The old Star Wars forums used to have threads like this for official modules, and those threads were great resources. I searched, but couldn't find anything similar here; if I've missed a thread that already exists, please point me to it!
So, my players just gave me Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat for an early Christmas present, on the understanding that I'll run the adventures for them. I've seen comments around the net saying these modules can use a bit of work to make them run better at the table, so I'd really like to hear what other people have done to spice them up or smooth them out. This thread is for HotDQ, and I'll make another one for RoT. I'd also appreciate links to any other threads discussing the matter that you know of.
Thanks in advance for your help! 
I'm playing through it, and it may simply be the fact that I'm unused to running modules, but I feel as though the flow is off. If feels like the players are going down a checklist rather than feeling organic. Again, I'll lay that critique potentially at my own feet rather than an issue with the module as written. I would recommend reading what you'll be playing through prior to your players arriving for the game so it can be fresh in your mind and you can weave that information into your story as appropriate rather than pulling the players through it pone bullet point at a time.
My other concern is that some combat encounters either feel far too easy for the players..almost a waste of time, while other encounters seem rather overwhelmingly dangerous at the level the party will be facing the enemy. These are often situation where you want the chars to fight rather than excercise the better part of valor too. As an example, the final battle in the first module is four level 7 characters against an Adult White Dragon that can clearly mop the floor with characters of that level. The module does suggest that the players can pull the dragon into one of the tunnels, which give the dragon disadvantage on attack rolls, but now they can't spread out enough to avoid having them all caught in the Dragon's breathe weapon which deals an average of 54 damage to all of them. A failed saving throw would likely instantly drop your average level 7 character that uses D6 or D8 for hitpoints and put D10 and non totem of the bear barbarians on life support, all in a single attack.
- If the PCs get creamed trying to get some refugees to the castle right atthe beginning, use the variant rule for shorter "short rests' - say 10 min instead of an hour. This will allow the PCs to actually do more of the stuff.
- Cyanwrath should be somebody the PCs can't wait to meet again for an epic battle / grudge match. He might put in an appearance (seen from a distance) just before the "adventurer trap" scene. There is also a thread somewhere nearby about a "Paladin of Tiamat" whose personality could be added to his as-written.
- Read through the whole and then the parts to get a feel for how they fit together.
- Look over the DM Help threads about HotDQ (doubtless more will pop up about RoT) and consider those issues and proposed solutions.
- The later episodes are written with the presumption the PCs are looking for allies and will not try the "kill 'em all myself" strategy. This is why the later fights look so hard; half the enemies are supposed to stand back and watch the fun, or help take down each other.
BRJN wrote:
I have really benefitted from the HotDQ enhancements provided by Hack & Slash.
The first article is here: http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/2014/09/on-hoard-of-dragon-queen-episode-i_3.html
There are many more articles giving advice for each chapter in the adventure.
kaitoujuliet wrote:
autolycus wrote:
I found this Reddit post where someone has tried homebrewing young green slaads to replace the assassins in "No Room at the Inn." (That encounter was originally written with slaads, but then they were cut from the monster manual.)
Young Green Slaad
AC:16, HP:60, Shapechanger. Multiattack (2, Bite&Claw), CR:3 (700)
Bite (+4 to hit, 1d8+3)
Claw (+5 to hit, 1d6+3)
In case anyone searches these forums looking for tips on running HotDQ, I just wanted to recommend the parallel thread I started at Enworld on the subject. It has really taken off, and there are lots of good tips there. I hope it's okay to link to it.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?394128-Enhancing-quot-Hoard-of-the-Dragon-Queen-quot-%28Practical-stuff-to-try-at-your-table!%29
I haven't started HotDQ for my party yet, but I've taken a lot of cues from Hack n Slash. Their party is likely only going to be 3 PCs, so I have put together a few NPCs that will be available at certain points, should they ask for help. I'm also adding a prequel where they are travelling with a small trade caravn (yes another one) and it gets ambushed/overrun by cultists just outside of Greenest. This is to give them a bit of an XP cusion before chapter 1. Once I think they've had enough, the blue dragon blasts near their wagon, overturning it on them and the cultist leave them for dead. However they have just been knocked unconcious. They wake and then we move on to chapter 1 - probably with a couple healing potions at their disposal.
akr71 wrote:
^ Haha! I like that. A smart group of level 1 characters would just run the other way if they came upon a town being attacked by kobolds, cultists and a blue dragon, but if you are already IN town... well, then I guess you'd better pitch in and help save every one else's skin along with your own.
have someone in the keep have the healer feat. be generous with inspiration points.
have ballista on tower top to use against dragon. crossbow men on walls can aid party if near wall.
I've found the EN World version of this thread to be super useful for my Tyranny of Dragons campaign.
I recently started my own thread about the things I've been doing in my campaign here on the WotC forums.
akr71 wrote:
Huntsman57 wrote:
Huntsman57 wrote:
fylth wrote:
One thing that I don't really like is the fact that Tyranny of Dragons features two, nearly identical white dragons pretty much back-to-back - one in the climactic episode of Hoard and the other very early on in Rise. At first I thought maybe I'd replace Glazhael with Arauthator and make sure he escapes ... but that could be a bit railroady. Plus, the series doesn't feature a red dragon at all - except a young one in the random cult reprisal encounters in Rise, if I recall correctly. So what if I swapped out Glazhael with a red dragon? It's an established fact that in Gracklstugh, the main duergar city in the FR Underdark, there's a red dragon who is used to keep the forge fires going. What if Blagothkus has got a "pet" red dragon that he uses as a source of central heating? Maybe the castle and its mountainous platform are riddled with vents that the dragon breathes fire into every so often to keep the castle's inhabitants warm while they're high up in the air.
Does that sound workable or a bit too far-fetched?