Okay, I'm reading through Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and I'm noticing a not insignificant number of errors. (By which I mean proper errors, not merely typos.) I thought maybe as we read through it, we could consolidate them all here in this thread.
Errors
- The Map of Greenest: As discussed elsewhere (I assume from the Encounters version of Hoard), the map of Greenest (page 10) lacks a [complete] key. It is numbered without anything referring to those numbers numbers three and four.
- Camp: On page 48 in the Castle Naerytar description, it refers to the Red Wizard Azbara Jos being in the camp of the cultists, but there is no reference to him being in the camp.
- Dragon Hatchery: The Cave Entrance (page 21) says that there are two dragonclaws guarding the entrance in section 1. However, in section 12, Guard Barracks (page 27), it says that any given time, four of the guards are keeping watch in section 1.
- Trade Way Events: The table doesn't match the described events. While I assume "7. The Golden Hind" refers to "The Golden Stag" (though that means they changed the gender at some point), "8. High Holy Day" doesn't appear in the descriptions. "Payback" is the only mini-episode that doesn't appear on the table, and is described after the Golden Stag, but that's not a nothing error.
- Roadhouse:
- Strongroom: On page 40, the trap door requires a DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check to find. On page 41, the trap door requires a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check to find.
- Briferhew's Room: Listed as item 7 in the descriptions, it does not appear on the map.
- Hunting Lodge Map: There are numbered rooms/areas 1-15 but no label for 12, even though it is described in text (page 67, map page 66). Surmised that area 12 is the top-right room with a window.
- Castle Naerytar: Castle map (page 51) descriptions indicates 5 is a moat and 6 is a gate, but no 6 on map and 5 is where the gate is.
- Hazirawn: The magic item (page 94) has inconsistent damage when attuned. In the first paragraph, it says that you deal an additional 1d6 damage when you are attuned with the weapon. In the second paragraph under Increased Potency, it says that when you are attuned, "you deal an extra 2d6 necrotic damage (instead of 1d6).
Please feel free to share any other errors you find here.
Also, please feel free to discuss the lack of clarity regarding passive Perception in Hoard.
I've only read about half of the adventure, so I'll add any more errors I find, and will add any people have found and share in the comments. Overall, I have found that Hoard is a well-designed and well-written adventure, but I really hope Rise of Tiamat has a better editor.
I don't have an actual copy of the adventure yet, but when I get one, I'll do my best to address/clarify any issues people identify.
Steve
What do you mean by "proper errors" as opposed to typos? I would classify your first item as a typo. Clearly Area 3 is the temple and Area 4 is the mill.
caecafortuna wrote:
I use "proper" typo to refer to a spelling mistake or being off by one letter (like the room description of 1R) in the castle. Inconsistencies that could cause real confusion to newer DMs (and just aggravation to veterans) were what I was hoping to gather. The guards versus dragonclaws in the hatchery are the kinds of conflicts that aren't easily resolved.
- The Map of Greenest: As discussed elsewhere (I assume from the Encounters version of Hoard), the map of Greenest (page 10) lacks a [complete] key. It is numbered without anything referring to those numbers numbers three and four.
Can you give us a run down on how the readiness was going to work so we can decide wether to include it or not in our own games please.
Oh and thanks for the clarifications.
Huscarl wrote:
Huscarl wrote:
Huscarl wrote:
CitizenKeen wrote:
Lady_Auralla wrote:
Huscarl wrote:
Glad I found these clarifications. Any chance we will see an erata document with updated maps and the like Steve?
In episode 6, I don't see where the NPC Dralmorrer Borngrey is expected to be, except the limited time when he is in his sleeping chambers. And there is a conflict between some text that seems to indicate that Rezmir will be in the castle (page 48) and then some text that seems to indicate she won't be (page 46).
Any guidance?
There is also a lack of direction on how the overall situation at the castle might develop, especially what the denizens thereof might do if the PCs are holed up somewhere taking a long rest, for instance.
I'd just like to chime in and thank Steve for his responses to these questions! I've made some notes in my copy of Hoard to make sure these little bits don't cause a stumble.
Also, thanks for such an awesome adventure! Looking forward to beginning to DM it in the next few weeks.
Cheers!
I take it that a failed roll meant discovery or suspicion?
Steve, thank you for weighing in. It's exactly this type of feenback with the fans makes me want to support the stuff you produce. Cheers!
the miss spelling of silverymoon on the map is the one that bugs me 
I have a question about the Bullywug caverns. I can't figure out where the mist in "The Mist Room" is coming from. It mentions that the mist room has 3 feet of mist pooling there until it goes to the lake. It even mentions it comes from 2 to 9, but 2 is down hill from the room with a very steep cliff separating it. Area 9 is in the other direction and does not mention mist. (going from memory here but I think I have the numbers right). I am going to assume that the mist comes from the portal and make every room from the portal to the lake misty, but it would be nice to know the original intent.
Keen_Man wrote:
Any way we could sticky this topic until an errata is released with Huscarl's great responses?
I'd hate for this thread to slip away any time soon while the module is still the hottest thing going.
JesterOC wrote:
Steve:
Thank you for addressing questions on the adventure. I have been DMing the adventure for AL play and it has been a blast. The storyline is great. Kudos to you and Wolf for a great job. I will look forward to your work on the Necromancer Games project.
One clarifying question regarding Episode 3:
Room 9, there are two berserkers along with Langdedrosa. Are the stat blocks for the berserkers accurate? 67 hit points? That is more than Langdedrosa. I don't know how a party of four 3rd level characters would be able to prevail.
Thanks.
dwgautier wrote:
Thank you steve. Very helpful and just what I was looking for.
I don't see any reason why maps today cannot do both jobs. 1) look cool 2) be functional. Hopefully the map illustrators get more elaborate briefs down the line, and provide a systematic way to show important features the DM is supposed to know. I too remember those old school maps fondly; it was a reason to be pads of graph paper. 
episode 2: rearguard (pg 15)
Am I right in guessing that the guard listed in this rearguard contingent is actually supposed to be a veteran?
Episode 6: Castle Naerytar, p61, area 12. Pharblex's Sanctum: There is a trapped wooden chest. Several paragraphs of text are devoted to the description of the trap and its effects, but there is absolutely no mention of the chest's contents.
I'm not sure if this is actually an error, but it certainly seems to be odd / inconsistent at the very least. I've examined the entire adventure, all 8 episodes, and the amount of magical treasure is significantly lower than what is available in the starter set adventure. Also, many of the items aren't actually intended to be found or obtained by the adventurers, being in the posession of NPCs who are scripted to escape and possibly re-appear in the Rise of Tiamat adventure.
Other than a few potions of healing (which are purchasable for 50gp according to the PHB and thus don't actually count as 'magical treasure') there is only one magic item made available to the players prior to level 5 (episode 6), and that is a +1 longbow which only becomes available if a specific random encounter is randomly rolled and the DM selects one of three possible outcomes for that encounter (the other two options resulting in no magical reward at all). I'm referring to one of the possible options in the Golden Stag encounter, which frankly, is extremely unlikely for the characters to have, but it does technically exist. Also, there is a typographical error as the +1 longbow is not in italic text as all magic items should be.
Beyond that, there are a few items in episode 6 and several more items in episodes 7 and 8. Again, however, most of the equipable items aren't available to characters the way the module is written.
Contrast this with Lost Mine of Phandelver, an adventure that goes from 1st - 5th level (instead of 1st - 8th level). In that adventure, the party has the potential to find a potion of invisibility, scroll of augury, +1 longsword, scroll of charm person, scroll of fireball and a staff of defense in the second portion of the adventure (all available at level 2), and in the third portion of the adventure , a ring of protection, potion of flying, scroll of darkness, scroll of misty step, scroll of lightning bolt, +1 battleaxe, scroll of silence and a scroll of revivify (all available at level 3), and finally in part 4, a pair of boots of striding and springing, wand of magic missiles, potion of vitality, +1 mace, +1 breastplate, gauntlets of ogre power and a spider staff (all available at level 4).
In summary, by the time a party is level 5 in LMoP, they have had access to 3 potions (not counting potions of healing), 8 scrolls, 3 +1 weapons, 1 +1 armor, 2 staves, 1 wand and 3 misc. magic items.
In HotDQ, by the time a party is level 8, they have had the potential access to 3 potions (not counting potions of healing), 4 scrolls, 6 +1 weapons (2x +1 longbow), 3 +1 armor, 1 staff, 1 wand, and 5 misc. magic items, however, of that, 1 +1 weapon, 1 +1 armor, 1 wand, 1 staff, 3 scrolls and 2 misc. items are extremely unlikely to actually be acquired by even the most dilligent party due to the way the adventure is scripted to save certain NPCs who are weilding these items, leaving the actual comparison at 3 potions, 1 scroll, 5 +1 weapons, 2 +1 armor, 0 staves, 0 wands, and 3 misc. magic items.
This is a difference between the lower level LMoP of 7 scrolls, -2 +1 weapons, -1 +1 armor, 2 staves and 1 wand. I guess one could argue that two +1 weapons and one +1 armor are the equivalent to 7 scrolls, 2 staves and a wand, but I don't really think so, especially since only one of the +1 weapons (one which is extremely unlikely to actually be present) is available to a party before they are level 5, meaning that for the entire portion of this module which overlaps LMoP, there is effectively no magical loot what-so-ever, and that the items that do drop are only available once a party has achieved level 5! Add in the fact that most of the +1 weapons in LMoP have secondary effects of some sort (max damage to plant creatures, bonus radiant damage to undead, etc) and only the dagger of venom has a secondary effect in HotDQ, it is clear that the itemization in HotDQ is no where near the same as the lower-level starter set adventure.
Is this actually as intended, or, like so many other things with this adventure, the rules for magical items were in such a state of flux during the creation of this module, that they were simply left out of the first 2/3rd of the module?
Itemized inventory of items in HotDQ: (page #, episode, party level, comments)
2x potion of healing (p12, episode 1, L1, consolation prize if a character is defeated in the duel)
+1 longbow (p35, episode 4, L4, if a specific random encounter occurs and if the DM selects this specific outcome)
2x potion of healing, oil of etherealness (p52, episode 6, L5)
dagger of venom (p53, episode 6, L5)
potion of greater healing (p53, episode 6, L5)
2x potion of healing (p67, episode 7, L6)
+1 scale mail, wand of winter (p68, episode 7, L6, only if the characters kill Talis, an option that is unlikely the way the adventure is written)
Dragongleam a rusty spear with 10 charges of the daylight spell but no combat effect (p69, episode 7, L6)
+1 chain mail (p69, episode 7, L6)
scroll of scorching ray (p69, episode 7, L6)
arrow-catching shield (p71, episode 7, L6)
tankard of plenty (p74, episode 8, L7, extremely unlikely to be obtained by party)
black dragon mask (p80, episode 8, L7, extremely unlikely to be obtained by party)
insignia of claws, Hazirawn (p80, episode 8, L7)
scroll of dimension door, scroll of feather fall, scroll of fireball, staff of fire (p80, episode 8, L7, extremely unlikely to be obtained by party)
bag of holding (p84, episode 8, L7)
potion of gaseous form, +1 longsword, +1 longbow, +1 leather armor, and bracers of defense (p86, episode 8, L7)
There are currently no rules resolving how to handle intelligent magic items with an alignment in opposition to the weilder. I assume these will eventually be in the DMG (in November!) however, given that there is an intelligent, evil magic item in HotDQ that it is reasonable to assume will actually fall into the character's possession, it would be nice to have some rules to adjucate this event.
In the playtest, these rules were put forth as optional:
Test of Wills. An intelligent or cursed magic item might resist any attempt to remove it, let go of it, attune to it, or end its attunement. Any such conflict is resolved as a Charisma contest between the magic item and its user. If the user fails to win the contest, he or she is forbidden from taking the specified action; however, another attempt can be made after 24 hours have elapsed. If the intelligent or cursed item does not have a specified Charisma score, assume it has Charisma 10 and a +0 modifier to its Charisma checks.
Is the assumption in HotDQ that these rules are in effect?
Page 94: Hazirwan is listed as 'requires attunement', but it doesn't actually require attunement, rather, it becomes more powerful if it is attuned.
Page 94: Wand of Winter is not listed as 'requires attunement', but it actually does (the item's descriptive text specifies it, even though the summary line does not).
Huscarl wrote:
A big thank-you to Steve Winter for answering questions about Hoard of the Dragon Queen here: I appreciate getting feedback from one of the book's authors.
I'll throw in two questions of my own, both about numbers of creatures and both looking like they were missed in editing:
- In areas 1I, 1J, and 1K (p. 53), are there a total of twelve lizardfolk guards in the tower, as noted in the first paragraph of 1I, or twenty, as suggested by adding the figures from 1J and 1K? I'm assuming it's twenty.
- And in area 3E (p. 57), are there six specters, as suggested in the first paragraph of the area description, or just three, as suggested by the next paragraph? I'm assuming it's six, since three CR1 specters are a pretty weak challenge for a 5th-level party, but it'd be nice to know for sure.
Rath Modar is supposed to be CR 7 correct. As he is a step above the fellow CR 6 mage in everyway.
Can we have all these errata in a proper PDF doc or something? It'll be really easy for us DM to print it out and use it as reference to the book itself.
I'm sorry, but this is absolutely ridiculous. There is no excuse, whatsoever, for the amount of mistakes that made it through the editing process in this adventure. I have nothing constructive to add, my only wish is to admonish WoTC (read: Hasbro) for releasing such a broken product onto the market.
There is no reason that I should have to fact-check a published adventure against a forum thread to figure out what the hell is going on.
Bad form.
aczdreign wrote:
It's a little disappointing but not unusual to see an initial product rushed out to the detriment of quality.
Now if the next set of releases still have this issue I will stop buying...regardless of how much I like the system.
autolycus wrote:
episode 2: rearguard (pg 15)Am I right in guessing that the guard listed in this rearguard contingent is actually supposed to be a veteran?
Thank you again for answering my questions, Mr Winter.
TheLyons wrote:
Huscarl wrote:
In area 9 (the dragon shrine) of episode 3 (the dragon hatchery) it states that the chest can be opened by the key found in area 11 (which is Mondath's chambers). However, there is no key in the description of that area. Was the intention for Mondath to have the key?
Thank you for all the clarifications!
Assuming there's a WoTC mod watching, WoTC really need to work on publishing an errata for all this. Serves me right for buying the first print run, I suppose. Cancelled my order of Rise of Tiamat, will wait to see if it's more polished.
EbbTide808 wrote:
Great! Thanks for the quick response. I know I could have winged this, but it's always great to understand the original intent.
trystero11 wrote:
Huscarl wrote:
In the Dragon Hatchery there are three eggs with one egg being more difficult to discover.
The rewards (p.27) are 250xp for each egg destroyed or taken and 500xp if you only destroy or take two of the three.
So if the characters find and take/destroy the third hard-to-find egg they are penalized?
I'm sure I'm missing something.
maceo00 wrote:
I suspect the intent is a flat 250 XP per egg (which equates to 500 XP if the party only gets two of the three eggs) rather than 250 XP per egg and anadditional 500 XP for only getting two. But that's just my guess.
A few other minor issues I've noted (some of which are just minor typos and grammar):
- p. 9, Dragon Attack section: For consistency, change "Its chief contribution has been its Frightful Presence" to "His chief contribution has been his Frightful Presence". Change "its fight, and it isn't keen" to "his fight, and he isn't keen".
- p. 17, General Features section continued from p. 16: In the final paragraph, change "large ten" to "large tent".
- p. 26, Black Dragon Eggs (area 10A): In the third paragraph, the roper is listed as "not averse to talking", but ropers cannot speak or understand any language according to their statblock.
-
p. 39, Waterdeep section: In the second paragraph, the text says "Azbara Jos remains with the cultists during this time, and Jamna expresses her desire to remain with them until they uncover the treasure's destination." This is ambiguous: the second "them" refers to the PCs, not the cultists.
-
p. 41, Carnath Roadhouse map: The map appears to be missing a red "door" indicator in the gap in the northern wall of the warehouse (area 3), just west of the stairs to the upper level. The text for area 3 mentions a warehouse door ("latched but unlocked").
-
p. 70, Hunting Lodge Upper Floor map: There are three rooms marked as area 18, which is supposed to be Talis' bedchamber. I'm assuming that the northernmost two rooms marked as area 18 should be unmarked (and should be treated as empty bedrooms, since there is no description for them) and that the southernmost room, with the burgundy bedspread mentioned in the area 18 description, is the correct location. Also, area 22 is not indicated on the map, though its location is clear from its description.
trystero11 wrote:
Very interesting to read everyone's concerns. I'm an old gamer having the interesting experience of a party that includes just one vet and three new, young players. Completely agree with the notion that the DM has to get a feel for the party and adjust a bit on the fly. I had to ease the hatchery a little bit and I strengthened the party for future combat by making the relations with Frume and Erlanthar stronger. Thus, the two of them just bequested the party with some needed, character targeted, simple magic items.
Here is my bemusement with the adventure and I'm hoping I just missed a line or two of explanation- The Well of Dragons is at the northern edge of the Sunset Mountains. That being the case, why are these cultists taking their treasure all the way north of Waterdeep? Is there a necessity of delivering via Skyreach Castle? Is it impossible to travel ENE from where the adventure begins?
trystero11 wrote:
Huscarl wrote:
[quote="Fallstorm"]
Huscarl wrote:
[quote="MonsterEnvy"]
Fallstorm wrote:
quote from the adventure:
"Cyanwrath is the likely winner of this match, whether he's fighting Sergeant Markguth or a character. When his foe drops, he strikes one more time; the last blow kills Markguth or inflicts one death roll on a character."
So the game designers knew the likely outcome. Why would they do this? To set up a nemesis for the players to want to kill later. To make it a little more believable that their leader is more than a 1st level grunt, even if they players are only 1st level. To make being a hero a little harder than killing a bag of rats. To make Cyanwrath a badass villain. And perhaps on a meta level, for people to remark how hard this adventure series is.
What does the DM do in this situation... if he rolls lots of damage on a hit in front of the player.
1. The DM follows the dice and kills the character. The player rolls up a new one, and the other characters swear vengeance on his death. "He was a good man, snatched too soon, his whole life ahead of him." I'd start the new character at level 2, because everyone should level at the end of this encounter. No biggy, the player has lost a character he's invested one or two sessions in.
or
2. The DM fudges the dice, or says Cyanwrath holds his blade at the last moment, not severing the jugular... and almost kills the character.. knock off an additional failed death save. The blow was vicious and would've killed anyone else, now he has the ugly scar to remind him of his loss. Cyanwrath spits into the face of the fallen character in contempt of an easy challenge and stalks off. Vengeance! His friends rush to his aid as his lifeblood pumps out on the soggy ground.
I think the expectation gap for players ("what the hell is going on?") is if their DM never puts the players up against challenges that could outright kill them, and then that "everything must be fair" DM runs this adventure verbatim. It's a brutal wake up call.
Similar conversations have been about the deadly Adult Blue Dragon. The advice given in the adventure text is for the dragon to not immediately engaged the PCs, to rather show the dragon's awesome power by killing lots of guards (1d4 at a time). The subtext is to see if the players can think up a strategy to effectively help without being idiots and standing out in the open on the battlements with all the other noobs who are being slaughtered. If the DM shows the danger beforehand, the players should be smart enough to not openly engage the dragon and still help to drive it off.
Last comment re: being railroaded in this situation... I have to politely disagree. yes, there are many pointers for the PCs accepting the challenge (the quest giving mayor would appreciate it, the PCs are SUPPOSED to be the heroes of the story), but if the DM foreshadows the power and strength of this guy before the combat, just like the dragon above, then the player knows what he's actually accepting, and can say no. The adventure continues if they do say no, which isn't a hallmark of a railroaded encounter. If the player doesn't know he's going up against a CR 4 enemy and just says "Yes"... well then the DM hasnt communicated the threat sufficiently. If the DM has, and the player still thinks he can take him, it's a noble (and perhaps stupid) death.
Hope this offers a different perspective. It may not have been the material (or not at least all the source materials fault), it may also be how it was delivered to and digested by the group.
A small, but important distinction: to bring a creature to 0 hit points and additionally inflict 1 Death Saving Throw Failure upon it (which is what Cyanwrath does) is different from killing a creature.
Ok, that said, let's be honest....there is not really a difference between the two! As Fallstorm points out, the Hero has practically zero chance of winning the combat. Perhaps the easiest fix would be to change what Cyanwrath does. Instead of what is written, say he chooses to perform a non-lethal knock-out on the Hero PC. No need to literally kill a PC or fudge die rolls in this situation!
Why does Cyanwrath deal a non-lethal final blow instead of killing the PC? Well, let's look at his motivations. He knows he is clearly the more superior combatant and he's not interested in savage bloodshed, but something greater (the whole Cult of the Dragon agenda). His challenge is a power-play: don't mess with the Cult of Dragon! He doesn't HAVE to kill the PC outright because he doesn't have to prove himself. He wins the battle and leaves the character for dead. Whether or not the PC lives is irrelevant to him.
Additionally, thorbarin makes some good points about villainy, meta-difficulty, and how to DM the situation! Nicely done.
~~
thorbardin wrote:
Ramzour wrote:
Hey Fallstorm, thanks for being an adult. Sometimes these boards can be very opinionated, with little to no chance of anyone accepting another's views. Everything you've said makes sense, and I cannot disagree, as it is what your group experienced. Which sucks.
Sorry you had a rough experience, only because I know how it can totally suck the fun out of the whole endeavour. Recently my group decided to do a throwback to the great Dragonlance modules. I remembered them fondly from highschool 25 years ago, and half our group had never played older versions of D&D. It's funny how nostalgia can make things appear better than they ever were. Anyway, we all played the premade famous characters (I was Raistlin), and finished the first module DL1 in about 8 session. It was so railroady, and randomly punishing, and silly in places (making multiple alternate dex and str saves to cross a stream), with unimportant and unclimactic PC deaths, little to no NPC interaction, incredibly costly random monster encounters followed immediately by big set piece encounters, and a dragon at the end that killed two PCs. It was so much unfun... we've officially disbanded as a roleplaying group to enjoy some board and card games for a while. (We're also waiting for the 5e DMG, and for me to prepare our next rpg campaign, but we're a bit burnt by that experience). It wasn't any single players (or even our DM's - I've been taking a break) fault... the adventure was designed to follow the books, and our DM followed the module text to the letter, and with the end point known ahead of time... all the the players can do is climb aboard the train and hope for a good time. If they strayed from their course, there were groups of 20 draconians to point us in the right direction, uncrossable rivers, marching armies and even clouds in the sky pointing the way. Sadly, it wasn't all that much fun. So, I can commiserate.
I have armchair (as in haven't played it but have read it) problems with HotDQ... most of which are about it being too railroady. All the motivation seems to come from outside the group by NPCs the players just happen to meet moments before they are needed to do something that progresses the story - and usually with a bag a gold just in case. Even if the mayor doesn't like the players because they are all cowards, he does point them towards the raider's camp for example, and there they find a monk, who points them to a cave, and then the mayor points them to a town, and that monk meets them to point them to a caravan, and so on. If you have railroady and instakill player issues this early on, I'm afraid it doesn't "improve" as it progresses imo. Having read the whole thing, I'm not going to run it. It will take quite a bit of work from me to make it appear that the player's have free choice, by following the adventure through their own motivations, and by placing hooks that they want to follow up on, without needing an npc to tell them "do this now, pretty please - there's some gold in it for ya'". ;)
thorbardin wrote:
Well let us know how the adventure plays out, if you run into any more sore points, and what - if anything - you're DM does to address some of the issues. I for one am curious.
I am the stereotypical oldtimer who didn't fall in love with 4e, but it was all good... I found Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, Star Wars, Burning Wheel, Torch Bearer and Dungeon Crawl Classics as a result. I'm looking forward to playing 5e, and I'm mostly positive about what they've done. But the proof they say is in the eating. There are a couple of weird things I don't understand (Primeval Awareness), but for the most part I applaud the effort.
Our last great 2-year campaign as a group was 12 years ago with 3e, and it'd be great to have a similar experience, where the rules get out of the way of the greater story.
When I was a teenager there was little to no playing of a role - let's say we weren't nuanced (angry dwarf, snooty elf, irritating cleric, mischevious halfling, etc...). There were monsters, dice rolls, keyed dungeon areas and random loot tables. Making a dungeon on graph paper was a great way to spend 4 hours. It was a game first, and a way to live a story a distant second. The modules back then were mostly written for this play style. Room by room dungeon clearing. Listen at door checks. One module that wasn't like (at least in my memory it stands out to be more story than dungeon crawler) was the original Ravenloft. That adventure opened my eyes to creating a superstructure that contains the episodic adventures of the heroes; the campaign. As I've grown older, in the pie of roleplaying love... less of the pie is strictly from the game systems, and more is from the collaborative narrative that develops. For me, the modules that shine are ones that deliver story and motivation, before introducing wandering monster tables, and keyed dungeon areas. Although, I should probably reread Ravenloft and see if it lives up to my nostalgia. chuckle.
As an aside, the two adventures Murder in Baldur's Gate and Legacy of the Crystal Shard are really well put together, with lots of help for the DM to manage their structure.
Not an error, per se, and please point me to a more appropriate thread if you're aware of one: Where are characters selling loot?
After leaving Waterdeep, the characters don't seem to have a convenient place to fence their goods until Parnast. There were some particularly unweildy goods in the intervening chapters. Can any other DMs point out what I've missed or suggest a solution? Thanks.
I've looked back and forth, and I can't find -any- information on treasure for Sandesyl Morgia. Really? She's a legendary creature, a vampire that makes for one hell of a boss fight...and she hasn't squirreled a wand or a ring in her coffin? I know that too much treasure can spoil a game, but players like to be rewarded for overcoming a significant threat...
Just got this adventure and even I noticed a few of the issue raised her on this thread like the map of the 1sttown and how rail roady the adventure is. Kind of mifed at the amount of mistakes in this adventure as I expected more from Wolfgang as I have liked his work from Dungeon magazine backin the day.
Hi,
Has anyone found an assembled errata? Flicking through various threads and posts to find bits and pieces is a bit tedious. I appreciate WotC haven't done it but maybe a forum member has? If not, I guess I need to start working on one for my home game.
Cheers
Dru
AndrewDru wrote:
DahUnder wrote:
Not seeing this on the list, but on p. 9, the Sally Port door can be repaired "with five castings of mending (taking five minutes)." I'm not seeing the rules for this cantrip in any of the free online supplements; does it appear in the PHB? Or is this just a super-familiar cantrip from earlier editions and I should look it up in an earlier rulebook?
sfHeath wrote:
[quote="MonsterEnvy"]
Fallstorm wrote:
[quote="akaramis"]
MonsterEnvy wrote:
Lady_Auralla wrote:
Has anyone spotted the problem with the Parnast map? The text provides details for locations 1 through 5, but the map has location 6 and location 7, neither of which are detailed in the text. I'm assuming location 7 is supposed to be the main gates of Skyreach Castle but location 6 looks like another inn.
samstockdale wrote:
I have been running this adventure for my weekly group and I have to admit sometimes it is hard for me to get into the world because of how many errors are present. It is sad because the story is very epic and full with lots of places to expand and bend encounters to suit the DM and the players. It is a little on the railroady side as far as plot and timing. With little to no room to deviate from the written story and so many places where the players could just get there too late or where they feel like they just have to go with the flow to not derail the train.
Overall, great story. Very poor editing. It would be nice to see an official errata in the near future. None of this makes me like it any less. We are all having a blast playing it. Just hard to follow and wish it would have been read through a few more times by the editiors.
Thanks, Steve, for time to answer questions here and fill in the blanks. Has to be hard on you to see your work not be quite what it should be. I think WotC owes you, your team and us (the fans) at least a nicly put together errata for the book.
I bought Rise of Tiamat and have started reading it. I hope its was looked through a bit longer and is easier to follow.
P.48 There is reference to Voaraghamanthar and it states that "Characters should not encounter either of these dragons face to face in this adventure (they are likely to meet in The Rise of Tiamat)" but now that Rise of Tiamat is out, I searched and was unable to find any reference...
Bumamgar wrote:
I was wondering about that reference to the giant's crashed castle. thanks. a pity.
Rillithis wrote:
Not quite a mistake, but I was wondering how you guys handle the last big-boss-fight of the Hoards vs the first big-boss-fight of Tyranny...
I mean... fightig an Adult White Dragon is cool... twice in a capagain is "so-so"... but "back to back" is meh...
Also, Am I crazy or does the XP value for both boss-fight are WAY above the 4 X level 7 players "deadly cap" (see DMG p.82) [ex : 4 X 1,700 = 7,600 < the adult withe dragon's 10 000 XP]
Manaknight wrote:
MonsterEnvy wrote:
kaitoujuliet wrote:
I've run the HotDQ a few times now with different groups and Cyanwrath was handled differently in all three games:
1) Cyanwrath dropped the PC to 0 hp and hit another time, causing two failed death saves. The released NPC woman stabilized her savior.
After realizing that the TWO failed death saves is in the PHB but isn't in the module, I assumed the original writing predated the rule in the PHB, so...
2) Cyanwrath dropped the PC to 0 hp but doesn't do the extra cheap shot to cause 2 death save failures. Cyanwrath isn't threatened by the characters at all so since they're not a threat, he is just toying with them. Perhaps Cyanwrath is a sadist... he wants the character to survive and live with the beatdown they just received. This gives the PCs time to save their friend.
3) I spoke with the player who was playing an oath of devotion paladin separately. I described the encounter and they elected to die at the hands of Cyanwrath. I knew they had created two characters and were torn between the two... they really liked how both of them turned out. However, the moment they announced they were playing a paladin to the rest of the group, two of the other players complained about how lawful good goodie-two-shoes paladins ruin the "fun" the roguish characters can have. This gave the player an opportunity to switch characters in a very dramatic way, play their paladin briefly and in a very memorable way, and still allow the entire group of fun. This also established a very personal reason for the party to pursue and twart the plans of the cult of the dragon, or to at least hunt Cyanwrath down. The beheading was quite a shock to the rest of the group who didn't know it was coming.
I ran Cyanwrath as an evil warrior and cult devotee that had his own complex code of honor and once he defeated the party Paladin who honored his challenge he withdrew his forces as he said he would. The Paladin won their next fight later on and refused to kill him as to honor Cyanwrath's act of honor despite being evil claiming that there was hope for change in him.
Bloodscythe wrote:
Did anyone else notice the mistake with Roadside Hospitality?
Says there are two doppelgangers but if you kill one of them the other two flee. Was there supose to be 3 or was there just a math mistake on WoTC?
Ninja_Ferret wrote:
Have to say, I'm trying to prep this adventure and it is annoying the hell out of me how much work I have to do to fix this damn thing. I bought it because I don't have time to write my own campaign, but at this stage it's not serving that purpose. Someone at WotC needs to stop whatever their doing, get in touch with Kobold Press, go through this thing and put together a comprehensive errata, then publish it on the site. Fantasy Flight Games have done this for some of their games, don't see why WotC can't. They can cram Elemental Evil as far as I'm concerned until I see them making an effort to acknowledge and fix this mess.
Heartworm wrote:
Rillithis wrote:
It seems that Episode 8 on HotDQ might be too unbalanced for a group of six 7th level characters. Have any of you had problems with this? I've read some post that have made suggestions on making the ecncounters more balanced. But, does doing so invalidate the episode as an Adventure League session?
I was recently given the Tyranny of Dragons modules for my birthday, and I just finished reading through the first one. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It's much better than I'd been led to believe, and the vast majority of map key errors and the like were pretty easy to figure out.
About the only thing I'm left wondering about is the giantess' hidden tomb. What is the purpose of the PCs going in there? Also, how does one learn the giantess' name, and how would one ever think to use it as a command word? I'm just not really seeing the point of that bit. Was there something that I missed? If it's just there for the sake of completeness, then I'd like to point to the lack of lavatories in the castle ...
pukunui wrote:
Sorry to go back to this, but still about the Episode 7: Hunting Lodge, room 12
The "room" in the north-eastern corner is definitely a corridor of sorts, it can't be room 12. The text says it contains 24 kobolds, but room is only 2 by 4 squares...
Also, I wouldn't want to pass through 24 stinky kobolds on my way to/from the bathroom (room 14)