Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Skie Apr 17, 2015 3:44:44	I'm running this episode tomorrow so I'd like advice from GMs who have done it before me. The party consists of 4-5 level 3s, no dedicated healer. After reading the adventure my main concern is this: aren't berserkers a bit too much for level 3 party? I'm still new to 5e so I'm not sure if 68hp is that much. And the text suggests adding one more (for a 5 player group). On the other hand, this is the main combat scene of the episode, so  I guess it should be hard. I guess the party fighter will be willing to duel the half-dragon again, and hopefully win this time. I just worry if the berserkers aren't too dangerous, since I've heard that some monsters in the adventure were later changed in MM.   edit: Oh, and more important question: I don't think it's explained in the book, and the PCs are going to ask the monk, so: Why is Tiamat even imprisoned ? I've read some on the wiki, but it's only cursory information.... How long has she been there? Why can't she get out? etc etc.
#2 Noctaem Apr 17, 2015 4:09:04	the key to the fight with the berserkers is that they spam the advantage mechanic, meaning they themselves grant advantage to everyone else.  All it really takes is a little focus fire for a round by everyone in the party to kill one.  They should be focused first of course while Cyanwrath is disabled somehow.  Once they are dead, the party can turn its attention to the boss himself.  I would try to steer away from the fighter attempting to solo Cyanwrath.  He's a very deadly 1v1 opponent.   As for her banishment, it appears that Bahamut played a major role in it but so did a sun god (perhaps Pelor, Amaunator or other).  She's been there for a very very long time.  She can't get out because of the bindings the other gods placed on her essence which keeps her within Avernus.  However as the Tyranny of Dragons adventure shows, it's possible to free her with the right rituals.
#3 Timtank Apr 18, 2015 10:52:47	My players fight with the Berserkers went well, it was a group of five lvl 3 characters (also no deticated healer) and the group fighter did infact face Cyanwrath on his own a second time and won (although he almost lost, surviving with only 2 hp)  The group bard used hidious laughter to take one of the enemies out of the fight for a while while the Monk, Mage, and eventually bard focused their fire on one. The Barbarian in the group kept a 3rd at bay until the others were ready to jump their enemy. So it all depends on the players and their tactics.   Also the Wiki explains Tiamats situation well, and the Rise of  Tiamat gives some small pieces of info on her reasons also. She was tricked into accepting a deal from Asmodious, The lord of the nine hells, and as a result she was trapped in the first layer, because all deals made in hell is binding she was trapped in the first layer. So its kinda clear why she is upset. Asmodious felt that Tiamat was becoming to ambitous so he felt the need to stop her.
#4 Rhenny Apr 18, 2015 12:03:52	Our fight went was tough, but we prevailed.   I'm pretty sure we were 3rd level as wll (5 level 3 pcs).   ~~From the journal of Myles Stormgroom (Human 3rd level Tempest Cleric raised by Elves) - Here's the session from our game.   We had the kobold cornered in the northwest corner of the cave and we were just about to interrogate it.  Strix was just about to ask it some questions in Draconic when Mily alerted us that other kobolds were incoming.  It was a small force, about 5 kobolds, a guard drake, and they had a human female prisoner bound, gagged and in tow.  The kobold we had cornered started screaming out to his comrades so I stuck him with my rapier.  The filty creature, we couldn’t have this guy getting in our hair while we fought with the others.   Mily and Brevick were the first to enter the fray.  When they saw that one of the kobolds was commanding a guard drake.  Grim also joined the battle, as did I.  Strix remained at range slinging spells to injure the enemy.   Mily took a nasty blow and was toppled to the ground, unconscious.   I moved into her spot and unleashed a mighty thunderwave infused with divine power.   This killed a few kobolds and injured 2 others along with the guard drake.  Brevick and Grim both fought bravely at the front.  As we fought, the kobolds, their prisoner slowly wriggled out of her bonds.  Once she was out, we could tell that she was a spellcaster.  She ended up firing bolts of flame and gave chase to a fleeing kobold, which she burned to the ground.   When it seemed as if we would prevail, I tended to Mily’s wounds and stabilized her.  Brevick tried to wrestle with the drake, but unfortunately, the beast was too quick for him sending him to the earthen floor.  Grim hacked at the beast with his mighty greataxe and severed it’s spine, ending the combat.   We had no prisoners to question, but we did meet a new friend.   It turned out that the spellcaster’s name was Valleja, and she explained that she was taken prisoner, blindfolded and brought into this horrible cave.  She had heard the Kobolds (and other creatures which she could not see) speaking about a ritual they would conduct to bring Tiamat to this world.  She was certainly against such mayhem, as were we.   I explained that we were from Greenest and we were gathering information about this Hatchery for an informant.   We needed to find out more information, but we were also quite exhausted and were entertaining the idea to leave the caves to find a place to rest for a night.   Valleja really wanted to get out of this area, so we invited her to join our band.   As we rested for a few minutes, I prepared a healing ritual that would get Mily up and healed some of the party’s wounds.   But our rest was interrupted by two cultists and an acolyte.   I tried to maintain my concentration on the ritual while Grim, Brevick, Strix and Valleja all encountered the foes.   Grim succumbed to one of the acolyte’s spells and he turned to attack Brevick, firing a nearly fatal bolt into Brevick’s shoulder.   After he snapped out of it, he was able to fight with the others and ultimately my friends put down the foes and I was able to finish my ritual restoring Mily to consciousness while also knitting up wounds we all incurred.   Quickly, we made for the cave exit and found a hidden cave outside that we had already used to hide from the Dragon Queen’s forces a few nights before.   Valleja was uneasy about spending a night in a small cave with us, but I assured her that we would protect her and once we did make it back to civilization, I’d be sure to pay for a room for her to stay in.   Before we took our night’s rest, Strix set up an alarm using his arcane magic, and we were able to sleep…well, all except for Valleja.  She was not comfortable enough to get her rest.   Refreshed, we snuck back into the Hatchery and down to the area we had last explored.   We let Brevick go down some stairs about 20’ ahead of us since he could see in the dark.   I lit up my shield with divine light and followed as the rest followed me deeper into this cave complex.   Before we realized it, we heard Brevick shout his Dwarven war cry.   Undoubtedly he was propelling himself into another battle.   When we rounded the corner, we saw the Half Dragon, Cyanwrath, engaged with Brevick while three barbarians watched with glee.  Our hearts were thumping with fear and adrenaline.    Brevick fared much better than the first time he met Cyanwrath, a week before.   Mily took on one of the barbarians and found that they were also pretty tough.  I moved into combat to give Mily advantage, and then after she attacked, I moved toward a shrine area that looked like a shrine to Tiamat.  I kicked at some of the columns in the shrine and faced the rest of the foes waiting for my next turn when I could cast a powerful sonic blast (Shatter) to injure as many as I could.   Brevick traded blows with Cyanwrath and held up to the beasts attacks.   Grim moved in and hacked at a barbarian toppling it to the ground.   Strix and Mily added to the combat, as did Valleja.   Both Strix and Valleja targeted Cyanwrath, as if they had a personal score to settle with the Half Dragon while Mily and I worked on the reckless barbarians.   My sonic blast caught two of the barbarians, but they took the blow in stride.   Then Mily downed one and eventually I downed another with my rapier.    Brevick was cleaved and he hit the ground, so I used divine power to get him back on his feet again.   He fell once more, and again thanks to Silvanus, I got him to his feet.  Strix was able to hit Cyanwrath with some streams of flame, and finally, Valleja seared Cyanwrath with a witches bolt….and she kept it on him even after his form seemed lifeless.   After the battle, we found a chest near the shrine.  Mily checked it out and thought it was safe, but when she opened it, acid rained down from the ceiling of this cave burning us severely.   Mily, Valleja and Brevick went down.   Then, the acid reacted with the ground and a poisonous mist filled the room, but Grim, Strix and I were able to hold our breaths escaping further injury.   I was able to scoop up Valleja and run out of the room back to the stairway we came from as Grim dragged Brevick and Strix pulled Mily from the poison filled cave.  Safe in the stairway tunnel, I enacted my healing ritual and restored our group so that we could continue our exploration, although quite battered.   It felt good to get back at Cyanwrath, and find more evidence that showed us these creatures, the kobolds, half dragons, cultists and acolytes had grand plans to try to bring Tiamat back from Hell.   When the poison clears, we’ll check the chest and see if Cyanwrath has anything interesting on his body.
#5 Noctaem Apr 18, 2015 17:56:21	The party I dm'ed actually got wiped lol Cyanwrath and the surviving berserker captured the party.  Campaign didn't end there of course but it was a rather funny outcome.
#6 Skie Apr 19, 2015 2:08:47	Ok, thanks for all the stories, here's how it went for my group: They wiped the kobolds, but used some of their strongest spells in that combat. They silently crept towards the altar area - but Cyanwrath heard them and started walking towards the PCs, shouting his challenge "Stop skulking in shadows, fight like a warrior" etc. The PCs withdrew to kobold barracks and prepared to fight. The half-dragon and 2 berserkers burst into the cave and a shorttime later the bard and wizard were down, the druid and ranger, badly hurt, running away. They managed to flee the cave. The wizard and bard survived and were interrogated by Mondath, but since they were feisty and acted stupid, she declated them to be "the young ones first kills" and they were dropped into the meat locker, bound and all. The bard managed to slip out of the ropes and freed the wizard. Then the bard cast invisiblity and sneaks away from the cave. The wizard, however, decided to look for his spell book! He cast alter self to look like Mondath (great idea) but instead of leaving the cave he went a-exploring... And eventually ran into real Mondath in her cave. She called in guards and well... he died. So all in all - the encounter with Cyanwrath was difficult, mainly because the PCs were unprepared for him and low on spells etc. They're planning to return to destroy the eggs next week!
#7 Noctaem Apr 19, 2015 5:47:33	Skie wrote:
#8 Skie Apr 19, 2015 9:19:07	They know that the eggs are about to hatch, so they're heading back about two days after the defeat. The wizard player (luckily) is a person who is always happy to create new PCs and he does realize that his actions were very risky, so he's already moved on and created a sorcerer ("no more spellbooks!" ;) ). I'm just wondering, if Mondath and/or Cyanwrath survive Round 2 where would be a good place for them to reappear later in the campaign?   Oh and they already feel the need to punish the cult - two other PCs (a ranger and a sorcerer) died during the attack on Greenest. The ranger's player made another ranger - the one who died was this one's brother...
(Reply to #8) Rhenny	Skie wrote:
#10 BRJN Apr 19, 2015 17:04:18	I would build Cyanwrath up as a general and organizer for the Cult's army.  Without him keeping everybody on task, a bunch of members would lose interest and wander off.  So he would not be escorting the loot caravan, he would be using the army to collect more loot.  (This is a side trek not present in HotDQ as written.)  Perhaps the leader in Elturiel tells the PCs to follow the loot while the city's Paladin-army creates an Expeditionary Force to deal with the looters.  (Works well if Elturiel wants to lead a coalition of city-states in the area.)  Later, Cyanwrath minus his army but plus a few heavily-laden wagons rendezvous with the caravan.  At this point the PCs should be ready to take him on and let "the third time's the charm".