I am in need of advice. I am getting back into DMing (just got back into DnD about 8 months ago after years and years) and currently running the Phandelver adventure. I want to continue with HotDQ/Rise of Tiamat. I have read all the criticism of HotDQ and I have supplements and some documents on how to improve it. Sill have to read through them.
I do not want to run the full HotDQ adventure since my players will be level 4 or 5 by the time they are done with Phandelver. I want to incorporate keys events/encounters from HotDQ into Phandelver or at the end of Phandelver. What I want to know is what are the key episodes/events/encounters that I can focus on that will help lead into Rise of Tiamat, without impacting the story.
I only read HotDQ to chapter 3 (only ran chapter 1, my party got bored of the city siege). The only thing of note there is meeting a character who will serve as a plot hook later(?).
Chapter 3 might be fun to run and serve as a plot hook and opportunity to introduce Leosin Erlanthar (as they exit probably) and have rezmir's name dropped.
Chapter 4 and 5 are pretty much just traveling from location in Chapter 1-3 to location of chapter 6 where the plot starts happening again (maybe?). Sort of abridge these chapters into 1, just enough to get characters to level 5 if they aren't already.
HotDQ is all set up to establish the threat of the cult and get the characters engaged in the plot itself. If your players haven't done the Thundertree sidequest you can use that to your advantage. The cult has come to Thundertree to parley with Venomfang so you could introduce some of the key players of the cult in Thundertree. Another option is to have the cult attack Phandalin instead of Greenest. Your PCs are already semi-invested in Phandalin by the time LMoP is over so it's a shortcut into the story. Tie Leosin or Onthar Frume into a PC's backstory and they could call on the group to investigate cult activity in the Mere of Dead Men. Boom, you've effectively skipped the low-level stuff from the HotDQ and gotten them into the adventure itself without the slog of the journey north. (I'm really wishing I'd done all this with my party that did LMoP then went into HotDQ. So learn from my mistakes.) Really what's key of HotDQ is that the party learns about the cult, gets invested in stopping the cult, and learns enough information about the cult to reasonably inform the Council of Waterdeep that is formed by the start of RoT. If you start seeding hints now that villages and towns all along the Sword Coast are being attacked, you could establish the council and the party's role in the council early enough that you won't need all that setup to get them caring about stopping the cult. If you have RoT, look at the list of allies and enemies in the introduction chapters and figure out a way to introduce at least a couple on each side now so that you have the hooks you need to get the party involved later.
Hi Fellow DM's
I am in need of advice. I am getting back into DMing (just got back into DnD about 8 months ago after years and years) and currently running the Phandelver adventure. I want to continue with HotDQ/Rise of Tiamat. I have read all the criticism of HotDQ and I have supplements and some documents on how to improve it. Sill have to read through them.
I do not want to run the full HotDQ adventure since my players will be level 4 or 5 by the time they are done with Phandelver. I want to incorporate keys events/encounters from HotDQ into Phandelver or at the end of Phandelver. What I want to know is what are the key episodes/events/encounters that I can focus on that will help lead into Rise of Tiamat, without impacting the story.
Thanks
I only read HotDQ to chapter 3 (only ran chapter 1, my party got bored of the city siege). The only thing of note there is meeting a character who will serve as a plot hook later(?).
Chapter 3 might be fun to run and serve as a plot hook and opportunity to introduce Leosin Erlanthar (as they exit probably) and have rezmir's name dropped.
Chapter 4 and 5 are pretty much just traveling from location in Chapter 1-3 to location of chapter 6 where the plot starts happening again (maybe?). Sort of abridge these chapters into 1, just enough to get characters to level 5 if they aren't already.
Then run chapter 6 and beyond as normal I guess.
Thanks for the suggestions. I really appreciate it.
HotDQ is all set up to establish the threat of the cult and get the characters engaged in the plot itself. If your players haven't done the Thundertree sidequest you can use that to your advantage. The cult has come to Thundertree to parley with Venomfang so you could introduce some of the key players of the cult in Thundertree. Another option is to have the cult attack Phandalin instead of Greenest. Your PCs are already semi-invested in Phandalin by the time LMoP is over so it's a shortcut into the story. Tie Leosin or Onthar Frume into a PC's backstory and they could call on the group to investigate cult activity in the Mere of Dead Men. Boom, you've effectively skipped the low-level stuff from the HotDQ and gotten them into the adventure itself without the slog of the journey north. (I'm really wishing I'd done all this with my party that did LMoP then went into HotDQ. So learn from my mistakes.) Really what's key of HotDQ is that the party learns about the cult, gets invested in stopping the cult, and learns enough information about the cult to reasonably inform the Council of Waterdeep that is formed by the start of RoT. If you start seeding hints now that villages and towns all along the Sword Coast are being attacked, you could establish the council and the party's role in the council early enough that you won't need all that setup to get them caring about stopping the cult. If you have RoT, look at the list of allies and enemies in the introduction chapters and figure out a way to introduce at least a couple on each side now so that you have the hooks you need to get the party involved later.
My Homebrew Backgrounds | Feats | Magic Items | Monsters | Races | Subclasses
This is great information cosplaywrite. I will use some of your suggestions. Thanks.