, I am “heartless”, this according to Jackie, they didn’t like it when the Lizardfolk started to die. Snapjaw was their ‘fwend’.Honestly, you couldn’t make it up.The titanic battle in the caverns below the castle, versus Fartbox and the Bullywugs, was much less titanic than it (possibly) read. The PCs handed me my derriere. No contest.Oh, and Lux = Frulam Mondath, the first appearance of the Wearer of Purple, Sandy really got in to the role later on.Episode 7: Hunting Lodge (Sessions 22-23).Another favourite, I was on a roll- seemingly. Fighting Trolls proved popular, and nasty, and the intro to Trepsin, the four-armed Troll, his mistress- Talis, and her other Cult lackeys was all good. I also started to make it much more difficult for the PCs to get in a Rest, something I continued to do in the next episode. Keep kicking ‘em, that’s what I say.I wanted to try to keep the impetus going in to the last section.There were some great moments with Talis (me) and Lux (Sandy) during the roleplay in the lodge, point of fact all of the Players are very good at talking their way in (and even sometimes out) of trouble. It’s also good when it’s high-wire stuff, when the threat is obvious- Trepsin, Talis, more Cultists etc. Let the Players know that should they mess up then it’s straight to Initiative, or similar, keep them concentrating on saying/doing the right thing.It worked like a charm, and now the Brothers (maybe) have a contact for the future, an actual Cult insider.The promise of the ice castle, and a chance to kill Rezmir et al certainly fired them up for the next episode, and with the second Lathander based intervention and emergency level up- the Players were buzzing. I tried hard not to disappoint with the final episode…Episode 8: Castle in the Clouds (Sessions 23-26).So… to sustain the pace, the Players skipped Parnast (their choice) they wanted to get straight to the action, on board the flying ice castle, at which point I just kept hitting them.I wanted the threat to be immediate- hence Othelstan and his gang coming on board the castle and hunting the PCs down, then bring on Rezmir, Azbara Jos and the next ‘to-be-continued…’ bad guy- Rath Modar. The Players very quickly figured out that it was the Red Wizard Modar that killed the civilian’s way back in Greenest, I made sure of it OOC. They have a new Cult hate figure, after despatching Rezmir.In the fight with Rezmir et al I really tried to take a PC or two down, perhaps too hard, I should have used Rezmir’s Breath Weapon earlier instead of trying to save it until I could get at least a couple of PCs in its compass. Then a Crit Sneak Attack from that little bastard Halfling- Hotlips Houlihan, and I was sunk.If I had just got Lummins down- Sgt Bobby was already dirt-napping, if only.I’m kidding myself of course- if I had got Lummins down then the bloody Bard (providing he had spells left) would have just started rationing out the healing.Enter the Stone Giant hippies to interrupt the PCs rest (briefly) and then a little later (when they really start to believe they’re going to get a Short Rest in) here come more Cultists and the (comedy gold) Ogre flunkies- nice hats!The Players were getting annoyed (a little) with me at this point, not being able to rest and heal their PCs was becoming an issue- they had quickly grasped that I was doing this on purpose. Here’s the thing, it’s artificial- when the PCs are hanging on then everything that happens to them is a potential threat (and therefore dangerous- and therefore exciting). They had Healing Potions in their packs- they could have used them, but they knew that if they did then they’d have to be much conservative in their approach from that point on.So, keep ‘em on edge, any way that you can- deny them the thing they need, it’ll make them appreciate it more when they finally get it.I kept kicking the PCs/Players until they’d had enough- and then a glimmer of hope, Blagothkus- a chance for the PCs to explain themselves, and at this point even Pete (Sgt Bobby) was now fully on board with the plan. The Brothers were really starting to swing...So, plenty of great roleplay and then the challenge- fix the remaining Cultists still on board the castle (the Vampire and Dragon) and get the ultimate sky-ride as a reward. Blagothkus didn’t want to fight the PCs, particularly as all but two of the Cultists were dead at this point, I just wanted to try to keep the threat rolling. The PCs eventually get a rest- do some nice roleplaying and investigating, and then… they collapse the ice tower- and let’s be clear that was their intention, it was odd to witness, and I’m not one of those DMs that say “you can’t do that!” and get in a strop when the Players go off the page. But I’ll be honest here- I was thinking that. How is this a (good) plan?A foolish plan then, but nothing more- the challenge (for me) was to give the PCs a get-out option, to make it tough- more threat, you need to convince Blagothkus that it wasn’t you that collapsed his ice tower or fight… well, everybody non-Cultist left on the castle.The Players rose to the challenge, although between sessions they took to begging and cajoling in an attempt to get a do-over, but when it came to the crunch, they roleplayed their way out of it- and they were all involved, all of the PCs/Players facing in the same direction. Nobody wanted to fight Blagothkus and the Stone Giants et al- that would be just suicidal.So, it worked out for the better- in the end.Last stop the Dragon (& the Vampire), the fight with Glazhael was terrifying for the PCs, particularly after the Breath Weapon hit, but… over too quickly. I don’t know why I let Hulda the Stone Giant accompany them- he hit the Dragon for 27 damage with a rock! I also could have got the Vampire in to the fight earlier, but after the Breath Weapon the Vampire option just seemed liked a TPK waiting to happen.Just to make clear, Rob and Pete had obviously been telling tall tails about Dragons- specifically big Dragons, i.e. Cloudchaser. None of the Players wanted to sacrifice their PCs, and so Sgt Bobby (Pete) & Hulda were the designated hitters for Glazhael. The plan for Lux, Lummins, Watt and Hotlips was not to get anywhere near the Dragon unless they really had to- to stick to the ice tunnels, dodge out- fire off spell or ranged attacks, then run (far) away (and, if possible, hide). When Sgt Bobby got Frightened it kinda, briefly, all fell apart. The backup plan, fathomed on the spot, was basically this- let Hulda the Stone Giant get murderised by the Dragon, get Sgt Bobby back up and running again and then go back to the original plan. It was at this point that several of the Players also started to appreciate Sgt Bobby (and Pete) a whole lot more.Four of the PCs- Lux, Lummins, Watt and Hotlips (that’s a familiar list) really (really) don’t want to get killed- they don’t want to (unless they really have to) get anywhere close to the bad guys- they want to do their killing at range. Just less than sixty feet away from the monsters would be ideal for the ranged specialist/s and/or casters. Ridiculous, the only way this could possibly work is if they had a reckless idiot, preferably in heavy armour and with a big sword, that just rushed headlong in to every fight- regardless of the odds and gave his (or her) all to stop the monsters from getting to the squishy backroom staff.We all HEART Pete, I mean Sgt Bobby, as it turns out.And so to the finale- it seemed the obvious thing to do, to get the Vampire to kill the Dragon and give the PCs, who were still mostly broken an option- a way out. The Vampire would have murderised them otherwise. In the last scene around the table, with the Vampire measuring up the corpse of the Dragon for a new Dracolich- Lux, Lummins and Watt all had less than twenty hit points each (even after a brief bout of Healing). They were also all mostly out of spells, although Lummins had his Radiance of the Dawn ready and waiting.Perhaps I should have thrown the Vampire at them- got her to call up a few (Bat) swarm mobs, stay out of sight until they arrive, and then attempt to take the PCs out one-by-one, with a bit of Charm for Sgt Bobby. I wanted to… but it was very late, and it seemed like a good (and funny-ish) way to end the piece… although, we continued for a few weeks afterwards via e-mail.The Players loved the final episode.If I played the adventure again there’s very little I’d do differently for these last three or four episodes of the adventure, it seemed to mostly work- a few tweaks here and there, but nothing major. Here’s the thing though- different Players, different adventure.We D&D’ed good though, I think.Just for info-Players scoring for each episode (Max 40)Ep 1 Greenest = 6 + 6 + 7 + 8 = 27Ep 2 Investigating Camp Dragonclaw = 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 40Ep 3 The Dragon Hatchery = 8 + 8 + 8 + 9 = 33Ep 4 The Journey to Waterdeep = 5 + 6 + 6 + 7 = 24Ep 5 The Carnath Roadhouse = 8 + 8 + 9 + 10 = 35Ep 6 Castle Naerytar = 9 + 9 + 9 + 10 = 37Ep 7 Talis at the Hunting Lodge = 8 + 9 + 9 + 9 = 35Ep 8 The Flying Ice Castle = 9.5 (Pete, you bastard- I said whole numbers) + 10 + 10 + 10 = 39.5Apologies, I much rambled.Next… downtime, the bit before the start of the next adventure.</blockquote>

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