This post is about Rath Modar and the encounter with him in Skyreach Castle during Episode 8 of HoTDQ:
So the book states, "If he is outmatched, Rath Modar turns invisible, casts fly on himself (and presumably gets away)"
However, fly is not on his spell list at all. Furthermore, aren't fly and greater invisibility both Concentration spells??
My group are all seasoned TTRPG players who have a decent grasp on the rules, and I'm not really into hand-waving a villians escape plan simply because 'the book says that's what he does.'
Am I reading/comprehending everything right here?
I have a plan for how I'll be running this encounter, but I wanted to post here to help discuss overcoming this inconsistency so that other DMs can get ideas on what to do.
My plan is a simple one: add fly to his spell list and let him invisibly skydive out of his chamber until he feels comfortable enough to drop invisibility and cast fly instead.
Alternatively, the book gives him a scroll of feather fall so he can always just jump out and cast feather fall instead of fly.
during the skyreach section, my players actually got their hands on the black mask, hazirawn, and killed rezmir. They immediately had the thought that "if we remove one mask from the equation, they can't summon tiamat. we have the black mask, ergo we break it = gameover" so the whole plot stopped there lol
From what I know, since this is the first adventure, there are multiple exploits, unbalanced encounters, and plot holes that all seem to NEED hand waving :\
I had to just start improvising, using the book as an inspiration rather than actually following it lol
When I ran that part, the players didn't even meet Modar in Skyreach castle, so there's that. I think that worst case scenario, he has Mislead, so you could probably use that. But yeah, HotDQ is preeeety weird.
I have been improvising ever sience the start lol. My group killed Langerdosa the first time they saw it. I do agree these are very difficult modules to run.
during the skyreach section, my players actually got their hands on the black mask, hazirawn, and killed rezmir. They immediately had the thought that "if we remove one mask from the equation, they can't summon tiamat. we have the black mask, ergo we break it = gameover" so the whole plot stopped there lol
From what I know, since this is the first adventure, there are multiple exploits, unbalanced encounters, and plot holes that all seem to NEED hand waving :\
I had to just start improvising, using the book as an inspiration rather than actually following it lol
Yes, in theory you can't cast Invisibility or Greater Invisibility and Fly at the same time - it just doesn't work. There's plenty of ways to hand wave things, though. He might have a portal there that he can activate to escape. He could jump out of a window, feather fall out, and then cast invisibility. He could throw up a wall of fire, and then cast invisibility. Whatever works.
The end result is that he's not 100% important to the plot of the story. The Red Wizards come into play later, but you can do with him as you wish for the time being. If he lives, he's just one more enemy to face later on.
In my campaign, for example, he was with Rezmir at Castle Naerytar when the PCs showed up, and an epic battle ensued. The PCs won and obtained the mask (I dislike the "if Rezmir dies, the mask instantly teleports to Severin" option - it's cheap and unrewarding), as well as slew Rezmir and Modar both.
Do whatever works for you. If he's cornered, I could even see him buying his way out or simply running. He's not an idiot.
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This post is about Rath Modar and the encounter with him in Skyreach Castle during Episode 8 of HoTDQ:
So the book states, "If he is outmatched, Rath Modar turns invisible, casts fly on himself (and presumably gets away)"
However, fly is not on his spell list at all. Furthermore, aren't fly and greater invisibility both Concentration spells??
My group are all seasoned TTRPG players who have a decent grasp on the rules, and I'm not really into hand-waving a villians escape plan simply because 'the book says that's what he does.'
Am I reading/comprehending everything right here?
I have a plan for how I'll be running this encounter, but I wanted to post here to help discuss overcoming this inconsistency so that other DMs can get ideas on what to do.
My plan is a simple one: add fly to his spell list and let him invisibly skydive out of his chamber until he feels comfortable enough to drop invisibility and cast fly instead.
Alternatively, the book gives him a scroll of feather fall so he can always just jump out and cast feather fall instead of fly.
HOTDQ and the sequel are weeeeeird lol
during the skyreach section, my players actually got their hands on the black mask, hazirawn, and killed rezmir. They immediately had the thought that "if we remove one mask from the equation, they can't summon tiamat. we have the black mask, ergo we break it = gameover" so the whole plot stopped there lol
From what I know, since this is the first adventure, there are multiple exploits, unbalanced encounters, and plot holes that all seem to NEED hand waving :\
I had to just start improvising, using the book as an inspiration rather than actually following it lol
When I ran that part, the players didn't even meet Modar in Skyreach castle, so there's that. I think that worst case scenario, he has Mislead, so you could probably use that. But yeah, HotDQ is preeeety weird.
Hombrew: Way of Wresting, Circle of Sacrifice
I have been improvising ever sience the start lol. My group killed Langerdosa the first time they saw it. I do agree these are very difficult modules to run.
Only two masks are required to summon Tiamat.
Yes, in theory you can't cast Invisibility or Greater Invisibility and Fly at the same time - it just doesn't work. There's plenty of ways to hand wave things, though. He might have a portal there that he can activate to escape. He could jump out of a window, feather fall out, and then cast invisibility. He could throw up a wall of fire, and then cast invisibility. Whatever works.
The end result is that he's not 100% important to the plot of the story. The Red Wizards come into play later, but you can do with him as you wish for the time being. If he lives, he's just one more enemy to face later on.
In my campaign, for example, he was with Rezmir at Castle Naerytar when the PCs showed up, and an epic battle ensued. The PCs won and obtained the mask (I dislike the "if Rezmir dies, the mask instantly teleports to Severin" option - it's cheap and unrewarding), as well as slew Rezmir and Modar both.
Do whatever works for you. If he's cornered, I could even see him buying his way out or simply running. He's not an idiot.