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

[Moradin]

I am still unsure on how I want to build Ulwai, but I will most likely go for the more melee oriented version. Anyway, my contribution today is on Ulwai's equipment, again. I like the idea of giving her an armor with lightning resistance, which would both help her if she gets caught in melee, and it fits the narrative. So in my game, I'm making her wear a half plate of lightning resistance. This would increase her AC by 1 compared to the breastplate. The name for this well polished lightning-blue armor is Faraday Cage, the price is set to 7250 gp (6000 resistance + 750 half plate + 500 gp crafting). Faraday could be a long dead wizard that experimented extensively with lightning damage and such.

[intermedial]

I'm probably going to beef up Ulwai to something like this -- a combination of the Bard and the Evoker from Volo's Guide to Monsters

Spoiler: Ulwai Stormcaller

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Ulwai Stormcaller
Hit Points 98 (14d8 + 28)
Armour Class 16 (studded leather)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 10 (--) DEX 18 (+4) CON 14 (+2) INT 15 (+2) WIS 12 (+1) CHA 19 (+4)

Skills Acrobatics +7, Deception +12, Insight +9, Persuasion +8, Perception +9, Stealth +12
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 19
Saving Throws. Dex +8, Wis +5, Cha +8
Notable Equipment. Ulwai Stormcaller carries a wand of lightning bolts. She carries a potion of flying.
Languages Common, Goblin, Draconic
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Spellcasting. Ulwai Stormcaller is a 14th-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 16, +8 to hit with spell attacks). She knows the following bard spells:
Cantrips (at will): mage hand, message, minor illusion, vicious mockery
1st (4) charm person, dissonant whispers, faerie fire, thunderwave
2nd (3) detect thoughts, hold person, see invisibility, suggestion
3rd (3) call lightning, counterspell, nondetection, sending
4th (3) dimension door, greater invisibility
5th (2) dominate person, synaptic static
6th (1) chain lightning, contingency
7th (1) forcecage

Taunt. Ulwai Stormcaller can use a bonus action on her turn to target one creature within 30 feet of her. If the target can hear Ulwai, the target must succeed on a DC 16 Charisma saving throw or have disadvantage on ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws until the start of Ulwai's next turn.
Contingency. If Ulwai Stormcaller is not invisible or incapaticated and takes any damage, her contingency casts greater invisibility upon her.

Actions
Multiattack. Ulwai Stormcaller makes two weapon attacks.
Whip. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) slashing damage.
Shortbow. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) piercing damage.

No reason not to use Hobgoblin Iron Shadows for the Doom Fist Monks. They are a fantastic CR 2 skirmisher with some insane mobility.

As for the Ghostlord, a straight-up Monster Manual Lich but with an adapted spell list with some druid spells thrown in is probably enough. I'd keep Power Word Kill and Finger of Death on there, just to really hammer home that he's no joke. On the other hand, a neat element that might be worth playing up in 5e: Liches who fail to feed souls to their phylacteries become Demiliches. Since the Ghostlord isn't able to do this currently, he's losing his mind -- and is super detached from reality as a result. He's also unhinged and desperate to get his phylactery back before he succumbs to the demi-lichdom (totally up to the DM how long it takes before this actually happens).

Another worthwhile note: in 5e, Lich's phylacteries are nearly invulnerable. They typically require artifact-level methods to destroy them, such as dragon breath, volcanoes, ect. This solves the "why don't the PCs just destroy it" problem that some people run into playing RHoD in prior editions. Interestingly, these are all resources the Red Hand could has access to somewhere in the Wyrmsmoke Mountains.

[Mongobear]

Love all of this, been wanting to do this sort of project myself since first playing through RHoD myself a few years ago.

I did have a few ideas on how to include a few more elements to reinforce the tiamat theme, and perhaps 5 subfactions United by Azhar Kull.

1. Change bridge encounter to a White Dragon, and increase number of smaller foes. This introduces the missing element of dragon, and could be further focused upon with hobgoblin casters using stuff like sleet/ice storm to bottleneck the bridge. Also reduces the treat from Ozzy, and puts more of the threat onto the Hobgoblins sent to guard the crossing.

2. Rhest changed to a Green Dragon. Having tons of Green Razorfiends backed by a black dragon never made sense, as far as the final fight and the water based lair/escape tunnel, perhaps redesign the ruined town to be partially overgrown by a forest since Greens are more naturey based now.

3a. Behir in Thorn Wastes made into a Blue Dragon. Maybe a Dracolich if the CAR isn't too OP to keep with the Undead theme. Have Ghostlord be a third party actively rebelling against the Horde, and possible to encounter before Ulwai and the dragon.

3b. OR, rewrite a lot of this section, and the Ghostlord IS the Dracolich. Ulwais forces sent to press for assistance because of having it's phylactery, and the party interrupts them. If phylactery is with the PCs, a 3 way battle ensues with the Ghostlord focusing more on Ulwai's side.

4. Ulwai made to emulate one of several Storm focused archetypes. Storm Herald Barbarian, Tempest Cleric, Storm Sorcerer, etc. If opting for one of the noncaster builds, add magical attacks in via minions. Either way, the use of spells like Booming Blade, Lightning Lure, and Thunder Step seems quite thematic. Perhaps she should be an EK, or Draconic Sorcerer melee build.

5. Kharn rides a Black Dragon, otherwise mostly kept the same. Although they're not the strongest, Blacks almost rivals Reds. If the idea of having Kharn as a rival of Kull is used, the combined treat of him and his personal mount should be rather good at portraying that, especially if built right and using the Champion or Warlord statblock from Volo's.

6. Dragon guarding the entrance the the Fane made an Adult Red. Quite threatening depending on when they get there, but as a solo it might be ok if they come here last. Perhaps reduce the treat of everything up until Kull if doing this.

7. Kull made into a weird Draconic Sorcerer/Fiendish Bladelock hybrid, maybe with the Hex Warrior passive for easier building. Probably made a Half Dragon as well, but buffed to have all 5 resistances as a blessing from Tiamat. Should definitely be a Deadly solo encounter, or have 5 lesser minions that represent the 5 factions, perhaps one of each elemental focused caster from the OP.

I would use the Volos Warlord as a basis, perhaps trading out the melee treats for some Gish features. Add special Half Dragon template to give 5x resistances.

8. I never liked the Avatar of Tiamat fight, plus it rips off the climax of RoT. Perhaps the final fight should be against a higher end fiend, like a Marilith, or a bunch of Friends coming through the portal from his ritual.

Alternatively, the "Azhar Kull" fight is against a buffed version of all 5 Draconic Clerics fom the OP, interrupting the ritual, or coming in just as it finishes. Once dispatched, the final room opens, and there is a megaSolo against Super Kull who has been granted the powers of tiamat, or at they very least, made into a DemiGod Half Fiend Half Dragon Hobgoblin thing.

[Zippdementia]

I’m finally about to hit Red Hand of Doom myself (see my campaign journal thread for the full story) and I’ve found the Revenge of the Horde PDF to be incredible for stating out the rank and file Hobgoblins and giving me a good place to start. Have you seen it?

Here’s a link: https://nordgamesllc.com/product/ult...revenge-horde/

It almost feels like it was made specifically for this campaign, but of course it contains more than just Hobgoblins. All the minor horde-like monsters get a major upgrade and overhaul in this guide. Very useful for anyone wanting a quick beef up and conversion.

[intermedial]

I just kicked off my Red Hand of Doom campaign properly yesterday, with a 12-hour marathon session.

My group consists of:

A human monk, son of the noble house in Talar
A human druid of the Witchwood
A tabaxi rogue, adopted brother to the human monk
A half-elf warlock, distantly related to the elves of Starsong Hill
A human paladin, childhood friends of the monk and rogue
A human bard, a well-loved performer in the Vale

It was our first game of the new year. We'd previously been playing for a few months on a "prelude" campaign where the player characters were travelling from Dennovar to Drellin's Ferry to attend a wedding between the party's Bard and paladin's sister. Before we took our holiday break, we'd had an awesome session where the players met the NPCs in Drellin's Ferry, went on a hunt with Old Jorr, and had a big party and wedding set at the menhirs outside town. All the characters are old friends who grew up in the Vale, and the Bard and Paladin's families are still in town in their new home on the banks of the Elsir River.

During their prior adventures, they befriended Lord Jarmaath in Brindol, and became known as heroes for saving the people of Nimon Gap from a mad wizard.

Starting back up in the new year, the players had a few days of downtime before they wanted to investigate the rumours of haunted castles and hobgoblins in the forest.

This led to a very brutal battle against the hobgoblin marauders in which the Warlock was almost taken as a trophy after slaying their captain...

Spoiler: Hobgoblin Marauders

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I used 8 hobgoblins, a hobgoblin devastator, a hobgoblin captain, and two dire wolves.

The party interrogated the surviving hobgoblin. This is an important point I decided in-play: Rank-and-file Red Hand hobgoblins won't talk, even if the players beat or torture them. They can't be intimidated or persuaded to divulge information: it's necessary to trick them or compel them in some way to get information from them. I wrote down a few phrases to use in this situation help roleplay it:

Spoiler: What the Hobgoblins Say

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When they refuse to talk, they say the following:
I have sworn my life to the Red Hand, human. I will tell you nothing.

You may have captured me, human scum, but your reckoning is coming!

Foolish human, there are many more of us. We will take your lands, and your children will be our slaves.

We will kill the weak as offerings to the Dragon Mother.

The Red Hand will destroy you all for your insults!


If magically compelled or tricked into talking:
My base is an old human fortress in the forest.

My commander is a mighty bugbear sorcerer. Koth is his name.

More warbands are are gathering at Cinder Hill.

We are hobgoblins from many different tribes. We have lived and fought each other in the mountains to the west for generations. Now we are united under one banner, the Red Hand.

Our warriors are scouting and raiding the lands around the human river-town to prepare for the Day of Ruin.

Our leader is Kharn, General of the Red Hand. His skill in battle is legendary.

We have given up the old ways, the weak ways. The Mother of Dragons has made us strong!

A powerful half-dragon priest speaks for the great dragons. He is known as the Son of the Dragon. He is a prophet of the Dragon Mother, and he will lead our people to a new age. Even the mighty Kharn trusts his words.

My players's didn't get the information above, just enough to be led to Vraath Keep:

Spoiler: My Dwarven Forge Vraath Keep Setup!

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I was very pleased to be able to faithfully re-create Vraath Keep with my new Dwarven Forge castle set.

I did bolster the ranks in the keep somewhat:

Spoiler: Vraath Keep Roster

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The Stables
2x wolf riders (goblin spies) riding 2x dire wolves [CR 1]
A manticore [CR 3]

The Barracks
4x bugbears [CR 1] instead of "veterans"
Karkilian was a bugbear chief [CR 3] instead of a minotaur

Towers and Walls
A hobgoblin captain
8 hobgoblins (engineers in chain shirts armour manning several ballista and carrying bombs)
2d6 goblins staff the keep as labourers, stablehands, and cooks

War Room
Wyrmlord Koth, a bugbear chief mage [CR 7]


My conversion for Wyrmlord Koth, combining the stats of a Bugbear Chief with an NPC Mage.

The Druid was sent forth as a squirrel to scout the keep, where he witnessed Koth using sending to communicate with General Kharn. Thus, the party knew about Koth before they engaged, and set in motion a plan to take the keep via infiltration and setting off some explosions. I have a very stealthy party: the monk and rogue were able to sneak up to the walls, the druid scouted the keep as a rat, and the Bard and Warlock provided invisibility for the rest of the group. They'd previously found a necklace of fireballs and an eversmoking bottle, which were key items in the battle... but not as much as the Warlock scoring a critical hit with eldritch smite which slew the manticore in a single hit.

Koth attempted to escape with greater invisibility, but was heard by the Druid and marked with faerie fire. The party managed to capture him, and get more information from him using suggestion and detect thoughts to learn the names of the dragons and other warlords.

The moment when my group realized that this wasn't a small band of goblins, but an entire army coming for them might be the best moment I've ever run. After 6 months of living in the Elsir Vale, my players now love the place and will do anything to save it. The realization they they won't be able to save Drellin's Ferry and need to evacuate is a bittersweet one.

The party ultimately went on to blow up Skull Gorge Bridge and slay the green dragon. I used a Young Green Dragon for Ozyrandion, but otherwise ran Skull Gorge as-is using 5e statblocks.

My group is now super-excited to take on the rest of the Red Hand. They've made a huge list of allies and other objectives they want to achieve to protect their homes. This is an amazing campaign: classic in it's construction. The Red Hand of Doom might be one of the greatest D&D modules ever written.

Next week they'll have the Desperate Council and face a retaliation raid for the chaos they inflicted on the Red Hand!

[Moradin]

More on the connection between Lost Mines of Phandelver and Red Hand of Doom.
As my players are approaching the end of LMoP, I found myself reworking the encounter with Nezznar the Black Spider to strengthen the connection with the Red Hand. I redesigned Nezznar as a hobgoblin War Adept (Illusionist 8) and added a short diary written in goblin, which will confirm many suspitions my players already have and add new questions for them to answer. This is because the adventure gives a lot of information to the DM that at that level (5th) players do not have easy means to acquire. In this diary, Nezzar also mentions two characters directly and one indirectly that the PCs will eventually be facing when they reach the Elsir vale. As a reminder, my Elsir Vale is set close to Beregost, in 1373 DR. The DM should change the information below according to their world.

Spoiler: Nezznar's diary

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Hammer 23rd, 1373
So my new mission starts. I have been ordered by my superiors to forge an alliance with our cousins of the Cloud Peaks. For what reason, I do not know. But I feel something big is in motion. In any case, this is the right opportunity to impress the higher-ups. If everything goes according to plans, I will ask the General to be promoted as personal assistant to Commander Koth. Once I am part of his entourage, it will be easy to kill that incompetent babbler and take on his powers and responsibilities. May Tiamat assist me in my quest.

Alturiak 12th, 1373
I have arrived in the area. My troop consists of some thirty between hobgoblins and bugbears, in addition to three shape-shifters. For now, we're camped around a rock mass resembling the head of a dragon. Might this be an omen? I hope the Dragon Queen watches favourably upon my endevour. The scouts report that there is a human village a few miles to the west, by the name of Phandalin. I am thinking of invading it and rename it Tiamat, in Her honour.

Ches 15th, 1373

Phandalin is under my control. I forged an alliance with a human mage that calls himself the Glasstaff. I bluffed him into believing I am a dark elf and a drow army is ready at my disposal. He was terrified, as he immediately bowed down to my will. If this is the best the humans have to offer... I ordered him to keep control over the village; this way, I am securing my position in the area and further increasing my power. I gave him leave of acting however he pleases, but I think it is best to remind him who's in charge. I will send some bugbears to remind him of that. In the meantime, I sent one of the shape-shifters to the human town of Beregost, to keep an eye on the humans and gather information. She told me she will keep in touch under the name "Agent Serani".

Tarsakh 18th, 1373
My mission is coming to an end. I finally convinced Grol, the blithering idiot "king" of the Cragmaw tribe, to forge an alliance with the People of the Dragon. The scum that heeds from these mountains is messy and disorganized, and as smart as their leader. They still pray to the old gods, the ones that made us weak and slaves for generations. They are not worth to be part of the People of the Dragon, but I am not the one taking these decisions. Fortunately, with Tiamat's blessing, all this will change. Meanwhile Glasstaff gave me some interesting intel. It seems that some dwarves found the entrance to an old mine that is said to be filled with magical power. It would be a big shot for my ambitions if I were able to lay hands on this mine. Obviously, the dwarves have to disappear as soon as possible. Maybe offer them as a sacrifice to the Dragon Queen?

Tarsakh 25th, 1373
One of the dwarves has left for Beregost. I will ask my agent there to make him disappear as discreetly as possible so as to not raise suspicions. Or, the Cragmaw could take care of him, on his way back. At least they'd be useful for something. Maybe an ambush could work: streets are so dangerous these days... In the meantime, I found the mine following the other two. I started exploring, I can feel powerful magic here. The operations however are quite slow: this place is crawling with undead and poisonous mushrooms. The Flameskull is also quite dangerous, he has already killed several of my soldiers. I will have to proceed with the utmost caution.

Mirtul 12th, 1373
After days of exploration, I finally found something of value. My divinations suggest that there is a powerful magical object buried somewhere in the cave to the east. I don't think it is the famed Forge of Spells; nonetheless, I sent some bugbears and a shape-shifter to see what it is. So far they have not reported anything of interest, except for an old engineering tome. No useful information there, but something interesting caught my eye: a passage suggests that a hidden vauld below Vraath Keep contains a majestic treasure. If I'm not mistaken, this Keep is somewhere in the Witchwood. To keep in mind. For now, better keep this information for me. Once I kill Koth, I will be the one to reclaim this treasure. For Tiamat's glory!

[Moradin]

OK, so in the modifications to Lost Mines of Phandelver posted above I hinted to a Miha Serani doppelganger. I think that makes sense as a shapeshifter that can read thoughts without using magical means would go a long way as a spy. Therefore, I am proposing today an alternative build to Miha Serani: a Sorc7 doppelganger.

Spoiler: Miha Serani

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Miha Serani (Medium shapeshifter, Sorc7)
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Armor Class 17 (natural)
HP 110 (8d8+7d6+37)
Speed 9 m (30 ft)
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Str 0, Dex +4, Con +2
Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +4
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Saving Throws Con +5, Cha +7;
Skills Deception +9, Insight +4;
Condition Immunities Charmed;
Senses darkvision 60 ft, passive Perception 11;
Languages Common, Goblin, Draconic
CR 6 (2300 XP)
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Shapechanger. Miha can use its action to polymorph into a Small or Medium humanoid it has seen or back into her true form. She prefers to assume the form of a middle aged woman she killed long ago, the original travelling sorceress Miha Serani. Her statistics, other than her size, are the same in each form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. She reverts to her true form if she dies.

Ambusher. In the first round of a combat, Miha has advantage on attack rolls against any creature she surprised.

Surprise Attack. If she surprises a creature and hits it with an attack during the first round of combat, the target takes an extra 10 (3d6) damage from the attack.

Draconic Resilience Miha refined her arcane arts under the guide of Tyrgarun, the blue dragon. Hence, her AC is equal to 13 + D when she is not wearing armor. Her HP are increaed by 1 for each of her class levels. In her natural form, her skin is covered by small dragon-like blue scales.
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ACTIONS
Multiattack. Miha makes two melee attacks.

Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 7 (1d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage.

Read Thoughts Miha magically reads the surface thoughts of one creature within 60 feet of it. The effect can penetrate barriers, but 3 feet of wood or dirt, 2 feet of stone, 2 inches of metal, or a thin sheet of lead blocks it. While the target is in range, she can continue reading its thoughts, as long as her concentration isn't broken (as if concentrating on a spell). While reading the target's mind, she has advantage on Wisdom (Insight) and Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, and Persuasion) checks against the target.
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Metamagic the first time she is met, Miha has at her disposal 12 sorcery points and can gain others sacrifying spell slots. Miha can use these sorcery points to apply the following Metamagic feats to her spells:

Twinned Spells (1 sorcery point/spell level): Miha can select a second targed for one of her spells. Only spells with a target of "one creature" are elegible to be modified using this feat.

Subtle Spells (1 sorcery point): Miha can cast a spell without any somatic or verbal component.

Spellcasting Miha is a 8th-level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Charisma DC 15 for her spells, +7 to attack). She knows the following sorcerer spells:
0. Friends, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Ray of Cold, Message;
1. (3 slots) Chromatic Orb, Charm Person, Shield, Magic Missile;
2. (3 slots) Suggestion;
3. (2 slots) Lightning Bolt, Fear;
4. (1 slot) Blight.

Notable equipment: Miha carries 2 potions of Cure Wounds (4d8+4), a potion of Fly and 2 of Invisibility, and 45 gp in coins. She wears a Robe of Useful Items (6000 gp). In the special pockets, the robe contains an iron door that autofits any opening smaller than a regular door (max 3x1.5 m), a six-seats wooden boat with 4 oars (length 4.5 m), a toothbrush, freshly cleaned socks and underclothing, a potion of Giant Strength (Str 21), a scroll of Silence, a 1 m³ block of ice and a fully cooked 10 kg turkey.

Tactics: As explained extensively in the adventure and in this thread, Miha represents a danger far greater than her hand to hand capabilities. She is a master spy and uses her Shapechanger and Read Thought abilities to great effect. If she suspects the player she is speaking to thinks she's a spy, she uses Subtle spells to cast Suggestion, Charm Person or Friends to keep her facade going for a little longer. She figures she just needs one character on her side to be secure. If she is not able to bring the character she is speaking to on her side, she uses her Ambusher and Surpise Attack to slam her opponent. She then drinks a potion of Invisibility and/or Fly and tries to make a run for it. If she is cornered and cannot escape, she opens with a twinned Blight on the closest target, Fear or Lightning Bolt if she can catch more than one player in the area of the spell. Agains magic users, she tends to cast a twinned 2nd level Chromatic Orb (2x4d8). Every day, she sacrifies a cantrip, a 1st level slot and a 3rd level slot to increase her sorcery points to 12. If she needs extra points, she tends to sacrifice her 3rd level slots.
Reward: Miha is a single creature, so even if there is a real possibility that she takes the characters by surprise, the fight should be pretty straightforward and PCs should not be in any real danger. Therefore, if the do not realize she is a spy prior to the breaking of the fight, she's worth 2300 XP, as CR 6. If instead PCs realize she is indeed a spy, I am planning to award them with 5000 xp for this encounter (+2 VP).

[Kuulvheysoon]

SO I finished the first part of the Battle for Brindol with my party this past week, and I'll share my observations (warning, a little bit of wall o' text):

• Initial Wall Assault: I used two squads of hobgoblins, each one comprised of 6 Hobgoblin Veterans (doubled hit points, +2 to Strength and Dexterity) and a Hobgoblin Captain. They were on the ground, and the PCs were on the wall. The Red Hand used attacked at night to deny their opponents vision, and shot fire arrows at the wall, which fell to the ground and lit the grass on fire, granting them vision and not letting the PCs see them. Which worked for exactly two rounds until the sorceror threw a fireball. Now, the fireball spell explicitly says that flammable thing catch fire (if not worn/held/attended), so the grass caught fire in a huge circle. After that, it was a matter of mopping up with the ranger and the barbarian and paladin who jumped down to the ground following up. We were short the fighter/druid this session, but I can tell you this - with the advantage of terrain (being able to drop prone behind the crenelations of the wall and the 20ft up), if anyone in your party has any sort of fire magic then you could easily add another one of these squads, or have another pair of squads come in 5-6 rounds after the first two.
• Hill Giant Battery: I used three Hill Giants and a Hobgoblin Captain to co-ordinate the stupid giants. They could hit the wall pretty easily, given their +10 (or something) to hit, even if they started 120ft back, which is where I had them. Again, fire set at the bottom of the wall ensured that they knew where to toss. I actually cheated a little bit here and gave them all most of the benefits of Sharpshooter, purely for the added range and ignoring cover (treating it less like unearthly skill and more "this is a freaking huge rock, it doesn't care about cover"). Again, the ranger shone brightly here (as she should have), but she took a boulder or two and got really nervous (that 3d10+5 is a little scary for a bunch of 8th level characters). We were missing the paladin here, but had our druid/fighter (currently druid 6/fighter1) who summoned a bunch of Huge snakes to attack the giants head on. Unfortunately for her, she's got a "curse" where she has to roll a decent Charisma (DC12, and since she's got a +1 Charisma bonus, about a 50/50 chance of making it) save or else her summons appear all skeletal, with Resistance to cold and necrotic damage and vulnerable to bludgeoning. She predictably rolled awfully, and every time she summoned one it took massive amounts of damage from the giants, otherwise they could have done some good. It ended with the ranger and the sorceror sniping with bow and fire bolt respectfully as the last foe (Hobgoblin Captain) ran back for reinforcements as the party was called away. The Dwarves that they'd sent to reinforce the Eastern wall were gone!
• Abithriax: When they got there, I described the place as being heavily obscured by smoke, and still glowing piles of slag that had once been heavily armored dwarves. They had stayed on the wall (I gave them the choice of getting there faster on the wall, or running through the city and potentially running into one of the roving bands of healers that they'd chosen to have scattered through the city) and combat opened with the dragon appearing 35 ft in front of them (perched on the wall) and letting loose with a fire breath. I always play dragons with the spellcasting variant, and this guy had a Charisma bonus of +4, which meant 4 spells once per day, all of third level or lower. Now, I treat these slots like warlock slots, so he basically had 4 spells cast out of 3rd level slots (the MM doesn't specify, so I picked). Abithriax had invisibility, enemies abound (XGtE), melf's minute meteors (XGtE) and warding wind (XGtE). Perhaps fortunately, since invisibility is concentration, I couldn't keep any other spells up, because this fight would have ended badly for the players if he had the bonus action attack from melf's. They fight, he engages in melee for one round against the barbarian (trying and failing to knock him off the wall) before lifting off and casting his enemies abound spell on the barbarian, who failed the Intelligence save miserably. So he attacked the fighter/druid for a bit. I managed to get the recharge on his breath weapon only after 4 rounds, when he was down to about 30% health, so I had him go for one last strafing run before swearing vengeance on the party and flying off. Unfortunately for him, the ranger finally hit a critical hit, followed by a second hit, doing about 45 damage to him in a round and making him crash into the ground out of sight with a thunderous sound.

So now they're headed back to Lord Jaarmath and the staging area, where a helpful NPC will cast catnap on them and they'll level up. Either this week or next (depending on the players: if three or less can make it this week, we'll probably do something non-D&D, then begin the Streets of Blood the week after), they'll face the gauntlet known as the Streets of Blood. Depending on who shows will change the waves, but since they took care of both the razorfiends and the Ghostlord, there will be no undead or razorfiends to fight.

[Anauroch94]

First, thanks immensely for this handbook, Red Hand of Doom was probably my favourite 3.5 adventure to DM, and now i have the opportunity to run it again
Now, to the question: my party is three players only, the adventure will probably be too deadly for them. Should i simply raise their level, or adjust the number of enemies/slightly nerf them? The second one seems the better solution, although obviously will require more work. I am especially afraid for the regular battles with a lot of enemies, like the first one:even if i don't focus fire, 2d6 extra damage every turn from the hobgoblin is a lot, adding the hellhound will probably put them at a great danger. I don't really want to remove them, because it's a great way to introduce the fact they are more than simply hobgoblin
Another option i was considering is reducing enemies hp, so my players won't take as much damage
Tl, dr: what's the best way to nerf the adventure for three player only?

[Kuulvheysoon]

First, thanks immensely for this handbook, Red Hand of Doom was probably my favourite 3.5 adventure to DM, and now i have the opportunity to run it again
Now, to the question: my party is three players only, the adventure will probably be too deadly for them. Should i simply raise their level, or adjust the number of enemies/slightly nerf them? The second one seems the better solution, although obviously will require more work. I am especially afraid for the regular battles with a lot of enemies, like the first one:even if i don't focus fire, 2d6 extra damage every turn from the hobgoblin is a lot, adding the hellhound will probably put them at a great danger. I don't really want to remove them, because it's a great way to introduce the fact they are more than simply hobgoblin
Another option i was considering is reducing enemies hp, so my players won't take as much damage
Tl, dr: what's the best way to nerf the adventure for three player only?

Honestly, nerfing the number of enemies that they face is probably the best plan. In some of the larger encounters (see the Bridge at Skullgorge Canyon, Ruins of Rhest, etc...) sheer action economy will wreck even a higher leveled party, especially with how Bounded Accuracy works.

Consider starting encounters at longer ranges than suggested in the DMG - that's one way to let the players get some chip damage in before they close to melee. Because remember, even if the hobgoblins decide to shoot back, Martial Advantage requires that they have a (conscious) ally within 5ft of the target, not themselves, so they'd only be plinking back with 1d8+1.

You'll probably want to take extra care with the dragons, however - I've got a 5 man party and those dragons, if used at the correct CR with any degree of intelligence (and I think that Ozy has the lowest Intelligence at 12?), are scary. Dragons are intentionally under CR'd again this edition, so be careful with them. What kind of party are you running with? Maybe I can offer some more specific advice.

[Anauroch94]

The party, may the entire Sovereign Host help me, is probably going to be a rogue, a barbarian, and almost surely a monk. The rogue and the barbarian player are also pretty new to D&D, which doesn't help at all, but we all want to play, so i'm trying my best to make something decent and fun
Since we are going to play in Eberron, i was thinking about playing the dragon as a separate battle: for example, on the skull gorge bridge, Ozyrrandion will probably just watch the battle in the beginning, giving order to the hobgoblins, and only after most of them are slaughtered will join the fight, probably with a "you useless idiots, i must do all the work here" attitude
The idea is to give the dragons and the hobgoblins two different goals, making their alliance probably only temporary: the dragons want to set Tiamat free, and they need an army big enough to do so, while the hobgoblins just want to retake Eberron from the humans.
Basically, they will probably do their own interests for the most part, and hopefully is plausible enough to explain why they aren't fighting with the hobgoblins: they look at the big picture in the future and will only put their life at risk if necessary

[Kazuma0614]

Forgive me if I missed it but do you have guidelines for milestone leveling for this adventure?

[Moradin]

Forgive me if I missed it but do you have guidelines for milestone leveling for this adventure?

The adventure is quite specific with CR and party level. If your party starts at lev 5, you could have them level up to 6 at the end of Part I, to 7 at the end of Part II, and so on. They should be lev 10-11 by the time they finish the adventure.

[Kuulvheysoon]

So my party is about to go into the final Battle with Kharn Hravek, but their resources are low. I'm going to toss Ulwai over to the Fane of Tiamat, but keep Varanthian here as back up.

Thoughts so far:

• Using the general Assassin from the MM works well for Skather - add a few "dragonspawn" traits in and you're good to go. Doesn't even really affect his CR, depending on what you do.
• My party actually had some issues with the Manticores because they rolled fantastically well.
• I can post my bluespawn tunderlizards when I remember, but they were pretty scary to the players, as I converted the electric arc effect from 3.5e as a bonus action.
• The Assassin from the MM is really glass cannon-y, just a warning.
• Going to stat up Hravek Kharn in the next day or two - Any suggestions? I'm thinking about using the Hobgoblin Warlord from the MM (CR6), giving him some battlefield control aspects and a couple of breath weapons (like the Talon of Tiamt had from 3.5)

[Mongobear]

[*]Going to stat up Hravek Kharn in the next day or two - Any suggestions? I'm thinking about using the Hobgoblin Warlord from the MM (CR6), giving him some battlefield control aspects and a couple of breath weapons (like the Talon of Tiamt had from 3.5)[/LIST]

iirc, I used the Champion NPC stat block, and added the Martial Advantage and Leadership abilities from the Hobgoblin Warlord. I wasnt really satisfied with the result, he was taken out in 2 rounds of focused fire. If you want him to be a real powerhouse, perhaps use the Warlord NPC, subbing in the same Hobgoblin traits, and keeping his Legendary Actions.

It depends on how dangerous you want the fight with Kharn to be.

[Kuulvheysoon]

iirc, I used the Champion NPC stat block, and added the Martial Advantage and Leadership abilities from the Hobgoblin Warlord. I wasnt really satisfied with the result, he was taken out in 2 rounds of focused fire. If you want him to be a real powerhouse, perhaps use the Warlord NPC, subbing in the same Hobgoblin traits, and keeping his Legendary Actions.

It depends on how dangerous you want the fight with Kharn to be.

I hadn't even thought about Legendary actions/saves, but that's a great idea. I'll take a look at the Generic Warlord (in the MM?) later tonight and take a look-see.

I probably don't want to overdo it, though - the party is really low on resources, and I'm even considering giving them some additional ones just for this fight.

[Mongobear]

It's either MM or Volo's, cant remember which right now. It's the very last entry in whichever book it is.

[Moradin]

[...] I'll take a look at the Generic Warlord (in the MM?) later tonight and take a look-see.[...]

The Warlord is in the MM, page 187. The Champion is on Volo's, page 212. Originally, I thought of statting my Hravek Kharn as a warlord with a few paladin levels, but the warlord itself is already quite though (4d6 martial advantage, 3 attacks/round, parry reaction). My advice is to either use the warlord without paladin levels (and buff up HP/saving throws/AC) or hybridize the champion stat block with the hobgoblin captain (NOT the warlord, I think that would be too much). This should work pretty well: Hravek would be an inspiring leader, whose martial prowess is unmatched by other hobgoblins (3 attacks/round + 3d6 martial advantage) and a though nut to crack (about 200 HP, can reroll a failed ST 2/day).
Of course, as Mongobear pointed out, focused fire can be a real pain even for though opponents. Hravek Kharn is smart enough to be surrounded by aides and minions. Perhaps a cleric with warding bond and shield of faith active on him.

[Gingervitis]

Heyo, first post!

Anyway, I was looking through D&D Beyond. I can’t post links, since this is my first post, but it’s in the homebrew monster section with a CR rating of 13. Would that work for your purposes?

[Envyus]

Heyo, first post!

Anyway, I was looking through D&D Beyond. I can’t post links, since this is my first post, but it’s in the homebrew monster section with a CR rating of 13. Would that work for your purposes?

Can you post it on your second post.

[arclyte]

Be sure to check out the Scales of War Adventure Path for 4E, it was published as a series of PDFs that can be found online. It takes place _after_ Red Hand but uses the same area.

I'm currently using it to extend out the campaign _after_ Red Hand, but in the 6th adventure in the Path - The Temple Between, the town of Brindol is attacked by an undead Gith and his minions. I found some player's versions of the maps included in that adventure that worked perfectly for the final battles in Brindol (or Rethmar, as I moved it to Faerun).

I used all of the different Hobgoblin classes I could find - I think I ended up with 7 different types. I agree that Iron Shadows make great Doom Fist monks.

I also brought in the Blood Screamers for a random encounter - a group of weremole gnomes that make their home in the Bandit Wastes. They hide in giant ant warrens, so I had the encounter start with giant ants burrowing up and attacking, followed by giant moles. My players loved it, so I'm currently trying to figure out a high level side quest to throw at them that requires finding the leader, who's a vampire gnome called Blood-Curdling Scream.

[parryhotter]

.............

[Radu the Wander]

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.
[LIST][*]Blue Abishai

As I was doing a monster by monster conversion on my own, I did an adaptation of the Armanite from Mordencainen's Tome of Foes. It is still a CR 7, still nicely lightning demon themed, and won't totally kill your party singlehandedly like the beastly CR 17 blue abishai from the same book.

Feel free to use it:

Lesser Blue Abishai
Medium fiend (devil), LE
Armor Class 16 (Natural)
Hit Points 85 (9d8 + 45)
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
21 (+5) 18 (+4) 21 (+5) 11 (+0) 12 (+1) 13 (+1)
Damage Resistances Cold, Fire
Damage Immunities Lightning, Poison
Condition Immunities Poisoned
Senses Darkvision 120 ft, Passive Perception 11
Languages Draconic, Infernal, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)
Magic Resistance. The abishai has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Magic Weapons. The abishai’s weapon attacks are magical.
Actions
Multiattack. The abishai makes three attacks: one with its bite, one with its claws, and one with its electrified tail.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6 + 5) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4 + 5) slashing damage.
Electrified Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d6 + 5) slashing damage plus 18 (4d8) lightning damage
Lightning Lance (Recharge 5–6). The abishai looses a bolt of lightning in a line 60 feet long and 10 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 27 (6d8) lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

[Ciaran]

Hey! I posted this in Draz74's thread but these two conversions were invaluable in my own campaign which just wrapped when the boards were down (I didnt realise quite how reliant I was until both threads went missing!) I posted some observations from my own game in that thread, and thought I'd include them here too in the hopes they're useful to any GMs running this in 5th. But first of all, thank you OP for helping my group see this campaign to its conclusion (I think the first campaign in 11 years that of play together that has reached a conclusion this spectacular!)

Spoiler: Some thoughts from my own Campaign

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• Ch 1 - WITCHWOOD
• The hobgoblin fights early on REALLY punished poor positioning. I also used the optional flanking rules, and the party's Beastmaster had a real knack for getting himself surrounded and KO'd. However, fireball trivialised these encounters (particularly the Streets of Blood encounters in Brindol), and I wish I had doubled or trebled the numbers of hobgoblins to keep them competitive.
  
• Koth almost wiped the party out with a Surprise Attack Scorching Ray from Invisibility (those particular features are very mean together) but my parties monk took him out single handedly in a climactic duel on the battlements.
  
• The dragon fights across the board were somewhat underwhelming (as most solo monster fights tend to be). My players, a shield master fighter and a monk were able to knock the dragons prone or stun them for a round and dogpile on them. It took me several dragons to learn to respect how quickly a caught out dragon could be torn apart, and I ought to have used higher CR dragons across the board. This was particularly apparent in our fight with Arbithriax the Red, a major player in my elf cleric's backstory, who as a large size adult was an enormous anticlimax for my PCs who had guzzled potions of flight and went down like a stone. Better use of their flight (strafing tactics, etc, especially over the big chasms like Skull Gorge).
  
• My PCs collapsed Skull Gorge Bridge with an Acorn Feather Token I'd given them in Session Zero planted in the fissures. Points for ingenuity!
  
  
  Ch 2 - THE BLACKFENS
• A general note about travel, but I really glossed over the time between setpieces and it led to the world feeling very small and not much space for the characters to process information and plan. I would suggest DMs take the time to flesh out the travel, and make the world feel bigger.
  
• My party Cleric used Control Water to great effect in Rhest, knocking the Ogre guards into the murky lake and flushing out the inhabitants of the Town Hall. This was also their first use of Divination to locate the group's leaders. Divination became a big part of the game in a way I hadn't expected, and in retrospect I would have withheld more information in the interrogations so that this scrying and divining could have more payoff. I had the PCs be scryed on through the Mindbender's pearl of power by the Doom Priests and Azzar Kul in the fane, (which I reflavored as a dragon egg and holy symbol of Tiamat), but by the end of the campaign had not done anything with that information or revealed it to the PCs.
  
• The potions of flight the party found in the Bell Tower in Rhest became something they heavily relied on in the campaign. As a rare magic item that lasts a full hour, it trivialised a lot of later combats (although allowing the fighter and monk a way to deal with flying enemies in a party with only a single caster). I would force the players to RATION these, and have perhaps only one available in Brindol instead of making them available in infinite numbers for purchase.
  
  
  Ch 3 - THE GHOSTLORDS LAIR
• Ulwai became a constant thorn in my PCs sides between Greater Invisibility and Dimension Door. Unlike the other wyrmlords who went down like chumps, she had perhaps too many tools for escape.
  
• The Behir, a solo encounter, by contrast, was Banished by my cleric and summarily dogpiled by readied attacks. The Ghostlord was stunlocked and suffered a similar fate. Turns out Liches arent immune to stun, and I had let my PCs loot the bonelords stash unmolested (a mistake), so that he autofailed his save against Web due to stun, and then restrained could be knocked prone and dogpiled willy-nilly.
  
• I replaced the Bonedrinkers with Mummys to allow my Sun Soul Monk an opportunity to use her burning hands ability, but both the Light Cleric and Monk refused to take advantage of their fire vulnerability at all and instead dragged out the mummy fight into an incredibly long encounter where they turned them and picked them off in tight quarters one by one, meaning we didn't actually get time for the Ghostlord fight that session... PLAYERS, am I right?
  
  
  Ch 4 - ENEMIES AT THE GATES
• I used the mob attack optional rules to run the Streets of Blood optional encounter, with conditional modifiers for both side's respective use of the Leadership feature (that both Hobgoblin Captains and Knights posessed), half cover, and the modified Berserker's reckless attack (I used Berserkers with the Bugbears extra damage die for a devastating 2d12+3 reckless attack to put the fear of death into my players, but they were melted by archer fire and AoE magic). The table is included below.
  
• As noted above, Arbithriax was a very underwhelming encounter. Scared off by the high numbers of the Adult Red Dragon, I nevertheless wish I had used a wyrm with legendary actions for this fight, as the action economy really favored the PCs and it just felt like a bit of anticlimax. I'd still probably scale back the adult red dragon to be more in line with one of the weaker Adult dragons, but my PCs had fire resist gear and potions of flight, so I needn't have worried. Adjust to match your PCs level of preparation, but I'd say a more powerful dragon is best. You can always have allies come and aid them if the scales tip too far against them!
  
• I ran Wyrmlord Kharn as a modified Champion NPC from Volo's, with a vicious greatsword and red dragon hide armor and the Martial Advantage trait. His legendary actions gave his Hill Giants extra attacks, and he would have fared much better if he had hung back in the second rank and used them as a buffer. He had the help of Ulwai in this encounter, but was still no match for the stunlock, and was killed outright before the bard could dimension door him out of there. I'd definitely use that statblock again, but respect the PCs deadliness a little more.
  
• My party cleric burned the red dragon Arbithriax's remains in Cathedral Square and used the parties accumulated wealth to cast Planar Ally. The Monk PC was being groomed as a "living saint" by the cleric after the death of her prior incarnation at the red dragon's hands. The party enlisted the help of the saint, now a Deva, for their final battle at the Fane. A really cool moment, and not too overpowering considering the capabilities of 10th and 11th level PCs.
  
  
  
  Ch 5 - FANE OF TIAMAT
• I kept the blue dragon's wand of fireballs as in the book and attacked the party from a range of 120ft. This fight was really interesting! I had hoped to drive the players into the fane to take cover before they were truly ready (they had already scryed to get the password) but they instead flew out and fought him over the chasm. I had hoped to use my players overreliance on knocking flying enemies prone against them somewhat with the Wing Attack legendary action, but found that there was an exception to magical flight so they would instead just... hover where they were. Strange ruling, but there you go! Perhaps you would rule it differently.
  
• I used the Black and Blue Abishai from Mordenkainen's Tome here, without modification. With a Light Cleric and a Helm of Telepathy I had dropped into the treasure hoard above the fane they had ways to deal with invisible foes and darkness. If your group doesnt have these consider making some adjustments. The Blue Abishai used their wyvern zombies as meatshields and included them in the area of their cone of cold spells, then dimension doored behind a wall of force to regroup with the other guards in the corridor.
  
• My PCs didnt seek out any of the side passages here. I removed the Zombie Wyverns in the lower Fane and instead inhabited the temple with harmless spectres of fallen hobgoblins (more on this below) as I hoped to get through the Fane in a single session. The Greenspawn Razorfiends who they had already encountered multiple times were replaced with a rematch with Skather, the assassin from the Battle who had previously escaped (a modified Assassin NPC with a breath weapon). He used his assassinate feature on the PCs as they navigated the difficult terrain of the room and were split up.
  
• I forgot the Unhallow effect on both of the altars here and the priests (The Doom Hand Cleric's from this conversion and modified War Priests) were made short work of with surprise. I didn't find a satisfying replacement for the Erinyes, I used their Rope of Entanglement variant to tie up PCs in the final fight (I had removed the Abishai and placed them there) but found they did not add much to the encounter.
  
• I made Azzar Kul a scaled up warpriest with 14th level casting, and some magic items and increased melee damage. I had big plans for this encounter. One of my PCs, the evil beastmaster ranger, had expressed dissapointment that the hoard were too black and white evil, and that her war-criminal character did not feel as morally gray as she had hoped. I had planned to spin this encounter as a repentant Azzar Kul doing everything in his power to keep the portal closed. Not a great warlord, but a tired, old man. He had sent his horde away from the site of the planar rift for their own safety, and due to the pact the horde had made with Tiamat, their souls were not sent to Acheron and Magubliets armies, but trapped here to fuel Tiamat's return. I had planned for him to use an upcast spirit guardians to turn the ghosts of fallen hobgoblins against the party, all the while pleading for them to not interrupt the ritual. Of course, he was stunned and dogpiled before he could even open his mouth. Very anticlimactic. I ought to have given him the legendary resistance I have included in his statblock below, and perhaps some kind of magical barrier (A Blue Abishai's forcecage?) or Etherealness to allow him to talk to the party from a place of safety. I'd consider adding legendary actions or more minions to tie up the PCs (I simply had two Erinyes by his side)
  
• Despite attempts to banish the PCs Deva ally by the clerics and Tiamat's Divine Word, she remained until the final round of the battle with Tiamat, where she finally exhausted her healing and her hitpoint pool.
  
• The Tiamat Fight was really swingy. I used the Rise of Tiamat version, which has several conditional modifiers to adjust her stats. I opted to keep her AC at 25, which proved really disheartening for my PCs, as even the Holy Weapon buffed fighter was missing more often than not. I'd be careful if you want to do the same, and just increase her HP instead. I limited her to three legendary actions but otherwise had a health pool on the high end of the spectrum (~300HP) and kept her numbers as is (the Shield Master Fighter and Monk and UM Beastmaster companion both had evasion to avoid the devastating breath weapons and I allowed my PCs to use the altar and balconies as cover). It was a very near thing, but my level 11 PCs all survived this encounter with a CR 30 creature, and with her legendary actions I could have her monologuing for the entire fight unlike Azzar Kul and it was very much the climax I'd hoped for!
  
• I'm planning a Planescape followup down the track based loosely on that 4E scales of war adventure path, running the PCs against the githyanki and a vengeful Tiamat across Sigil and the planes for a session or two. But that will come after our next campaign, Curse of Strahd. I hope something in these notes was helpful!

Spoiler: Mob Attack Tables (Streets of Blood) - Just sub in your PCs AC values!

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Hogboblin AC 18 HP 11 (18 max) // +3 1d8+1 +2d6 (12 damage)
Captain AC 19 (shield) HP 39 (60 max) // +4 (1d8+2+3d6) (16 damage)
Berserker AC 13 HP 67 // +5 (2d12+3) 15dmg
Berskerker (Reckless) AC 8, HP 67// +10 (2d12+3) 15dmg

Guard AC 16 HP 11 // +3 crossbow 5 damage (1d8+1)
Knight AC 18 HP52 // two +5 greatsword 9 damage (2d6+3)
Scout AC 13, HP 16, // +4 longbow hits 12 damage (1d8+2) x2

+2 with leadership (1m, 30ft radius)

HOBGOBLINS +3 atk, 12 dmg, 5 longbow
Scouts (AC 13) two monsters per success (one if flank/enveloped)
Guards (AC 16) three monsters per success [two if flank/enveloped]
Radalia/Spirtle/Trellara (AC 17) three monsters per success [two if flank/enveloped]
Knight(AC 18) four monsters per success [two if flank/enveloped]
Aurelius/Horace (AC 20) five monsters per success [three if flank/enveloped]

HOBGOBLINS (Leadership) +5 atk, 12 dmg, 5 longbow (1d8+1+2d6)
CAPTAINS +4atk, 16 damage, 6 longbow (1d8+2+3d6)
BERSERKER +5 Atk, 15dmg (2d12+3)
Scouts (AC 13) two monsters per success (one if flank/enveloped)
Guards (AC 16) two monsters per success [one if flank/enveloped]
Radalia/Spirtle/Trellara (AC 17) two monsters per success [two if flank/enveloped]
Knight(AC 18) three monsters per success [two if flank/enveloped]
Aurelius/Horace (AC 20) four monsters per success [three if flank/enveloped]

BERSERKER (RECKLESS) +10 atk, 15dmg (2d12+3)
Scouts (AC 13) one monsters per success
Guards (AC 16) two monsters per success
Radalia/Spirtle/Trellara (AC 17) two monsters per success
Knight(AC 18) two per success
Aurelius/Horace (AC 20) two per success

GUARDS +3, 5dmg (1d8+1)
Berserker (Reckless, AC 8) one per success
Berserker (AC 13) two per success [one flank]
Manticore (AC 14) two per success [one flank]
Goblin (AC 15) two per success [two flank]
Thunderlizard (AC 17) three per success [two flank]
Hobgoblin (AC 18) four per success [two flank]
Hobgoblin Captain (AC 19) four per success [three flank]
Hobgoblin -cover (AC 23) impossible [twenty per success]

SCOUTS +4, 12dmg (1d8+2 x2)
Berserker (Reckless, AC 8) one per success
Berserker (AC 13) two per success [one flank]
Manticore (AC 14) two per success [one flank]
Goblin (AC 15) two per success [two flank]
Thunderlizard (AC 17) three per success [two flank]
Hobgoblin (AC 18) three per success [two flank]
Hobgoblin Captain (AC 19) four per success [two flank]
Hobgoblin -cover (AC 23) impossible [ten per success]

FIREBALL SAVES (DC 17)
Knight, Thunderlizard +0 1/5 save
Guard, Hob, Berserker +1 1/4 save
Goblins, Captain, Scouts +2 1/4 save
Hob, Zerker (half cover, leadership) Manticore +3 1/3 save
Hob (3/4 cover) +6 1/2 save
Hob Capt (3/4 cover) +7 1/2 save

RESULT NEEDED - MONSTERS PER SUCCESS
<6 1
6-12 2
13-14 3
15-16 4
17-18 5
19 10
20+ 20

Spoiler: My Azzar Kul

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AZZAR KUL CR 14
Ac 19 HP 216 SPD 30
S 18 D 14 C 18 I 12 W 18 Ch 12
Saves +5 Str, +3 Dex, +5 Con, +2 Int, +10 Wis, +7 Cha
Skills Arcana +8, Insight +10, Intimidation +8, Religion +8
Senses passive perception 14; darkvision 60
Spellcasting (14th, DC 17, +9 spell attack)
Cantrips (at will) guidance, light, sacred flame, spare the dying, thaumaturgy
1st level (4 slots): bane (C), command^, cure wounds^, inflict^, sanctuary, shield of faith (C)
2nd level (3 slots): hold person^ (C), magic weapon^ (C), silence (R), spiritual weapon^
3rd level (3 slots): crusader’s mantle (C), dispel magic, spirit guardians^ (C)
4th level (3 slots): banishment^ (C), death ward, freedom of movement, stoneskin (C)
5th level (2 slots): commune (R), contagion, flame strike, hold monster^ (C), planar binding
6th level (1 slot): harm
7th level (1 slot): etherealness, temple of the gods
Combat Gear potion of speed (1 minute), potion of flight, spell scroll (heal), spell scroll (word of recall)
Multiattack (+1 greatsword). The High Wyrmlord makes two greatsword attacks +10 (4d6+5) slashing damage.
Martial Advantage (1/round) Deal an additional 4d6 damage with a melee weapon attack if an ally is within 5ft.
Legendary Resistance (3/day) When Azzar Kul fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
REACTION - Guided Strike (2/Short Rest). The priest grants a +10 bonus to an attack roll made by itself or another creature within 30 feet of it. The priest can make this choice after the roll is made but before it hits or misses.
Equipment +1 full plate, +1 greatsword, stone of good luck [factored in]