I've only skimmed it so far, but from what I can see it's pretty linear, and it's just a repeating cycle of stuff getting stolen and the party killing cultists in response.
I want to kind of...break this adventure apart so I can put it back together and make a more compelling narrative.
I'd like to know which parts are generally considered essential to the overall story and should be messed with minimally in terms of plot. I'd also like to know which parts are on the other end of the spectrum (i.e. next to nothing to do with the main plot, totally forgettable, could be replaced entirely with something else and nothing of importance would be lost). Basically anything and everything plotor-character-wise that I either could, or must change to make for a better story.
Also, I have an idea for a wyrmling NPC that isn't part of the dragon cult, but will be important for plot stuff later in the campaign. Where might be a good place to put them? One idea I had was to have a mini adventure serve as an on-ramp for the campaign, taking place at level 1 and bringing the characters to level 2, setting the NPC up for when they'll be needed later, and also allowing the party to start the campaign proper with slightly higher stats (I'm intending to go from 1 to 20).
Rise of Tiamat
I haven't read a bunch of this, but from what I've heard, it revolves a ton around gathering allies for a final confrontation with the cult, only for it to not have as much of an impact as it seems like it should. How true is this, and what could I do to improve things on this front?
An additional Idea I had. The wyrmling NPC I mentioned earlier will have ties to a powerful dragon, and I was thinking that through the party's interactions with the wyrmling, the powerful dragon could become an ally in the conflict. As an additional blessing, inspired by the draconic bloodline sorc, I'm thinking of having him grant them powers (Metamagic Adept? Elemental Adept? Class level in Sorcerer on their next level up?) if they recruit him. Does that sound like something players might be into?
There are a couple of spots where the plot can pause for you to add in character quests, side quests and some complications to the linear plot. There are a couple of spots where you can put PC bonds into the story that might spur spin-off quests. Personally, I added a Lauth of chromatic dragons that were less-than-agreeable with the Cult taking clutches of eggs to use for their purposes. This allowed the PCs an option to weaken the Cult in their favor. (they didn't know the true significance until the RoT council started) As long as you make a good-faith attempt to tie things back into the story, or just let the players mental-judo it together for you, it can work out just fine.
I threw in a kobold-infested mine in right after the foray into the Cult Camp in HotDQ, the boss of the kobolds was an escaped Blue Dragon Wyrmling that was the offspring of the Adult Blue Dragon that was attacking Greenest in the opening adventure. Setting up a long plot for the chromatic Lauth, and the second encounter with the Blue Dragon in Xonthal's tower. The rub is that the party killed the blue wyrmling, but received a draconic gift that "Mom" will have a chance to notice in the second encounter.
Impact of allies during RoT is significant when it comes to final confrontation. Should the ritual succeed, and I fully support that it should succeed just so the PCs get to experience Tiamat, the final form of Tiamat that the PCs face is determined by how much support the party garners from the council. The more allies, the easier the encounter, the less allies, the more likely they might fail. Take a glance at Assigning Assets and Weakining the Dragon Queen for guidance on where the final battle will be altered depending on allied factions, and how Tiamat will be affected depending on what parts of the final ritual/battle are interrupted/stopped. Should your party work hard enough, and earn enough support, it's absolutely possible that they stop the ritual cold without having to face Tiamat.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Oh yeah. You probably should also have a good talk about how everyone feels about killing dragon children (eggs and wyrmlings) in your session 0. That's ah, that's a big one.
First up, Hoard of the Dragon Queen
I've only skimmed it so far, but from what I can see it's pretty linear, and it's just a repeating cycle of stuff getting stolen and the party killing cultists in response.
I want to kind of...break this adventure apart so I can put it back together and make a more compelling narrative.
I'd like to know which parts are generally considered essential to the overall story and should be messed with minimally in terms of plot. I'd also like to know which parts are on the other end of the spectrum (i.e. next to nothing to do with the main plot, totally forgettable, could be replaced entirely with something else and nothing of importance would be lost). Basically anything and everything plotor-character-wise that I either could, or must change to make for a better story.
Also, I have an idea for a wyrmling NPC that isn't part of the dragon cult, but will be important for plot stuff later in the campaign. Where might be a good place to put them? One idea I had was to have a mini adventure serve as an on-ramp for the campaign, taking place at level 1 and bringing the characters to level 2, setting the NPC up for when they'll be needed later, and also allowing the party to start the campaign proper with slightly higher stats (I'm intending to go from 1 to 20).
Rise of Tiamat
I haven't read a bunch of this, but from what I've heard, it revolves a ton around gathering allies for a final confrontation with the cult, only for it to not have as much of an impact as it seems like it should. How true is this, and what could I do to improve things on this front?
An additional Idea I had. The wyrmling NPC I mentioned earlier will have ties to a powerful dragon, and I was thinking that through the party's interactions with the wyrmling, the powerful dragon could become an ally in the conflict. As an additional blessing, inspired by the draconic bloodline sorc, I'm thinking of having him grant them powers (Metamagic Adept? Elemental Adept? Class level in Sorcerer on their next level up?) if they recruit him. Does that sound like something players might be into?
Sly Flourish has a lot of good stuff on this if you are interested;
https://slyflourish.com/guide_to_published_adventures.html#hoard
Thanks!
There are a couple of spots where the plot can pause for you to add in character quests, side quests and some complications to the linear plot. There are a couple of spots where you can put PC bonds into the story that might spur spin-off quests. Personally, I added a Lauth of chromatic dragons that were less-than-agreeable with the Cult taking clutches of eggs to use for their purposes. This allowed the PCs an option to weaken the Cult in their favor. (they didn't know the true significance until the RoT council started) As long as you make a good-faith attempt to tie things back into the story, or just let the players mental-judo it together for you, it can work out just fine.
I threw in a kobold-infested mine in right after the foray into the Cult Camp in HotDQ, the boss of the kobolds was an escaped Blue Dragon Wyrmling that was the offspring of the Adult Blue Dragon that was attacking Greenest in the opening adventure. Setting up a long plot for the chromatic Lauth, and the second encounter with the Blue Dragon in Xonthal's tower. The rub is that the party killed the blue wyrmling, but received a draconic gift that "Mom" will have a chance to notice in the second encounter.
Impact of allies during RoT is significant when it comes to final confrontation. Should the ritual succeed, and I fully support that it should succeed just so the PCs get to experience Tiamat, the final form of Tiamat that the PCs face is determined by how much support the party garners from the council. The more allies, the easier the encounter, the less allies, the more likely they might fail. Take a glance at Assigning Assets and Weakining the Dragon Queen for guidance on where the final battle will be altered depending on allied factions, and how Tiamat will be affected depending on what parts of the final ritual/battle are interrupted/stopped. Should your party work hard enough, and earn enough support, it's absolutely possible that they stop the ritual cold without having to face Tiamat.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Oh yeah. You probably should also have a good talk about how everyone feels about killing dragon children (eggs and wyrmlings) in your session 0. That's ah, that's a big one.