I'm thinking about using the themes of the adventure "Red Hand of Doom" in a bespoke campaign I'm running. I'm using milestone advancement but read the following from the adventure:
Encounter Levels: Red Hand of Doom is designed for a party of four characters who begin the adventure at 5th level. Over the course of the adventure they should accumulate enough experience to reach 10th level before the climactic encounters at the end of the adventure.
I've just started reading it but I would appreciate feedback from anyone more familiar with this adventure: When should my players level up? If I say "level up" at the end of the 5 parts, they won't be 10th level until the end.
I;m still converting stuff of the RHOD module to run it in a few months from now for my group. Ran it a few times in 3.5 already. Players rarely made it to lvl 10 at the end. They were just shy of it. Reason is that most people also lost 1 or 2 characters during this adventure. Which meant they'd start 1 or 2 levels behind the rest of the party.
Start of RHOD at lvl 5 Finish chapter 1 - lvl 6 Finish Chapter 2 - lvl 7 Finish chapter 3 - lvl 8 Finish chapter 4 - lvl 9 Finish Fane of Tiamat....you can make them lvl 10 at the end of it. Usually groups were 9,5 at this point. Using Mile Stones to turn it into 10 isn't such a huge deal. Especially if you flesh out some additional side content when the group is preparing for the Battle of Brindol.
in 5e I would not use Tiamat's Avatar encounter. Flesh out the final encounter at the top of the tower. Add lair actions, legendary actions, some minions to make the battle memorable. Have the portal in the background with Tiamat as a cinematic. During the fight Tiamat tryning to claw through. At the end pretending she is coming throw, but the portal slams shut for that dramatic tension.
Do the chapters say anything about milestone advancement in them?
You may just have to use your best guess, or add up the exp they would gain from the encounters and give them a milestone when they have enough.
I'm still reading, but I haven't seen anything specific to milestone advancement. I was going to go with my best guess because I'm being lazy and don't want to add up the XP ;-)
I;m still converting stuff of the RHOD module to run it in a few months from now for my group. Ran it a few times in 3.5 already. Players rarely made it to lvl 10 at the end. They were just shy of it. Reason is that most people also lost 1 or 2 characters during this adventure. Which meant they'd start 1 or 2 levels behind the rest of the party.
Start of RHOD at lvl 5 Finish chapter 1 - lvl 6 Finish Chapter 2 - lvl 7 Finish chapter 3 - lvl 8 Finish chapter 4 - lvl 9 Finish Fane of Tiamat....you can make them lvl 10 at the end of it. Usually groups were 9,5 at this point. Using Mile Stones to turn it into 10 isn't such a huge deal. Especially if you flesh out some additional side content when the group is preparing for the Battle of Brindol.
in 5e I would not use Tiamat's Avatar encounter. Flesh out the final encounter at the top of the tower. Add lair actions, legendary actions, some minions to make the battle memorable. Have the portal in the background with Tiamat as a cinematic. During the fight Tiamat tryning to claw through. At the end pretending she is coming throw, but the portal slams shut for that dramatic tension.
Thank you for the detailed reply. Like I mentioned in my previous reply, I'm still reading through the adventure so having your experience noted in your reply is very helpful.
Thank you, also, for the suggestion on NOT doing Tiamat's Avatar encounter. That's good to know.
Howdy! :wave:
I'm thinking about using the themes of the adventure "Red Hand of Doom" in a bespoke campaign I'm running. I'm using milestone advancement but read the following from the adventure:
I've just started reading it but I would appreciate feedback from anyone more familiar with this adventure: When should my players level up? If I say "level up" at the end of the 5 parts, they won't be 10th level until the end.
Any guidance will be greatly appreciated.
I wear pants, short pants.
I also ask a lot of questions; insatiably curious
Do the chapters say anything about milestone advancement in them?
You may just have to use your best guess, or add up the exp they would gain from the encounters and give them a milestone when they have enough.
I;m still converting stuff of the RHOD module to run it in a few months from now for my group. Ran it a few times in 3.5 already. Players rarely made it to lvl 10 at the end. They were just shy of it. Reason is that most people also lost 1 or 2 characters during this adventure. Which meant they'd start 1 or 2 levels behind the rest of the party.
Start of RHOD at lvl 5
Finish chapter 1 - lvl 6
Finish Chapter 2 - lvl 7
Finish chapter 3 - lvl 8
Finish chapter 4 - lvl 9
Finish Fane of Tiamat....you can make them lvl 10 at the end of it. Usually groups were 9,5 at this point. Using Mile Stones to turn it into 10 isn't such a huge deal. Especially if you flesh out some additional side content when the group is preparing for the Battle of Brindol.
in 5e I would not use Tiamat's Avatar encounter. Flesh out the final encounter at the top of the tower. Add lair actions, legendary actions, some minions to make the battle memorable. Have the portal in the background with Tiamat as a cinematic. During the fight Tiamat tryning to claw through. At the end pretending she is coming throw, but the portal slams shut for that dramatic tension.
I'm still reading, but I haven't seen anything specific to milestone advancement. I was going to go with my best guess because I'm being lazy and don't want to add up the XP ;-)
I wear pants, short pants.
I also ask a lot of questions; insatiably curious
Thank you for the detailed reply. Like I mentioned in my previous reply, I'm still reading through the adventure so having your experience noted in your reply is very helpful.
Thank you, also, for the suggestion on NOT doing Tiamat's Avatar encounter. That's good to know.
I wear pants, short pants.
I also ask a lot of questions; insatiably curious
Also helpfull links to get you started. With experiences from other DM's and such
RHOD Modifications: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?171284-The-3-5-Red-Hand-Of-Doom-Handbook-for-DMs-Major-spoilers!-WIP-PEACH!
RHOD Conversion: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?525127-Converting-Red-Hand-of-Doom-to-5e
Super Duper! :D Thanks very much for the links.
I wear pants, short pants.
I also ask a lot of questions; insatiably curious