My group wants to me to run HotDQ next. Their current characters should be around level 8 by the time we've finished the current series of adventures. They've got new 1st level characters all ready to go for HotDQ, but I promised them I would somehow work it that the two groups would cross pathes, so they could choose which characters they bring into Rise of Tiamat. That may come back to haunt me.
The current party has a couple of characters that are members of the Harpers, so I was initially thinking that they could be requested to investigate Dragon Cult activity in the Mere of Dead Men. I've also been taking some cues from the Hack n Slash Blog, specifically Chapter 6. I thought the current party could explore the Mere, eventually stumbling on the castle, both parties could go through the portal and then let them take it from there. Maybe one group would take on the Hunting Lodge and the other power through to Skyreach Castle...
Now that feels like I'm railroading them too much in one direction. The current party is in the Glimmerwood and will be near the Spine of the World by the end of the adventure - Mithral Hall specifically. I don't own RoT yet, but it sounds like the start point is likely to be in the Spine of the World.
Maybe I should just leave them where they are and they can make their own decisions when they see a gigantic castle of ice falling out of the sky. Opinions? Suggestions?
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Issue 2 - There is a possible encounter with a white dragon with the current party. If I keep that, then they (the players, not the PCs) will have had 3 encounters with white dragons and likely think I'm not beig very original. I think the only way out of that corner is to re-tool the white dragon as the same individual from HotDQ or the one from RoT.
There's a bit of a gap between the two adventures. RoT starts with the PCs being summoned to Waterdeep for a council. Don't worry about mixing up the two parties or getting them all into proper positioning. When you start RoT, just tell your players they can have whichever of their PCs they'd like to play answer the summons. Simple!
Excellent, thanks! Of course I will assume that I would have come up with that too, if I had bought the book... 
akr71 wrote:
Rise of Tiamat presumes you are continuing characters from HotDQ. If you try to bring L1 characters into Tiamat, they WILL get creamed.
Something I've thought about (but my group does not want to do) was create side-adventures for low-level characters to help out the Big Powerful Guys.
For instance, 3e Waterdeep: City of Splendors has a mini-adventure for L3-4 to recover some Griffon-riding Gear. By 5e, the Waterdeep Griffon Cavalry has fallen by the wayside (budget cuts) but needs to be reconstituted as part of the war effort. When the Big Powerful Guys need a fast ride somewhere, a squad of Griffon Cavalry can be assigned IF the Little Guys found the gear and turned it over to the Training Squad.
The Little Guys could go investigate rumors that the Misty Forest is not being well-governed in their King's abscence. What their detective work reveals, becomes part of the mission briefing for the Big Guys tracking down that impressive green dragon in the picture heading Episode 3 - 4.
The Little Guys tag along with a merchant caravan and get jumped by a Cult protection racket's "enforcers". The more bruisers they take out / injure, the fewer foes the Big Guys run into during their next Random Encounter - and the remaining Cultists complain during the fight that their (missing) friends keep getting reassigned to the cushy soft jobs.
re: Issue 2
Surprise your PCs when it turns out that "white dragon" you are creating on your own is actually a very smart blue dragon wearing a disguise.
BRJN wrote:
BRJN wrote: