Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen - It doesn't suck... yet!

[Umbran]

The standard encounter building rules suck and the CR system is all over the place.

Fine.

I ran the adventure and encounter myself, for a couple of newbie, never played an RPG before, 13-year-olds choosing the party's approach. They didn't have any trouble with it.

So, by all means, continue to think the encounter is unreasonable if you wish. Your prerogative. But it doesn't match my experience. Fact is that LMoP has a reputation of being an outstanding module for good reason - and that reason is not over-powered encounters.

 

[Zardnaar]

Fine.

I ran the adventure and encounter myself, for a couple of newbie, never played an RPG before, 13-year-olds choosing the party's approach. They didn't have any trouble with it.

So, by all means, continue to think the encounter is unreasonable if you wish. Your prerogative. But it doesn't match my experience. Fact is that LMoP has a reputation of being an outstanding module for good reason - and that reason is not over-powered encounters.

LMoP is very good the flameshull was rough but you're level 4 or so by then.

There's worse encounters and critter design.

 

[Umbran]

LMoP is very good the flameshull was rough but you're level 4 or so by then.

Dude, you get in my face about the CR system, and then spit back at me the argument I ALREADY MADE?

Unreal. Freakin' unreal.

 

[Zardnaar]

Dude, you get in my face about the CR system, and then spit back at me the argument I ALREADY MADE?

Unreal. Freakin' unreal.

You're the one who passive aggressively said it was fine for our group and basically dismissed what I said. I've heard stories of tpks with that encounter. We had 3/6 go down iirc large party saved us.

CR system is wonky at best being generous.

How vad that encounter is comes down to size of party. Party composition and damage and saving throws.

Slightly higher than average damage can drop most pcs without a d10 or better hit dice.

So around 1 in 3 groups are potentially lookining at save or die if they're using fixed hp rules.

Basically I wouldn't dismiss claims it's a brutal encounter when badic math can reveal its potential for multiple deaths.

If you stumble nto it level 3 it's average dame us save or die for everyone who doesn't gave a d10 hit dice assuming a 14 or less con.

So yeah you were dismissing it vases on your groups playthroygh it's easier now due to power creep and spells like absorb elements.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Write-up of our second session is on my blog.

A few things I took away from the session:

I'm very conflicted on how I feel about Baaz Draconians turning opponents to stone as their "Death Throes". I think its incredibly disruptive to play if the characters roll poorly on their saves. And, let's face it, for an old-timer like me, trapping the weapon is so incredibly iconic. (I note that the dwarf in our party took a warhammer precisely because he knew about how the old draconians worked).

A big machine that does 5d10 fire damage in a 60-foot-cone against third-level characters? How exactly do you think that will turn out? I know designers like showing a threat, but that's the sort of design that can lead a DM to TPK a party. There's a real problem with some designers not thinking through what area effects can do. (I remember also a fireball spell that can be employed against 2nd-level characters in Descent into Avernus. Don't do that!)

The sustained nature of the battle - potentially five combats in a row - makes me long for the shorter "Short Rests" of 4E. It makes the pacing of this sort of sequence work a lot better. Guess what I've done?

Although I made sure not to incinerate the party, and gave them an opportunity to short rest in the middle, I was really pleased with the intensity of the Battle of Vogler. I do not think it would have been as fun playing the board game. Don't get me wrong, I like the board game, but it's not the same thing as playing your character.

Once again, I've included how long it took my group to complete each fight/sequence of the session.

Cheers,
Merric

Huh, I've had two characters turn fully into stone, one twice now, and it wasn't terribly disruptive (although it did ratchet up the tension a bit), and the only real result is that the character who has been petrified twice really hates baaz draconians now (the other player is playing a kender, so it was just a fun and new experience!). These occurrences, as well as the kapak draconian splashing acid everywhere when it died, have really driven home that the draconians are an actual scary threat, both in game and out.

My group managed to kill or incapacitate the draconians operating the "dragon" pretty quickly, so its "breath" never came into play.

(Also, in-depth discussions on CR issues is likely better taken to a different thread...)

 

[jasper]

One thing about the book, is information is sometimes scattered over the chapter. Like Names and reasons about the merc company. Or the fact that Kalaman does not like the knights. So read the chapter and take notes/cross reference before hand.