Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 MasterNamer Apr 25, 2015 10:14:14	This adventure seems a lot the Lost Mines of Phandelver in that you can roam around and go wherever you want. Would you be able to take higher level characters into the adventure and go wherever you'd like?
#2 BRJN Apr 25, 2015 18:09:47	For home play, sure you can use any characters you want.  So after the climax of their careers, your Tiamat-banishing group of Heroes went north for a little relax time and found...   For AL play, you have to start at / near the very beginning.  I haven't read the adventure, but from chatter, L3 seems is the presumed starting point.
#3 Kalani Apr 25, 2015 19:16:27	Not true. You can start at any point providing your party is at the right level range. A group of T2 characters could start at chapter 4
#4 Undrhil Apr 25, 2015 23:21:43	So, a group of AL legal characters who are all level 5.  Why would you just jump into the middle of the adventure module?   Why wouldn't you start new characters at level 1 to experience the whole thing from the beginning?
#5 Byakugan01 Apr 26, 2015 2:05:27	A level 4 character could start at the beginning, and there isn't enough XP to hit 5th if you are running the free portion.  You can only get 300 xp in part 1 and 600 in part 2, and enough to just get through feathergate spire.  There isn't really any bonus material unless you get the book.    The party -could- start poking their noses into other places, but most of the extra encounters like the reprisal encounters are very deadly to low level characters.  The haunted tombs are meant to be done in order.
#6 QwertyAzerty Apr 27, 2015 6:37:48	Undrhil wrote:
#7 MasterNamer Apr 27, 2015 6:48:43	What about the chapters that mix the level tiers that they are optimized for? Would a character be barred from entering a temple that he or she hasn't explored even though they are of an appropriate tier to play part of the chapter?
#8 Noctaem Apr 27, 2015 8:59:18	You can just have the party start at a later chapter if you want as others have pointed out.  What level exactly are you planning on having them run through Princes of the Apocalypse?  This is what I'm planning below.     SPOILERS FOLLOW.   I'm actually planning on running Princes of the Apocalypse after the events of "Rise of Tiamat" so my party will be over around level 14-15.  I plan to simply tune up the numbers to make them fit that level range and make several changes to the plot to reflect the ties I want to make to the Tiamat series.     In my campaign, Serevin has modified the summoning ritual using the Mask of the Dragon Queen with the help of the Red Wizard's of Thay to gain control of Tiamat once she is freed.  Basically, tying her essence to the will of Serevin.  He concocted the plan, perhaps foolishly, when he began wearing the Red Dragon Mask and gained the ability to think like a dragon.  Why worship Tiamat when he can tie her will to his own and make her HIS queen instead.  These modifications to the ritual also create the link into the modified Princes of the Apocalypse.   Party succeeds in stopping the summoning of Tiamat or somehow defeat her even once summoned: Her essence is divided into 5 parts, because of the modified summoning ritual she does not return to the 9 hells, and spreads out into the weave of the plane.  The cultists then use the ancient Temple of Elemental Evil and the locations described in Princes of the Apocalypse to gather her essence in an effort to restore her.  With Serevin and other leaders now either missing or dead, this opens the way for the weapon wielders from PoA.  Basically, each weapon is a conduit that allows Tiamat's  various essence pieces to flow and communicate.  I'm planning on making each one a sentient item with the personality of a corresponding dragon.  Of course the players won't know that right away.  The various cultists will not be from the Cult of the Dragon which Severin created but instead from the actual Church of Tiamat.  I plan on having them be and act like the Knights of Takhisis from the Dragonlance novels.  They are true knights, Paladins, etc..  they have honor and duty.  They are just completely consumed by their devotion to Tiamat.  Only Serevin and a small group of Red Wizards knew of the modified summoning ritual.  Once they discovered the plot however, they hunted down and eradicated all remnants of the cult themselves and then moved to try and restore Her Dark Majesty.   The party is in the middle of all of this and must now decide what to do.  The Church of Tiamat owes the party a debt because they managed to stop the ritual from being completed.  I'm sure it'll create some interesting RP.  The party is currently working with member of the Church of Tiamat by the name of Taevyn (Kalani, one of the LC's actually came up with the character and allowed me to use her in my campaign since I liked her so much) who is trying to uncover what the cult is up to.   Party fails to stop the ritual and fails to defeat Tiamat:   Tiamat is now free upon the world but is under the control of Serevin.  The Church of Tiamat discovers the plot over time and if the party is still alive contacts them to form an alliance.  If the party was wiped out, which is possible, I was going to give them the choice to play either a new group who is part of the resistance or a group from the Church of Tiamat (so they could play anti-heroes).  The locations and places in PoA would basically be the sites that bind Tiamat to this realm and to the service of Serevin.  His cult and Red Wizard's of Thay would occupy the various places.  Any of the leaders who survive the events (Rath Modar, Talis the White, etc..) would become the weapon wielders in PoA to tie in everything.  New leaders could rise from the result of defeating the collective forces of the harpers, etc..  as well.       If the party succeeds in destroying the 5 sites that bind Tiamat in either scenario the power would then pass to the party and they could decide to either bind her to their will, send her back to the Nine Hells, Destroy her essence for good or whatever else depending on the scenario.  Heck maybe more adventures would happen!  They would be level 20 by then so maybe they end up fighting a full power Tiamat if that sounds fun the group.
(Reply to #7) Coredump00	MasterNamer wrote:
#10 Kalani Apr 28, 2015 9:39:46	I have kept this post as spoiler-free as possible Unlike Hoard, Princes of the Apocalypse more clearly indicates the level of each dungeon. While I have not read the entire adventure as of yet, Chapter 3 has a sidebar which clearly indicates the level of each Haunted Keep, ranging from Level 3 - Level 6.   This clearly indicates that while most of Chapter 3 is Tier 1, the latter two Keeps are Tier 2 (see p15 of the player's handbook - tiers of play). Unfortunately for AL - chapter 3 is laid out in a sandbox style, allowing for the possibility of Tier 1 parties to wander into the Tier 2 Keeps and get slaughtered (depending upon which leads they uncover and follow). DMs can telegraph the difficulty of the latter quests, or use minor railroading* to prevent this from occuring - but this requires DM vigilance and a subtle hand.   The Encounters version of the adventure bypasses this quandry by only including the Tier 1 keeps, leaving out all mention of the Tier 2 keeps (and their associated leads).   *Examples include: Difficult "random" encounters designed to prevent the party from reaching their intended destination (goal being to force them into retreat). Spotting enemy combatants of the Tier 1 keeps out in the wilderness, and allowing the party to "track" them back to their keep. NPCs who speak of an "attack" nearby the Tier 1 Keeps, and request aid from the wayward party. etc
#11 Oraibi Apr 28, 2015 23:07:46	Alternately, the DM could just tell the players what the recommended levels are, and suggest to them to only take on the ones for which they are equipped and validly able to undertake.   Sometimes it seems better just to discuss things open and honestly than try to be subtle and guide the players through manipulation.
#12 RCanine May 01, 2015 9:08:36	Oraibi wrote:
#13 MasterNamer May 01, 2015 9:56:44	What about level five characters playing in a tier 1 and two area? Is there any reason to believe that AL play would restrict the free movement of the pcs throughout the valley, out would it just lead to encounters that are too easy, too hard, and just right?
#14 Oraibi May 01, 2015 18:56:23	RCanine wrote:
#15 RCanine May 01, 2015 19:08:35	Oraibi wrote:
#16 Oraibi May 01, 2015 19:22:49	RCanine wrote: