Tyranny of Dragons - those masks...

[Velcien]

Hi guys,

In a few weeks I'm going to start running a group through the Tyranny of Dragons adventures (if anyone reading this plays in a Star Wars SE game where one of the party members is a Miralukan soldier named Velcien - stop reading, you're in my group!).

I have questions about the dragon masks used in those adventures. At some point, the Cult just seems to acquire all five - is there any info anywhere about where they find them, who had them before the Cult took them, how they were made, etc.? Failing that, has anyone drafted any backstory for these masks that they wouldn't mind me appropriating?

I think it would add depth to the campaign if these powerful items were woven a little more closely into the lore of the world - maybe I could even give the players the chance to uncover the location of a mask and race to retrieve it before the Cult get there.

[SiCK_Boy]

The masks are kinda pointless the way the adventure is written.

First off, PCs never really get a chance to acquire any of them. Either they end up with fake masks, or there is some kind of device that whisks the mask out of their reach at the last moment.

And even if they do, the big bad only require one or two of them in the end to do the Ritual (which makes one wonder why the masks were important in the first place). Managing to somehow capture some masks could slightly reduce Tiamat's stats at the end, but that's the extent of the impact they have.

So, besides giving bonuses to their wearers, the masks have little use in the adventure itself.

Now, if you want to play around and increase the role of the masks, feel free. I think rather than focusing on where/how the Cult obtained the masks in the first place, you should instead focus on what to do with them after the end of the adventure. That could offer you some adventure opportunity to take your PC from LVl 15 to 20.

Unless you want to run a prologue to ToD, the adventure assumes that the Cult has the masks right from the start.

[Errow]

My group is just now reaching the end of Rise of Tiamat, and (in theory) a group of adventurers should have a chance at collecting the Black mask, at least.

At the start of the Rise of Tiamat book it says the Cult only needs 2 masks to complete the ritual, so you could make 3 masks available to be gathered by the group without having to rewrite the endgame scenario.

[Errow]

There are lots of resources available online for this campaign. I'd particularly recommend the Guide to Tyranny of Dragons by Sean McGovern in the Dungeon Masters Guild. Most of the content of that guide is available on his blog as well. Just google "powerscore guide to tyranny of dragons" and it should come up

[Velcien]

Thanks, guys :) I guess what I'm trying to achieve with the masks specifically is make them feel more relevant and integral. Maybe I should play up the powers that they give the wearers over the chromatic dragons of the corresponding colour, especially since it seems like only two are needed for the final ritual - that would make sense out of why the Cult were so desperate to collect them all.

[Theodoxus]

I took over the ToD campaign for a group when the current DM fast tracked HotDQ and ended up giving the Black Mask to a character who was a Dragon Sorcerer (Black). Since I had this legendary magic item in the game, I decided to roll with it. The mask attracted the twin dragons of the Mire of Dead Men and they convinced the party to search ruins for more magic.

It was a fun side quest and I decided to at least allow the White and Green Masks to be found. The party wasn't successful in that endeavor, but it made for a fun cat/mouse exchange while they were following clues before the final scenes.

I definitely agree with Errow's suggestion. Had ToD been written to encompass all the cool things in the area and really make it feel epic (and make it a 1-20+E adventure it deserves to be), it could have easily been 4 books (each covering a tier) and chock full of lore... but, if you're willing to put in the time and effort, it's all our there on the web, just waiting to be stolen and incorporated into your own story.

If you have any players who have either played or dabbled in the adventure, it'll shake up their expectations in a most delicious manner.