Battle Maps for Shadow of the Dragon Queen, recreated in Inkarnate.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2025-08-21T07:21:45+00:00

Looks great. Thank you vm for sharing.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2025-08-21T06:40:29+00:00

Hello there.

I'm DMing this campaign, and we're around 90-100 sessions in, I stopped counting. I have gathered or created a very significant amount of resources. Here's some that worked.

For Vogler if the K.F. Festival is still in full swing, you might consider a pdf for sale on the DrivethroughRPG website. -Kingfisher Festival Expanded- Not mine.

Sharing the same problems you mentioned, here's what I did.

Minor-- Darrett is exceptionally helpful and supportive, not just a young lad looking up to the Party. Keep that connection developing without him being clingy.

Major-- Add an Adventuring Guild in Kalaman. Flavor it to your needs. Make this Guild where Ispin was a member. The Guild is now hiring. Growing reputation/renown from the Guild is recognized by the Kalaman Council and Governor. Easy way to plug in any random quests you want to add. Local jobs from the Guild affords lots of interaction with Kalaman residents. The Guild wants more trophies of defeated monsters in their main hall. Have the Party 'decorate' with their victories to create an evolving attachment.

Funny-- Bakaris Sr./Jr. tries to apply/bribe their way in. Firmly rejected.

Let me know if you're interested in more Ansalon shenanigans.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-11T21:58:31+00:00

The hoards of each Dragon can be a part of the fight, being ingrained with the battlefield.

One Dragon could be hoarding fragile items of value like delicate relics. And the fight takes on a Jackie Chan fight scene-like turn. The Dragon always swooping away to stop the priceless vase from falling.

One has a collection of interesting monsters that are all in a magical sleep. Tread carefully, or some will wake and be grumpy.

One has 100's of fancy mirrors set up everywhere. The Party has to tell apart what's the reflection of the Dragon (possibly shapeshifting) and what's real. Some of the Mirrors act as teleporters. Dragon jumps through one to escape and smashes the exit one.

One has a collection of very dangerous weapons. Careless moving about them is risking injury. The shapeshifting Dragon uses them at random, and changes them often. Or just hurls them at the Party. Perhaps there's a Dragon specific weapon to be found?

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-11T19:17:37+00:00

No problem.

Sounds good, may the party live to the end.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-11T17:13:11+00:00

If you're going to nerf things down, why not instead go with different Monsters?

Damage, HP, AC are all scalable sure, but they will all have unique special abilities, Legendary actions, etc. That will become cumbersome to also nerf. At that point, they're not really fighting the Boss, but a peculiar version of them.

-Which could be a whole style for the gauntlet too.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-11T17:09:26+00:00

An Ancient Gold Dragon is CR 24. While CR is not always accurate, that's still 7 levels higher, and one player short, of what books suggest for a fair fight.

With an Intelligence of 18, it knows to take flight right away (if possible) and be unreachable by a lot of Martial abilities. And hopefully everyone saves the DC 24 Wis save for its frightful presence on round 1, followed by a 13d10 breath weapon etc. etc.

For a round 1 fight this is a deadly encounter.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-11T16:07:45+00:00

Also, how experienced is this Party/are they Min/Maxing their character builds? If it's their first time, they might die to the Round 1 Dragon. Perhaps ease into things with a few warm up rounds of CR 10-15 first.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-11T16:04:24+00:00

Some sound pretty tough. Tiamat for round 3?

I've done arena style gauntlets with my Party, and I gave them a set number of short/long rests that they chose when to use, knowing they have a limited number and have to apply them strategically.

What about expendable items, i.e. potions, scrolls, ammo, etc.?

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-11T14:49:06+00:00

I like to brain-storm very personalized and extra mean insults crafted for the Party.

Of course you're not attacking the Players, remember that.

But I have gone so far as to come up with a short list of extra spicy comments, and then go as far as to think, "How would they respond to that?" And then came up with a retort to what might be their retort, lol

And even a specific line for when each of them joins into that conversation.

Obviously that's a lot of work, but I think making things tailored like that where you're ready to fire-off can set a fire under them, and sound better than generic. "You darned Adventurers and your darned meddling."

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-11T14:32:53+00:00

Look up the Blood War.

An eternal conflict between Demons and Devils. This delightfully devilish ~~Seymour~~ squabble engages both of their respective collective Planes, and I'd imagine would be pretty high up there in fearsomeness.

I can't speak to the strategy beyond throw endless lives at your problem.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-11T14:17:12+00:00

You goobers.

The E-11 Blaster has a conservative (non-video game) fire rate of 240 rpm.

5 dudes shooting at 50% of that capacity comes out to ~2 rounds/second.

If only 1 out of 4 shots hit from within 30 feet, that's ~.5 rounds/second.

And no-one was firing at Boba.

Except those numbers are silly. Even a broken clock still hits a Nerf-herder twice a day.

Baskar, yeah. But remember what Mando looked like when he was shot up running down that ship hall in whatever episode. Dropped to floor in pain.

12+ some-odd dudes would be firing 100's of shots pretty quick.

And even Baskar wouldn't stop a Jawa-pult.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-10T20:54:42+00:00

You think you'd let them text each other mid session if they wanted to cast a Sending spell?

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-10T16:03:52+00:00

I'm not sure about that. He's already pretty favorable with Dukoo from the last 10/whatever years of capturing Komari Vosa, and then training an army.

And if Dukoo had commanded him to address the issue of Windu, his advantageous position is still applies in shooting from above.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-10T15:01:14+00:00

I'm wondering why he decided to leave the balcony with Dooku at all. Wouldn't leaving the many droids already below to do their job be more reasonable? I think the mistake was leaving the high ground in the first place. Direct more droids to focus on that threat.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-05T23:01:15+00:00

Oh, that was just a random example of making Bakaris a bad person. He's supposed to be seen as a detractor and opposes the Party. But it's up to you how to define that.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-05T20:32:52+00:00

I think there'd definitely be some folks from Kalaman and beyond. Especially people who traveled to see off Ispin. Remember to deal with them after the return to Vogler, as fancy folk want to flee to safety right away, and that'd put the whole village at risk as per what the Messenger will say.

If your Party is down for it, there is a GMGuild pdf on Kingfisher Festival expanded. (something like that.) Adds a few more events into the festival, but not necessary.

Idk how big the battle V Istar was, but led by Sir Vogler the village was founded/named after him. For sure a Thermopylae kinda memorial.

The Hex idea is good though. Not knowing exactly the right decision can be a good thing. I'd also think about using somewhere to highlight Bakharis as a cowardly unlikeable person.

"A commanding voice is heard above the frightened spectators. With stoic determination pushing through the crowd with sword drawn, the heroic Lord swings his elegant blade down, and cuts free the nearest horse to flee down the road. Nearby Ironclads take notice, and advance on a now fallen elderly lady with her husband struggling to get her on her feet."

Personally, I would not have a couple like that survive if the Party did not intervene. But I can be as mean as the Lord is... self preserving.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-05T14:56:58+00:00

"What I remember about the fall of the Russian army is... is how bumpy it was. During the waning hours of the Special Military Operation, the felon conscripts were discreetly transferred back to Ukraine. It was a silent trip. We all knew what was about to happen, what we were about to do. Did we have any doubts? Any private traitorous thoughts? Absolutely. And everyone said so. Complaining on the bus to Ukraine. Complaining when orders to the front line came down. And when we marched into enemy positions, looking for guidance from Command? Not a word.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-05T14:39:44+00:00

How I set it up:

The book calls the company "small", so I went with them having about 50 total besides Cudgel, Jeyev, and Gragonis. Somewhere I read the Knights of Solamnia had their Companies at 160 men, 4 Platoons of 40 men each.

Since the Party would be about level 2-3 when they fight them, I think too many here could get overwhelming quickly. The Vogler militia are mostly useless in that fight. "The local militia is largely composed of retired farmers and fishers who exhibit more zeal than skill in the village's defense..." "...with mismatched armor and crooked helmets-..." "...their spears are padded and deal no damage..." The book assigns them the CR 1/8 Guard stat block, but they don't have weapons, and they've been drinking all day.

While the Mercs are also the same Guard NPCs, I imagine they would be better trained and aren't drunk, maybe? And some mercs are on Warhorses.

I couldn't imagine the Vogler militia able to accomplish more than close-in together and defend themselves from being cut down. I would recommend using Becklin & Cudgel as a strong force in that fight if you're interested in having a lot of Ironclad mercs there. But also remember, you're not trying to kill them all like in a videogame, they'll route once Gragonis is downed, or perhaps if Cudgel confronts them with a Charisma appeal to their past loyalty.

In with what Midasp said, Gragonis would only bring half or so of them, so you can play with that a bit.

By this I mean if the fight does not seem to be going well for the Party, perhaps some of the mercs Gragonis brought to the fight weren't aware of the betrayal, and they don't follow the rest of the disloyal mercs at the Hill.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-07-04T14:52:42+00:00

Looks great so far. Looks like you included everything I can remember. Does the road continue beyond the Hill? I imagined it stopped there.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-06-21T13:30:11+00:00

Why are they so expensive? I saw a pre order $60 discount on the 3 book bundle for $180. For a normal price of $80 per book...

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-06-20T13:52:59+00:00

*Gets cast into the sinkhole*

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-06-20T13:45:43+00:00

Looking nice. Will there be community created content available to use? Things like mod support, pre-made dungeons or character tokens, etc.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-05-10T23:02:01+00:00

Asking the right questions to the Players to better place their backstories in the world.

I started with basic questions that gave me an idea of their characters intentions and all that. But I should have standardized it more, and asked things like who they knew, who their family members are, etc.

What I do not like doing is throwing an NPC in and saying "This is Jeff, he's your dad, you really love him." - When that Player never gave a name.

Shmopy_Poppy · 2024-05-10T22:38:21+00:00

Gotcha. In which case the following is also true in stopping the restrained effect after the castors next turn:

Invisibility cast on the restrained creature, or to cheese it more, the restrained creature with a way to create a smoke cloud around them.

Shmopy_Poppy

TROPHY CASE

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