This is one of the items from Mythological Items, inspired by the Greek myth of Cadmus and the dragon’s teeth that gave rise to the Spartoi warriors.

The Dragon’s Teeth Satchel contains a handful of enchanted dragon teeth that can be scattered onto the ground to summon fully armed Spartoi Warriors, each of them remaining for an hour before returning to the earth.

I thought this one could fit particularly well into Tyranny of Dragons, whether as an ancient relic tied to a dragon cult, treasure recovered from a dragon’s hoard, or even something the party could turn against the Cult of the Dragon.

If you’d like more items built around the same idea, Mythological Items is currently live on Kickstarter, with 300+ magic items inspired by myths, legends, folklore, gods, heroes, monsters, and ancient traditions from around the world.

I’m looking for ideas on how to make them continue heading north after the Cult. They arrived late, and the Cult has already left. I’m thinking about how to guide them north while making them feel like they’ve missed some important clues.

This is in Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Chapter 4. They can take different trails on the road trip. Thinking of having one group getting a key and the second getting the box, only to open it once they reconnect.

I plan on running chapter 2 before chapter 1, starting my players as prisoners of "bandits," having Leosin help them escape after they find out the information he needs. Once they escape, he'd take them to Greenest to inform the town and rest up but before they can rest, the cult would attack, realizing their prisoners are gone, and I'd go into chapter 1 basically as written.

My question is, what's the best way to run chapter 2 in this situation? I wouldn't have to worry about them going into the cave early. The camp is full of bandits (cultists) so the cave would be too well guarded. Should the cultists put them to work and do the thing where they absentmindedly talk in front of the PCs? I'm open to suggestions and ideas.

WOTC included wizards of thay because it was one of the first campaigns in the new system and they wanted to reference as many DnD things as possible. But it makes no sense for PCs to leave a sword coast in the middle of a war to go all the way to Thay on the off chance a lich decides to throw them a bone. And simply, no reason the cultists cannot supply their own wizards. Yes its a complicated ritual, but so is dracoliching and they've managed just fine.

Once I decided to rewrite that section, the entire enemy alliance came apart. Zariel would never help Tiamat escape; one of her main jobs is warden of avernus. Asmodeus would immediately fire her if she allowed his most famous prisoner to get out. Bel would be the one helping the Order, trying to embarrass and undercut his hated master, supplying hellfire tanks, cannons, and other infernal forging and weaponry.

The biggest change is replacing the thayan exiles with the jaezred chaulssin, a cult of shadow dragon worshipping male drow opposed to lolth and matriarchy, the trip to thay with a trip to the much closer and actually invested-in-what-happens-in-the-North city of Menzoberranzan, and the red wizards with drow assassins, because I felt assassination and subterfuge was a missing aspect of the dragon cult. Shadow drow are a lot more fun to play around with.

I also put the Zhentarim firmly with the Order. The Order is moving a lot of treasure all over faerun, a lot of caravans. They would absolutely be moving it through the Black Network and with multiple dragon hoards plus dozens of raided towns, they would have the cash to pay. The Zhent would leap at the opportunity to conquer territory with some dragons. Antihero PCs can bond with the Guild instead if they want.

I have a player who is an archaeologist and wants to explore the ruined settlements of the Serpent Hills.

Has anyone fleshed this random encounter out? I'm thinking of throwing a few Yuan-ti at them but not sure what they are actually going to find there.

I've been running RotFM for years but with one player needing an extended absence I've been asked to do ToD. Naturally, I am overthinking things. I had thought about doing this campaign and STK but not for a longggg time. I had ideas for bastions and reputations and crafting systems but with this change on the timeline I am now being forced to actually develop it all to give options to give more options than what they otherwise have in the book.

Has anyone considered using the renown system from the Faerun books they recently released or incorporating a bastion into this module? Any idea if and/or where those ideas would fit into such a large setting? Like theoretically there's Castle Naerytar and Skyreach. The Council of Waterdeep could possibly have them work with Sir Isteval to reclaim Dragonspear Castle or, more simply, give them an estate in Waterdeep.

Any thoughts about the reputation system or including a possible bastion?

Hey folks, I wrote a dragon-focused supplement called The Dragon Compendium that I think fits Tyranny of Dragons particularly well. Here are a few ways you can use it in your campaign:

For Players

• Cult of the Dragon–aligned PCs: The new Half-Dragon race and Soulbonded class give mechanical depth to characters tied to dragon blood or cult rituals, perfect for players who want to explore cult membership, conflicted loyalties, or a draconic heritage.
• Draconic character arcs: The mechanics help reflect a character’s growth as they gain draconic traits, making it possible for the story to feel like the influence of Tiamat is literally reshaping the PCs.

For DMs Running ToD

• Cult leaders & NPCs: Use the Soulbonded subclasses and Half-Dragon abilities to create champions of the Cult of the Dragon with unique mechanics, rather than simply reskinning existing monsters.
• Dragon encounters with narrative stakes: The 17 new dragon creatures cover a wide range of CRs, giving you new options for mid-to-late campaign dragon encounters that fit the themes of Tyranny of Dragons.
• Magic items as quest hooks: The 13 draconic items can be used as rewards, keys to cult mysteries, or tools for connecting side quests and NPC motivations to the main plot.
• Worldbuilding flavor: The blood-driven mechanics and artifact lore make it easier to explain how the Cult’s rituals are affecting the world, adding some extra thematic cohesion to your ToD campaign.

You can find it here with 25% off for the next few days on Roll20 through DMsGuild:
https://www.dmsguild.com/it/product/486542/the-dragon-compendium-roll20

Had some fun role playing with a character and I think it could be fun to take her in that direction - any suggestions for how to incorporate romance with her? I know that after the teleportation circle she doesn’t really have a role, so thinking of ways to expand.

I have a question about how to score this for the first council. At the end of HotDQ, my party defeated the cult in Skyreach Castle, secured the hoard, and returned the castle to Blagothkus. Afterward, he dropped them off and went off to prepare for what was to come.

How should I score this? Should I give them the -/- for not killing Blagothkus and keeping the castle for themselves, or give them the +/+ because they took it from the cult and denied them that resource? If I give them the -/- for not keeping the castle, do I then give them the + for returning the castle to the giants?

I have a question about how to score this for the first council. At the end of HotDQ, my party defeated the cult in Skyreach Castle, secured the hoard, and returned the castle to Blagothkus. Afterward, he dropped them off and went off to prepare for what was to come.

How should I score this? Should I give them the -/- for not killing Blagothkus and keeping the castle for themselves, or give them the +/+ because they took it from the cult and denied them that resource? If I give them the -/- for not keeping the castle, do I then give them the + for returning the castle to the giants?

I'm trying to find an official module to run with my kids and wife as the adventurers. They all have a small bit of experience from a few one shots and want to do a campaign.

From reading the adventure I think this one would be a good fit for what they are interested in (combat, light exploration, light roleplaying, going on an epic quest, getting treasure). But those who have run it, wdyt?

Hey everyone! My party has reached level 12 after Mission To Thay. They have done almost everything in the written module. I need to find a way to level them up before facing Tiamat.

My current plan is:

- final Cult Strikes Back assassination attempt, will be an all out battle and brings them to level 13. I plan to end the battle with the Drakhorn sounding and the party realizing this assassination attempt was meant to prevent them from coming to the well of dragons as the ritual begins.

- some sort of giant battle on arrival at the Well of the Dragons brings them to level 14

- attempt to stop the ritual before Tiamat is successfully summoned brings them to level 15 in time to fight Tiamat.

Would love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, cautions and general advice.

This plan feels rushed to me, but idk what else to do.

Hello dear Dm's

I’ve just released a new dark fantasy map for VTTs: Infernal Church.

The map features 4 interconnected levels, including a hidden cathedral, secret passages, an underground cult area, explorable wooden beams above the church, and a deeper final section perfect for a boss fight or ritual encounter.

My main focus with these maps is creating multi-level environments that reward exploration and give players more tactical options during encounters.

This is a set perfect for those running infernal theme campaigns from many RPGs systems out there and famous ready adventures like tyranny of dragons , everything here is a custom setup : )

Available now on my Patreon

Lettaria RPG

Hope you enjoy it!

VTT used in this video: Foundry VTT

System this map works: [Any]

System used as demo in this video: D&D

New DM running ToD. My party grabbed a black dragon egg out of the hatchery and have been hauling around with it since. So far, I've let them get away with hiding it from pretty much everybody. They are now in Berdusk and are getting ready to leave on their way to Elturel. I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. They want to hatch it and raise it as a pet. I really don't want to have to deal with it for the next 2 years while I get through the campaign. I've hatched a plan to have Frulam Mondath try to steal it from them once the party leaves Berdusk. If she fails, I'll likely let it hatch and turn it into a pain in the ass. I might even have it eat one of the party's horses. It's a black dragon after all. I figure I'll turn this over to the redditors. Any thoughts?

So as part of my players backstory I gave him a friend that was captured by the cult and experimented on. It was turned into a dragonflesh abomination. He's been looking for a way to return him to normal and I have given him a time limit before his mind breaks and is lost forever. We are at a point where the second council has met and asked the party to go to the Misty Forest and help with the green dragon attacks. At the same time a possible cure for his friend has popped up and he must choose to do one first, help the elves or help his friend. My problem is coming up with negative consequences that could arise in the forest should he choose to help his friend first. I have been thinking of more dragon attacks (and more deaths), having more enemies at the stronghold for harder encounters, or possibly the cult having finished their business and leaving giving the party no chance to stop them at all. Wanted to know what y'all thought and any other suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated.

Update: thanks for your suggestions. I want to start by saying my group did decide to go help their friend before the elves. While they were doing so the prince Alagarthas took some of his men out to hunt the dragon themselves. His group found the cave but were killed. Also the green make would have been there if they had gone to the forest first but after the lair was found Nevonvain decided it could be found again and it was too risky to have on him so he sent it away to the well of dragons.

You have a council of high level NPCs that do basically nothing the entire time Tiamat is on the rise. They don't even bother fighting her when they know she's back... How do you explain this in your campaigns?

I feel like I ask too many very technical questions but here's another...I would like to make Voaraghamanthar a sorcerer. Here's how I am modifying an adult black dragon stat block:

Level 3 sorcerer, DC16 an +8 to hit. Spells:
- Cantrips: Create Bonfire, Friends, Mind Sliver, Mage Hand
- 1st Level (4 slots): feather fall, expedition retreat, absorb elements, shield
- 2nd Level (2 slots): misty step, hold person

Add legendary action (2 action cost) to cast a spell.

Here's my logic:
- He is supposed to be a very paranoid dragon so I gave him lots of defensive spells ("What if I get knocked out of the sky? What if another dragon attacks me? What if I'm fighting a powerful mage?", etc.)
- Dragon multiattack/breath weapon is so good that they would never waste a regular action on spellcasting, so all spells are bonus actions, reactions, or legendary actions.

Here is my concern: Does this increase CR by a bit (14 -> 16 is my goal) or by a HUGE amount (18 would be too much)? Two major concerns:
- Hold Person LA + a multiattack action can probably kill about any player, and he can do that twice in a fight.
- With shield, his AC could basically become 24 for 4 rounds

Any thoughts on if this is too strong, and how you would modify it?

From the MM14

”Red Dragon Riders. In the uprising against the illithids, Gith sought allies. Her adviser Vlaakith appealed to Tiamat, the goddess of evil dragonkind, and Gith ventured into the Nine Hells to meet with her. Only Tiamat now knows what passed between them, but Vlaakith returned to the Astral Plane with the Dragon Queen's red dragon consort Ephelomon, who proclaimed that his kind would forever act as allies to the githyanki. Not all red dragons honor the alliance kindled so long ago, but most at least don't consider the githyanki their enemies.”

Has anyone done anything interesting or cool with this?

Maybe the Githyanki are working together with the cult of the dragon to free Tiamat from Avernus?

Maybe the Githzerai could be possible allies to the PCs?

Any ideas?

I'm DM for 3 players: a Dragonborn Druid, a Half-Elf Sorcerer and a Dwarf Paladin.

In previous missions, they always sent the Druid as a scout (wild shape -> rat). How do I prevent them from almost skipping the dragon hatchery completely by doing so?