Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 PlatypusRex Aug 23, 2014 10:05:14	Looking through Ep 1 of Hoard of the Dragon Queen, the whole thing seems to happen in one night (9pm to 4am), but there are eight missions spanning five to six sessions.  In other words the party does not get a long rest at any point.   Healing options seem to be limited in 5E, and spellcasting is "daily spells" as usual.   Am I really expected to tell my group that they only get two first-level spells each, for the entire six sessions?   I think my plan is just to house-rule a long rest between each mission.
#2 Undrhil Aug 23, 2014 11:36:14	Having played through the first episode, I can tell you that there *is* time for at least one long rest.  The problem is that it means you won't get to all of the missions.  So, either you miss out on some missions or you miss out on some ... what?  I guess the Warlock is the main class which benefits from a short rest right at level 1.  I know that if things get really hairy, you can spend a hit die after a short rest, but that's only 1 hit die and you only have 1 hit die at level 1.   Anyway, if you have read the entire episode (not the entire book, but just the episode that takes place that one night) then you know that giving them a *long* rest at any time means the end of the episode comes, since that's 8 hours right there.  If you meant a short rest after each mission, then you are still going to be cutting off their access to some of the missions since the time limit is still there.  If you meant a long rest between each *episode* then there's no need for a houserule since the episodes have that baked right in.   EDIT: Also, no one says they have to use their "daily" resources right away.  Yes, there will only be two of the big heals from the Cleric, per Cleric (in case you have more than one.)  But Cantrips are a thing for spellcasters and those are at-will with no limitation of number of uses.  Also, party members who opt to take starting gold instead of the starting item lists could start with a potion of healing for 50gp.   So, in short.  Yes, you are expected to tell your group that they only get two first-level spells each (for the spellcasters, anyway, plus their cantrips), for the entire six sessions.
#3 Huscarl Aug 23, 2014 16:12:57	It's important for DMs to make it clear to players, when characters first get drawn into the situation in Greenest, that they are in for a long, grueling night. Characters don't know how long the raid will last, but there's no reason to assume it's going to be short. The raiders are clearly winning when characters arrive, so they are in no hurry to retreat. It's an ugly situation that is too big for the characters to have any real hope of turning around.   As we pointed out in the seminar at Gencon, characters can't win a big victory here. They need to focus on winning small victories, and they need to ration their resources even for that.   If things get really grim, I recommend having Governor Nighthill or Escobert the Red assign 3-6 NPC men-at-arms to the characters' team, or maybe even some of Leosin's monks. NPCs are better than healing potions, because they absorb damage and provide extra attacks.   Steve
#4 CPNuke Aug 27, 2014 19:49:12	I made Eadyan Falconmoon, the cleric of Chauntea in the Sanctuary a 2nd level cleric of Life. Once the party rescued the priest and the villagers in the sanctuary and got them back to to the keep, I allowed Eaydan to provide healing. At 2nd level and 16 Wisdom he has three 1st level spell slots with cure wounds as a domain spell. I also decided he had the spare the dying cantrip to stabilize wounded villagers. Thus he had available 3 castings of cure wounds at 1d8 + 6. He also had Channel Divinity: Preserve Life which allowed hi mto heal up 10 hit points split among creatures.   This allowed the heroes to more easily work for the town's defense. They did take one short rest, which I ruled also triggered a recharge of Preserve Life for the Eaydan. Between the NPC cleric, party healing (a cleric and a bard), short rest hit dice expenditure, and fighter's Second Wind, the party was able to fight on, though they were often battered, bruised, and near death many times.   An alternative suggestion would be to adjudicate someone in the keep had the Healer feat. This would allow you to help the PCs out with a once per short rest use of a healing kit on them for 1d6 + 4 healing.   Another reason i like the priest of Chauntea NPC was when none in the party had the mending cantrip to bolster and repair the broken sally port gates, ol' Eadyan was called on to do so while the heroes drove off the enemy and held the gates until were fixed.   I was owrried my players might feel overshadowed by an NPC doing those things, but they were happy for the aid and when were hailed as heroes of Greenest, made sure to call the priest out as one, too. They seemed to grow a bond with the priest over other NPCs like the governer, castellan, or any of the villagers, calling him by name while everyon else was done by title or race (because governer is easier to remember than Tarbaw Nighthill and dwarfguy easier than Escobert the Red.)
#5 Inaubryyn Aug 27, 2014 22:36:28	I just played session #2 tonight. I wasn't there for session #1, thus I missed out on the "this all happens over the course of one night." bit. Evidently, our druid (the only healer) missed this two as he's spent his only two healing spells already. We're in trouble. As the fighter, I'm the only one at full hit points right now and I used my second wind once. The wizard, druid, and rogue are all below 10 hp. Looks like we're gonna have to play it smart and hope Tymora smiles on us. The DM should've greeted me with, "Welcome to Hoard of the Dragon Queen. What's your second character going to be?"
#6 Tyranthraxus Aug 28, 2014 0:57:56	We ran into this issue last night. We have in the most recent battle had 3 players out of 7 go into death save territory (they have all lived). Our cleric has no healing spells left, and nobody has any of their short rest HD left to spend. We are going to have to Long rest because we dont see any other way to progress.
#7 cave2626 Aug 28, 2014 5:50:22	The heart of this discussion seems to be resource management. If you choose to play a spell caster then you’re only going to have a few powerful spells in your arsenal at low levels. I’ve heard about a lot of players complaining that they’re out of spells and still expected to do stuff. Yes, that’s how it works. You picked a spell casting class so you have to live with the hardship of the lower levels. For groups that are complaining about being out of healing magic may I suggest you examine your current tactics and change them. If you avoid taking damage in the first place you won’t need healing. I realize there may be cases where you can’t help being in the thick of things, but by playing smartly, use decent tactics, taking the disengage action, taking the dodge action, and just working together as a party, there are a lot of good ways to mitigate damage. Of course if your DM has hot dice all the planning in the world won’t help.
#8 Merkatz Aug 28, 2014 12:53:54	Sorry cave2626, I must say I disagree wholeheartedly.  Yes, resources must be managed carefully, but HotDQ really blindsides the players with as many as 10 encounters in a 7 hour period.  For a group of unprepared 1st level adventurers that is already a daunting task.  Gear, spells, and party composition was chosen blindly without knowing that they were going into an overwhelming situation.    But think of the situation.  For the majority of players, this is going to be their first experience with 5e.  They aren't familiar with all the little rules, and don't even know how to optimally use their own character's spells and abilities yet. They also aren't familiar with the strengths and abilities of monsters in this edition and as such, don't have a feeling for the flow of combat.  Expecting these players to be able to employ good tactics and good rationing of their resources in an extreme situation on day 1 of the adventure is setting the standards way too high.  After all, it would only take 1 bad encounter (out of the ~10) to put their resources into a critical situation.  In fact, it doesn't even take a bad encounter to do that.  Several different parties at the store I go to used some of their precious healing on NPCs because no one in their right mind expected the mayor to be sending them out on 4 different missions that fricking night.     But, I think the biggest issue I have is the lack of rewards in the first Episode.  In this tough opening adventure, players could easily earn 500+ XP each, but XP rewards are capped at 300.  Why?   There aren't even any physical rewards to compensate for this fact, let alone any aid given by NPCs.  Why doesn't the priest that you rescue offer a couple of healing potions?  Why are no spellcasting services or war equipment (alchemists fires, caltrops, siege weapons, etc) offered in the keep?  After all the events of the night no one even really thanks you for your services.  Forget monetarily-where is the heartfelt thanks from the mayor saying something as simple as "Greenest is forever in your debt!" ?       Because of this, my honest suggestion is to cut down the Episode by like half.  Rescue Linan Swift at the start of the town, get to the keep, go rescue the people in the Sancuary by way of the Old Tunnel, scare off the Dragon once you get back to the keep, and call it a day.  Add in a random encounter or two, and the PCs should easily level up.
#9 TheBreen Aug 28, 2014 13:06:23	Inaubryyn wrote:
#10 AndrewJO Sep 01, 2014 13:16:17	Is HotDQ Ep 1 meant for 1st lvl characters? I don't have the book yet, but from what everyone is saying it sounds like these characters just aren 't strong enough yet.
#11 gmanjkd Sep 01, 2014 19:49:00	Yes HotDQ is intended for 1st level PCs and is great for teaching players that the solution to a problem is not always charging into combat.  The adventure rewards planing and punishes recklessness.    Our experience was quite different than some above.   Keep in mind that we are not playing in a store or as part of the League so perhaps I don't have to contend with the same issues as many on this post.     Our 1st session was 2.5 hours.  Our 5 pc party finished 4 of the 8 encounters, and successfully avoided 3 random encounters.   3 PC's have reached death save territory and the the adventure has been tough, demanding caution, strategy, and planning.    I did have the governor provide the party with 3 healing potions whitch helped a lot.   I plan to use a town healer if need be in the future.   While the adventure does not specifically state that the govenor helps like this or that, I think the vagueness is fantastic and provieds the DM with tons of flexibility to adjust the adventure on the fly as needed.   With that said my group of 5 are very experienced and are used to playing in very lethal games I.e.  WFRP and Coc.      I concede that this adventure would be brutal for a new Groupe of players, more so with an inexperienced DM, but people adapt.  The players and DMs who cut their teeth on HotDQ will become skilled players and DMs.   Our Groupe has had a blast so far with 4 of them returning to D&D 5e for the 1st time since the release of 4e.
#12 vitomancer3 Sep 01, 2014 20:09:00	I ran into similar struggles running it for my party of very experienced players.  My advice would be:   When they return to the keep after a mission, give them a free hit die.  After 2 encounters, 1 spell slot. Let them have 400 gp per pc in loans from the keep that can be spent towards gear and healing pots.  The keep is under siege- anyone trying to save the day is a hero.  I gave them a credit balance and let them use that.