So my party is all level 5 from the campaign mines of phandelver and they are about to start the Dragons of Icespire peaks campaign. Considering I have 7 people in my campaign should Cryovain still be a adult white dragon or should be he be an elder white dragon? I guess I am just curious what would be balanced if by the end of this campaign the party will be lvl 10.
I also feel the need to add that I am a new DM who is kind of scared of how this story will go considering MoP was on the rails and this adventure is more scattered.
DoIP is balanced for a party of 2-5 PCs, and is designed to take them from 1st level to 5th or 6th. Not to put pressure on you, but you'd need to seriously rework the encounters to balance them for a party starting at 5th level, especially since you have 7 players.
In the module, Cryovain is a Young White Dragon. I would change them to an Adult, and add a dozen or so minions, such as Ice Mephits.
If you're keeping the story the same, I would throw some higher-CR monsters in each encounter. For example, an Orc Eye of Gruumsh could lead the orc gang who attacks the party at the dwarven excavation, and the temple could hold 4-5 Ochre Jellies, instead of just 1.
Strictly speaking, Cryovain is Young White Dragon. He's technically also an easy encounter for four level 6s. The problem I found when my party faced him was that he was a very agile (thanks to his fly speed) glass cannon (especially when you consider that the party is given an antidragon weapon) and so kicked well above his weight in terms of offence but went down very quickly once the party was able to engage him properly. Personally, I'd have preferred any enemy that did less damage but could tank more hits, which would have made for a more epic fight - ours was quite anticlimactic because the party tanked a hit from the breath (barely) but then killed him in like two rounds, thanks to Dragon slayer, which they'd gotten in an earlier quest.
As a result, how you deal with this scaling really does depend on how the party plays, what their make up is, how skilled they are, etc. If they're still quite green, I'd just bump up Cryovain's HP and attacks. Make him last longer and hit a little harder, then see what happens. You can always bump him up in the fight itself if he's too easy. If they're more skilled, have some good long ranged abilities and so forth, I'd bump him up on the dragon scale, sure, but then I'd also give him some minions to distract the party and split their focus. The problem is that when you have a single opponent, the party can focus on them, coordinate very well and swamp them with Action Economy. As a result, it'll be difficult to find an opponent capable of soloing them. It'll be better to have a group fighting instead.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I just noticed that you're new and not confident. In that case, I'd recommend scrapping the idea of doing it as a continuation of LMoP. Instead, just start afresh with L1 characters and the adventure will guide you through.
I'd also consider splitting your party. 7 is a lot and breaks the maths as well as making it hard to get everyone involved. Do two campaigns of 3-5 players each (you may well get some players who'll play in both).
If you're stuck on playing the same characters, play a different adventure. Light of Xaryxis (the Spelljammer adventure) takes off from L5 and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage does as well - although it's more dungeon crawling. The anthologies (Candlekeep Mysteries, Tales from the Yawning Portal, Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel) all have adventures starting from around L5, although their short natures makes them dungeon crawlers. Rime of the Frostmaiden and Storm King's Thunder have structures that allow you to skip the early levels. Alternatively, the Beyond Icespire Peak starts at L7 can goes up to L13.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
If the party level up after completing many of the quest and you end up with 7 characters at level 10-11, i would make Cryovain an Adult White Dragon and beef up the Stone-Cold Reavers company found in Icespire Hold.
If the party level up after completing many of the quest and you end up with 7 characters at level 10-11, i would make Cryovain an Adult White Dragon and beef up the Stone-Cold Reavers company found in Icespire Hold.
Buffing the Reavers is excellent advice. Perhaps make them a guild of elite mercenaries, instead of the usual bandit gang.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
[REDACTED]
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So my party is all level 5 from the campaign mines of phandelver and they are about to start the Dragons of Icespire peaks campaign. Considering I have 7 people in my campaign should Cryovain still be a adult white dragon or should be he be an elder white dragon? I guess I am just curious what would be balanced if by the end of this campaign the party will be lvl 10.
I also feel the need to add that I am a new DM who is kind of scared of how this story will go considering MoP was on the rails and this adventure is more scattered.
DoIP is balanced for a party of 2-5 PCs, and is designed to take them from 1st level to 5th or 6th. Not to put pressure on you, but you'd need to seriously rework the encounters to balance them for a party starting at 5th level, especially since you have 7 players.
In the module, Cryovain is a Young White Dragon. I would change them to an Adult, and add a dozen or so minions, such as Ice Mephits.
If you're keeping the story the same, I would throw some higher-CR monsters in each encounter. For example, an Orc Eye of Gruumsh could lead the orc gang who attacks the party at the dwarven excavation, and the temple could hold 4-5 Ochre Jellies, instead of just 1.
[REDACTED]
Strictly speaking, Cryovain is Young White Dragon. He's technically also an easy encounter for four level 6s. The problem I found when my party faced him was that he was a very agile (thanks to his fly speed) glass cannon (especially when you consider that the party is given an antidragon weapon) and so kicked well above his weight in terms of offence but went down very quickly once the party was able to engage him properly. Personally, I'd have preferred any enemy that did less damage but could tank more hits, which would have made for a more epic fight - ours was quite anticlimactic because the party tanked a hit from the breath (barely) but then killed him in like two rounds, thanks to Dragon slayer, which they'd gotten in an earlier quest.
As a result, how you deal with this scaling really does depend on how the party plays, what their make up is, how skilled they are, etc. If they're still quite green, I'd just bump up Cryovain's HP and attacks. Make him last longer and hit a little harder, then see what happens. You can always bump him up in the fight itself if he's too easy. If they're more skilled, have some good long ranged abilities and so forth, I'd bump him up on the dragon scale, sure, but then I'd also give him some minions to distract the party and split their focus. The problem is that when you have a single opponent, the party can focus on them, coordinate very well and swamp them with Action Economy. As a result, it'll be difficult to find an opponent capable of soloing them. It'll be better to have a group fighting instead.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I just noticed that you're new and not confident. In that case, I'd recommend scrapping the idea of doing it as a continuation of LMoP. Instead, just start afresh with L1 characters and the adventure will guide you through.
I'd also consider splitting your party. 7 is a lot and breaks the maths as well as making it hard to get everyone involved. Do two campaigns of 3-5 players each (you may well get some players who'll play in both).
If you're stuck on playing the same characters, play a different adventure. Light of Xaryxis (the Spelljammer adventure) takes off from L5 and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage does as well - although it's more dungeon crawling. The anthologies (Candlekeep Mysteries, Tales from the Yawning Portal, Ghosts of Saltmarsh and Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel) all have adventures starting from around L5, although their short natures makes them dungeon crawlers. Rime of the Frostmaiden and Storm King's Thunder have structures that allow you to skip the early levels. Alternatively, the Beyond Icespire Peak starts at L7 can goes up to L13.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
If the party level up after completing many of the quest and you end up with 7 characters at level 10-11, i would make Cryovain an Adult White Dragon and beef up the Stone-Cold Reavers company found in Icespire Hold.
Buffing the Reavers is excellent advice. Perhaps make them a guild of elite mercenaries, instead of the usual bandit gang.
[REDACTED]