Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 pukunui Sep 08, 2015 22:30:39	Hi all,   I'm gearing up to restart my Tyranny of Dragons campaign this weekend. We're set to start chapter 4. When I initially read through it, I really liked the sound of the caravan trip, and quite a few of the little vignettes sound fun on paper. However, now that I'm finally sitting down to prep for it, it's turning out to be a bit more of a logistical nightmare than it first seemed.   I'm beginning to think I might be better off using the vignettes I like best elsewhere - such as on the road between Greenest, Elturel, and Baldur's Gate - and skipping the caravan trip from Baldur's Gate to Waterdeep all together. I could just have a short scene in Baldur's Gate where the PCs learn that the cultists have snuck their cargo onto a ship that's bound for Waterdeep. They could then get on another ship and head that way too, or they could see if they could find a teleportation circle that would take them to Waterdeep so they can get ahead of the cultists. Maybe the cultists used a teleportation circle to get the loot from Baldur's Gate to Waterdeep. They do it later on in the adventure to get it from Naerytar to the Hunting Lodge, after all.   Another reason to possibly skip the caravan is that, while the authors touted this chapter as being a "tour of the Realms", there's not really a whole lot to see between Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep. It's not like the caravan takes them through Cormyr and the Dalelands or through the Silver Marches and down through Luskan and Neverwinter.     One thing I'm thinking of doing is running some of the mini-adventures from DDEX1-1 Defiance in Phlan in both Elturel and Baldur's Gate to flesh those cities out a little bit. There are some fun little missions in that module, and it seems like they could be easily transposed to somewhere other than Phlan. In fact, one of them (the one dealing with a crypt) even contains a teleportation circle! Perhaps the PCs could get involved in that one, not just because the quest giver has received information that the person buried in the crypt might actually have been a dragon, but also because there have been reports of nighttime activity centered on the crypt, which appears to have been disturbed.     On a side note, I am also thinking about how Elturgard's second sun helps keep undead at bay and how it would be more fun to show the players that rather than just tell them. I'm imaging a sort of LOTR-style "flight to the ford" scene, where the PCs are chased by undead until they get within Elturgard's borders and discover that the light stops the undead from following them. I'm not sure how feasible that would be, though.       Anyone got any thoughts or suggestions or anything?   Thanks, Jonathan
#2 sirkaikillah11 Sep 09, 2015 0:51:25	Our pcs entered Elturel on Midsummer's Eve a holiday. I described the bubbling disorder of the celebration in the usually ordered town.  Throw in a Holiday when they enter one of the towns.   They also spent a lot of time in Baldur's Gate. I felt thier trek from Greenest to Elturel then a river boat ride down the Chionthar to Baldur's Gate gave them a ten day wait for the cultist. My players also felt the cultist must have aid in Baldur's Gate, so I obliged. They defeated the Sahuagin Baron on docks, One Pc, our bard won a duel against a noble rival, the dwarf met with his liege the Lord of Baldur's Gate.  They then investigated the Prancing Unicorn Tavern during a tourney bout (Think UFC with weapons) and found a hidden shrine to Tiamat.   I used the caravan from Baldur's Gate to Waterdeep to introduce a number of custom encounters that I wanted to see played out, a hydra, the tree of wisdom (an ancient awakened tree) a pair of Manticores, a ghost tower with hags, a chimera, a pair of young green dragons, drow assassins (more noble trouble for our bard. Hehehe)and many others. I also introduced UFOs, flying saucers and aliens (thouht eaters, gith, grimlocks and mindflayers) and alien technology (cheapo ray guns and stun batons). I used the encounter with Order of the Gauntlet in Elturel and the Golden Stag encounter from the chapter.    I saw this chapter as the one open for me to modify as I wish without loosing the feel for the overall campaign and adventure. So I did. I also made the most the locals along the way and introduced my own locales, like the Gate House Inn next to the ruins of Dragonspear Castle and Ogma's Ditch (actually a marvelously engineered aquaduct). Daggerford I used to highlight the growing number of refugees fleeing cutlist raiding the countryside. Especially east in areas arround Loudwater and Llorkh.  I figured it was important to highlight that the cults activities are effecting good normal people putting political pressure on leaders.
#3 pukunui Sep 09, 2015 1:14:45	Interesting ideas! I'm thinking of plundering the AL Expeditions adventures beyond just "DDEX1-1 Defiance in Phlan". "DDEX1-4 Dues for the Dead" could be good too - a nice way to introduce the involvement of the Red Wizards. I could also tie it into the "Xandria's Crypt" mission from "Defiance" somehow as well. And "DDEX2-10 Cloak and Shadows" - while it would require a bit more work, since it's an Elemental Evil adventure rather than a Tyranny of Dragons one - could be fun. Little Wing the assassin could be a dragon cultist, and I could replace Mulmaster's Cloaks with Baldur's Gate's Watch and Flaming Fist. I guess it depends on how much time I want them to spend in the Gate really.   But I'm thinking I might have the cultists use the teleportation circle in Xandria's Crypt to take the loot from Baldur's Gate to Waterdeep, rather than haul it up there in wagons or on a ship. And then the PCs can use their new faction contacts to gain access to some teleportation magic of their own.     Here's what I might do:   1) Greenest: One of Leosin's disciples can be waiting for the PCs. He can escort them across the Greenfields to Elturel. Perhaps when they're nearly there, they come across some old barrow mounds and get attacked by wraiths. The disciple can suggest they ride hard for the Elturgard border so they can seek the protection of the anti-undead magic sun.   2) Elturel: I *might* run the "Lightning Spell" mission from Defiance here. Otherwise I'll just have the PCs meet up with Leosin and Ontharr, who will want to "test" their mettle a bit before getting down to business. Assuming the PCs agree to help, Ontharr can arrange to get them into a caravan headed to Baldur's Gate. Along the way, I can run a few of the vignettes from the caravan section - like Fungus Humungous and such.   3) Baldur's Gate: I can run things like the "Dragon Egg" and "Secret Prison" missions from Defiance here, with Guild members filling in for the Welcomers in the former, and renegade Flaming Fist soldiers for the Black Fist knights in the latter. I might also run "Cloak and Shadows" here, which would lead them to "Dues for the Dead" / "Xandria's Crypt". I also might let them do some shopping and the like, if they feel so inclined.   4) Waterdeep: I'll give them the chance to learn that the cultists are joining up with a roadworks caravan headed up to the Mere of Dead Men and so we'll pick the main story back up with Episode 5.
#4 akr71 Sep 09, 2015 5:39:10	I have yet to start HotDQ, but I have written out some changes for my group.  I have a love/hate thing going on for Chapter 4.  There is a lot going on and a lot of opportuinities for fun role play, but I worry that the party get bored with the same caravan life going theme for 2 months of game time.  The cultists shipping their booty from Baldur's Gate to Waterdeep is a great idea (and incredibly logical).  I may let the PCs shadow some cultists to the docks, only to lose who they were tailing.  Perhaps multiple treasure caravans have arrived at Baldur's Gate, some leaving for Waterdeep by ship, some by caravan... they can find out where the ship/caravan is headed and then make their own plans from there.   For Elturel, I have designed a big festival with multiple tournaments (weapon sparring, archery, foot races, etc) that they can take part in, including some silly things like a pie eating contest.  I will also use this as an opportunity to introduce some NPCs that will be part of the caravan guards.  This is mostly for fun and a chance to reward a few XP   I like the idea of the hard ride from Greenest to Elturel and the undead.  It felt like something was missing from the book here.  Why go to the effort of describing the 'second sun' and why it is there, if you don't also show that there is a large undead pressence in the area?
#5 Angry_Steak Sep 09, 2015 6:08:09	My players weren't really invested into HotDQ until the caravan. Their preferences lie in a more localized campaign (they loved Phandalin) so I tried to keep that in mind while going over the various encounter suggestions and turned what could've been a boring slog into a moving city. They made a lot of connections, friends, and enemies that I was able to tie into everything later on.   Overall, I like the ideas posted so far, but I'd keep in mind the "time crunch" and whether adding certain things could make the trail grow cold. It'd make for an interesting setback and opportunity costs.
#6 worrgrendel1 Sep 09, 2015 10:29:32	My HoTDQ campaign is currently in Chapter 4 and I feel like this is one of the better chapters of the campaign. I borrowed some insight from the following sites. Taking a little bit here and there and adding some of my own extras. For instance, in describing Troll Claw Ford and it's history about the High Helms adventuring group building a tower there years ago and having it destroyed in a magical explosion my group wanted to explore the ruins so I threw together a ruined tower with Trolls and the undead remains of the High Helms and the creatures that destroyed the tower.  I have also taken it upon myself to add some of the history of the sword coast by giving descriptions of the vairous areas they travel through (such as the Fields of the Dead, Trollclaw Ford, Dragonspear, etc) and I feel like this has added to the immersion of the players a good deal. I also created a bio sheet on each NPC in the caravan (complete with picture) including naming the cultists and giving them personalities and gave those to the players for them to use for roleplaying interaction. Not all of the NPC info from the book is in the bio sheet. I left the juicy stuff out for them to find out by interacting with them.   http://thecampaign20xx.blogspot.ro/2014/10/tyranny-of-dragons-guide-to-hoard-of.html   http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/2014/10/on-hoard-of-dragon-queen-episode-iv.html   http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/2014/10/on-hoard-of-dragon-queen-episode-iv_31.html   I am also planning on using one of Iserith's mini adventures: Quiet Please! for the Golden Stag encounter. I am having the Golden Stag be a former apprentice to the Archmage who was cursed to be the Golden Stag anywhere outside of the ruins, and he needs the party to search the library for the cure, because he is afraid of the Librarian, after he accidentally set the place on fire experimenting in the lab.   This chapter is really good design that is not just a series of hack and slash encounters. I highly recommend not skipping it.
#7 pukunui Sep 09, 2015 21:28:14	akr71 wrote:
#8 akr71 Sep 09, 2015 18:15:28	pukunui wrote:
#9 pukunui Sep 09, 2015 19:37:04	akr71 wrote:
#10 akr71 Sep 10, 2015 5:41:21	Yeah, I didn't really consider how long it might have been in existance.   I would say that the closer the party gets to Scornubel & Elturel, the less likely the threat of undead, but as far away as Berdusk, the threat of undead is very real.  If traveling by boat, an attack by gnolls from the Reaching Woods is a very real threat if not a downright certainty - the road seems to skirt far enough away from the woods to be safe (but slower).   Brave adventurers may decide to investigate a barrow mound or two, exterminate any undead confined there by the orb and make the wild lands a little safer for the commoners.
#11 pukunui Sep 10, 2015 14:18:46	Hmm. This is tricky. If only they were approaching Elturel from the north, where the Fields of the Dead are. They could get ambushed by a bunch of undead soldiers from some forgotten war and have to make a run for it. This river thing is a little too awkward methinks. I might just abandon the idea.   Having the PCs get attacked by gnolls while they're camped by the side of the river could work, though. Actually, they don't even need to be camped there. Maybe the river skirts close to the trees, and the gnolls just take potshots at them from the safety of the trees as the boat passes by.
#12 akr71 Sep 10, 2015 14:57:50	My thoughts exactly.  From the map, it looks like the forest ends at, or very near the river bank.  It would give the PCs an interesting decision.  Do they pull over and attack, possibly bringing even more gnolls at them?  Do they continue along, firing back and hopefully take out a few gnolls?  Do they put their heads down and paddle like crazy to try and get out of there ASAP?
#13 pukunui Sep 10, 2015 16:11:07	Yes, and I can have the barge captain warn them that the gnolls in the forest have grown more bold in recent times (the 4e FCRG says something about the paladins of Elturgard having fenced the forest off, only to have the gnolls overrun all the other races living within - including the elves, who warned the paladins that the gnolls wouldn't stay in the forest for much longer), so they'd best be on their guard in case of attacks.
(Reply to #7) sirkaikillah11	pukunui wrote:
#15 pukunui Sep 11, 2015 1:31:50	Yeah, I'm thinking I might just run the caravan after all. I'll still add a few bits and pieces in various cities before that. My players chose the roundabout way of getting from Greenest to Elturel, so they'll be visiting Berdusk and Scornubel as well. I'll give them at least a brief rundown of those places and have some "random" encounters along the way. As they make their way across the Greenfields towards Berdusk, the PCs will have to defend their horses from some hungry griffons ... and partway along they'll run into a gauntlet (roving patrol) from Berdusk - the help that one of Leosin's disciples went to get (as per the read-aloud dialogue with the young monk, Nesim Waladra).   On the river from Berdusk to Scornubel, they'll come under attack from some gnolls in the Reaching Woods.   And then on the way from Scornubel to Elturel, they may come under attack from some ghouls hanging around an old bridge spanning the river.