Red Hand of Doom: Conversion/Journal in one!

[Draz74]

Hey Draz, I just caught up on your campaign journal and wanted to say great work! It's well written and it sounds like you're all having a blast.

Thanks! Good to know someone is enjoying it!

[Draz74]

Whew, I'm now three episodes behind on this Journal. Yeesh. Two of them have been shortened sessions, but still ...

[Draz74]

Mini-Journal 3/9/2019

Bitore and Barnabus's players weren't able to attend this session (one planned, one spontaneous), so we just played for about an hour, leading up to the boss fight. Moxie's player controlled Bitore and Marr's player controlled Barnabus.

I had Moxie, the Barbarian, roleplay through asking the elves to borrow owls long enough to return to Marr, the Fighter, which was good because Moxie's player needs to get out of her comfort zone a bit. She likes playing the character, but doesn't do much talking as Moxie (compared to how much she talked in our old campaign). She did fine, so the elves agreed to loan the owls out for several hours. Then the party in Starsong Hill returned to Marr and Graald and the horses, with directions to Rhest as specific as Killiar could give them.

As they journeyed there, I rolled for a random encounter and got ... two more Razorfiends! I think I was wise to tone down the razorfiends that weren't solo encounters, although in this case the party probably would have been ok with Graald fighting at their side. (I debated what the razorfiends' attitudes would be towards each other, but in the end went with the simple answer that the wild ones attacked Graald and Graald fought alongside the party in return.)

This fight wasn't particularly memorable. Graald handled one of the smaller Razorfiends basically by himself. Marr's necklace once again failed to make him roll well on a save vs. Poison Breath ... bad luck there. Barnabus the Bard actually dared to try to use his Rapier in combat to finish off the party's Razorfiend, but barely missed, setting himself up to get taken down quickly by the Razorfiend's attacks (he's a lot squishier than the rest of the party). But he got a Cure Wounds on him with little drama, and the party ended up killing its razorfiend without too much trouble. Graald's Razorfiend, on the other had, used its Spring Attack ability to run away. Graald gave chase, but his quarry rolled a Nat 20 on its Constitution Check to run away, so Graald returned empty-bladed.

The party took a short rest following this combat, but I'm also fairly sure they took a long rest on this leg of the journey; but I don't remember if it was before or after the random encounter. In any case ...

DAY 22

... fairly early in the morning, they arrived at the lake that is what remains of Rhest. They scouted enough to see a few of the Lizardfolk villages surrounding the lake, and at that point, since nobody wanted a boss fight with two players missing, we decided to call it a day.

I didn't have to do much planning in the wake of this session, since not much happened and the party's next conflict was fairly obvious, even though they still had to figure out how to get across the lake (and see whether they raised an alarm along their way).

[Draz74]

Journal 3/16/2019

Moxie had to work during the beginning of this session, but she made it by the time the good stuff got going, and otherwise we had a full crew.

Spoiler: Getting to the Battle

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The first thing to keep in mind is that Moxie the Barbarian (Storm Herald), Marr the Fighter (Necklace of Adaptation), and Graald the Razorfiend (racial) can all breathe underwater. That meant the party had a lot of options about how to invade the lake, even though Barnabus the Bard and Bitore the Cleric don't have the same power.

So the party spent quite a while scheming the best way to make their move, which was fine -- they weren't under any urgent time pressure or anything, and it was refreshing after the way they stormed into Vraath Keep with little planning. A number of ideas were tossed around -- having the swimmers scout ahead first, trying to recruit the Lizardfolk to their cause, etc. But they rolled fairly poorly to know stuff about Lizardfolk culture and loyalties (Bitore rolled ok, and has a great History modifier, but also comes from a part of the world where there aren't really Lizardfolk, so his DC was pretty high. Marr rolled a Nat 1 for a total History check result of -1).

So they started by sending Moxie to steal the raft of the nearest Lizardfolk village. With a very good Stealth roll, she managed to get the raft away without the lizards noticing.

Then they decided to have Bitore simply hide in his bedroll lying on the raft, have the aquatic members of the party hide under the raft, and disguise Barnabus as a hobgoblin messenger. With his Changeling ability plus his Glamoured Armor, that part was simple. So they set out (at 15 ft/round, thanks to Marr not actually having a Swim speed). Bitore burned a Level 3 spell slot for Tongues on Graald -- they still hadn't experimented to find out that Moxie could talk to Graald nonmagically in Infernal -- to explain to the Razorfiend how to know which direction to push the raft from underwater, following where Barnabus stuck his stick/oar into the water. I made Graald make Intelligence and Wisdom checks to understand the process, and he barely passed the Intelligence component, but it worked out overall.

Barnabus first steered the party toward the old Clock Tower. Looking like a hobgoblin messenger, he didn't raise an alarm approaching the building. The hobgoblin sentries atop the tower told him to come right in. The Bladebearer, Korkulan, questioned him, puzzled why he was bringing them a message instead of information coming from Ulwai via Sending spell, and it didn't help that Barnabus rolled a Nat 1 on his Intelligence check to remember the Wyrmlords' names by himself. But his sky-high Deception modifier carried him through, and the hobgoblins offered him food before sending him along to report his ostensible missive to Saarvith. Barnabus was nervous being alone in the midst of the hobgoblin soldiers, though, so he declined the offer, saying that his message was urgent. In any case, they managed to approach the Town Hall without raising an alarm from the bell in the clock tower ... so overall it was a well-executed plan.

Spoiler: A Mess of Ogres

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As they approached the Town Hall ruins from the southeast, three Ogres easily noticed them: two on the boardwalk guarding the stairs up, and one atop the roof overlooking that side of the building. But again, their plan meant that they were able to approach without the Ogres alerting their bosses that anything strange was afoot -- it probably helped that they came directly from the Clock Tower, which the Ogres were probably used to.

There was a fair amount of metagame-y conversation about how to initiate combat, considering they couldn't really converse with each other freely as they approached, but whatever. They came to the conclusion that the two melee combatants were going to try to pull the Ogre sentries on the boardwalk down into the water by surprise.

Poor Marr got another Nat 1 on his initiative roll, so the rest of the party kind of waited for him to start their turns (using some Readied actions). This worked well, since the Ogres still didn't understand that combat had begun.

Moxie & Marr both succeeded on pulling the Ogres in (even without Moxie raging yet), although Marr needed his second try with Extra Attack in order to succeed. Readied actions went off, with Graald eviscerating one of the in-the-water Ogres and the spellcasters starting to fire off damaging Cantrips.

The Ogres didn't manage to do much damage. The one on the favorable side of the roof did manage to hit Barnabus with a Javelin for pretty decent damage. Graald and raging Moxie finished off the two in the water pretty quickly, Bitore popped a Spiritual Weapon (I believe his Book was on swimming techniques this time), Barnabus popped a Melf's Minute Meteors, and the party started swarming up the stairs to fight more Ogres. Graald managed to catch three Ogres in a Poison Breath, Marr got some better luck with the dice with a decent critical hit. Overall this was a pretty clean sweep, though, with Graald taking bits of damage but nothing serious as all the Ogres were slain.

I rolled initiative for Regiarix, who had certainly heard the combat going on, but not for the others yet because I didn't want the party to know what all they were up against. Side note, it's annoying that if you GM-roll initiative on Roll20, with a token on the main token layer selected, it shows the result to everyone in the turn order.

Spoiler: Dragon!

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When the Ogres were getting mopped up, Marr was standing on the edge of the hole down into Regiarix's lair. I thought that was convenient for a dramatic way to introduce the dragon to the fight, separating the party up and using terrain well. So I had Reggie enter the battle by trying to pull Marr over the edge into the water a floor and a half below.

Unfortunately, the dice didn't like my plan. Regiarix used all three attacks in his Multiattack, but Marr's Athletics was better than Reggie's Strength, and the dice favored him all three times.

Bitore used Bless on Moxie, Marr, and Graald.

Graald tried to duplicate Regiarix's strategy against him, pouncing on the flying-at-floor-level dragon to try to wrestle it down into the water. I actually wanted Graald to succeed here, hoping that Regiarix would clean him up in a one-on-one fight underwater. But Graald's three Athletics checks failed against the dragon's Strength, so he failed to grab on and plummeted into the water alone. Which was at least comical.

The party wailed on Regiarix for a round with Blessed maul attacks, Meteors, and a Hideous Laughter spell (which failed! oh blessed day, finally I saved against that spell!). Overall, they were taking the dragon down far more quickly than I liked, so I had Regiarix Disengage and fly 70 feet straight up. Marr responded by unloading all 7 charges of his Wand of Magic Missiles upwards, which did another 24 damage that Regiarix had no chance to do anything against.

Given their past successes against flying bosses, it's not too surprising that Bitore latched onto the plan of Suggesting to Regiarix that he land (where they could hit him some more, including with another Hideous Laughter). So he had Moxie carry him aloft, into range where he could use his Read Thoughts/Suggestion Channel Divinity. Reggie failed his Wisdom Save this time ... but a careful reading showed that the Suggestion part of the ability can't be used in the same initial round, and has to be used within 30 ft. So this plan was something of a disaster, as Regiarix breathed acid on Moxie and Bitore and then flew higher up out of their range.

The party realized this was a losing battle. (Although at least the flying people were able to see inside the hatchery building, and know another Razorfiend waited there.) They talked about lining up conveniently just to taunt Regiarix into coming down for another breath (and getting hit with a bunch of Readied Actions), but eventually they decided to go inside the building and help Graald instead.

Spoiler: Cramped Quarters

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By this time, Graald had climbed out of the water and had a couple rounds to start fighting on his own against the Ettin, Nurklenak, and Saarvith & Hawk. Although a round and a half was spent just destroying the door from Regiarix's lair into the central room of the building, where the Ettin awaited.

Nurklenak the Mindbender hit Graald with a Hideous Laughter spell of his own, which was a moment I've been waiting for for a long time! (Although I thought Moxie would be the target. Point is, I've been eager to use this spell back against the party.) And Graald failed his save, allowing the baddies to get a few good hits on Graald before the damage broke the spell. But dang it, I gave Graald a lot of HP. He was still doing ok.

Looking down through the hole, the party could see Graald's hindquarters sticking out through the relatively small door, and they figured out what the strange chittering sound of Graald laughing meant. This made Marr furious. He ran down the northern stairs, ignored the goblin archer that he ran into (he had completely forgotten their intel that Saarvith was a goblin, not a hobgoblin), and started mauling the nearest other target, the Hawk. He was quite upset when his two attacks didn't manage to kill a hawk (he actually dropped it to 1 HP with his two attacks).

Barnabus dropped down the hole to the lower floor with a Feather Fall spell making up for his poor (Nat 1) Acrobatics check, and started blasting away over Graald's head with Meteors and Shatter, finishing off the poor Hawk (who hadn't gotten to do anything except attack Graald twice ... I think Revised Ranger Animal Companions might still be a little weak).

Nurklenak went for his biggest guns now that the whole party was in the fray, landing a successful Charm Monster on Graald. I ruled that this was more effective than the normal Charmed condition, because Nurklenak had raised Graald using this spell on him many times, but this was mitigated by Marr rolling a successful Persuasion check. So Graald turned neutral-ish rather than turning on his erstwhile allies completely.

Nurklenak was the party's main target, especially Marr's, but they kept hitting him with Wisdom save abilities (Hideous Laughter, Toll the Dead) and he kept passing. When Saarvith finally managed to land a hit on Marr and did Hunter's Mark damage and Favored Enemy damage, they started realizing that he was also a foe to be reckoned with. ("Really? You're using Revised Ranger against us?")

Nurklenak was starting to take significant damage and didn't like Marr in his face, so he hit him with a Level 3 Dissonant Whispers. Marr failed the save and dropped ... and Nurklenak was blocking Bitore's way into the room where he could see Marr to heal him. So Bitore compromised by running back up to the roof, jumping into the water below, and on his way down Dispelling the Charm on Graald. Successfully. And now Graald was firmly on the party's side, not appreciating having been charmed yet again by the Mindbender.

Graald finished off the Ettin, who had been a less-memorable part of the fight. Marr succeeded on a Death Saving Throw. Saarvith got another hit in for decent damage ... but not having Extra Attack was really hindering him, with the Hawk dead. Moxie eventually got her way into the central room (having gotten stuck in the doorway above Graald for a time ) and finished off Nurklenak. Saarvith saw that this battle was not going his way, and fled up the northern stairs to hitch a ride on Regiarix and fly away, abandoning the hatchery to the party.

Spoiler: Anticlimactic End

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The party was just low enough on hit points, and Regiarix had just enough HP remaining, that I decided he wanted to part ways with a final Acid Breath at them. So Regiarix avoided Moxie, dropped into his main lair and fired off a breath weapon that hit everyone ... dropping two targets down well into single-digit hit points, and giving Marr an automatic Death Save failure, but dropping no one. Which meant I knew he was in trouble now.

Bitore used a Mass Healing Word and then a charge of his Staff of Life to heal Marr up to full. Graald got one more Wingblade hit on Regiarix, and then Marr finished off the dragon with a Javelin critical hit. Regiarix fell into the pool beneath his lair, moments before he would have flown away with Saarvith on his back.

That left just Saarvith. Who was ready to surrender, but his turn didn't come around until after the party dropped him -- but not before Bitore used Read Thoughts on him. His surface thoughts were mourning Regiarix's death. I don't know if any of the party realized that this was a significant relationship at this point, but I gave them the hint here.

Anyway, after knocking Saarvith out, Marr stabilized him and tied him up.

By this point we were tired and had gone over our usual ending time, so we ended the session rather than doing any aftermath-activities like looting.

Therefore, I didn't have that much to think about between sessions, other than the fact that Graald had certainly survived and I would need to figure out what to do about the "pet Razorfiend" situation.

[DrKerosene]

Perhaps the Razorfiend could be passively corrosive to gear over time, fostering resentment if the Party tries to exclude it in some way.

Maybe it requires so much food that the party has to start spending triple the time on foraging?

Maybe the Razorfiend’s infernal presence, or smell, drives away most animals? Announcing their presence before arriving.

Perhaps the Razorfiend could really lean into the whole “I love slaughtering lesser (non dragon) beings. I’m so glad you guys get it too.”

Maybe it’s going through a “rebellious teenage phase” where it “ran away from home” with the Party, and is starting to get too big for their britches, starting to boss around the Party, demanding half of all treasure, “massage my glutes”, etc...

Maybe they just flee combat after two natural 1 rolls, due to being narcissistic and suffering an ego injury or some other Magic Curse effect that results in them leaving battle. Maybe just flee at half HP and refuse to take risks?

Edit: Also, I occasionally read their name as “Gerry” like Morty’s dad.

[DivertedCircle]

The whole argument for the razorfiend working with them was he wanted to fight back against his former captors. That's done now, most of the leaders of the hatchery are dead. He may have problems with the party having taking Saarvith alive rather than killing him, could introduce some strife there and have him abandon the party if they insist on keeping Saarvith alive. As noted, they love to slaughter and kill so he may start to lash out at the parties allies, any creature they come across, or the party themselves, causing future problems and forcing them to put him down.

Another route you could try is hormones. Monster Manual IV notes that Greenspawn Razorfiends mate for life, so you could conceivably introduce another razorfiend that he falls for and he refuses to continue with the party, claiming a portion of the swamp as their territory.

They're not small creatures either, standing about 6 feet tall at the shoulder and able to reach 20 or more feet in length with adult weighing roughly 6,000 pounds. That's going to make any future stealth missions a lot harder.

[Draz74]

Mini-Journal 3/23/2019

Barnabus's player was absent this session.

First order of business was leveling up the PCs to Level 7 after the boss fight. This took quite a while as always, even though Moxie the Barbarian and Marr the Fighter had very few decisions to make. (Marr decided no stay with pure Fighter rather than multiclassing.) Bitore the Cleric had more going on, with Level 4 spells suddenly in his choices to prepare. He ended up dropping one previously-prepared spell, I'm not sure which, to prepare Banishment and Divination from Level 4.

Next, in the aftermath of the battle, Graald the Razorfiend (ally) headed immediately towards the hatchery to loose his kindred razorfiend. The party left Barnabus guarding the body of Saarvith for OOC reasons, and otherwise gathered to see what would go down when the hatchery was opened.

It was at this point that the party -- Moxie in particular -- learned that razorfiends' native language is Infernal, as the two razorfiends started talking to each other. So the party no longer has to cast Tongues on Graald.

After exchanging basic information with each other about what was going on, the razorfiends basically turned to the party and asked when they would be leaving the razorfiends' territory. The party took this in stride and asked if they could stay the night at the Town Hall of Rhest to recuperate after the fight. They rolled ok on Persuasion and Graald said that night would be acceptable. I also played the razorfiends as being very un-materialistic, so they didn't object to the looting that the party turned to next.

The party looted Saarvith's room (and Nurklenak's body) and were pretty astonished at the letter from Ulwai to Saarvith -- they couldn't believe the module involves a Lich, even though I gave them the hint that Liches weren't necessarily as powerful in 3e.

Then they allowed Saarvith to awaken for interrogation. I played Saarvith having very little loyalty to the Red Hand with Regiarix dead; his main motivation was to get his own hide out of there alive, which the party offered in exchange for his cooperation. So he cooperated, giving them very frank answers about the things they thought of to ask him, including the location of the Ghostlord in the Thornwaste. Except when they asked where Regiarix's treasure hoard was, he snarked that they didn't deserve to have it if they couldn't find it on their own. So the party let him go, requesting that he stop by the Clock Tower and tell the hobgoblins there to stand down too (he agreed, but he was lying). He gave them a parting piece of advice to not destroy the phylactery if they didn't wish the Ghostlord's wrath upon their heads, and left, taking the party's raft without them noticing.

The party did manage to discover Regiarix's hoard, under the Town Hall in the water, with a little searching and some Perception checks. They then spent the next several hours of the day waiting for Bitore to ritual-cast Identify on everything in sight. Marr eagerly claimed the Plate Armor +1 (this will hopefully make him a little more equal to Moxie defensively). Barnabus took the Pipes of Haunting and the Longsword +1. Bitore reluctantly accepted custody of the Staff of the Adder until they can sell it, though he didn't like the item a bit, as he's the only one who can attune it.

Then they turned to discussion of where to go next and what to do. They were already discussing the Phylactery's fate (Bitore in particular wanted to smash it right away), but most of that discussion got tabled until the next episode. A more urgent question lay in the future of the razorfiends. Bitore ritual-casted Divination to inquire about the likelihood of a peaceful future between the elves and the dragonspawn ... and was answered by a searing pain in one ankle, making him fall to one knee. Nevertheless, after some lively discussion, it was determined that they would stop by the elves again on their way south to Brindol and ask the elves to at least hold off aggression against the razorfiends until the war was over and the razorfiends could be relocated.

I wanted Barnabus's player there, though, to get his input on the Razorfiend situation, as well as to roleplay the negotiations with the elves. So we ended this fairly-short session with a long rest, opening

DAY 23.

[Draz74]

Wow, I'm pretty behind on this thing. That's a problem, as I do need advice about some things going on in the campaign -- and I'm getting close to the end of my prepared material, so I'm going to need to do some monster stat preparation soon too.

Fortunately, we won't be meeting this coming weekend, so I have almost 2 weeks to write up Journal entries ... but still, the quality/detail of my Journal might be decreasing here as I work on catching up.

[DivertedCircle]

Looking forward to hearing about your last few sessions!

[Whiskeyjack8044]

I am so happy your work was recommend to me Draz! I have two questions if you have time to answer.

1st, I plan on using Mile Stone leveling when I run this, when do you think it best to level up the players? After each chapter?

2nd, I plan to run Sunless Citadel as a prologue to RHoD, where would you put Oakhurst and the Citadel? I kinda wanna make it Drellin's Ferry to raise the emotional stakes, but I wonder if there is another town west of Brindol that would fit better?

I can't wait to read your next journal entry.

[DrKerosene]

I’m also looking forward to more updates.

2nd, I plan to run Sunless Citadel as a prologue to RHoD, where would you put Oakhurst and the Citadel? I kinda wanna make it Drellin's Ferry to raise the emotional stakes, but I wonder if there is another town west of Brindol that would fit better?

I’m not Draz, but I think I pointed you here.

Terrelton is right next to Drellin’s Ferry, so it’s almost a lost cause, but probably the first place to get a good shot at safe evacuation in either a good or bad scenario. The (corrupt) merchant leadership could easily involve Kerowyn Hucrele. And the Paladin could be following up on Sir Braford and Shatterspike.

The only other settlement that should be large enough to replace with Oakhurst is Talar, right next to Brindol, and it is to the west too. Otherwise you have to upgrade one of the Hamlets.

The only city on the wrong side of Brindol that might be novel to use is Marthton. It already has reference to nearby old druidic stuff, and underground structures, if you want to focus on Belak and the Ghost Lord.

[Draz74]

Mini-Journal 3/30/2019

These are going to have to start being a lot shorter and less detailed, since I don't remember them as well. I've also lost track of how many in-game days various things took up, so I'll be leaving that out -- long story short (spoiler alert), they arrived back in Brindol for the big battle with about a week to spare.

Anyway, this session the PCs Water Walked away from the Town Hall of Rhest (courtesy of a ritual casting from Bitore the Cleric) and returned to Starsong Hill to meet with the elves again. This time, Marr the Fighter went with them. He was kind of taking charge of the party to negotiate the continued existence of the Greenspawn Razorfiend colony, since no one else's heart was really in it. (He was excited to use his new Level 7 ability to add Wisdom to Persuasion checks too. Samurai.)

They saw an elven scout, then met up with Killiar, explained the situation at Rhest (with a skewed but true account), and got permission to pass on to Starsong Hill.

When they got there, they saw Illien Snowmantle as they passed through the town, manning the village Shrine. Marr thought it might be good to get the village cleric on his side if possible, so he went to talk to Illien. The conversation was civil enough, but Illien identified the "harrowblades" (Razorfiends) as Fiends and refused to outright condone the presence of Fiends in the Blackfens.

So the party went on to talk to Sellyria Starsinger again. Marr made a pretty long speech about the supposed nobility of the Razorfiends (which he came up with some other name for, since Razorfiend or Harrowblade sounds innately bad). Crucially, although it was a side note in Marr's mind, he mentioned the fact that the Razorfiends in the near future would probably mostly prey on the local Lizardfolk population. Sellyria doesn't like Lizardfolk! So that lowered the DC of his Persuasion check quite a bit. Buffed by Bardic Inspiration and Guidance, he rolled very high on his Persuasion check (26) ... so the elves were placated for the time being. Sellyria agreed not to go to immediate war with the Razorfiends, and was overall grateful that the party had cleared the goblinoid menace from the Blackfens.

The party continued on south to Brindol, making a bunch of Constitution Saves vs. Exhaustion to force march their way there faster. They did some research on the Ghostlord at the library, reported to Lord Jarmaath, and spent the bulk of the session debating what to do with the Ghostlord's Phylactery. I thought having them get stuck on that for a while was actually a healthy sign of engagement with the campaign, so I just let them go on and on with it.

[Draz74]

Mini-Journal 4/13/2019

The party had kind of settled on going to Dauth next. They still wanted to check out why "halfling?" was written on Koth's map there, and had also decided that they wanted to be a little further from Brindol to enact their plan of contacting the Ghostlord and at least discussing the return of his Phylactery.

However, before they left Brindol, I had them meet up with someone there from the Drellin's Ferry refugees (probably Barnabus the Bard's family, though I don't remember for sure), and at that point they were informed that two murders had taken place among Drellin's Ferry refugees during the trek to Brindol: Iormel the cranky old man on the town council, and an ordinary 12-year old girl whom Barnabus's younger sisters had known tangentially.

The party latched onto this side quest, and spent the rest of the session investigating the murders. Bitore the Cleric used Divination to verify that another murder would happen within the week if not prevented. They questioned Captain Soranna, the girl's family and friends, and Brother Derny (the town's closest thing to a coroner). They found out that Iormel was stabbed in his sleep, while the girl was poisoned. Also that the girl had briefly disappeared from her group of friends the night before her death, but (with the party's poor Investigation checks) no one had seen whom she was with during that time.

The party felt like there weren't enough clues to get anywhere with their investigation. But I didin't feel like I should give them more, given (a) poor Investigation checks, (b) the fact that the module could go on fine with this side quest unsolved, and (c) the fact that they actually mentioned "the shopkeeper" (Jarett Nurth, who was in fact the murderer) as a suspect several times, just because she was one of the townsfolk who had stood out to them as being important enough, but never followed through on that possibility. (They just didn't put together the fact that she had some martial skill with the idea that she might be the killer. Mostly they just didn't follow up with her because Marr liked her.)

[Draz74]

1st, I plan on using Mile Stone leveling when I run this, when do you think it best to level up the players? After each chapter?

I ended up going with milestone progression too, once it became clear that XP progression was not going to level the party up quickly enough. You can read in my Journals when I deemed the party ready for these "milestones" ... it is indeed about once per chapter. But I try to make it after boss fights, in general, which isn't always the end of the chapter.

I made them Level 6 after Skull Gorge Bridge, and Level 7 after the Town Hall of Rhest, and Level 8 just before the Battle of Brindol.

[Draz74]

Journal 4/20/2019

Barnabus the Bard was absent again this session.

Spoiler: Prosser

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So this time the party set out for Dauth, even though Lord Jarmaath had told them his spies had seen nothing unusual happening there, using the road that goes south through Prosser. In Prosser they met Deillyr Starcloak and discussed the war with her. I don't know why Red Hand of Doom includes a party of six relatively-high-level ex-adventurers in Prosser without ever making them part of the story ... seems sloppy, as their participation would be a great boon in the Battle of Brindol.

Anyway, MY players recognized the potential help that these Six Blades would be right away, and attempted to convince Deillyr to come participate in the battle, rather than retreating to the east (Dennovar) if Brindol fell. I let them try to convince her, even though I didn't particularly want to add six more adventurers' stat blocks to my to-do list before the big battle, but it turned out they (Bitore the Cleric) rolled poorly on Persuasion this time anyway. So the Six Blades are going to stay east of Brindol.

Spoiler: Unfortunate Nighttime Violence

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Next the party headed west through the woods between Prosser and Dauth. I decided there would be only a 10% chance of a random encounter in these woods, as the Six Blades have largely cleared them of monsters, but lo and behold, the dice indicated that the 10% chance would occur. I decided to use one of my Witchwood Random Encounters for this encounter, namely the three Dryads with the Awakened Tree. I wasn't sure such an encounter would even progress to combat.

The encounter occurred at night, when it was dark and the characters were taking turns at watch. Bitore was on watch, specifically. He saw one of the Dryads vaguely, and called out to the party in warning. He also called out that they meant no harm, but the Dryads don't know Common. (They do know Elvish, and so does Bitore, but that didn't come up.) The spotted Dryad cast charm on Bitore just to be safe, but he easily passed his saving throw. At this point I called for Initiative rolls, even though violent combat wasn't a given.

But ... well ... Marr the Fighter won initiative, and he doesn't have Darkvision ...

... so he lit a torch and ran towards the Dryads to get a better look at what was going on. Which meant, from the Awakened Tree's perspective, that one of these strangers just charged at it with fire (which it's Vulnerable to). So the tree, who was next in initiative, Slammed Marr. It glanced off his armor, but that was enough combat that Barnabus let loose with one of his favorite spells, Melf's Minute Meteors, setting the tree on fire.

Bitore tried to talk the encounter down again, but rolled a Natural 1 on his Persuasion. The Dryads let loose another volley of Charms, and this time they were successful against Marr despite his high Wisdom save. He wasn't sure his heart was in the fight anyway, though, so he turned to trying to put out the fire on the Tree.

Moxie the Barbarian was a little less pacifistic than some of her party, though, and went after the Dryad that tried to charm her full-force. And things generally escalated from there. Bitore did try one more time to talk down the fight using a Sending spell as a one-use magical interpreter of languages (it works according to the spell description), but he also used a Spiritual Weapon (a book on carpentry) and a Toll the Dead. Barnabus used a Faerie Fire. Anyway, when all was said and done, the Tree and two Dryads were destroyed, while one fled to safety. Kind of a sad result, as neither party necessarily wanted the other destroyed, but Marr's actions were perceived as SO hostile by the Tree.

Spoiler: Miha Serani

Show

The party arrived in Dauth. They found the bartender (not the innkeeper) at The Tired Giant and asked him what was going on in town. They were mostly curious to learn about the "halfling?" note, but the bartender mentioned something about having to evacuate before the dwarves attacked ... and that got the party's attention pretty quick.

See, I had decided to make their trip to Dauth somewhat worthwhile by including the Mercenary Gold encounter and its consequences ... and to keep things interesting, I also decided that what Miha Serani the spy was up to was trying to drive a wedge between the Valefolk and the Hammerfist Dwarves.

Bitore used a Sending spell to ask the Dwarven Lord Othrek Hammerfist why he was attacking, and he responded that he had no idea what the h*** they were talking about, and that he was merely awaiting Lord Jarmaath's payment before sending his mercenaries (i.e. to aid Brindol).

The party smelled a rat pretty quickly, and asked the bartender where the news about the Dwarves had come from. He mentioned a striking-looking half-elven woman who had brought the news from the outlying dwarven villages, and so the party set off to find Miha Serani.

They found her spreading her lies among a crowd of Dauth villagers. Bitore immediately fired off a Read Thoughts Channel Divinity (which I'm starting to feel is just plain overpowered). Miha has a lot of good stats for a spy, but a high Wisdom Save is not one of them ... she failed it. Bitore quickly sensed that she was spinning a story of falsehoods, and used the Suggestion spell tied to Read Thoughts to tell Miha to tell the truth.

So Miha blurted out a couple of sentences about what was really going on (e.g. "Actually I've never been to the Hammerfist Holds"). She shut up as soon as she realized what was going on, but it was easily enough to turn the crowd against her.

Bitore then cast Dispel on her; I don't remember why, but it took down her Mage Armor and rolled too poorly to take down her shapechanging ability.

Marr won initiative and grappled Miha successfully ... so she pretended to surrender, letting them lead her into the tavern to question her. They sent Moxie off to buy some leather armor to put on Miha to keep her from casting any spells (a stupid rule that Marr's player likes to abuse unless it's houseruled, although the assumption that spellcasters aren't proficient with light armor doesn't always work out in my campaign). While Moxie was gone, Miha shapeshifted into an ordinary-sized spider and bolted out under the tavern door.

The party chased her out of the tavern. She shapeshifted into a humanoid-spider hybrid ... and the party were satisfyingly creeped out. (Especially since they, being 5e players, have no idea what an aranea is.) Still, the battle was three-on-one, and that was kind of anticlimactic. She used Invisibility and Tasha's Hideous Laughter to try to escape, but basically, she got pulverized by a Wand of Magic Missiles, a Spiritual Weapon, Marr's maul, and so forth. Another Dispel Magic did indeed manage to dispel her shapeshifting, revealing her true form as a human-sized spider creature, which was even creepier to them. But yeah, they killed her and didn't do much investigation of where she came from or what her long-term plans were. (Barnabus did roll a Natural 20 to know what an Aranea is called, and that she probably came from the Wyrmsmoke Mountains.)

to be continued ...

[Mongobear]

Hey! I found this again!

I was in the original thread a bit about a year ago before it went inactive, glad you picked this back up, as I recently did as well.

I had a question/idea about the finale vs Azarr Kul, and the potential Avatar of Tiamat. I feel the original ending of RHoD is too similar to the HotDQ/RoT storyline, so I went a different way.

I expanded on the regions surrounding the Vale, adding extra material and time to certain areas, and expanded the whole adventure to levels 5-15, including a trek into the mountains involving a fight vs an Adult White Dragon, which was originally missing.

I changed/combined the Ghostlord/Varanthian into a Blue Dracolich, and added an ancient dungeon of Netheril in the Thornwastes for extra XP.

The big fight vs Kul, I changed him into a high CR solo monster, and rebuilt him as a sort of Half-Dragon Cambion/Warlord NPC type creature, and dropped hints via Religion/Arcana, etc that he was the "Chosen of Tiamat" and very nearly a demigod.

Gave him resistances to all 5 of the chromatic dragon's breath elements, Legendary Actions/Resistances, Lair Actions, and random low CR mooks to keep the heat on the PCs.

I didn't want to just run a 3rd "time to fight Tiamat!" campaign, as it's been done before.

Also, added the possibility to negotiate Kharn's army into leaving, if the siege turns into a stalemate, as hes unhappy being the puppet of a non-Hobgoblin, even so far as having him join the PCs as a guide to the Face, because his people were basically enslaved by Azarr.

What do you think of the idea of changing the final boss how I did? Stat block below, as well as basic script of how the fight plays out.

Spoiler

Show

Azarr Kul, the Chosen of Tiamat
Large Fiend, Chaotic Evil

AC: 25 (+2 Plate)
HP: 342 (36d10+144)
Speed: 35 ft., 60 ft. Fly (Hover)
CR: 20 (25,000 XP)

STR 24 +7
DEX 16 +3
CON 20 +5
INT 12 +1
WIS 14 +2
CHA 20 +5

Saves: STR +14, CON +12, INT +8, CHA +12
Skills: Athletics +14, Perception +9, Insight +9, Religion +8
Senses: Darkvision 120 ft., Blindsight 30ft., True Sight 10 ft., Passive Perception 19
Damage Resistances: Fire, Cold, Acid, Poison, Lightning
Damage Immunities: B/P/S from non-Magical attacks that aren't Silvered
Condition Immunities: Frightened, Charmed, Poisoned
Languages: All

Legendary Resistance: 3/day
Chosen of Tiamat: Azarr Kul can take up to 3 Reactions per Round, but not more than 1 each turn.
Magic Resistance: Azarr Kul has advantage on Saving Throws against spells and other magical effects.

Multi-Attack: Azarr Kill can make up to three attacks with his flail, Queenswrath, he can also make a Bite attack as a Bonus Action. Alternatively, he can use his Breath Weapon instead of making his Flail attacks.

Bite: 5 ft. Reach, +14 to hit, (2d10+7) Slashing damage.

Queenswrath: 10 ft. Reach, +17 to hit, (2d10+10) magical Bludgeoning damage plus 1d10 Fire/Cold/Acid/Poison/Lightning (chosen when making the attack) damage.

Breath Weapon (Recharge 5-6): Save DC 20, Azarr Kul can discharge any single Breath Weapon from an Adult Chromatic Dragon, except he uses his own Save DC.

Legendary Actions (3/turn)
Attack: Azarr Kill makes a single attack will Queenswrath.

Command Ally: Azarr Kul orders an ally he can see to use it's Reaction to immediately move up to half it's speed and make a weapon attack. If the target can see and hear Azarr Kul, the attack is made with Advantage.

Frightful Presence (Costs 2 Actions): Azarr Kul roars with draconic fury, forcing all enemies within 60 ft. who can hear him to make a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. Success makes you immune to subsequent uses for 24 hours.

Recharge Breath Weapon (Costs 3 Actions): Azarr Kul immediately regains the use of his Breath Weapon. He may not use this option in consecutive rounds.

Charge Portal: Azarr Kul channels a portion of his power into the Summoning Ritual. Increase the strength of the ritual by 5%. (See Below)

Equipment: +2 Plate, Queenswrath*, various sacrificial items, gems, and objects for Summoning Ritual.

*Queenswrath
Weapon(Flail), Legendary(requires attunement)

This is a magical Flail, but with a damage dice of 1d10, plus the Heavy and Two-Handed properties. It gives it's weilder a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls.

Wrath of the Dragon Queen--If attuned, the bonus to attack and damage rolls increases to +3. Additionally, the attack deals an additional 1d10 fire, cold, acid, poison, or lightning damage (chosen when making the attack) on hit.

The wielder gains the ability to speak and understand Draconic. They also has advantage on Charisma skill checks when dealing with any Dragon. They are immune the the Frightful Presence of Dragons, and has advantage on Saving Throws vs Breath Weapons made by dragons.

That's my current stat block for my "Chosen of Tiamat" version of Azarr Kul. I used the custom monster tables in the DMG, but I don't trust my gauging of abilities and how they add to CR, especially when it came to Legendary Actions, and i haven't even tried balancing his Lair Actions.

The basic idea for the fight is as follows:

The party reaches his stronghold in the Fane, and fights off the adult (black) dragon guarding the entrance. Inside, there's almost no resistance, as all his forces we're sent off to attack Brindol. He is accompanied by five Half-Dragon Bugbear "Wyrmspeakers" (one for each Chromatic Dragon. Custom NPCs, 70ish HP "Priests" whose main purpose is to complete the ritual to summon a bazillion Fiends). Their main goal is to 'lose' spell slots to charge the portal, adding 1+Slot level to the strength of the portal. They can't use other Concentration spells while charging, but can use other spells and weapon attacks while Channeling. They must maintain Concentration to Channel, and losing Concentration requires their Action to regain, which keeps them from strengthening the ritual for a turn.

Azarr can also charge with Legendary Actions, but he's more likely to attack or try and Fear intruders. As a Lair Action once the ritual is over 50% lesser Fiends can slip through and help Azarr defend the ritual.

The battle is won if they stop the ritual from reaching 100%, not just killing Azarr Kul. The Wyrmspeakers will keep channeling until killed, or the portal is fully opened.

Failure to stop them, (other than likely meaning the Party is dead) means Azarr Kul achieves his goal and opens a gateway to the Abyss and hordes of Demons pour through and the entire Vale area is pretty much destroyed (assuming it survived the initial attacks.)

I had an idea to have the Brotherhood of Bahamut lead by Lord Tasman (Lord Jaarmath's former adventuring buddy, iirc he's supposed to be the ruler of an area way North of Rhest?) who was actually a Gold Dragon in disguise the whole time show up if the fight is going badly, but it seemed overkill.

That's also another thing I've found issue with--what are all the Metallic dragons doing in the original RHoD timeline? Maybe I'll also add in the Metallic Dragon council from the other Tiamat modules as a side quest, and to assist the mortals.

[lergof0202]

Any updates? It's been a while.

[frcorr59]

Been using to run this baby in 5e. Looking forward to seeing how its finished.

[Draz74]

I didn't want to just run a 3rd "time to fight Tiamat!" campaign, as it's been done before.

Also, added the possibility to negotiate Kharn's army into leaving, if the siege turns into a stalemate, as hes unhappy being the puppet of a non-Hobgoblin, even so far as having him join the PCs as a guide to the Face, because his people were basically enslaved by Azarr.

What do you think of the idea of changing the final boss how I did?

Personally, I have no intention of touching HotDQ/RoT modules in this campaign, so I'm not worried about keeping the Tiamat Aspect fight. And as far as commenting just to help you -- I'm afraid I'm not that good at just judging whether stat blocks are balanced for their CR, especially for higher levels like 15, and especially if they're Legendary stat blocks. Sorry.

I would make Azarr Kul Legendary, though, if he's supposed to be the final fight for a Level 15 party. Especially if he doesn't have much in the way of mooks to protect him.

That's also another thing I've found issue with--what are all the Metallic dragons doing in the original RHoD timeline? Maybe I'll also add in the Metallic Dragon council from the other Tiamat modules as a side quest, and to assist the mortals.

Heh, if I ever catch up on my Journaling, you'll see this came up for my group ...

Any updates? It's been a while.

Yeah sorry, the campaign is still plugging along, and I've even been working on it during the week instead of coasting on the prep I did over the holiday break in December/January. Because the players have caught up to that prep. Right now the PCs are trekking through the Wyrmsmoke Mountains on the way to the Fane.

If anyone has tips on how to write a Campaign Journal when they don't remember so many details, I'm all ears.

Been using to run this baby in 5e. Looking forward to seeing how its finished.

Cool, I guess I'd really better get to work on advancing my posted stat blocks, if not my Journal, then. How far into the campaign are you?

[Draz74]

The rest of the Brindol NPC stat blocks are finally posted here.

[Draz74]

Save the Walls

Spoiler: Hill Giant

Show

Huge Giant, Chaotic Evil
-------------------------
Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
HP 105 (10d12+40)
Speed 40 ft
-------------------------
Str 21 (+5), Dex 8 (-1), Con 19 (+4)
Int 5 (-3), Wis 9 (-1), Cha 6 (-2)
-------------------------
Skills Perception +2
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages Giant
CR 5 (1800 XP)
-------------------------
Actions
Multiattack. The giant makes two greatclub attacks.
Greatclub (melee 10 ft) +8: 3d8+5 bludgeoning
Rock (ranged 60/240 ft) +8: 3d10+5 bludgeoning

Encounter Composition
Hill Giant *4

XP Award: 7200

Setup

Put a good distance between the giants and the walls. Like 200 ft for the PCs to close. There will be guards on the walls using crossbows to support the PCs, but they should definitely have disadvantage on their attacks! (And not make a big difference in the fight in general.)

Tactics
The giants are more focused on taking down the walls than they are on defending themselves from the PCs, until the PCs make themselves truly annoying, which roughly correlates with closing into melee with the giants. Making two greatclub attacks against a piddly PC instead of making a single Rock attack against the walls is just too tempting for these giants. On the other hand, they're very selfish, so they don't do much to defend their comrades; just themselves. So the PCs can pick them off one by one if they're smart about it.

Notes
With 4 CR 5 creatures, this fight won't be very hard for the PCs, who should be Level 8 by now. Especially with the occasional crossbow hit by the militia, and the giants not really being focused on the PCs at first. But that's ok. This fight is really just to soften the PCs up, tempt them to expend resources at the beginning of a LONG day of fighting.

[frcorr59]

To your question aboout remembering the details for your session. If its ok with the players, audio record (cellphone) the sessions. Works great for me during work meetings; the old brain aint what it used to be.

[frcorr59]

Personally, I have no intention of touching HotDQ/RoT modules in this campaign, so I'm not worried about keeping the Tiamat Aspect fight. And as far as commenting just to help you -- I'm afraid I'm not that good at just judging whether stat blocks are balanced for their CR, especially for higher levels like 15, and especially if they're Legendary stat blocks. Sorry.

I would make Azarr Kul Legendary, though, if he's supposed to be the final fight for a Level 15 party. Especially if he doesn't have much in the way of mooks to protect him.


Heh, if I ever catch up on my Journaling, you'll see this came up for my group ...


Yeah sorry, the campaign is still plugging along, and I've even been working on it during the week instead of coasting on the prep I did over the holiday break in December/January. Because the players have caught up to that prep. Right now the PCs are trekking through the Wyrmsmoke Mountains on the way to the Fane.

If anyone has tips on how to write a Campaign Journal when they don't remember so many details, I'm all ears.


Cool, I guess I'd really better get to work on advancing my posted stat blocks, if not my Journal, then. How far into the campaign are you?

I'm still early, but finishing up Chapter 2. No worries. Its amazing the work you've done. Truly appreciate it!

[573LTH]

Is this campaign still going? I created an account purely because I want updates on this story!!

[Draz74]

We actually just wrapped up the last chapter of the campaign this morning. Soooo I've finally run all of Red Hand of Doom!

Now I should double down on putting the conversion and a summed-up Journal on this thread. We'll see if I actually do.

Actually, I just discovered the Game Master 5 app. (Android version here.) And started putting my campaign world into it, including my RHoD conversion. Would people be interested in me uploading the XML version of the conversion eventually?

[kebusmaximus]

Congrats, draz!

Personally I don't like using electronics at the table at all, if you made an xml file, would it be possible to open it on a computer in something else?

[TexanGent]

Actually, I just discovered the Game Master 5 app. And started putting my campaign world into it, including my RHoD conversion. Would people be interested in me uploading the XML version of the conversion eventually?

If you are still considering this I would love to have a copy! I started googling how to port RHoD this morning and found your original post this this one, you rock!

[Draz74]

Abithriax's Rampage

Spoiler: Abithriax

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Large Dragon, Chaotic Evil
-------------------------
Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
HP 178 (17d10+85)
Speed 40 ft, climb 40 ft, fly 80 ft
-------------------------
Str 23 (+6), Dex 10 (+0), Con 21 (+5)
Int 14 (+2), Wis 11 (+0), Cha 19 (+4)
-------------------------
Saving Throws Dex +4, Con +9, Wis +4, Cha +8
Skills Perception +8, Stealth +4
Damage Immunities fire
Senses blindsight 30 ft, darkvision 120 ft, passive Perception 18
Languages Draconic, Common, Infernal
CR 10 (5900 XP)
-------------------------
Innate Spellcasting. Abithriax's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 16). Abithriax can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
3/day: locate object
1/day: grease
-------------------------
Actions
Multiattack. Abithriax makes three attacks: one with his bite and two with his claws.
Bite (melee 10 ft) +10: 2d10+6 piercing + 1d6 fire
Claw (melee 5 ft) +10: 2d6+6 slashing
Fire Breath (Recharge 5-6): Abithriax exhales fire in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw, taking 16d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Encounter Composition
Hill Giant *4

XP Award: 7200

Setup

I used Theater of the Mind for this encounter, with a map of Brindol overall for a visual aid, rather than an in-depth gridded map.

Tactics
Abithriax is wisely not eager to use his mediocre innate spellcasting, but isn't too cautious about getting into melee to tear up some PCs.

Notes
Abithriax is very close to the MM Young Red Dragon, since its CR was already correct.

[Draz74]

Streets of Blood, Wave 1

Spoiler: Town Guard

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Medium Humanoid, any alignment
-------------------------
Armor Class 16 (chain shirt, shield)
HP 11 (2d8+2)
Speed 30 ft
-------------------------
Str 13 (+1), Dex 12 (+1), Con 12 (+1)
Int 10 (+0), Wis 11 (+0), Cha 10 (+0)
-------------------------
Skills Perception +2
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages Common
CR 1/8 (25 XP)
-------------------------
Actions
Spear (melee 5 ft) +3: 1d6+1 piercing.

Spoiler: Militia Crossbowman

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Medium Humanoid, any alignment
-------------------------
Armor Class 14 (chain shirt)
HP 11 (2d8+2)
Speed 30 ft
-------------------------
Str 13 (+1), Dex 12 (+1), Con 12 (+1)
Int 10 (+0), Wis 11 (+0), Cha 10 (+0)
-------------------------
Skills Perception +2
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages Common
CR 1/8 (25 XP)
-------------------------
Actions
Light Crossbow (ranged 80/320 ft) +3: 1d8+1 piercing.

Spoiler: Lion of Brindol

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Medium Humanoid, Lawful Good
-------------------------
Armor Class 18 (plate)
HP 52 (8d8+16)
Speed 30 ft
-------------------------
Str 16 (+3), Dex 11 (+0), Con 14 (+2)
Int 11 (+0), Wis 11 (+0), Cha 15 (+2)
-------------------------
Saving Throws Con +4, Wis +2
Senses passive Perception 10
Languages Common
CR 3 (700 XP)
-------------------------
Brave. The Lion of Brindol has advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
-------------------------
Actions
Multiattack. The Lion of Brindol makes two melee attacks.
Greatsword (melee 5 ft) +5: 2d6+3 slashing.
Heavy Crossbow (ranged 100/400 ft) +2: 1d10 piercing.
Leadership (Recharges after a short or long rest). For 1 minute, the Lion of Brindol can utter a special command or warning whenever a nonhostile creature that it can see within 30 feet of it makes an attack roll or a saving throw. The creature can add a d4 to its roll provided it can hear and understand the Lion of Brindol. A creature can benefit from only one Leadership die at a time. This effect ends if the Lion of Brindol is incapacitated.
-------------------------
Reactions
Parry. The knight adds 2 to its AC against one melee attack that would hit it. To do so, the knight must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.

Spoiler: Hobgoblin Regular

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Medium Humanoid (goblinoid), Lawful Evil
-------------------------
Armor Class 18 (chain mail, shield)
HP 11 (2d8+2)
Speed 30 ft
-------------------------
Str 13 (+1), Dex 12 (+1), Con 12 (+1)
Int 10 (+0), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 9 (-1)
-------------------------
Senses darkvision 60 ft, passive Perception 10
Languages Goblin, Common
CR 1/2 (100 XP)
-------------------------
Martial Advantage. Once per turn, the hobgoblin can deal an extra 2d6 damage to a creature it hits with a weapon attack if that creature is within 5 feet of an ally of the hobgoblin that isn't incapacitated.
-------------------------
Actions
Longsword (melee 5 ft) +3: 1d8+1 slashing, or 1d10+1 slashing if wielded in two hands.
Longbow (ranged 150/600 ft) +3: 1d8+1 piercing

Spoiler: Hobgoblin Sergeant

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Medium Humanoid (goblinoid), Lawful Evil
-------------------------
Armor Class 17 (half plate)
HP 39 (6d8+12)
Speed 30 ft
-------------------------
Str 15 (+2), Dex 14 (+2), Con 14 (+2)
Int 12 (+1), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 13 (+1)
-------------------------
Skills Intimidation +3
Senses darkvision 60 ft, passive Perception 10
Languages Goblin, Common, Draconic
CR 3 (700 XP)
-------------------------
Martial Advantage. Once per turn, the hobgoblin can deal an extra 3d6 damage to a creature it hits with a weapon attack if that creature is within 5 feet of an ally of the hobgoblin that isn't incapacitated.
-------------------------
Actions
Multiattack. The hobgoblin makes two greatsword attacks.
Greatsword (melee 5 ft) +4: 2d6+2 slashing
Javelin (ranged 30/120 ft) +4: 1d6+2 piercing
Leadership. For 1 minute after activating this feature, the sergeant can utter a special command or warning whenever a nonhostile creature that it can see within 30 feet of it makes an attack roll or a saving throw. The creature can add a d4 to its roll provided it can hear and understand the sergeant. A creature can benefit from only one Leadership die at a time. This effect ends if the sergeant is incapacitated. Once the sergeant activates this feature, it must finish a short or long rest before it can use it again.
-------------------------
Equipment
Potion of Healing. Restores 2d4+2 HP when drunk.

Spoiler: Manticore

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Large Monstrosity, Lawful Evil
-------------------------
Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
HP 68 (8d10+24)
Speed 30 ft, fly 50 ft
-------------------------
Str 17 (+3), Dex 16 (+3), Con 17 (+3)
Int 7 (-2), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 8 (-1)
-------------------------
Senses darkvision 60 ft, passive Perception 11
Languages Common
CR 3 (700 XP)
-------------------------
Tail Spike Regrowth. The manticore has twenty-four tail spikes. Used spikes regrow when the manticore finishes a long rest.
-------------------------
Actions
Multiattack. The manticore makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws or three with its tail spikes.
Bite (melee 5 ft) +5: 1d8+3 piercing
Claw (melee 5 ft) +5: 1d6+3 slashing
Tail Spike (ranged 100/200 ft) +5: 1d8+3 piercing

Encounter Composition
Allied:
Town Guard *6
Militia Crossbowman *3
Lion of Brindol
Enemies:
Hobgoblin Regular *6
Hobgoblin Sergeant *2
Manticore *2

XP Award: 3400 (divided among NPCs too)

Setup

Place all the allied NPCs behind the barricade across the street. Let the PCs think of improvements such as putting the crossbowmen up on roofs of nearby buildings.

Tactics
Make sure to get good use out of the Leadership auras, and let the Manticores fire away from the tops of buildings rather than engaging in melee.

Notes
Of course Streets of Blood, like most of the Battle of Brindol, is an attrition process. The individual encounters shouldn't be that difficult, but going through all of them in one day should stretch the PCs' resources very thin.

[Draz74]

Streets of Blood, Wave 2

Spoiler: Blood Ghost Berserker

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Medium Humanoid (goblinoid), Chaotic Evil
-------------------------
Armor Class 14
HP 42 (5d12+10)
Speed 40 ft
-------------------------
Str 19 (+4), Dex 14 (+2), Con 15 (+2)
Int 8 (-1), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 13 (+1)
-------------------------
Saving Throws Str +6, Con +4
Skills Athletics +6, Intimidation +3, Stealth +4
Damage Resistances all damage except psychic
Senses darkvision 60 ft, passive Perception 10
Languages Goblin, Common
CR 3 (700 XP)
-------------------------
Rage. The berserker has advantage on Strength checks (including Athletics) and Strength saving throws.
Reckless. At the start of its turn, the berserker can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, but attack rolls against it have advantage until the start of its next turn.
Surprise Attack. If the bugbear surprises a creature and hits it with an attack during the first round of combat, the target takes an extra 2d6 damage from the attack.
-------------------------
Actions
Multiattack. The berserker makes two melee attacks or two ranged attacks.
Greataxe (melee 5 ft) +6: 1d12+6 slashing
Handaxe (melee 5 ft) +6: 1d6+6 slashing
Handaxe (ranged 20/60 ft) +6: 1d6+4 slashing

Encounter Composition
Allied:
Whatever remains from previous Streets of Blood encounter
Enemies:
Blood Ghost Berserker *6

XP Award: 4200 (divided among NPCs too)

Setup

Continue from the state of the end of the previous wave; the PCs have only a couple minutes to adjust between waves.

Tactics
The Berserkers aren't very tactically minded; they just make a straightforward charge at the barricade and start hacking. The terrain may give them trouble, but their Athletics checks to climb the barricade are pretty good, and they should be annoying to deal with regardless.

Notes
Of course Streets of Blood, like most of the Battle of Brindol, is an attrition process. The individual encounters shouldn't be that difficult, but going through all of them in one day should stretch the PCs' resources very thin.

I can't remember how many Berserkers I actually used. 6 is just a guess.