Osuniev
2020-09-19, 07:25 AM
Minor Spoilers ahead for Waterdeep : Dragon Heist and Rise of Tiamat.
So, after 4 years; my campaign has reached its final Arc. Based on my PCs decisions, there's a high likelihood that they will face a final battle basically based on the ending of Rise of Tiamat. They have NOT played Tyranny of Dragons, but there's been a subplot around the Cult of the Dragon gathering the Masks to summon Tiamat from Avernus into the Material Plane.
My idea is basically to steal the final fight of RoT, except the power of Tiamat and their assets in this fight would be based on what they did up to then :
- They have obtained one of the masks, and have a decent chance of gaining another one.
- They have played an heavily homebrewed version of Waterdeep : Dragon Heist. It gave them a big influence in Waterdeep : they are allied with the Blackstaff, and have replaced the head of the Zentharim by an ally as well (a PC that was there for a few sessions as a guest).
I want that final battle to be epic and difficult. As of now, there are 5 regular players in my group :
- A halfling Cleric of Life
- A wood elf War Cleric
- A Goliath Battlemaster
- a High Elf Sea Sorcerer (the most tactical player of the group)
- a Half Elf Beastmaster Ranger (Dragons are her Favored Enemies, and we play with a homebrew version meaning she gets +4 to damage against them, she has a Bear companion)
Those PCs are lvl 15 at the moment but I expect them to get to lvl 17 by the time they face Tiamat.
There are 2 PCs that join us from time to time :
- a Halfling Barbarian, lvl 10
- a Halfling Beastmaster Ranger, lvl 13
If they are present for the final combat, they won't be higher level, and none of them are very tactical.
We also play with Gritty Realism, meaning long rests are 1 week.
What I'm really concerned about is : how do I make the final battle challenging but not impossible ?
Things I anticipate :
- they will probably do a Hero's Feast before the battle. If they do, that means immunity to the poison breath and the Frightful Presence.
- they will be recruiting allies, which I'm planning to pit against the forces of the cult (chromatic dragons etc...)
So, after 4 years; my campaign has reached its final Arc. Based on my PCs decisions, there's a high likelihood that they will face a final battle basically based on the ending of Rise of Tiamat. They have NOT played Tyranny of Dragons, but there's been a subplot around the Cult of the Dragon gathering the Masks to summon Tiamat from Avernus into the Material Plane.
My idea is basically to steal the final fight of RoT, except the power of Tiamat and their assets in this fight would be based on what they did up to then :
- They have obtained one of the masks, and have a decent chance of gaining another one.
- They have played an heavily homebrewed version of Waterdeep : Dragon Heist. It gave them a big influence in Waterdeep : they are allied with the Blackstaff, and have replaced the head of the Zentharim by an ally as well (a PC that was there for a few sessions as a guest).
I want that final battle to be epic and difficult. As of now, there are 5 regular players in my group :
- A halfling Cleric of Life
- A wood elf War Cleric
- A Goliath Battlemaster
- a High Elf Sea Sorcerer (the most tactical player of the group)
- a Half Elf Beastmaster Ranger (Dragons are her Favored Enemies, and we play with a homebrew version meaning she gets +4 to damage against them, she has a Bear companion)
Those PCs are lvl 15 at the moment but I expect them to get to lvl 17 by the time they face Tiamat.
There are 2 PCs that join us from time to time :
- a Halfling Barbarian, lvl 10
- a Halfling Beastmaster Ranger, lvl 13
If they are present for the final combat, they won't be higher level, and none of them are very tactical.
We also play with Gritty Realism, meaning long rests are 1 week.
What I'm really concerned about is : how do I make the final battle challenging but not impossible ?
Things I anticipate :
- they will probably do a Hero's Feast before the battle. If they do, that means immunity to the poison breath and the Frightful Presence.
- they will be recruiting allies, which I'm planning to pit against the forces of the cult (chromatic dragons etc...)