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  1. - Top - End - #31
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Kuulvheysoon View Post
    I'm probably going to try my hand at building these guys when I get home, then see how Marked for Death looks. I'll let you know how it goes.
    Ooh, that's a nasty one. Good luck!
    Developer for the Sengai Jidai role-playing game, powered by FATE. Check out the latest progress at the development blog.

  2. - Top - End - #32
    Troll in the Playground
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Spoiler: Blackspawn Raider
    Show
    Medium Monstrosity, Chaotic Evil
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
    HP 104 (13d8+65)
    Speed 40 ft
    -------------------------
    Str 16 (+3), Dex 14 (+2), Con 16 (+3)
    Int 10 (+0), Wis 11 (+0), Cha 8 (-1)
    -------------------------
    Senses darkvision 60ft, passive perception 10
    Skills Survival +4
    Damage Resistances Acid, bludgeoning/piercing/slashing from non-magical weapon attacks
    Languages Common, Draconic
    CR 3 (700 XP)
    -------------------------
    Traits
    We the Raiders A blackspawn raider may deal an additional 7 (2d6) damage once per turn if attacking a target that is within 5ft of an ally, who cannot be incapacitated.
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Multiattack A blackspawn raider makes 2 falchion (greatsword) attacks when using the Attack action
    Falchion (melee) +5: 10 (2d6+3) slashing damage
    Acid Breath (Recharge 5-6) 40ft line, DC13 Dexterity saving throw or take 27 (6d8) acid damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful save.


    I've basically (tried) to give them 2d6 sneak attack, but I'm pretty sure that my language is off. I built this thing pretty quick and dirty, and according to the DMG guidelines it's a pretty decent CR3 or a weak CR4 (with average damage, but it's definitely squishy, falling below the expected HP and AC bars).

    I'm more than open to any suggestions on whether or not to pump it up a bit for a good CR4, or leaving it as a CR3.



    EDIT: What the hell, let's calculate this out for the entire encounter. I've been using the stock DMG Hobgoblins for the Regulars, and we'll ignore the "greater" part of the barghests, which will leave us with the following:

    [(100*5)+(450*1)+(1100*2)+(700*4)]*3=17850, which divided into the (standard) 4 person party would be about 4450 per person. Assuming that your player would be about 7th/8th level by this point, it would be a ... WAY beyond deadly encounter. Yikes. A Deadly encounter has a threshold of 1700xp/person, which we blow past here by more than doubling it.

    If we cut out the barghests, it'll still be 2800ish per player. Hmmmm.....

    On the other hand, the party should have access to stuff like fireball now, which would wipe the hobgoblins (and maybe the ogre) off the board immediately, so maybe that'll counterbalance it?

  3. - Top - End - #33
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Did you count the resistance to non-magical weapons as part of their CR? That's less relevant at higher levels, but for low CR creatures it might make the difference between 3 and 4.

    Yeah, I was noting the deadliness of this encounter myself. My thought was to split it into two encounters - first the hobgoblins and ogre, then have the raiders and barghests show up on round 3 or 4. That gives the party time to wipe out the very easy initial encounter and explains how the ambushers get into position.

    Even then, though, six CR 4 creatures is a deadly encounter for quite a range. I'm thinking it might be better to aim for CR 2 with the Raiders. If you put the Half-Dragon template on top of the Berserker NPC then you get fairly close. Adding the resistance to non-magical weapons makes them a big threat to the militia of the Vale while relegating them to more of minion status in fights against the PCs. That said, this build kind of leaves them similar to the Bugbear Barbarians elsewhere in the adventure.

  4. - Top - End - #34
    Troll in the Playground
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Horatio@Bridge View Post
    Did you count the resistance to non-magical weapons as part of their CR? That's less relevant at higher levels, but for low CR creatures it might make the difference between 3 and 4.

    Yeah, I was noting the deadliness of this encounter myself. My thought was to split it into two encounters - first the hobgoblins and ogre, then have the raiders and barghests show up on round 3 or 4. That gives the party time to wipe out the very easy initial encounter and explains how the ambushers get into position.

    Even then, though, six CR 4 creatures is a deadly encounter for quite a range. I'm thinking it might be better to aim for CR 2 with the Raiders. If you put the Half-Dragon template on top of the Berserker NPC then you get fairly close. Adding the resistance to non-magical weapons makes them a big threat to the militia of the Vale while relegating them to more of minion status in fights against the PCs. That said, this build kind of leaves them similar to the Bugbear Barbarians elsewhere in the adventure.
    I did actually fail to take into account the resistance to non-magical weapons - that'll theoretically "double" their hitpoints, meaning I can cut out a crapton of those HD to make them have closer to 60ish hitpoints, which would make them a pretty decent CR3.

    I'm not as worried about the deadliness of this encounter for two reasons. Firstly, the characters should be about mid-Tier 2 at this point, so all of the AoE damage should be coming into their own at this point. As I mentioned, a single fireball will deal about 28 points of damage on a successful save, wiping out the hobgoblins. Secondly, this is supposed to be a Deadly encounter. This is the assassin squad the the Red Hand has sent out specifically looking for the heroes will destroyed the bridge and took out Saarvith/Regiarix.

    Even so, dropping the Ogre (at least) probably isn't a bad idea, so when thew barghests and blackspawn raiders come out to play, the party should be able to focus their full attention on them. Maybe make sure that the assassins don't get the drop on the party? Your suggestion of giving the players a few turns after they attack/annihilate the hobgoblins is a good one, especially given how the barghests/blackspawn raiders have no ranged options (save for the 40ft breath weapons).

    Yeah, I'm avoiding touching that Berserker statblock for the exact same reason - I feel as if it'll remove a lot of the "oomph" from the Blood Ghost berserkers in Act 4 when they appear in Brindol.

    EDIT: How's this for a lower CR'd Blackspawn Raider?
    Spoiler: Blackspawn Raider
    Show
    Medium Monstrosity, Chaotic Evil
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
    HP 68 (9d8+27)
    Speed 40 ft
    -------------------------
    Str 14 (+2), Dex 14 (+2), Con 16 (+3)
    Int 10 (+0), Wis 11 (+0), Cha 8 (-1)
    -------------------------
    Senses darkvision 60ft, passive perception 10
    Skills Survival +4
    Damage Resistances Acid, bludgeoning/piercing/slashing from non-magical weapon attacks
    Languages Common, Draconic
    CR 3 (700 XP)
    -------------------------
    Traits
    We the Raiders A blackspawn raider may deal an additional 7 (2d6) damage once per turn if attacking a target that is within 5ft of an ally, who cannot be incapacitated.
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Multiattack A blackspawn raider makes 2 falchion (greatsword) attacks when using the Attack action
    Falchion (melee) +4: 9 (2d6+2) slashing damage
    Acid Breath (Recharge 5-6) 40ft line, DC13 Dexterity saving throw or take 21 (6d6) acid damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful save.



    Lowering the HD to 9 will decrease out hit points to 68, making them far more manageable. I've also lowered their strength by 2, changing their to-hit bonus and damage to +4/2d6+2 respectively, and lowered the breath weapon to 6d6 (avg. 21) from 6d8 (avg. 27). I'm really tempted to leave the sneak attack in, just because it seems to fit, and as they are here they're aalready weak CR3. So if we drop the ogre and give the players a few rounds to defeat the "bait" first, we get something closer to the following (math):

    [(100*5)*2]+{[(1100*2)+(700*4)]*2}=11000, which would still be 2750/player, which is 1000 beyond Deadly.

    Let's try this with no ogre, so 5 hobgoblins and only 1 barghest and 3 blackspawn raiders.

    [(100*5)*2]+{[1100+(700*3)]*2}=7400/4=1850, which is actually pretty good - a little bit beyond Deadly for 7th level players, and not quite Deadly for 8th level characters. We can leave it up to individual DM to ramp the encounter as necessary - I know that I'm probably going to use my original ones, because my players are actually semi-optimized and keep rolling hot.

  5. - Top - End - #35
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    I note that the original text has Power Attack for the Raiders, so what if we give them some sort of GWM effect? -5/+10 might be a little too much, but perhaps something like -2/+1d6? They have a low attack bonus so this will be kind of punishing, but it would have synergy with stuff like the Hobgoblin Captain's Leadership trait or anything that provides advantage.
    Developer for the Sengai Jidai role-playing game, powered by FATE. Check out the latest progress at the development blog.

  6. - Top - End - #36
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Horatio@Bridge View Post
    I note that the original text has Power Attack for the Raiders, so what if we give them some sort of GWM effect? -5/+10 might be a little too much, but perhaps something like -2/+1d6? They have a low attack bonus so this will be kind of punishing, but it would have synergy with stuff like the Hobgoblin Captain's Leadership trait or anything that provides advantage.
    I could take out the SA-analogue and do some sort of Powerful Blow trait, allowing them to do -2/+1d6 or the like. Or maybe make them use an improvised weapon, but give them the Bugbear's Brutal feature? It'd remove the +2 proficiency bonus and add an extra d6 worth of damage.

    Looking at the 3.5e statblock is also why I gave them proficiency/Expertise in Survival, actually.

  7. - Top - End - #37
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Yeah, I think it's better if you don't have the DM have to make the calculation as to when to take the -2 every round for every monster. Setting them to +2 to hit with 3d6+2 damage captures the Power Attack flavor fairly well. These folks won't do well against medium or high AC opponents, but they'll be nasty against low AC PCs. Though it might be worthwhile to boost them back up to a +3 strength modifier.

    Edit: Also, the Half-Dragon template would give CR 3 black half-dragons 5d8 damage on the breath weapon.
    Last edited by Horatio@Bridge; 2017-11-16 at 04:22 PM.
    Developer for the Sengai Jidai role-playing game, powered by FATE. Check out the latest progress at the development blog.

  8. - Top - End - #38
    Troll in the Playground
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Final (?) version of the Blackspawn Raider
    Spoiler: Blackspawn Raider
    Show
    Medium Monstrosity, Chaotic Evil
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
    HP 68 (9d8+27)
    Speed 40 ft
    -------------------------
    Str 16 (+3), Dex 14 (+2), Con 16 (+3)
    Int 10 (+0), Wis 11 (+0), Cha 8 (-1)
    -------------------------
    Senses darkvision 60ft, passive perception 10
    Skills Survival +4
    Damage Resistances Acid, bludgeoning/piercing/slashing from non-magical weapon attacks
    Languages Common, Draconic
    CR 3 (700 XP)
    -------------------------
    Traits
    Basic Training A blackspawn raider is only proficient in simple weapons.
    Brutal A blackspawn raider may add one additional die of damage to any melee weapon attack he makes (included in the attacks below).
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Multiattack A blackspawn raider makes 2 falchion (greatsword) attacks when using the Attack action
    Falchion (melee) +3: 14 (3d6+3) slashing damage
    Acid Breath (Recharge 5-6) 40ft line, DC13 Dexterity saving throw or take 21 (6d6) acid damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful save.


    This actually works better encounter-wise as well, because it'll be the barghests in charge, and they can just direct the raiders to act as they see fit.

    Well, I'm off to create an encounter for the Graveyard of Brindol now. My players couldn't make it all at once this week, so I'm running two mini-sessions. I'm sending the Sorceror and Warlock off to the graveyard for some 4e Minion-style fun.

  9. - Top - End - #39
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    DwarfClericGuy

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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Hey there,
    I'm following the topic with much interest, as I am currently converting and translating RHoD for my players. Right now they are still playing through the Sandbox Lost Mines of Phandelver. When they're finished, I'm planning on running RHoD.
    The little input I can provide is not based on gameplay, because as I mentioned my players aren't there yet. Anyway, I liked the idea of having monsters linked to specific dragons. We already have greenspawns, blackspawns and bluespawns in the campaign, but no redspawns. So to create a redspawn, I modified the Blood Ghost Berserker. I also modified the blackspawn to fit what I had in mind.

    Spoiler: Redspawn Berserker
    Show
    Medium Monstrosity
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 16 (scale mail)
    HP 105
    Speed 40 ft
    Initiative +2
    -------------------------
    Str +5, Dex +2, Con +3
    Int -1 Wis 0 Cha +1
    -------------------------
    Saving throws S +7 C + 5
    Skills Athletics +7, Intimidation +3, Stealth +4
    Immunities fire
    Resistances slashing, bludgeoning, piercing
    Senses blindsight 10 ft, darkvision 60 ft
    Languages Draconic, Common
    CR 4 (1100 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.
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Multiattack: The redspawn makes two weapon attacks.
    Fiery greataxe (melee) +7: 1d12+5 slashing + 1d4 fire


    The idea is to have a very heavy hitter, with a considerable HP pool, that doesn't stop and think when it sees something to smash. An Ogre on steroids. I took out the breath weapon to emphasize their preference for melee situations. I gave them the option of magically setting their weapon on fire, hence the 1d4 fire damage. This way the players won't end up with 20+ fiery weapons that could be sold for a vault of gold.

    I also modified the blackspawn raider because I felt I needed something to balance the heavy hitter above. In this new iteration, the blackspawn raider is something more akin to a a fast and elegant, yet deadly dancer.
    Spoiler: Blackspawn Raider
    Show
    Medium Monstrosity
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 17 (leather, natural)
    HP 90
    Speed 40 ft
    Initiative +4
    -------------------------
    Str +2, Dex +4, C on +2
    Int 0, Wis +1 C ha -1
    -------------------------
    Saving throws D +6 C +4
    Skills Stealth +6, Intimidation +1, Acrobatics +6
    Immunities acid
    Senses blindsight 10 ft, darkvision 60 ft
    Languages Draconic, Common
    CR 4 (1100 XP)
    -------------------------
    Brutal: A blackspawn raider may add one additional die of damage to any melee weapon attack he makes (included in the attacks below).
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Multiattack: The blackspawn makes two weapon attacks.
    Scimitar (melee) +7: 2d6+2 slashing and Scimitar (offhand, melee) +7: 2d6+2 slashing
    Acid Breath (Recharge 5-6, 15-ft line): 6d6 acid (Dex DC 13 half)


    This should hit more or less as well as the Berserker, but it has a slightly lower HP pool. To compensate this and for the fact that it doesn't have the resistances the Berserker has, I kept the breath weapon. In alternative, one could remove the breath weapon and allowe the blackspawn to give an "acidic coat" to its weapons. Might also work well.
    My 2 cents. I will post Skather and the bluespawn lizard next time.
    Cheers!

  10. - Top - End - #40
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Thanks for the feedback, Moradin! I'm interested in how you tie LMoP to the Red Hand. Have you made changes to any of the NPCs? Is Phandelar going to be involved in the invasion, or will the PCs be traveling to a different region? What hook do you use to get the PCs to head to Drellin's Ferry?

    So, one thing I've been doing with my Spawns is giving them dual types, including the fiend(demon) type. This gives them a whole host of resistances that should make them pretty tough to fight, but also a few weaknesses like vulnerability to the Paladin's Turn ability. So the Raiders are Humanoid (Draconic), Fiend (Demon) and the Greenspawn are Monstrosity (Draconic), Fiend (Demon). I feel like this gets at the weird hybrid nature of these creatures. Also the Draconic subtype means that they're subject to dragon-slaying weapons, which makes that kind of treasure valuable in more situations than just the big dragon fights.

    Kuulvheysoon, did you get a chance to run Marked for Death yet?

  11. - Top - End - #41
    Troll in the Playground
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Horatio@Bridge View Post
    Thanks for the feedback, Moradin! I'm interested in how you tie LMoP to the Red Hand. Have you made changes to any of the NPCs? Is Phandelar going to be involved in the invasion, or will the PCs be traveling to a different region? What hook do you use to get the PCs to head to Drellin's Ferry?

    So, one thing I've been doing with my Spawns is giving them dual types, including the fiend(demon) type. This gives them a whole host of resistances that should make them pretty tough to fight, but also a few weaknesses like vulnerability to the Paladin's Turn ability. So the Raiders are Humanoid (Draconic), Fiend (Demon) and the Greenspawn are Monstrosity (Draconic), Fiend (Demon). I feel like this gets at the weird hybrid nature of these creatures. Also the Draconic subtype means that they're subject to dragon-slaying weapons, which makes that kind of treasure valuable in more situations than just the big dragon fights.

    Kuulvheysoon, did you get a chance to run Marked for Death yet?
    Nah, man. I had to split my party into two last week, as I was missing two players (husband/wife) due to the husband's presurgery appointment in the city (which we all live about 5 hours away from). The group of three who were here did random errands around the Vale (they helped evacuate Witchcross by dealing with a trio of trolls, who seriously freaked out the players), and the husband/wife were supposed to deal with the graveyard.

    This week I'm only missing them again, but a former player has come back for the week to bump us up to 4. I'll drop the plot hooks for both the graveyard and something outside Brindol. Should they go for the latter, I'll be running Marked for Death. If not, the week after next (29 or 30th) I'll have the whole team back together, and we'll do the war council, which I expect to take up the whole evening with the planning of the defense and such. I'll also drop hooks for scouting the army and such for another chance to drop Marked for Death.

    Long story short - either in a couple days or in two weeks. This group is pretty combat-thirsty, though, so if I drop the hint to hunt something down/secure something/etc... they should get the hint and do it.

  12. - Top - End - #42
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    I've just updated the Elsir War post with the Into the Horde event. I've given a lot of guidance on how to run that, and I'd appreciate feedback and other ideas on how to deal with PCs who have clever plans for fighting armies.

    I'm curious, what happened with the Trolls to freak out the players?

    Good luck with the encounter in a few days or two weeks!

  13. - Top - End - #43
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Horatio@Bridge View Post
    I've just updated the Elsir War post with the Into the Horde event. I've given a lot of guidance on how to run that, and I'd appreciate feedback and other ideas on how to deal with PCs who have clever plans for fighting armies.

    I'm curious, what happened with the Trolls to freak out the players?

    Good luck with the encounter in a few days or two weeks!
    They apparently didn't know anything (and I mean anything) about trolls, so when they started regenerating they panicked a bit. That, and I use the Loathsome Limbs variant found in the MM. When I described them chopping off the troll's head, they were all "Yeah, that wasn't so tough!"... then the body continued attacking them and the head started biting the barbarian's leg.

    And they used fire at the very start of the encounter with the druid tossing a produce flame at them... and promptly missing and figuring that it didn't work, so what was the point?

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    DwarfClericGuy

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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Horatio@Bridge View Post
    Thanks for the feedback, Moradin! I'm interested in how you tie LMoP to the Red Hand. Have you made changes to any of the NPCs? Is Phandelar going to be involved in the invasion, or will the PCs be traveling to a different region? What hook do you use to get the PCs to head to Drellin's Ferry?[...]
    Hey Horatio, it was and will be my pleasure to reply and add my thoughs to the thread. Warning, longass post ahead.

    Spoiler: I'm interested in how you tie LMoP to the Red Hand.
    Show
    I tied LMoP to RHoD in two ways. I will throw a light hint on what's going to happen early on when they will run into the "Orcs" at Wyvern Tor. This is a standalone encounter that someone in Phandalin gives them. In the original campaign, orcs are waylaying travelers and they will have to be taken care of. In my campaign, I kept the fact that travelers think it was orcs that did them in, but it was in fact hobgoblin scouts. I figured the average person would probably not be wise enough to distinguish between orcs and hobgoblins when their life is on the line. They're simply monsters to them. Anyway, the hobgoblins are scouts for the Red Hand in full attire (red hand brand and such), sent in the Cloud peaks (will address this later) to forge alliances with the local goblinoid tribes and to gather information on the potential of the area. They got carried away and they began to plunder the occasional travelling merchant.

    Second: the big hook will be a map that points to "great treasure beneath Vraath Keep". The players will find in the Wave echo cave itself. There's two different spots where to drop the map: one is with an old book in possession of Mormesk (area 14 of the Wave Echo Cave). It says right in the adventure that the DM could use this map to tie in the following adventure. It's a good spot, but I feel the second spot is even better. I am thinking on having it lie simply on the Black Spider's desk (area 19), among other documents. This way they will find it just after the epic showdown between the party and the mastermind. It might also be a good idea to change Nezznar the Black Spider from a drow to an hobgoblin mage, perhaps a War adept. It's still early, my players are in Thundertree right now, so I have time to do the changes. If I'm going this route, Nezznar the hobgoblin will have found the map inside Wave Echo cave and will have commented on a side of the map something along the line, "Ask Koth to look into this, treasure means money for the invasion". I think it would work well.

    Another thing I did for connecting the two adventures together was to change the entire Thundertree part. Now the green dragon, Venomfang, was looking for eggs stolen from her by the cultists in the eastern part of town. She asks the PCs for help (under the guise of a dryad). They did help her and recover the eggs. Before going away, the dragon said if they meet again, she won't forget the help they gave her. I am planning on having Venomfang join the horde as the green dragon guardian of Skull Gorge Bridge. When they attack, the dragon recognizes them and won't attack them. Won't attack the horde's troops either. It will simply watch events unfold. I feel this is a reasonable behaviour from a LE creature with allegiance to one cause and a pretty significant debt to a different cause. Moreover, she's smart. She figures, if the players win, she'll be satisfied she payed her debt to the players and fly back to nurse her kids. If the horde wins, she's strong enough to kill the last defenders and claim that without her the bridge would have fallen. Since they already helped her in Thundertree, I will have to buff the encounter significantly. Maybe 1-2 more hell hounds would do the trick. It should be fun.


    Spoiler: Have you made changes to any of the NPCs?
    Show
    Apart from Venomfang, I did not make changes in any of the major NPCs in Phandalin, although as I said I'm considering changing the Black Spider to a red hand hobgoblin mage operative.


    Spoiler: Is Phandelar going to be involved in the invasion, or will the PCs be traveling to a different region?
    Show
    Phandalin is going to eventually be invaded because of where I set Phandalin in my campaign. So, in the original module, Phandalin was just south of Neverwinter. I moved Phandalin just south of Beregost, because I'm much more familiar with the area (and I have Beregost ready). The new Phandalin is on the hills on the northern side of the Cloud Peaks, 2 days off of Nashkel, 3 off of Beregost. According to canon, in this area there's very little. You have the Cloud Peaks to the south, The Wood of Sharp Teeth to the North, the Sword Coast to the west and to the east... the GreenFields. Miles and miles of empty fields. What a waste.
    I set the entire Elsir vale in the Greenfield. The Westdeep forest can be the Wood of Sharp Teeth, the Wyvernwatch mountains are the Cloud peaks, and most of the Thornwaste can be converted into mountains. You don't need such a huge desert there, the GhostLord Lair is literally 10 miles away from the road. Also, this way the Dawn Way can go through the Wood of Sharp Teeth straight to Beregost connecting Dennovar (and Marsember/Iriaebor east of Dennovar) and Brindol to Beregost, Baldur's gate and Athkatla; this also serves the narrative of the Dawn way being an important commercial route, because it connects Cormyr with Amn and the Sword Coast.
    In all this, poor Phandalin will be invaded as soon as the horde is finished with the Vale. The vale is the principal prize, but once the WyrmLords are done with it, they will inevitably consider shifting their gaze on controlling the region through further espansion. In my world, Phandalin is only about 4-5 days away from Drellin's ferry, so it's natural for the horde to continue espanding that way, westward. This is also in the light of the fact that after securing the access to Amn, they might be able to move on Beregost from two different direction: from south through Phandalin/Nashkel and from East through the Wood of Sharp Teeth along the Dawn way.
    A big component on the appeal the characters will have about saving the vale is that if they don't, it will hurt their interest. At the end of LMoP, they will have shares of the mine, which I estimate in 2000 gp/month, about 400-500 gp/month per each player. Will they be ok with the horde taking away their rightfully earned shares? I don't think so, as Lord Jarmaath or Norro Wiston will cleverly point out once the plans for the invasion become evident.


    Spoiler: What hook do you use to get the PCs to head to Drellin's Ferry?
    Show
    As I mentioned above, I think the map pointing to great treasure beneath Vraath Keep is a great hook. Adventurers like their items and gold, so there's nothing better to motivate them. I placed some very cool gear in the vault underneath Vraath Keep: Gauntlets of Ogre Power, revised Wand of Life, +1 Frostbrand Bastard Sword, +1 Chain Mail. We're speaking of 20k gp worth of treasure, but there's not much more treasure in the rest of the adventure, apart from Wyrmlords gear.
    A different hook would be to have Kelddath Ormlyr of the Song of the Morning (Lathander's chuch in Beregost) contact the players to go deliver a message to the clerics at the Poetry of the Dawn (Lathander's Chuch in Brindol). He had a vision of impending doom, he's worried about his colleagues and Lathander's faithfuls in the vale. Unfortunately for the horde, to get to Brindol the PCs will have to pass through Drellin's Ferry. I admit the first hook feels stronger.


    It should be fun. The most annoying thing about converting is that there's so many monsters we don't have conversion to 5 ed yet (looking at you, dire lions). And this is one of the reasons why I'm so interested in your work and the work of the other participants! Keep it up!

    Edit: I noticed that while I was writing, you posted your suggestions about Captured! and Into the Horde. I just have a suggestion for the Captured! event. This event will likely take 2-3 days of in-game time. The PCs will have to go through torture to have a chance to escape. I would keep the EL for escaping at 5 (about 2000 xp for the party; the fight is designed to be quite easy after all), but would also give 1000-1500 xp to each member that manages to escape. During their stay as guests of the horde, they did nothing else but be tortured and beaten. Giving them a solid xp reward because they escaped and survived the ordeal, I think would be very gratifying for the players, for the loss of time they experienced and the resilience they showed. 1k xp at 7th level is not so much anyway, because to pass to 8th level a char has to gain 11k xp.
    Last edited by Moradin; 2017-11-20 at 01:35 PM. Reason: added considerations about the Captured! event

  15. - Top - End - #45
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    So, let's do up a list of monster from the module that we'll need to convert and we can get started on them in here. We'll ignore the major "custom" bad guys and have their own list for them.
    • Blackspawn Raider Check upthread
    • Blue Abishai
    • Bluespawn Thunderlizard
    • Greenspawn Razorfiend Check upthread
    • Ghost Dire Lion
    • Ghost Brute Lion
    • Lesser Bonedrinker
    • Night Hag (needs to have something done, as it's only a CR5 in 5e)
    • Wyvern Zombie
    • Aspect of Tiamat


    BBEGs
    • Wyrmlord Koth
    • Ozyrrandion
    • Miha Serani (toss Sorceror levels on a Aranea?)
    • Wyrmlord Saarvith
    • Regiarix
    • Varanthian
    • The Ghostlord
    • Ulwai Stormcaller
    • Abithriax
    • Skather
    • Wyrmlord Hravek Kharn
    • Tyrgarun
    • High Wyrmlord Azarr Kul


    That about catches them all, I believe.

  16. - Top - End - #46
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    Thumbs up Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Kuulvheysoon View Post
    So, let's do up a list of monster from the module that we'll need to convert and we can get started on them in here. We'll ignore the major "custom" bad guys and have their own list for them.[...]
    Good thinking.
    I have homebrew Dire Lion, the Bluespawn Thunderlizard and Skather. Will translate back to english and edit this post (I know, I'm not a smart man).
    Also, all the dragons (Vaarathian is the fifth dragon in my campaign), Saarvith and Koth. Will repost in a couple of hours.

    Edit: here's the dire Lion I posted in another thread on Converting RHoD (which sadly came to silence in the last few weeks).
    The template was taken from a reddit user, you can find the link below
    Spoiler: Dire template
    Show

    /r/UnearthedArcana/comments/46ogcz/dire_template_and_applications_in_5e/


    Following the template, I built a Dire Lion as such:
    Spoiler: Dire Lion
    Show
    Large Beast
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 14
    HP 80 (7d12+21)
    Speed 45 ft
    -------------------------
    Str +5, Dex +3, Con +3
    Int -4, Wis +1, Cha -1
    -------------------------
    Skills Perception +3, Stealth +7
    Senses passive Perception 13
    Languages n/a
    CR 3 (700 XP)
    -------------------------
    Keen Smell. The Dire Lion has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
    Pack Tactics. The lion has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the lion's allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
    Pounce. If the lion moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a claw attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the lion can make one bite attack against it as a bonus action.
    Running Leap. With a 10-foot running start, the lion can long jump up to 30 feet.
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Bite (melee) +7: 1d10+5 piercing.

    Claw (melee) +7: 1d8+5 slashing.


    What I did is to take the Lion stats (MM, page 331) and apply the template. The only modification I made myself was to keep Strength at 20, because applying the template as is, it would have been 22, which is a bit too much for a lion, albeit a dire version. I instead used those 2 extra points in Strength to buff the Dex up a point, which increases AC to 14. Also, I increased running speed by 5 feet and die for bite and claw attacks, to reflect the increase in size and muscle of the animal. It's supposed to be a beast about double the size of a regular lion (cue Nymeria and the other Dire Wolves in Game of Thrones).
    Will post Bluespawn Thunderlizard next.
    Last edited by Moradin; 2017-11-20 at 02:30 PM.

  17. - Top - End - #47
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Moradin View Post
    Good thinking.
    I have homebrew Dire Lion, the Bluespawn Thunderlizard and Skather. Will translate back to english and edit this post (I know, I'm not a smart man).
    I actually cheated and used Kobold Press's Tome of Beasts for the Ghost Lions - I stole the Lich Hound and it was a pretty good substitution in a pinch.

    I can probably post the versions of the Wyrmlords that I used either today or on Thursday, depending on how crazy the day today looks.

  18. - Top - End - #48
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Bluespawn Thunder Lizard

    Spoiler
    Show
    Large Monstrosity, LE
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 16
    HP 84 (9d10+36)
    Speed 40 ft
    -------------------------
    Str +5, Dex -1, Con +4
    Int -4 Wis +2 Cha -1
    -------------------------
    Skills Athletics +7, Perception +2
    Senses passive Perception 13
    Immunities electricity
    Languages Draconic, Common (understand, cannot speak)
    CR 4 (700 XP)
    -------------------------
    Charge: If the Thunder Lizard moves at least 20 ft. straight toward a target and then hits it with a gore attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 2d10 piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Gore (melee) +7: 2d10+5 piercing.
    Electricity Arc (30 ft line, recharge 5-6): 6d6 electric damage (Dexterity CD 14 for half).
    Electricity Link: When 2 or more bluespawn thunderlizards gather, electricity surges between them. If they use their Electricity Arc attack in the same turn, the arc curves to create a whirlwind between two thunderlizards. Anyone in a radius of 30 feet from each thunder lizard is hit by an electric discharge that deals 3d6 damages as electric (Dexterity DC 14 for half). For each Thunder Lizard participating with its electricity arc to the formation of the whirlwind, the damage increases by 1 die and the DC increases by 1.


    The monster above appears during the third wave of the Streets of Blood encounter. The beast is based on the stats I found for the rhinoceros, page 336 MM. I kept the gore attack almost as is, I just increased the damage die to reflect that they should be slightly bigger than the pachyderm. The rest is largely based on the Bluespawn Storm Lizard I found on page 142 of MM IV 3.5 edition (Gods, I loved that edition!). Nothing new about the electricity arc, it's basically their breath weapon. The DC and damage are on the lower side because after all they're CR 3 (as opposed to 6 iirc in the adventure). The big deal is the electricity link. I changed it from the original formulation because I liked the idea of creating a localized thunderstorm on the barricade the PCs are trying to protect. Because in the encounter there are 5 Thunder Lizards, they could deal as much as 6d6 electric damage to anyone within 30 feet from the barricade, with a DC of 17 to halve. Of course this would be on top of their electricity arc (which is a line, so it should hit only a limited number of creatures/players). Assuming half damage from both arc and link, that's about 36 damage in one round to anyone around the barricate. More than enough to kill off most if not all the defenders, but it should not be enough to kill the PCs (unless one or more fail both their saves, in which case they might get as much as 72 damages; still probably just enough to kill magic users).
    The trick is, the thunder lizards need at least 2 turns to get to the barricade down the street. By then, smart PCs should have realized that they could concentrate their spells and ranged attacks on one-two targets and have a decent chance of killing anything in 1 turn from a distance. So, out of the 5 Lizards, if they play smart they could get 2 down before they even reach the barricade. The EL for that encounter is 8, for a total of 4000 xp. The goblins will do very little damage anyway; mainly bother the PCs and the other defenders during those two turns of waiting for the big boom. I would have them die during the electricity link.
    What do you guys think about this?
    Last edited by Moradin; 2017-11-20 at 03:32 PM.

  19. - Top - End - #49
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Going in order, I am posting the converted stats from another thread on the topic, which sadly came to a halt (I hope temporarily). I believe Draz74 has done a wonderful job in his conversions so far.

    Spoiler: this is the link
    Show
    giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?525127-Converting-Red-Hand-of-Doom-to-5e


    Spoiler: WyrmLord Koth
    Show
    Medium Humanoid (goblinoid)
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 12 (15 with mage armor)
    HP 40
    Speed 30 ft
    -------------------------
    Str +2, Dex +2, Con +1
    Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +3
    -------------------------
    Saving Throws Con +4, Cha +6
    Skills Arcana +3, Intimidate +6, Stealth +5
    Senses darkvision 60 ft
    Languages Goblin, Common, Infernal
    CR 5 (1800 XP)
    -------------------------
    Heart of Hruggek. Koth has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned, stunned, or put to sleep.
    Spellcasting. Koth is a 7th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). Koth knows the following spells:
    Cantrips (at will): acid splash, mage hand, message, minor illusion, true strike
    1st level (4 slots): charm person, mage armor,* shield
    2nd level (3 slots): blindness/deafness
    3rd level (3 slots): fear, fireball, fly
    4th level (1 slot)
    *Koth casts this spell on himself before combat begins.
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Multiattack. Koth attacks twice with his morningstar.
    Morningstar (melee) +5: 2d8+2 piercing
    Wand of Magic Missiles (7 charges): For one charge, casts the 1st-level version of the magic missile spell; increase the spell slot level by one for each additional charge expended. The wand regains 1d6+1 expended charges daily at dawn. If Koth expends the wand's last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the wand crumbles into ashes and is destroyed.


    Spoiler: Old Warklegnaw
    Show
    Huge Giant
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 14
    HP 134
    Speed 30 ft
    -------------------------
    Str +6, Dex +0, Con +5
    Int -1, Wis +2, Cha -2
    -------------------------
    Skills Intimidation +1, Perception +5
    Senses darkvision 60 ft
    Languages Giant, Common
    CR 7 (2900 XP)
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Multiattack. Old Warklegnaw makes two melee attacks or two ranged attacks.
    Greatclub (melee, reach 10 ft) +8: 3d8+6 bludgeoning
    Boulder (thrown 60/240 ft) +8: 3d10+5 bludgeoning


    Spoiler: WyrmLord Saarvith by Draz74
    Show
    Small Humanoid (goblinoid)
    -------------------------

    Armor Class 16 (studded leather armor)
    HP 60
    Speed 30 ft
    -------------------------
    Str +1, Dex +4, Con +2
    Int -1, Wis +2, Cha +0
    -------------------------
    Saving Throws Str +4, Dex +7
    Skills Animal Handling +5, Medicine +5, Perception +5, Stealth +7, Survival +5
    Senses darkvision 60 ft
    Languages Goblin, Common, Draconic, Elvish, Giant
    CR 5 (1800 XP)
    -------------------------
    Nimble Escape. Saarvith can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of his turns.
    Natural Explorer. Saarvith has advantage on initiative rolls, as well as on attack rolls against creatures that have not yet acted during his first turn of combat.
    Greater Favored Enemy. Saarvith has a +4 bonus to damage rolls with weapon attacks against humanoids and giants. He has advantage on Wisdom (Survival) checks to track humanoids and giants, and on Intelligence checks to recall information about them. He additionally has advantage on saving throws against the spells and abilities of giants.
    Coordinated Attack. When Saarvith uses the Attack action on his turn, if his hawk can see him, it can use its reaction to make a melee attack.
    Spellcasting. Saarvith is a 7th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). He knows the following spells:
    1st level (4 slots): absorb elements, alarm, ensnaring strike, hunter's mark, longstrider
    2nd level (3 slots)
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Scimitar (melee) +7: 1d6+4 slashing, 1d6+9 against humans and giants
    Shortbow (ranged 80/320 ft) +9: 1d6+4 piercing, 1d6+9 against humans and giants


    In the same thread there's an alternative construction posted by Kuulvheysoon, who's also participating to great effect in this thread:

    Spoiler: WyrmLord Saarvith by Kuulvheysoon
    Show
    Small Humanoid (goblinoid), neutral evil
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 16 (leather)
    HP 80
    Speed 30 ft
    -------------------------
    Str +0, Dex +5, Con +2
    Int +0, Wis +2, Cha +0
    -------------------------
    Saving Throws Str +3, Dex +8
    Skills Acrobatics +8, Perception +4, Stealth +8, Survival +4
    Senses darkvision 60ft, passive perception 15
    Languages Common, Goblin
    CR 5 (1800 XP)
    -------------------------
    Nimble Escape Saarvith can use the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on his turn
    Natural Explorer Saarvith gets advantage on attacks against foes who haven't acted yet in the first round of combat, as well as advantage on Initiative checks and the ability to ignore difficult terrain.
    Favored Enemy Saarvith deals an additional +4 damage to creatures of the humanoid type
    Greater Favored Enemy Saarvith deals an additional +4 damage to creatures of the aberration type
    Fighting Style Archery; adds +2 to all ranged weapon attacks rolls
    Hunter's Prey Colossus Slayer; once per turn Saarvith may deal an additional 1d8 damage to a creature already below its hit point maximum
    Defensive Tactics Multiattack Defense; when a creature hits you with an attack, you gain a +4 bonus to AC against subsequent attacks by that creature for the rest of the turn
    Spellcasting Saarvith is a 7th level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Wisdom (Spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). Saarvith knows the following ranger spells:
    1st level (4 slots): ensnaring strike, hail of thorns, hunter's mark
    2nd level (3 slots): pass without trace, spike growth
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Multiattack. Saarvith makes two shortbow attacks, or two scimitar attacks
    Shortbow +1 (ranged 80/320 ft) +11: 1d6+6 piercing; 1d6+10 piercing if the target is a Humanoid or an Aberration
    Scimitar (melee) +8, 1d6+5 slashing; 1d6+9 slashing if the target is a Humanoid or an Aberration

    So I made Saarvith a 7th level ranger (Hunter Conclave) because I did want him to be able to work as he was originally intended, that being mounted on top of his dragon friend. Given how mounted combat works in 5e, I decided that giving him the Mounted Combatant feat would likely be overkill, and instead pushed his Dexterity to 20. He's got some support/offensive spells, and he'll probably drop at least one of my players to 0 if they aren't careful.


    I think the latter would work better, because of the multiattack dynamics (double attacks + defenisive tactics). For both constructions, I would consider giving the WyrmLord a studded leather armor +1. That would bump his AC up to 17/18 depending on the construction used.

    Also, below you will find a construction I made for a hobgoblin archer. I was thinking, this is a pretty well planned and organized invasion, with specific troops used in specific situations. It makes sense to have archers in every army, why not have them in a horde that's supposed to have at least one major siege? Basically these are hobgoblin regulars that specialize in ranged weapons. Little armor to not hinder movement. No meelee weapons, bu with the bow they hit better than a sergeant. I took away the Martial prowess because it is useless on this kind of unit.

    Spoiler: Hobgoblin Archer
    Show
    Medium Humanoid (goblinoid)
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 13 (leather)
    HP 11
    Speed 30 ft
    -------------------------
    Str 0, Dex +3, Con +1
    Int +0, Wis +0, Cha -1
    -------------------------
    Senses darkvision 60 ft
    Languages Goblin, Common
    CR 1/2 (100 XP)
    -------------------------
    Sniper when using a ranged weapon, the hobgoblin has advantage to hit with that weapon
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Multiattack when using a ranged weapon, the hobgoblin makes two attacks

    Longbow (ranged 150/600 ft) +5: 1d8+3 piercing

  20. - Top - End - #50
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    If you look at the Not-So-Sick Spy, I have a version of Miha based on the Lamia monster entry. This makes her less of a shapeshifter trickster and more of an Enchantress style mind-bender, but I think that's an interesting antagonist anyway. I also have a version based on a Doppleganger if one wishes to stick with the shapeshifter angle. In any case, as far as I know the Aranea doesn't exist anymore. Which is not to say that we couldn't make one.

    I'm not sure that the Dire Lion has the damage output of a CR 3 since it doesn't have a consistent multi-attack feature. What if we reduced the die by one step but then used a Brute-type feature to give it two dice on each attack? So the claw is 2d6 and the bite is 2d8. Of course that all goes away when we switch to Ghost and it gets a 4d6 necrotic attack...


    For the Bluespawn Thunderlizard, what do you think of adding the Fiend (Demon) type and the Demon resistances to fire, cold, lightning, and non-magical weapons? At the very least it should be resistant to non-magical weapons to reflect its DR from 3.5e. The whirlwind feature makes them a lot deadlier than anticipated and thus might be worth increasing the CR by a point. Alternatively we might reduce their HP and AC to make them more of glass cannons (which is even more important if they have a lot of resistances). Taking off 2 HD would get them down to 63 HP, and we could reduce their AC to 12 or 13.

    I like the idea of having Saarvith drop +1 Studded Leather. That would be a fantastic drop for any rogue or warlock in the party. It might even be worth bumping it to +2 or giving it a feature like acid resistance (maybe it's made with the dragon's shed scales).

    I'd note that Martial Advantage works just fine for ranged attacks. It applies to any weapon attack if an ally is within 5 feet of the target. Throw a few regular hobgoblins in to trigger that ability and the archers can be hitting for a lot of damage. I think if we just take the regular hobgoblin, drop strength to 11, buff dex to 14, and give them chain shirts for armor then we'll have a really solid ranged threat.

    I really like how you've tied LMoP to the Red Hand. Reusing the Green Dragon is a great move. I'd note that Lorka has also used LMoP and did switch the Black Spider to a hobgoblin. This has worked quite well for them. They also made the mask a magical item that has been providing the party unreliable narrative help from an imp that it summons.

    Oh, if the Black Spider is an agent for the Horde, doesn't that duplicate Miha somewhat? Perhaps they are rival spies, or partners? Is there a way to work Miha into LMoP?

    I'll have to review Saarvith again when I get to that point.

    Thanks again for all the input! Keep it coming. :-D
    Last edited by Horatio@Bridge; 2017-11-21 at 11:26 AM.

  21. - Top - End - #51
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    A word of warning about my Saarvith - you may want to bump him down to Regular Ranger, or at least debuff him a little bit. His hp is a little low, but +11 to hit at probably 7th level is nothing to sneeze at, especially given that it's against all humanoids (and aberrations). He's actually pretty deadly, especially when you combine him with Regiarix.

  22. - Top - End - #52
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Horatio@Bridge View Post
    Oh, if the Black Spider is an agent for the Horde, doesn't that duplicate Miha somewhat? Perhaps they are rival spies, or partners? Is there a way to work Miha into LMoP?

    I'll have to review Saarvith again when I get to that point.

    Thanks again for all the input! Keep it coming. :-D
    I have switched out the dragonspawn things for good old school draconians, for several reasons; 1. I think there are to many dragons for there to be also dragon-like monsters, 2. There is to many goblins for there not to be another 'humanoid' foe, 2. I switched out Rhest with Xak Tsaroth, its a perfect replacement, with Bullywugs taking the role of the Gullydwarfs, and Xak Tsaroth is a very fun dungeon map, I have filled the ruins with silly Bullywugs, corrupted metallic dragon eggs spawning draconians with goblins handing them weapons and sending them south - straight out of the Saruman Uruk-Hai scene.

    Sivak Draconians are shapeshifters and I replaced the dopplegangers in LMoP with a Sivak, we had great fun with that - meaning they all almost faced a TPK when the Sivak revealed itself doing the battle against the Black Spider.

    Later I had the same draconian infiltrate the party again in the form of a NPC bard they picked up, sadly they left him behind, after making sure he knew all their plans. So this is my Miha replacement, I am sure they will meet up with the spy again, maybe in another form - when they finally make it to Brindol, maybe one of their friends have been replaced.

    They are about to face Saarvith so it is great to see some suggestions here. I still haven't decided how to build him, they will face him next week - I almost had them stumble across him last week because they suddenly moved fast, and have now ventured deep into the ruins of Rhest AKA Xak Tsaroth.

  23. - Top - End - #53
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Horatio@Bridge View Post
    [...]
    I'm not sure that the Dire Lion has the damage output of a CR 3 since it doesn't have a consistent multi-attack feature. What if we reduced the die by one step but then used a Brute-type feature to give it two dice on each attack? So the claw is 2d6 and the bite is 2d8. Of course that all goes away when we switch to Ghost and it gets a 4d6 necrotic attack...


    For the Bluespawn Thunderlizard, what do you think of adding the Fiend (Demon) type and the Demon resistances to fire, cold, lightning, and non-magical weapons? At the very least it should be resistant to non-magical weapons to reflect its DR from 3.5e. The whirlwind feature makes them a lot deadlier than anticipated and thus might be worth increasing the CR by a point. Alternatively we might reduce their HP and AC to make them more of glass cannons (which is even more important if they have a lot of resistances). Taking off 2 HD would get them down to 63 HP, and we could reduce their AC to 12 or 13.

    I like the idea of having Saarvith drop +1 Studded Leather. That would be a fantastic drop for any rogue or warlock in the party. It might even be worth bumping it to +2 or giving it a feature like acid resistance (maybe it's made with the dragon's shed scales). [...]
    I agree with your considerations on the damage output of the Dire Lion. Your solution would work, or simply adding Multiattack might do the trick.

    For the Bluespawn ThunderLizard encounter, I miscalculated the EL. 5 CR 3 (thunderlizards) + 5 CR 1/2 (goblins) = EL 13. Even considering that the goblins would not do much damage and die during the Electric Link, that's an EL 10 for the 5 thunderlizards alone, which is in line with the EL 11 reported in the original encounter the EL I originally calculated is correct (EL 8). However, since in the original campaign the suggested EL is 11, we could increase CR to thunderlizards (hence bringing them from 3 to 4) without any changes to AC or HP. This would mean that the new EL is 10 instead of 8, making the encounter more in line with how it was originally designed to be played.
    I agree the way I built the electric link makes them more dangerous than what they originally were, but we also have to consider that there have to be at least 2 bluespawns in order to create an electric link. One cannot create it on its own, and the damage output created by 2-3 is quite low anyway: 3d6/4d6, assuming PCs fail their saving throw, we're looking at 9-12 damages.

    I think a sensible choice is to Alternatively, one could reduce AC and HP without changing the CR. This is because the encounter as is is already Hard/deadly for 4 7-8th level PCs.
    I think it's a good idea to give them resistances, but I wouldn't go so far as to give them resistances to other elements. I think resistance to non-magical weapon is the best choice. By then, PCs should all have magical weapons anyway, or could summon/create some.

    The acid studded leather armor is a nice touch. I hadn't tought of that, but it would make perfect sense. Saarvith and the dragon have been friends for quite some time, it just makes sense that the goblin has access to black dragon scales. On the +2, I have my doubts, as I feel 7th level might be a little too early for a +2 armor. Bounded accuracy makes it capital to drop +2 armor/shield/weapons with parsimony and later in the game. I was planning on having +2 armor/shields start dropping from important monsters when the players will be around 9/10th level (so ideally, Azarr Kun would have a nice +2 armor). Additionally, by that level not all the PCs are likely to have enchanted armor, so a +1 blackscale studded leather armor should be very welcome anyway.
    Spoiler: price
    Show
    I would set the value of this item at around 8000 gp: 1500 gp for +1 armor, 6000 acid resistance + 500 gp crafting.
    Last edited by Moradin; 2017-11-23 at 06:26 AM. Reason: I made a mess. Tried to solve said mess

  24. - Top - End - #54
    Troll in the Playground
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Alright, let's do up some monsters, ladies and gentlemen!

    Spoiler: Lesser Bonedrinker
    Show
    Medium Undead, Chaotic Evil
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 14 (natural armor)
    HP 80
    Speed 30 ft
    -------------------------
    Str 14 (+2), Dex 17 (+3), Con 14 (+2)
    Int 8 (-1), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 14 (+2)
    -------------------------
    Senses darkvision 60ft, passive perception 11
    Skills Stealth +6
    Damage Immunities Poison
    Damage Resistances Cold, fire and thunder
    Immunity to Conditions charmed, exhaustion, poisoned
    Languages Common, Goblin
    CR 3 (700 XP)
    -------------------------
    Traits
    Unholy Toughness Double the lesser bonedrinker's Constitution modifier when determining it's hit points.
    Bone Leech On a successful tentacle attack, the target must make a DC12 Constitution save or have it's hit point maximum reduced by that amount. (Insert blah blah about dying at zero hit points, not sure how much I can type from the MM. It's basically the Lifedrinker ability from the spectre and wraith)
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Multiattack A lesser bonedrinker makes 2 tentacle attacks when using the Attack action
    Tentacle (melee) +5: 12 (2d8+3) necrotic damage, plus see Bone Leech above

    These guys are basically mooks, but dangerous in large numbers (as I believe they were intended to be, even in 3.5E. Then again, they did Constitution damage in 3.5E, so...

    Spoiler: The Ghostlord
    Show
    Medium Undead, Neutral Evil
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 18 (natural armor)
    HP 250hp
    Speed 30 ft
    -------------------------
    Str 10 (+0), Dex 16 (+3), Con 16 (+3)
    Int 14 (+2), Wis 20 (+5), Cha 16 (+3)
    -------------------------
    Senses truesight 120ft, passive perception 19
    Saves Constitution +7, Intelligence +6, Wisdom +9
    Skills Perception +9, Insight +9, Nature +9
    Damage Resistances Cold, lightning, necrotic
    Damage Immunities Poison and damage from non-magical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing attacks.
    Immunity to Conditions charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralysis, poisoned
    Languages Common, Goblin
    CR 13 (10 000XP)
    -------------------------
    Traits
    Paralysing Touch When a creature is damaged by the paralyzing touch action, they must make a DC18 Constitution save or be paralyzed. This save can be repeated at the end of a target's turn.
    Legendary Resistance (3/day) Three times per day, the Ghostlord may choose to succeed instead of fail on any saving throw.
    Turn Resistance Advantage versus turning effects
    Spellcaster As 13th level druid (Spell save DC 18, Spell Attack bonus +10)
    Cantrips known: druidcraft, infestation, produce flame, chill touch
    4 1st level slots
    3 2nd level slots
    3 3rd level slots
    3 4th level slots
    2 5th level slots
    1 6th level slot
    1 7th level slot
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Paralyzing Touch +10, 11 (3d6) cold damage plus paralyzation, see above
    Spellcasting (see above)

    -------------------------
    Legendary Actions
    3 times per round, and only after another creature's turn.
    As the MM Lich, except the saving throw is only DC18, and Disrupt Life deals 6d8 necrotic damage.

    -------------------------
    Lair Actions
    • Necrotic Tether As MM Lich, but DC 18 save
    • Spell Recovery As MM Lich, but roll a d6 and recover that level of slot.
    • Undead Assault As MM Lich, but DC 18 save or take 42 (12d6) necrotic damage (save for half).

    Scaled down Lich from the MM with Druid casting as opposed to Wizard casting.

    Spoiler: Ulwai Stormcaller
    Show
    Medium Humanoid (goblinoid), Neutral Evil
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 16 (breastplate)
    HP 130hp
    Speed 30 ft
    -------------------------
    Str 14 (+2), Dex 16 (+3), Con 14 (+2)
    Int 14 (+2), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 18 (+4)
    -------------------------
    Senses darkvision 60ft, passive perception 15
    Saves Dexterity +6, Charisma +7
    Skills Deception +10, Perception +5, Performance +7, Insight +10
    Languages Common, Goblin
    CR 7 (2900XP)
    -------------------------
    Traits
    Army Arcana As hobgoblin devastator (VGtM, pg. )
    Arcane Advantage As hobgoblin devastator (VGtM, pg. )
    Bardic Inspiration (d8 4 times/rest), options as College of Valour Bard, PHB pg. 55
    Stormheart once per turn, Ulwai may add 2d8 electricity damage to one melee attack
    Spellcaster As 8th level bard (Spell save DC 15, Spell Attack bonus +7)
    Cantrips known: message, stormbolt, true strike, vicious mockery
    4 1st level slots (faerie fire, sleep, tasha's hideous laughter)
    3 2nd level slots (detect thoughts, heat metal, shatter)
    3 3rd level slots (dispel magic, stinking cloud, lightning bolt)
    2 4th level slots (greater invisibility, polymorph)
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Multiattack Ulwai can make 2 whip attacks when she uses the Attack action.
    Whip (melee, 10ft reach) +6: 5 (1d4+3) slashing damage
    Spellcasting (see above)

    *stormbolt is simply an electric version of firebolt
    Keep in mind that Ulwai's greatest tools aren't her spells, it's her ability to mess with the minds of the players with the help of her +10 to Deception, and ability to spot that same thing from the players with +10 to Insight.

  25. - Top - End - #55
    Pixie in the Playground
     
    DwarfClericGuy

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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Kuulvheysoon View Post
    [...]
    Great stuff, I really needed Ulwai and the Ghost Lord. I would add that in the original campaign, Ulwai had a Staff StormClouds, a magical staff described in the appendix of the adventure. There's nothing quite like it in 5 Ed. The thing that comes the closest is the Staff of Thunder and Lightning. As an alternative, I converted it to 5 ed.

    Spoiler: Staff of Stormclouds
    Show

    Staff of Stormclouds (Strong Conjuration; rare, requires attunement):
    This staff can be wielded as a magic quarterstaff that grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. It also has the following additional properties. The staff has 10 charges, and it recovers 1d3 charges each day at dawn.

    Fog Cloud, 1 charge as a 1st level spell;
    Call Lightning, 3 charges as a 3rd level spell;
    Control Weather, 8 charges as an 8th level spell.

    Price: 10000 gp


    Edit: Skather. As suggested by Saintheart in his 3.5 RHoD Handbook, Skather feels to me rather underwhelming. Part of the reason I think lies in how the EL is set up. The suggested level is EL 11, but while the War Priests fight the PCs downstairs, Skather waits for them upstairs, hiding. The fact that these are two separate encounters is further enforced by the presence of cantrips on the stairs (making it difficult for anyone, including the War Priests, to join Skather upstairs). This to me means that the War Priests encounter should be treated as separate, with an EL of 6/7 depending on how you statted the War Priests. These guys are just a diversion, to give Skather those 2 turns he needs to poison is blade, hide and prepare an action. The real EL11 encounter is with him, and he's prepared an action. This should be by all means a hard, even deadly encounter. In close quarters he should be no match for 4 8th level players, but he should definitely be able to bring one down before dying of retreating. For this reason, I restatted him on the Blackspawn raider I posted earlier and added 7 Rogue levels, Assassin Archetype.

    Spoiler: Skather
    Show
    Medium Monstrosity
    -------------------------
    Armor Class 18 (leather, natural)
    HP 135
    Speed 40 ft
    Initiative +10
    -------------------------
    Str +2, Dex +5 Con +2
    Int +1 Wis +2 Cha 0
    -------------------------
    Saving throws D +8 C +5
    Skills Acrobatics +11, Deception +6, Perception +2, Poisoner's Kit +6, Stealth+11
    Immunities acid
    Resistances non magical weapons
    Senses blindsight 10 ft, darkvision 60 ft
    Languages Draconic, Common, Thieves' Cant
    Feats Alert
    CR 10 (5900XP)
    -------------------------
    Alert: +5 to initiative rolls, can't be surprised while conscious, other creatures don't gain advantage on attack rolls against Skather as a result of being hidden from him.
    Assassinate: Skather has advantage on attack rolls against any creature that haven’t taken a turn in the combat yet. Any hit he scores against a creature that is surprised is a critical hit.
    Brutal: Skather may add one additional die of damage to any melee weapon attack he makes (included in the attacks below).
    Cunning Action: Skather can take a bonus action on each of his turns in combat. This bonus action can be used only to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.
    Expertise: Skather's proficiency bonus is doubled for Acrobatics, Deception and Stealth checks as well as checks to use a Poisoner's Kit.
    Evasion: When he is subject to an effect that requires a dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, Skather takes no damage if he succeeds his saving throw and half damage if he fails.
    Sneak Attack: Once per turn, Skather can deal an extra 4d6 damage to one creature he hits with an attack if he has advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon. He doesn't need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn’t incapacitated, and he doesn't have disadvantage on the attack roll.
    Uncanny Dodge: when an attacker that he can see hits him with an Attack, Skather can use a Reaction to halve the attack's damage against him. Only damage resulting from attack rolls qualify for Uncanny Dodge.
    -------------------------
    Actions
    Multiattack: Skather makes two melee or ranged attacks.
    Sting (melee) +9: 2d6+3 slashing
    Short Bow +1 (ranged) +9: 2d6+3 piercing
    -------------------------
    Treasure: Sting (Vicious Short sword +1, 5000gp); Short Bow +1 (1500 gp); 3 vials of Purple Worm Poison (2 empty, 1 full, 2000 gp).


    This guy should pack a punch. He's the best assassin in the horde and was sent to Brindol for a specific reason: to decapitate the defense. That includes Lord Jarmaath, the PCs and those unfortunate enough to be near the Lord when he attacks. The original adventure states that he poisons the blade with Purple Worm poison and readies an action to attack the first enemy that enters the room. Because poison doesn't do Attributes damages in 5 ed anymore, I decided the best way for Skather to kill Lord J was to use the purple worm poison on him as well. So I got rid of the sassone leaf poison, which would be quite weak in 5E rules, and gave him an extra Purple Worm poison vial. Of the 2 he used, one he uses to poison the sword, while the other he used to poison 3 arrowheads, with which he hits Lord J and other two. The other defenders he hits are killed without the use of any poison; the sneak attack with assassin's automatic critical should do the trick.

    Skather readies an action to attack whomever enters the room first. He has a stealth modifier of +11, so there's a reasonable chance he surprises whomever enters the room. If he surprises the PC that opens the door, the readied action is triggered and Skather gets to make an attack on said character. Because the PC is likely surprised, Skather has advantage on the attack roll, can use his sneak attack and if the attack hits is an automatic critical hit. That would be 12d6 +3 without the poison. Note that the vicious property of the weapon applies only to a natural 20. If this is the case, the total damage would be 14d6 +3 before poison. The poison hits an additional 12d6 poison damages, Constitution CD 19 for half. That's a massive damage, and there's a good chance that he kills whomever he hits in the surprise round. Once the surprise is resolved, regular combact starts; at this point, the poison wears off and for all subsequent hits Skather cannot rely on poison damage. Note that I gave him the Alert feat instead of increasing his Dex (it's already maxed), because I think it's in line with the creators' intent (he had +10 to initiative in the original too). This allows Skather to act relatively early in the first round of combact: if he acts first, he would sneak attack the victim he hit in the surprise round to finish the kill, or any other that managed to push past. He would use sneak attack and assassinate to great effect.

    As I said, I build this guy to be deadly. He should be the single most powerful character/monster the PCs have encountered so far. His strength and level of power is also implied in the original campaign, where it is stated that if beat, he doesn't report to the other Wyrmlords, but goes all the way to the Fane of Tiamat to report to the High WyrmLord himself. The CR I assigned him is 10, the same of Abitriax's; I think it's only fair. I took out the breath weapon for two reasons: first, I feel like it would be an overkill and second, I liked the idea that he sacrified that natural weapon to concentrate on his training: he become a deadly weapon in his own right. A final note on poisons: in 5E they're bloody expensive. The vials I gave him would be about 2000 gp each, but it makes sense to use so much resources for important characters the horde would want to see dead, like Lord J or the PCs. If the DM feels like the Purple worm would be too expensive or an overkill, I'd suggest going for Wyvern's poison, which is about half the price for about half the damage (7d6, DC 15 for half; 1200 gp). The vicious property I think is also in line with the character, but it won't likely affect the encounter as it triggers only on a roll of 20.
    Considerations/suggestions welcome.
    Last edited by Moradin; 2017-11-24 at 02:49 PM.

  26. - Top - End - #56
    Troll in the Playground
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Oh, she had the staff - but she had it hidden in her chambers when the PCs hit the Ghostlord's lair because she couldn't use it to full effect inside. She escaped during the struggle with the Ghostlord's minions, however, and she'll be making a return at Brindol along with Ozyrrandion and Varanthian. I'm going to build up my own version of Skather in the next couple weeks, and I'll post what I've got then. I consider him a primary ranged falling back onto melee, so expect to see some Sharpshooter shenanigans.

    I've got a dilemma. My players have about 2 weeks before the Red Hand reaches Brindol, and they've decided to use the dwarven mercenaries to help organize the townfolk into teams to dig a moat from the nearby river. They should be able to get a pretty decent amount of work done in two weeks, and I was trying to figure out how to incorporate this into the Siege. Suggestions?

    (They're also going to spends time training the peoples to fight, and I've got an idea of what to do with that). Also, suggestions on what effect siege weaponry (such as catapults) could do for the defenders of the city?

  27. - Top - End - #57
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    DwarfClericGuy

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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Kuulvheysoon View Post
    [...]
    I've got a dilemma. My players have about 2 weeks before the Red Hand reaches Brindol, and they've decided to use the dwarven mercenaries to help organize the townfolk into teams to dig a moat from the nearby river. They should be able to get a pretty decent amount of work done in two weeks, and I was trying to figure out how to incorporate this into the Siege. Suggestions?

    (They're also going to spends time training the peoples to fight, and I've got an idea of what to do with that). Also, suggestions on what effect siege weaponry (such as catapults) could do for the defenders of the city?
    Building a moat makes for great storytelling and great organization from your PCs. I would definitely reward them with some experience points for the idea and the roleplay, 500-1000 xp each or maybe more depending on what they do and what level are they at. But I doubt it will have much of an impact on the siege. I think it would definitely delay the assault by 1-2 days, just enough time for Kharn to figure out what the best way to deal with the moat is. You mentioned Kharn has Ulwai, Ozzy and Varanthian; I would say that between the 4 of them they can easily think of a strategy to beat the moat. On that note, since your PCs lost VPs for ozzy, Ulwai and Var, you might want to throw them a bone and assign 1-2 VPs for building the moat: that way you reward the idea indirectly, in the same spirit as placing the clerics inside the cathedral earns 2 VP. If the PCs decide to push for spreading the clerics throughout town, they lose VPs, but the siege goes on as planned. Similarly, I don't think building a moat would swing the tide so to speak, but it would make it easier to win in the end. The horde has lots of flying monsters anyway, and the hill giants would still be able to hit from far away.

    I'm curious about how you will deal with the training of the people. I'm pretty sure my PCs will do something similar when they'll be in the same situation. Keep us posted!
    As for siege weapons, DMG pages 255-256 reports a few. Take a look if you haven't already. I'd say each siege weapon is worth about 10-20 extra defenders. The big problem I see is that siege weapons are made of timber. And the horde has a red dragon. Once Kharn discovers Brindol is building siege weapons, he will send flying monsters to attack and destroy them. Perhaps drop a few flammable kegs on them. Abitriax will want to have fun with them too. So maybe you could have him attack the siege weapons instead of random buildings during the second attack. Perhaps the PCs might count on this and might also build a few giant ballistas, to attack the dragon and help defend against other flying monsters (a la Bart from the Hobbit). Alternatively, the presence of siege weapons might reduce the number of enemies in the 3-5 waves in the Streets of Blood event.

  28. - Top - End - #58
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Moradin View Post
    Building a moat makes for great storytelling and great organization from your PCs. I would definitely reward them with some experience points for the idea and the roleplay, 500-1000 xp each or maybe more depending on what they do and what level are they at. But I doubt it will have much of an impact on the siege. I think it would definitely delay the assault by 1-2 days, just enough time for Kharn to figure out what the best way to deal with the moat is. You mentioned Kharn has Ulwai, Ozzy and Varanthian; I would say that between the 4 of them they can easily think of a strategy to beat the moat. On that note, since your PCs lost VPs for ozzy, Ulwai and Var, you might want to throw them a bone and assign 1-2 VPs for building the moat: that way you reward the idea indirectly, in the same spirit as placing the clerics inside the cathedral earns 2 VP. If the PCs decide to push for spreading the clerics throughout town, they lose VPs, but the siege goes on as planned. Similarly, I don't think building a moat would swing the tide so to speak, but it would make it easier to win in the end. The horde has lots of flying monsters anyway, and the hill giants would still be able to hit from far away.

    I'm curious about how you will deal with the training of the people. I'm pretty sure my PCs will do something similar when they'll be in the same situation. Keep us posted!
    As for siege weapons, DMG pages 255-256 reports a few. Take a look if you haven't already. I'd say each siege weapon is worth about 10-20 extra defenders. The big problem I see is that siege weapons are made of timber. And the horde has a red dragon. Once Kharn discovers Brindol is building siege weapons, he will send flying monsters to attack and destroy them. Perhaps drop a few flammable kegs on them. Abitriax will want to have fun with them too. So maybe you could have him attack the siege weapons instead of random buildings during the second attack. Perhaps the PCs might count on this and might also build a few giant ballistas, to attack the dragon and help defend against other flying monsters (a la Bart from the Hobbit). Alternatively, the presence of siege weapons might reduce the number of enemies in the 3-5 waves in the Streets of Blood event.
    So I'm missing a player next week and they begged us not to start the Battle of Brindol, so we're doing a sidequest instead of a timeskip.

    Do you know what that means? Marked for Death, of course! They didn't find Miha Serani, so I'll have to think of someway for her to draw them out of the walls. Right now all I have is her "husband" is a siege engineer, and could prove extremely helpful in building their own. Any other ideas, people?

    As for the training, I'm doing a variant of the Mass Combat rules, and the training will just make a more elite unit instead of a basic militia unit.

    Them doing a sidequest also gives me more time to plan out how much of a ditch they can dig in 2 weeks with about 600ish people, and what the Red Hand will do once they discover the existence of the moat. I mean, by all rights they should have scouts running in advance of the horde and so they'll build bridges, but it might take an extra day to start the siege? Problem is that I want to reward the players for this kind of thinking, not make their efforts meaningless, you know?

  29. - Top - End - #59
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    BardGuy

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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    On a moat, estimates say that a 3 person crew with medieval tools can move about 11 cubic yards of material in an 11 hour day. With 600 people, make that 2200 cubic yards. 14 days of this (exhausting work) means 30,800 cubic yards. Make a line 1 yard wide and 1 yard deep and you can go 30,800 yards, or 17.5 miles or 92400 feet. Brindol has about 3000 feet of wall according to the map.

    According to DnD rules, a being can clear a horizontal jump equal to their strength score with a running start. That means that the average hobgoblin soldier could probably just leap over any moat less than 10 feet across, and we'll want 15 feet to be sure. That's 5 yards, so our moat length is reduced by a factor of 5 to 18480 feet. A moat needs to be at least 10 feet (3 yards) deep or the hobgoblins just run down one side and up the other. So we can get 6160 feet of a 15' wide, 10' deep moat. Fortunately there's a river so the moat can be filled with water, forcing the hobgoblins to swim. The players have enough capacity to make the moat twice as wide or twice as deep. A narrow moat could be crossed easily by hobgoblins with boards, so wider is probably better. But that's up to the PCs.

    The main advantage of a moat is that it prevents the invading army from bringing siege weapons or ladders up to the wall. However, the hobgoblins aren't planning to batter the walls down with a ram. They're going to shatter it with giants, and that makes the moat basically just an obstacle as the hobgoblins run to the breach. Even at 30' wide, the hobgoblins could just swim across. If it's unfilled, they can climb down and then climb up. It slows them down somewhat, which does give the defenders more time to shoot them. Unfortunately, that's just not enough to really change the course of the battle. The hobs are going to knock down the wall and then the army will swarm over the moat and through the hole. Eventually they'll deploy a mobile bridge at the breach to speed themselves up (which puts me in mind of Sanderson's Way of Kings).

    Not to say that this is a bad plan. It's probably worth a couple of victory points as the moat buys the defenders more time to get soldiers to the breach in the wall and fight back. However, I don't think it will greatly change the flow of the fight.

    As for Marked for Death and Miha, what if Miha helps with the hit squad? Someone has to let them into the city, after all. She could join the fight or she might engage in additional acts of sabotage and spycraft. Maybe she burns the siege weapons in the night or something like that. Better, she could operate the whole time through Charmed agents, making her a sort of Laughing Man kind of antagonist that the PCs have to track down.

    Edit: Ulwai

    A Lore Bard gets a lot of the Magical Secrets that enable them to pick liberally from the Druid spell list. Picking up Call Lightning makes the Staff of Stormclouds practically obsolete (though it's still pretty nifty, and needed for Control Weather). I will note, though, that Call Lightning, Greater Invisibility, and Polymorph all require concentration. She's going to be somewhat constrained in her actions. Picking up Chromatic Orb (lightning) and thunderwave fit her theme really well, and should likely replace faerie fire and tasha's (both require concentration as well). I'd swap sleep for Cure Wounds, as Greater Invisibility and healing make her a fantastic support for Kharn if she lasts that long.
    Last edited by Horatio@Bridge; 2017-11-28 at 05:48 PM.

  30. - Top - End - #60
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    Default Re: Red Hand of Doom 5e Conversion Guide [Spoilers, WIP, PEACH]

    Quote Originally Posted by Horatio@Bridge View Post
    On a moat, estimates say that a 3 person crew with medieval tools can move about 11 cubic yards of material in an 11 hour day. With 600 people, make that 2200 cubic yards. 14 days of this (exhausting work) means 30,800 cubic yards. Make a line 1 yard wide and 1 yard deep and you can go 30,800 yards, or 17.5 miles or 92400 feet. Brindol has about 3000 feet of wall according to the map.

    According to DnD rules, a being can clear a horizontal jump equal to their strength score with a running start. That means that the average hobgoblin soldier could probably just leap over any moat less than 10 feet across, and we'll want 15 feet to be sure. That's 5 yards, so our moat length is reduced by a factor of 5 to 18480 feet. A moat needs to be at least 10 feet (3 yards) deep or the hobgoblins just run down one side and up the other. So we can get 6160 feet of a 15' wide, 10' deep moat. Fortunately there's a river so the moat can be filled with water, forcing the hobgoblins to swim. The players have enough capacity to make the moat twice as wide or twice as deep. A narrow moat could be crossed easily by hobgoblins with boards, so wider is probably better. But that's up to the PCs.

    The main advantage of a moat is that it prevents the invading army from bringing siege weapons or ladders up to the wall. However, the hobgoblins aren't planning to batter the walls down with a ram. They're going to shatter it with giants, and that makes the moat basically just an obstacle as the hobgoblins run to the breach. Even at 30' wide, the hobgoblins could just swim across. If it's unfilled, they can climb down and then climb up. It slows them down somewhat, which does give the defenders more time to shoot them. Unfortunately, that's just not enough to really change the course of the battle. The hobs are going to knock down the wall and then the army will swarm over the moat and through the hole. Eventually they'll deploy a mobile bridge at the breach to speed themselves up (which puts me in mind of Sanderson's Way of Kings).

    Not to say that this is a bad plan. It's probably worth a couple of victory points as the moat buys the defenders more time to get soldiers to the breach in the wall and fight back. However, I don't think it will greatly change the flow of the fight.

    As for Marked for Death and Miha, what if Miha helps with the hit squad? Someone has to let them into the city, after all. She could join the fight or she might engage in additional acts of sabotage and spycraft. Maybe she burns the siege weapons in the night or something like that. Better, she could operate the whole time through Charmed agents, making her a sort of Laughing Man kind of antagonist that the PCs have to track down.
    I've decided to make her a Succubus, actually. It fits better with the whole Devil theme that they've got going as a secondary theme and they're low enough CR this edition to not be too badly off. The Aranea just never really fit, you know?

    I'm going to have Miha be busy seducing Captain Lars Ulverth, weakening the defenders that way (impeding leadership), but giving them a few bonus VP (especially considering that they're at 28 before the battle!) wouldn't hurt.

    Players are either going to be doing my graveyard challenge or Marked for Death tonight.

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