Hello fellow DMs! I have been a player for a while, but recently I got Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat. My players have been doing kinda well so far, but I think I made a mistake in session 0. They all made interesting characters, but none of the characters want to go out of their way to stop the cult of the dragon. They all don't care enough. When Leosin asked them to spy on the cult as caravan guards, they started whining to him about 'Oh why can't the guards do it? We aren't qualified.' I managed to rope them along because the Ruby worth 1,200 GP (to the dismay of Frume), and they completed chapter 4 on the road. The problem is, now that they're approaching the Carnath roadhouse, I don't think I'm going to be able to convince them to follow the secret tunnel to the castle.
Any advice on how to remedy it? If they don't proceed, should I just dismiss it with 'Okay, reroll characters and this time make them want to stop the cult?' Thanks in advance ^^;
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Shit yeah, sounds like they are motivated by loot.
1. I would get an NPC to let them know about the whole astrologer's guild backstory and that the old castle likely has un-plundered treasures due to its remote location. Maybe they will follow the bait. But man, get them to want to go. Don't rabbit whole them.
2. Make sure to get something personal going, a cult villain or someone to piss off or create a meaningful rivalry. It would be really cool if somehow the party ended stopping the castle in the clouds and the first part of ROT just to for vengeance and loot. :)
3. Get a cultist to steal something important from the party, and it gets taken into the swamp.
On the surface it might seem like the selfish rogue party is harder to wrangle than a group of heroes, but I think it can sometimes be even easier to *ahem* motivate self serving characters.
You could try letting them go off and do something else for a while, but whilst this is going on the cult of the dragon is rising in power completely unimpeded. Have the cult and even other dragons keep showing up more and more regularly. Eventually they will have to get involved!
When my players got to Daggerford I got them to hold there for a ten-day or so and ran Scourge of the Swordcoast (and boosted the monsters up to accommodate them being 4th-5th level). Meant they had a break and then on the final night in Daggerford had the cultist be all suspicious and have the additional people join the caravan train so they were interested in following them beyond Waterdeep.
When I started running HOTDQ I flat out told my players that the adventure was written with a bit of a railroad in it and they needed to make characters that would be fun to play on the railroad.
I typically run an open world game and let people do anything, but wanted to run Hoard for the shared experience and general fun. I let my players know that was the focus and that if they went off the rails the game would end. Not as a threat, but as an up-front agreement of how we are playing. If they weren't able to enjoy playing the adventure as is, they didn't need to play. I'm running three different campaign so they still had options if they didn't want to railroad.
I share this to make an example of the conversation you may want to have with your friends. Let them know that your goal is to DM the adventure as is and you need their help by finding a way to play along as part of the shared fun. Sometimes that means taking the quest that the adventure lays out and going for it. Regardless of what the character might do in an open world.
1) Have one of the player's get captured. I had a wizard in the party have a vision from Lennithon (the blue dragon that attacked Greenest), and offer to make him a thrall in exchange for a favor. Lennithon had entrusted her (I make it a her) egg to the Cult, but has changed her mind. The player was told where to find a Bag of Holding, and some magical gloves. He had to find the egg inside the raider's camp, put it in the bag, and deliver it to Lennithon, all without letting his party know. In exchange I have him a Ring of Protection from Fire and some gold, plus the promise of power for future help. This player now prods the other player's on through the campaign for his own secret reasons. It's a nice intrigue.
2) Have them was up as drow prisoners in Velkenvelve (Out of the Abyss). It's a bit more sandbox, and would be fun for 4th level characters.
When I started running HOTDQ I flat out told my players that the adventure was written with a bit of a railroad in it and they needed to make characters that would be fun to play on the railroad.
I typically run an open world game and let people do anything, but wanted to run Hoard for the shared experience and general fun. I let my players know that was the focus and that if they went off the rails the game would end. Not as a threat, but as an up-front agreement of how we are playing. If they weren't able to enjoy playing the adventure as is, they didn't need to play. I'm running three different campaign so they still had options if they didn't want to railroad.
I share this to make an example of the conversation you may want to have with your friends. Let them know that your goal is to DM the adventure as is and you need their help by finding a way to play along as part of the shared fun. Sometimes that means taking the quest that the adventure lays out and going for it. Regardless of what the character might do in an open world.
To sort of build on/summarize this, sometimes you need to talk to your players outside the game and tell them that they either need to get on board, or the game isn't happening. A game requires a bit of buy-in from the players, which means finding a reason to go along with the game. When you're running your own game, this isn't as bad, because you can more easily adapt to the player's wishes... with a module, it can be more difficult because the adventure is the adventure. There's only so much you can rework it.
Don't know how you used her so far, but my party HATED Dagna, especially the Rogue (since she was better than him). Personally to combat this (with the info I have) make it personal. Have Dagna blackmail them into somehow. Or misdirect them. She's there for the Zentarim and from the impression I got from her, she'd rather have the party do it than herself. The party may not even realized that she's twisting them for some time.
If your character's backstories are deep, dig there. There are plenty of NPCs from the Caravan and fort to mold to your devices, not to mention the swamps where the keep is. Throw them a couple open-ended hooks and see which one they bite. My party ended up enjoying the mystery in the fort enough to follow the passage into the swamp and then ended up leading the Lizardmen to victory over the Bullywugs, to the dismay of the cult. They then mostly stumbled into the teleporter and kinda went from there.
The wife and I are currently running this campaign with our children and they love to argue about who is doing what and where. So what we did was basically make my character be the one to pretty much "Leroy Jenkins" everything that is needed... it works... just find someone who will reap a decent benefit and allow a few extra bumps to excite or incite them. Leeeeerrrooooyyy Jeeennnkkkkiinnnnsssss!!!!!! Lol
The wife and I are currently running this campaign with our children and they love to argue about who is doing what and where. So what we did was basically make my character be the one to pretty much "Leroy Jenkins" everything that is needed... it works... just find someone who will reap a decent benefit and allow a few extra bumps to excite or incite them. Leeeeerrrooooyyy Jeeennnkkkkiinnnnsssss!!!!!! Lol
I have totally done this as a player in a group of otherwise new players and it is so fun.
Hello fellow DMs! I have been a player for a while, but recently I got Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat. My players have been doing kinda well so far, but I think I made a mistake in session 0. They all made interesting characters, but none of the characters want to go out of their way to stop the cult of the dragon. They all don't care enough. When Leosin asked them to spy on the cult as caravan guards, they started whining to him about 'Oh why can't the guards do it? We aren't qualified.' I managed to rope them along because the Ruby worth 1,200 GP (to the dismay of Frume), and they completed chapter 4 on the road. The problem is, now that they're approaching the Carnath roadhouse, I don't think I'm going to be able to convince them to follow the secret tunnel to the castle.
Any advice on how to remedy it? If they don't proceed, should I just dismiss it with 'Okay, reroll characters and this time make them want to stop the cult?' Thanks in advance ^^;
Aren't Enchantment Wizards just...charming?
Shit yeah, sounds like they are motivated by loot.
1. I would get an NPC to let them know about the whole astrologer's guild backstory and that the old castle likely has un-plundered treasures due to its remote location. Maybe they will follow the bait. But man, get them to want to go. Don't rabbit whole them.
2. Make sure to get something personal going, a cult villain or someone to piss off or create a meaningful rivalry. It would be really cool if somehow the party ended stopping the castle in the clouds and the first part of ROT just to for vengeance and loot. :)
3. Get a cultist to steal something important from the party, and it gets taken into the swamp.
On the surface it might seem like the selfish rogue party is harder to wrangle than a group of heroes, but I think it can sometimes be even easier to *ahem* motivate self serving characters.
Two things to suggest here:
1) Members of the various factions offer some gold or magical items to the party.
2) Members of the cult of the dragon make some reprisals on the party. Maybe even try to capture a character.
You could try letting them go off and do something else for a while, but whilst this is going on the cult of the dragon is rising in power completely unimpeded. Have the cult and even other dragons keep showing up more and more regularly. Eventually they will have to get involved!
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ModeratorWhen my players got to Daggerford I got them to hold there for a ten-day or so and ran Scourge of the Swordcoast (and boosted the monsters up to accommodate them being 4th-5th level). Meant they had a break and then on the final night in Daggerford had the cultist be all suspicious and have the additional people join the caravan train so they were interested in following them beyond Waterdeep.
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When I started running HOTDQ I flat out told my players that the adventure was written with a bit of a railroad in it and they needed to make characters that would be fun to play on the railroad.
I typically run an open world game and let people do anything, but wanted to run Hoard for the shared experience and general fun. I let my players know that was the focus and that if they went off the rails the game would end. Not as a threat, but as an up-front agreement of how we are playing. If they weren't able to enjoy playing the adventure as is, they didn't need to play. I'm running three different campaign so they still had options if they didn't want to railroad.
I share this to make an example of the conversation you may want to have with your friends. Let them know that your goal is to DM the adventure as is and you need their help by finding a way to play along as part of the shared fun. Sometimes that means taking the quest that the adventure lays out and going for it. Regardless of what the character might do in an open world.
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1) Have one of the player's get captured. I had a wizard in the party have a vision from Lennithon (the blue dragon that attacked Greenest), and offer to make him a thrall in exchange for a favor. Lennithon had entrusted her (I make it a her) egg to the Cult, but has changed her mind. The player was told where to find a Bag of Holding, and some magical gloves. He had to find the egg inside the raider's camp, put it in the bag, and deliver it to Lennithon, all without letting his party know. In exchange I have him a Ring of Protection from Fire and some gold, plus the promise of power for future help. This player now prods the other player's on through the campaign for his own secret reasons. It's a nice intrigue.
2) Have them was up as drow prisoners in Velkenvelve (Out of the Abyss). It's a bit more sandbox, and would be fun for 4th level characters.
Don't know how you used her so far, but my party HATED Dagna, especially the Rogue (since she was better than him). Personally to combat this (with the info I have) make it personal. Have Dagna blackmail them into somehow. Or misdirect them. She's there for the Zentarim and from the impression I got from her, she'd rather have the party do it than herself. The party may not even realized that she's twisting them for some time.
If your character's backstories are deep, dig there. There are plenty of NPCs from the Caravan and fort to mold to your devices, not to mention the swamps where the keep is. Throw them a couple open-ended hooks and see which one they bite. My party ended up enjoying the mystery in the fort enough to follow the passage into the swamp and then ended up leading the Lizardmen to victory over the Bullywugs, to the dismay of the cult. They then mostly stumbled into the teleporter and kinda went from there.
The wife and I are currently running this campaign with our children and they love to argue about who is doing what and where. So what we did was basically make my character be the one to pretty much "Leroy Jenkins" everything that is needed... it works... just find someone who will reap a decent benefit and allow a few extra bumps to excite or incite them. Leeeeerrrooooyyy Jeeennnkkkkiinnnnsssss!!!!!! Lol
Darn trick bag...
Do you mean Jamna? If so, my players like her but they're apprehensive.
Also thanks everyone for your advice. Its been really helpful!
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ModeratorSite Rules & Guidelines || How to Tooltip || Contact Support || Changelog || Pricing FAQ || Homebrew FAQ
If you have questions/concerns, please Private Message me or another moderator.
Wary the wizard who focuses on homebrew, for he can create nightmares that you wouldn't even dream of