Hi Guys!
So, I've started DM'ing a 5e game, and after a few sessions, my party of 4 (Human Theif Rogue, Halfing Wizard, Halfing Cleric (life), and Dwarf Fighter) is now just about half way into Lost mine of Phandelver (just starting chapter 3 of 4), and have hit level 3.
I now have more potential players with the release of the PHB...One wants to play a Human Bard, and another is a Tiefling Assasin Rogue.... and it's possible that there are more that will want to join... The large party isn't a big deal to me..So far, people are joining at level 3, so the party should be around 5-6 next session. After lost mines, the players don't want to start over at level 1, but i would like to run the Tyranny of Dragons campaign, starting with Horde of the Dragon Queen...my issue is, the characters will be level 4-5 by the end of LMOP, but HODQ starts at 1 and goes to 8th by the end...
Anyone have any advice on how to transisition with a larger than normal, higher leveled party, without just steamrolling half the Horde of the Dragon Queen adventure? I don't just want to triple the monsters :P, but there are no rules as of yet for scaling encounters by level or party size...I also have issues of loot...there are no guidlines for expected wealth etc?
Anyhow, any advice would be appreciated.
Actually, Hoard of the Dragon Queen is listed as being for adventurer's Levels 1 - 7. So anywhere in that level range they are fine to start. However, for giving out experience, you'll probably want to do the normal way by dealing xp per obstacle / opponents defeated, as opposed to the alternate way of just going up a level after each chapter or whatever. Other than that y'all should be good to go. 
The only issues you'd have with level is if you wanted to run them through some of the other Adventurer League stuffs such as Defiance in Phlan, Shadow on Moonsea, and errrr... shenanigans at Sokol Keep... haha. whatever it's called. Those were levels 1-4. So as long as the characters are 4th level or less they'd be able to play; sadly anyone with a 5th level character or higher would be hosed in those particular adventurers. I'm not sure if they'll ever make Kryptgarden and the other "Epics" available for play. I hope so!
Anywho, hope my babbling helps! 
Unsure what you have been using as storyline hooks but what i hope to do in mine is that as well as the attacks down south that the main bad guy from Lost Mines has also been sending some of the items taken from the attacks on merchant caravans (in mine I am mentioning a few more) south to the mere. in other words start the Hoard adventure mid way.
I am also considering asking the players if they want to do the first half but as a flash back for other characters they will create.
Therefore players get a chance ofplaying a couple of classes and get to choose which ones they like best to carry on in the adventure.
Storywise I was going to get them to meet other characters that will tell them the story. Either that or they would come across travellers or corpses who can tell the story about what happened (then hand out characters that the players can do).
Admittedly it breaks up the game and is not everyones cup of tea
Saves me on creating / upgrading a bunch load of monsters into ones that the characters will walk over
1) have everyone start again with level 1 characters. This is a really good idea if the new players are new to the game as well, as I've found that starting new players at higher levels gives them unreasonable expectations in the next campaign. Also, the players who ran LMoP might want to try out some of the new stuff available in the PHB. I would suggest keeping the characters on hand, however, because you can either: cameo them as NPCs (giving a sense of continuity to your game), or allow players to swap out to their old character once they get to the same level.
2) Start them at Episode 4 (On the Road), with the new guys at Level 4. The original PCs will be strong (rewarding them for playing though LMoP, but the difference won't be too noticable. You should read through the eariler episodes and figure out how to drop them into the adventure with enough knowledge and motivation to complete it.
Much of this has been covered in other threads in this section, so I suggest you take a look around and see if any of the advice is helpful to you.
The monster math and encounter building for HotDQ seems to be somewhat lethal, so having a few extra players could actually help in that regard. If players are steamrolling encounters, just up the number of monsters by 2 or 3. Or send them against the characters in waves.
As for how to manage the HotDQ after you've already run Lost Mine of Phandelver, here is my post from another thread:
My suggestion is similar to that of several other posters. Run LMoP as written. Then modify HotDQ.
Here's how I suggest you do it: In Chapter 1, replace Greenest with Phandalin. You should be able to dial up the potency of the monsters without too much effort thanks to bounded accuracy. Then combine Chapters 2 and 3 into one, since both take place at the same adventure location. You can dispense with Chapters 4 and 5, since they're simply travelogues that get the players to Castle Naerytar. I would then suggest you play either Chapter 6 or Chapter 7. Both have great locations, but they fill essentially the same story purpose--to get the players to the Castle in the Clouds. So either chapter should make an easy transition to Chapter 8.
If I was to do this, I would actually go a level deeper. I don't much care for the dragon hatchery in Chapter 3. I would probably replace it with Castle Naerytar, which is a great location, and sensible launching point for raids across the North. From there, I would have clues point players to Waterdeep. After some investigation in Waterdeep, they would be directed to the Hunting Lodge of a corrupt noble in league with the Cult. Then climax with the Castle in the Clouds.
In any case, I think HotDQ needs some trimming as it basically leads the players from one location to another to another. Gets old fast, in my opinion. Connecting it to LMoP solves some of those issues.
Thank you for the Advice. We are just hitting Cragmaw Castle now, and I have been threading some story from HoDQ into the adventure (specifically, using Venomfang and the cultists at thundertree as agents). I think I will have Hamun Kost from Old Owl Well replace the red wizard in HoDQ as well, for continuity, and I was thinking of using Phandalin as the attack centre for the group as well (using pre-established locations that they are familiar with, and NPC's they have grown to like, will cause the Characters to be more invested).
Regards,
Pinwarp
THEMNGMNT wrote:
Option 1: Let the players make new Level 1 characters, speed-play through HotDQ Episodes 1-4, then let them choose which character to keep playing. (i.e. Give something else a try for a few weeks, then continue on.)
Option 2: Let the players play through HotDQ. More work for you, since they will always be ahead of the power curve. (LMoP has a lot of magic items, and even if you scale up, the PCs will still be earning XP in early Episodes.)
Option 3: Narrate the events of the early Episodes of HotDQ, and let the PCs jump in at the Episode equal to their level. Note that with a large group, you'll still need to scale-up the encounters to present any kind of challenge. Also note that your PCs will be a little more powerful (due to having a lot of magic items from LMoP, where HotDQ does not have any magic items up to the point they are entering.)
Good luck!
Hi guys,
I haven't played D&D since AD&D and am about to DM my first adventure - HotDQ. My crew (3 people) are all 1st level and was looking for an adventure nearer Greenest to make an easy transition and start them on HotDQ at 2nd level. It'll give us all a chance to get more familiar with 5e rules.
I was looking at the Tyranny adventures around Phlan but can't think of a way of getting them to Greenest in an easy story-friendly fashion without invoking teleporters...
Ta 8)
DaRyGuy.