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| #1KlaudisRexFeb 21, 2015 20:59:58 | im Ok so I've been all over these forums and the net trying to figure out what to do after Lost Mines of Phandelver.
I originally wanted to try to tie both adventures together but they're so damn far geographically speaking, and I'm just not sure I even want to do that anymore, even if I edit the adventure and localize it to fit my campaign.
Live asked the players, and they just want to play a good game with some good **** going down that they can eat up! They just don't want to restart at level 1 to do it. They want to continue at level 4 or 5.
And so I ask you, should I even run HofDQ right afterwards? Is the adventure even worth it? Sometimes I get excited about it and other times, I fell like its a real pain in the ass to fit in at this point.
For my sandbox idea, I was going to have Iarno "Glasstaff" Albrek, leader of the Redbrand Ruffians, put on trial in Waterdeep for treason against the Lords' Alliance. Sildar Hallwinter would ask the players to transport him to Dagault Neverember and the Lords of Waterdeep. This would make a nice little adventure along the way, passing by the Mere of Dead Men (oh crap! Exactly where the Castle Naedyr or whatever it's called is located and the Cult of the Dragon, HotDQ story arc is!) ...damn! You see, I keep going back and forth! Unsure what to do!
But if the group does get Glasstaff to Waterdeep, I'm thinking he'd probably get off easy mostly because I envision the Lords Alliance to be somewhat corrupt....definitely lawful neutral (just trying to maintain their own superiority and status quo, but always putting a smiley lawful good face in public statements and policy and such). In Waterdeep, they can get involved in a crap load of other stuff or have a Glasstaff as a reoccurring nemisis.
So what do you think? HotDQ? Or Waterdeep sandbox? I'm pulling my hair out here!
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| #2DM_HEEGZFeb 21, 2015 23:06:42 | Sounds like it would be easier for you to go sandbox at this point. You seem to have some interesting ideas, so I say go for it. Perhaps your PCs will make some bad decisions and TPK and you can start on Hoard later like my gaming group did. |
| #3Archon007Feb 21, 2015 23:45:40 | They take place in the same region about 10 days travel at most to greenest. Depending what they did in Mines the characters already have seen the Cult at work. |
| (Reply to #3)KlaudisRex | Thas for the input fellas, I like the sandbox idea because well truth be told, I've never (in all m years of playing the Forgotten Realms) played in Waterdeep. So the chance to do so, intrigues me. HotDQ barely skids by Waterdeep with no real chance to flesh it out. My worry, is that Waterdeep is so damn big and open that the players will get lost or worse, lose track of all the quests, NPCs and such that a metropolitan city has to offer.
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| #5iserithFeb 22, 2015 8:25:37 | Lost Mines of Phandelver was Season 1.
Hoard of the Dragon Queen is Season 2.
You don't have to play out every day of the PCs' lives, nor explain every change in circumstance. Pick up the characters and drop them in Greenest. Time has passed and the players are free to explain why their characters have come to Greenest (the module has some ideas about that) and why they care enough to risk life and limb to help the besieged people of the town. Then take it away.
A sandbox game requires players that are proactive, have characters with goals, and have some good sense of the context of the setting so they can pursue those goals. It sounds more likely that your players are up for a more plot-centric game and so that's why I'd recommend the above approach. Your players don't sound like the type that is really going to care if you do this, but I would suggest seeking their buy-in on the idea first. |
| #6sirkaikillah11Feb 22, 2015 14:21:17 |
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| #7CCSFeb 22, 2015 14:33:58 | So have them taking Glassstaff to Waterdeep. Along the way they encounter elements of the Dragon cult. (Surely you don't think Greenest is the only place in the region where attacks are ocuring?) You can essentially run any of the chapter 1 encounters as standalone events - get ambushed at a mill your passing on Tue, run into mercs/kobolds etc looting some houses on Wed., fight an ambush drake & some guards along a road, etc. Heck, you could even stumble upon the Raiders camp accidently.... So the party gets to Water deep having actually played through many of the Hoard encounters anyways. They do whatever in/around WD. And then they (as well as other NPCs) begin hearing reports that some town called Greenest was attacked by a blue dragon! It flew off THAT way. And from there? The great dragon hunt of DR?? Is on! Wich definitely gets the PCS ducked into the Hoard/Rise adventure. Btw; don't worry if the party seems too powerfull for some of the early encounters. Let them have a few easy fights. For others increase the # of badguys to make a better fight. But don't worry about it much as these lower encounters whole purpose is to set up the story to come. |
| #8Archon007Feb 22, 2015 15:46:41 |
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| #9Coredump00Feb 23, 2015 11:01:12 | If you decide to run HotDQ, this is what I would do.
End LMoP at mid 4th level. Create someone, or something that needs to be returned to Greenest (Hostage? someone that helps them and needs help in return?) You can either roleplay the trip, or just handwave it until they are approaching Greenest.
It shouldn't take too much effort to make the Ep 1 encounters somewhat challenging for a Lvl 4 party. Ep2 is should be fine at lvl 4. Maybe by end of Ep 3 they hit 5th... and you are good to go from there.
Ep3 may be a bit too easy if they are already lvl 5... but you could adjust it if necessary.
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| #10BRJNFeb 23, 2015 14:10:15 | Have the Cult attack one of the villages near Neverwinter Wood instead of Greenest. The PCs are already there for the action - a fortituous coincidence ! Or the Cult makes an effort to crash Neverwinter itself (which should at most result in destroying the abandoned parts of town from 4e Neverwinter Campaign Setting), which draws everybody's attention to them like a magnet. Now track down and try to destroy the fleeing raiders before they can escape. |
| #11KlaudisRexFeb 27, 2015 21:55:17 |
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| #12KlaudisRexMar 01, 2015 10:18:26 | so after good consideration, I think I'll just sandbox Waterdeep instead of railroad HotDQ and RoT for the next 15 levels (besides, who knows if the players will even stay around for that long). And since I've never played in Waterdeep myself (I've ran campaigns in past editions in Moonsea, Silverymoon, Baldur's Gate and even Chult, but never Waterdeep), here's my chance to homebrew something really cool, especially with the Realmslore up in the air, I get my chance to f#ck around with things and even drop them in Skullport and Undermountain!
Anyone want to chime in before I make this decision irreversible and implement it In my game with my players who are ultimately down for anything. |
| #13DM_HEEGZMar 02, 2015 6:32:45 | I think you are making the right call. You can always run HOTDQ with another group of newbie PCs. WD and undermountain are a great adventuring area... |
| #14BRJNMar 02, 2015 16:10:34 | Jason, Do not put your PCs on trial unless the players are on board with it. If Glasstaff insists, the authorities can "try them in absentia" and sentence them to Exile Effective Immediately. (In other words, kidnap them, haul them a day's journey away from town, and tell them 'Don't come back, some uppity-up has it in for you.') Nobody actually has orders to arrest / detain the PCs, it's just a 'letter of the law' thing to tell Glasstaff they did something about his complaint. As long as the PCs leave Glasstaff alone they can do whatever else they find to keep themselves occupied.
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| (Reply to #8)KlaudisRex | phandelveD
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| #16TherosMar 04, 2015 5:07:53 | HOTDQ was able to teach me what good encounter creation looks like in 5th, and helped me refine the new game mechanics. The module leaves enough wiggle room for you to add your own sub plots and encounters while freeing you from the nuts n bolts encounter design.
It's a good template so in my opinion you should use it. |