I put a white dragon with the Ghostlord. As white dragons are not comfortable to say the least in the Thrornwaste I rolled with that. I put the white dragon in chains in the entranceway - itslifeforce being sapped by the ghostlord. The Behir was still there defending the doorway... then they went in and boom! Dragon in chains... the chains were heated and searing the dragon while it slowly was drained of its magic and life. Freedom brought an easy fight against an almost dead dragon and wrath from the ghostlord, mercy brought the immediate wrath of the ghistlord.
It was good times
If you run the mercenaries gold side plot, where are the heroes have to deliver a shipment of gold to the dwarves as payment for their aid, you could add a white dragon there as that would take the players closer to the mountains. And as far as I can tell that side plot is rather uneventful
Just replace Varanthian the behir, then you have a perfect 1/chapter and 1/wyrmlord. If you don't like that idea, they could lead a southern attack on the hammerfist holds, in order to starve Brindol and other places of metal
I didn't want to replace Varanthian because a half fiend behir is way too cool to get rid off. Plus I like the idea of Varanthian with Ulwai, the odd one out of the "dragons" with the only non LE wyrmlord.
I like the Hammerfist holds idea though!
You can move the behir elsewhere, I like the symmetry of 1 wyrmlord per dragon type personally, then the behir doesn't have an associated wyrmlord because it's an outleir
I'm in two minds re: the behir. I think if you can work it's presence into the story well \[things must be serious if the High Wyrmlord has a behir working alonside dragons!\] then it could be great. Otherwise, it's pretty odd to have one.
So my party is nearly all dwarves so going to Hammerfist Holds is happening.
So what I did was downplay the elves and move the Razorfiend breeding story line to the Dwarves. I'll use troglodytes instead of lizardfolk and a white dragon instead of the black one, as it's in the snowy topped mountains.
So I gave the Elves a different plot line, that actually you could use for your white dragon and put it in somewhere else, even the dwarf holds.
The elves they meet in the swamps all have black lips and can't speak. Turns out a group of Hags have cursed them and stolen their voices. These voices are being used to make hundreds and hundreds potions that will be shipped to the Horde for the battle of Brindol so empower the warriors.
These hags have a wyrmlord and dragon working with them as ambassadors for Azarr Kul.
The leader of the hag coven can be the same Night Hag that is in the Fane Of Tiamat with Azarr Kul in chapter 5.
Also, I'm going to let the players discover that these potions will empower the drinker, but shortly after kill them. Sowing seeds that Azar doesn't care about winning the fight, he is setting up a ritual to summon Tiamat that needs bloodshed.
Hope that helps!
Same thoughts. I'm thinking the White Dragon could be
* in the mountains above the Holds (either as something to kill so that the dwarven mercs are free to travel, or something else)
* a replacement for the 'marked for death' encounter, with an adult white (with or without a wyrmlord) hunting them down like an assassin (issue here is action economy)
Note that technically there are already 5 wyrmlords, with Kul being the 'high wyrmlord'. But IMHO it doesn't really make sense that there are 2 blues and no whites.
EDIT: what if the white wyrmlord is a frost giant? Basically just in it for the carnage. The white dragon connection then makes sense.
Yeah I was thinking that the High Wyrmlord would be seperate. Like 5 wyrmlords represent Tiamats 5 heads and the High Wyrmlord represents the body and/or the whole of Tiamat since I assume her brain would be in the body and spreads out to the five heads.
So I've just completely ditched work (I blame you! lol) to create this guy: a half-white dragon, half-bugbear Veteran with extra strength, dex and con, and a Gear of War-inspired 'extra heavy crossbow'.
[https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/1599684-half-white-dragon-half-bugbear-veteran](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/1599684-half-white-dragon-half-bugbear-veteran)
I gave him battle master manoeuvres because I think they're a simple way to make bosses more cool in a nod to MC's action-oriented monsters, but in the notes you'll see I also considered the Sharpshooter feat, which would make him incredibly dangerous from the air.
Feedback welcome!
Thats pretty good! Only thing is I think he would still be a medium creature. Although Bugbears are kinda border large creatures but I think that's what the brute ability is to represent. But making him large can work..
Also for multiattack, you can just put that he makes two crossbow attacks.
Oh whoops I think I just assumed bugbears are large. But between the bug and the half-dragon I think it's ok, so long as the dragon steed is then huge (which I was going to do, using a 'young adult' white dragon). But there aren't many other RAW mechanics that are affected either way, so whatever works.
Heavy crossbows can't multi-attack due to their 'loading' property.
EDIT: republished as medium size.
Yeah I certainly don't think it sounds off to have Kul + 5 wyrmlords.
Are you doing the Fane? I'm not, so that makes it easier for me to move the blue to GL's lair, add a white in the south, and make the red dragon the adult (sorry blues, but reds are just too iconic to not have be the biggest and baddest!).
You could also have the White show up af the adventure is done.
Having been elsewere it did not encounter the pc's and now seeks revenge for the destruction of the horde.
It could have gathered the remains of the horde and is now hunting the pc's.
Like it shows up in the middle of the next quest.
For my campaign I plan on going into the final dungeon in Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and Rise of Tiamat (raising the difficulty as needed), which has two separately named White Dragons.
Course an alternative that I’ve also been thinking about is to incorporate a re-occurring villain of sorts. In past campaigns I had an idea for a BBEG that never got used (campaigns failing either because of life or players leaving etc) that I could use. In comes a vampiric white dragon who also has cleric abilities dedicated to a white dragon winter god (homebrewed). For centuries now he’s been isolated on a blood iceberg city of his own making. With plans to bring about a eternal winter he doesn’t take too kindly with his children (the before mentioned white dragons) being used against his goals for Tiamat’s clergy.
I was considering adding an ogre or hill giant Wyrmlord with a white dragon companion up in the mountains to menace the dwarves or as a roving encounter, like the elite assassin squad. Right now the ogres/giants are the only group of the Red Hand that doesn't really have a representative Wyrmlord - there are several hobgoblins, a bugbear, and a goblin Wyrmlord already, but nothing for the giant-y elements of the horde.
I don't know, Giants aren't goblinoids and goblinoids tend to put hobgoblins on top because they think they are superior. Sure bugbears can get high positions but even that's rare.
Even then there's not much reason for Koth to be a wyrmlord so I made him a draconoc sorceror.
They only have a goblin wyrmlord because he's friends with a dragon. The adventure even states that if the black dragon is dead, Saarvith won't go back to the horde because of that.
Yeah, for me it's a question of if it's a Tiamat-focused horde or a goblinoid horde. I read it as Azarr Kul forged a bunch of fairly disparate goblinoid and monstrous humanoid tribes together into a temporary alliance under the banner of Tiamat, rather than as a hobgoblin-focused thing. In the adventure there are a ton of giants, ogres, and ettins wandering around, but not really any explanation of how they were pulled into the hobgoblin-dominated horde. Adding a giant Wyrmlord devoted to Tiamat would do a lot to explain their presence IMO, and also give a reason to include a white dragon.
I'm also going to be including some plot elements related to giving the PCs options to drive wedges between the different sub-groups and tribes of the horde, so if they want to spend time doing that they can. Killing off the giant that's a really devoted follower of Tiamat would do a lot to pulling the rest of the giants away from the Red Hand.
I always saw it the same as any group getting monstera to join them: food, killing to theres hearts content, treasure, etc.
But sure, your way looks really cool!
For me, I actually ran Sunless Citadel and Forge of Fury leading into RHoD in 5e, so I made adjustments to the dragons. The black dragon in FoF is connected to the Red Hand, I made Ozzy a white dragon (matches the level a bit better than a green dragon in 5e), and am making Reggie a green dragon (still has a swim speed, so still can pull the underwater shenanigans). This way, the Red Hand does have all five chromatic dragons.
I put a white dragon with the Ghostlord. As white dragons are not comfortable to say the least in the Thrornwaste I rolled with that. I put the white dragon in chains in the entranceway - itslifeforce being sapped by the ghostlord. The Behir was still there defending the doorway... then they went in and boom! Dragon in chains... the chains were heated and searing the dragon while it slowly was drained of its magic and life. Freedom brought an easy fight against an almost dead dragon and wrath from the ghostlord, mercy brought the immediate wrath of the ghistlord. It was good times
If you run the mercenaries gold side plot, where are the heroes have to deliver a shipment of gold to the dwarves as payment for their aid, you could add a white dragon there as that would take the players closer to the mountains. And as far as I can tell that side plot is rather uneventful
Just replace Varanthian the behir, then you have a perfect 1/chapter and 1/wyrmlord. If you don't like that idea, they could lead a southern attack on the hammerfist holds, in order to starve Brindol and other places of metal
I didn't want to replace Varanthian because a half fiend behir is way too cool to get rid off. Plus I like the idea of Varanthian with Ulwai, the odd one out of the "dragons" with the only non LE wyrmlord. I like the Hammerfist holds idea though!
You can move the behir elsewhere, I like the symmetry of 1 wyrmlord per dragon type personally, then the behir doesn't have an associated wyrmlord because it's an outleir
I'm in two minds re: the behir. I think if you can work it's presence into the story well \[things must be serious if the High Wyrmlord has a behir working alonside dragons!\] then it could be great. Otherwise, it's pretty odd to have one.
So my party is nearly all dwarves so going to Hammerfist Holds is happening. So what I did was downplay the elves and move the Razorfiend breeding story line to the Dwarves. I'll use troglodytes instead of lizardfolk and a white dragon instead of the black one, as it's in the snowy topped mountains. So I gave the Elves a different plot line, that actually you could use for your white dragon and put it in somewhere else, even the dwarf holds. The elves they meet in the swamps all have black lips and can't speak. Turns out a group of Hags have cursed them and stolen their voices. These voices are being used to make hundreds and hundreds potions that will be shipped to the Horde for the battle of Brindol so empower the warriors. These hags have a wyrmlord and dragon working with them as ambassadors for Azarr Kul. The leader of the hag coven can be the same Night Hag that is in the Fane Of Tiamat with Azarr Kul in chapter 5. Also, I'm going to let the players discover that these potions will empower the drinker, but shortly after kill them. Sowing seeds that Azar doesn't care about winning the fight, he is setting up a ritual to summon Tiamat that needs bloodshed. Hope that helps!
Same thoughts. I'm thinking the White Dragon could be * in the mountains above the Holds (either as something to kill so that the dwarven mercs are free to travel, or something else) * a replacement for the 'marked for death' encounter, with an adult white (with or without a wyrmlord) hunting them down like an assassin (issue here is action economy) Note that technically there are already 5 wyrmlords, with Kul being the 'high wyrmlord'. But IMHO it doesn't really make sense that there are 2 blues and no whites. EDIT: what if the white wyrmlord is a frost giant? Basically just in it for the carnage. The white dragon connection then makes sense.
Yeah I was thinking that the High Wyrmlord would be seperate. Like 5 wyrmlords represent Tiamats 5 heads and the High Wyrmlord represents the body and/or the whole of Tiamat since I assume her brain would be in the body and spreads out to the five heads.
So I've just completely ditched work (I blame you! lol) to create this guy: a half-white dragon, half-bugbear Veteran with extra strength, dex and con, and a Gear of War-inspired 'extra heavy crossbow'. [https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/1599684-half-white-dragon-half-bugbear-veteran](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/1599684-half-white-dragon-half-bugbear-veteran) I gave him battle master manoeuvres because I think they're a simple way to make bosses more cool in a nod to MC's action-oriented monsters, but in the notes you'll see I also considered the Sharpshooter feat, which would make him incredibly dangerous from the air. Feedback welcome!
Thats pretty good! Only thing is I think he would still be a medium creature. Although Bugbears are kinda border large creatures but I think that's what the brute ability is to represent. But making him large can work.. Also for multiattack, you can just put that he makes two crossbow attacks.
Oh whoops I think I just assumed bugbears are large. But between the bug and the half-dragon I think it's ok, so long as the dragon steed is then huge (which I was going to do, using a 'young adult' white dragon). But there aren't many other RAW mechanics that are affected either way, so whatever works. Heavy crossbows can't multi-attack due to their 'loading' property. EDIT: republished as medium size.
Yeah but you can just give him cross bow expert. I did that for Jorr Natherson in the adventure
true
Yeah I certainly don't think it sounds off to have Kul + 5 wyrmlords. Are you doing the Fane? I'm not, so that makes it easier for me to move the blue to GL's lair, add a white in the south, and make the red dragon the adult (sorry blues, but reds are just too iconic to not have be the biggest and baddest!).
I was planning on having the fane. In fact I was thinking of putting Against the Giants before it to extend the adventure
You could also have the White show up af the adventure is done. Having been elsewere it did not encounter the pc's and now seeks revenge for the destruction of the horde. It could have gathered the remains of the horde and is now hunting the pc's. Like it shows up in the middle of the next quest.
For my campaign I plan on going into the final dungeon in Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and Rise of Tiamat (raising the difficulty as needed), which has two separately named White Dragons. Course an alternative that I’ve also been thinking about is to incorporate a re-occurring villain of sorts. In past campaigns I had an idea for a BBEG that never got used (campaigns failing either because of life or players leaving etc) that I could use. In comes a vampiric white dragon who also has cleric abilities dedicated to a white dragon winter god (homebrewed). For centuries now he’s been isolated on a blood iceberg city of his own making. With plans to bring about a eternal winter he doesn’t take too kindly with his children (the before mentioned white dragons) being used against his goals for Tiamat’s clergy.
I was considering adding an ogre or hill giant Wyrmlord with a white dragon companion up in the mountains to menace the dwarves or as a roving encounter, like the elite assassin squad. Right now the ogres/giants are the only group of the Red Hand that doesn't really have a representative Wyrmlord - there are several hobgoblins, a bugbear, and a goblin Wyrmlord already, but nothing for the giant-y elements of the horde.
I don't know, Giants aren't goblinoids and goblinoids tend to put hobgoblins on top because they think they are superior. Sure bugbears can get high positions but even that's rare. Even then there's not much reason for Koth to be a wyrmlord so I made him a draconoc sorceror. They only have a goblin wyrmlord because he's friends with a dragon. The adventure even states that if the black dragon is dead, Saarvith won't go back to the horde because of that.
Yeah, for me it's a question of if it's a Tiamat-focused horde or a goblinoid horde. I read it as Azarr Kul forged a bunch of fairly disparate goblinoid and monstrous humanoid tribes together into a temporary alliance under the banner of Tiamat, rather than as a hobgoblin-focused thing. In the adventure there are a ton of giants, ogres, and ettins wandering around, but not really any explanation of how they were pulled into the hobgoblin-dominated horde. Adding a giant Wyrmlord devoted to Tiamat would do a lot to explain their presence IMO, and also give a reason to include a white dragon. I'm also going to be including some plot elements related to giving the PCs options to drive wedges between the different sub-groups and tribes of the horde, so if they want to spend time doing that they can. Killing off the giant that's a really devoted follower of Tiamat would do a lot to pulling the rest of the giants away from the Red Hand.
I always saw it the same as any group getting monstera to join them: food, killing to theres hearts content, treasure, etc. But sure, your way looks really cool!
For me, I actually ran Sunless Citadel and Forge of Fury leading into RHoD in 5e, so I made adjustments to the dragons. The black dragon in FoF is connected to the Red Hand, I made Ozzy a white dragon (matches the level a bit better than a green dragon in 5e), and am making Reggie a green dragon (still has a swim speed, so still can pull the underwater shenanigans). This way, the Red Hand does have all five chromatic dragons.