The dungeons are far more interesting and while there’s still grindy combats they feel more like they matter.įrom the beginning, the DM is tasked with tracking how well the PCs have gained the favor of various organizations. You upgrade from fighting vaguely dragon-themed cult leaders to fighting actual dragons. While the second half has many of the same problems (repetitive fights, grindy mindset, lack of roleplay), the encounters and dungeon crawling spikes in quality. The second half is by far the better part of the adventure. I couldn’t shake the overall feeling that levels 1-8 were simply a level grind for the far more interesting second half. Seriously, the first few chapters are nearly interchangeable blobs of kobold and cultist fights. These first 8 levels are grindy, mainly puffed up with random encounters, and very nearly bereft of roleplaying opportunities and scenarios more complex than “apply weapon to random enemy”. The “remastered 1st chapter” that they advertised is identical to its original form, save that they advance the players to 2nd level partway through the ordeal and they shave a few kobolds off the encounters. In particular, it has a notorious 1st chapter that runs a group of 1st level adventurers through 8 encounters without an opportunity to rest (many players die here). It was designed with old edition gameplay in mind. The first half (Hoard of the Dragon Queen) is difficult, dull, and just plain unpleasant to play. You battle your way through countless cultists as they try to stop the return of Tiamat, the 5-headed evil dragon goddess. Tyranny of Dragons is very simply the Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure path combined with the Rise of Tiamat adventure, and everything I’ve said about those two books remains true here. I can’t say it’s what the book really needed (more on that) but it’s a fine addition. It’s a nice inclusion, and if you’re picking the book up as more of a collector’s item this section is going to be the main draw. This is the advertised big “bonus” section added to Tyranny of Dragons that wasn’t present in the component books. I did particularly like the guard drakes though as we’ve been missing low CR draconic monsters. Surprisingly small considering the length of the adventure but since it relies heavily on existing monsters there wasn’t much need for new stuff. Mostly dragons and dragon cultists (which makes sense) but I always appreciate more stat blocks to play with. I did appreciate a couple here (mainly the endless flask that I was missing from the DM’s guide) but generally, this section is plot artifacts only. Most of the items in this section are extremely strong story-specific items (the dragon masks) that you’ll have a hard time fitting into other adventures. Tyranny of Dragons adventure path, running from 1st level to 16th level.22 new monsters/NPCs with lore and stat blocks.Most of the length is dedicated to the adventure itself (which is massive) but also contains some magic items and a monster bestiary. Tyranny of Dragons is 224 pages thick and contains all the content from its two component books plus a little extra concept art section. I should also note it’s impossible to purchase Tyranny of Dragons on DnDBeyond, and you’ll need to pick up the two-component books if you plan on using that service. Hoard of the Dragon Queen + The Rise of Tiamat.So, to play this adventure you either need: You can technically play each of these two books individually (more on that later), starting with “Hoard of the Dragon Queen” and finishing the adventure with “The Rise of Tiamat”. How do I use all these Dragon Books?įirstly, Tyranny of Dragons is a compilation of two full adventure books: “Hoard of the Dragon Queen” and “The Rise of Tiamat”. Is it worth picking up? Is it worth playing? Take wing and join the battle against the amassed draconic cult as we run through everything you need to know. Rooted in some of D&D’s earliest plots and monsters, Tyranny of Dragons has been updated for 5th edition D&D and re-released as the full adventure contained within a single massive and gorgeous tome. The Tyranny of Dragons is a massive adventure spanning multiple books and 16 levels.
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