Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The Return of Tyranny of Dragons: First Impressions
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="brimmels" data-source="post: 7836437" data-attributes="member: 6919689"><p>Gamers don't usually ask for a revision to an existing adventure unless it's to adapt it to a new edition, yet that's exactly why Wizards of the Coast produced the new edition of <strong>Tyranny of Dragons</strong>. Fans online have been asking for an updated edition for some time. The fact that Tiamat and the Cult of the Dragon, especially one very prominent Tiamat follower, factors into the newest adventure, <strong>Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus</strong>, probably helped.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]115054[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p><strong>Tyranny of Dragons</strong> contains a revised versions of the previously released adventure books <strong>Hoard of the Dragon Queen</strong> and <strong>Rise of Tiamat</strong>, packaged with extra material, errata and a brand new cover by Hydro74 that gorgeously displays the five heads of Tiamat. While our accompanying image shows off the cover accurately you really have to see it in person to get the full effect of the metallic inks, especially the metallic red artwork contrasted with the black matte background. Unlike Hydro74's cover for <strong>Xanathar's Guide to Everything</strong> the matte portion is not a soft touch black cover they use on limited editions but it still looks terrific..</p><p></p><p>Reissuing <strong>Tyranny of Dragons</strong> in its combined form is not an insult to the original version or, in my opinion, a cash grab. <strong>Hoard of the Dragon Queen</strong> was produced by <a href="https://koboldpress.com/" target="_blank">Kobold Press</a>, but the team had the disadvantage of creating the adventure while the rules for 5th Edition were still being finalized, and the book was released with before the 5th Edition Monster Manual was released so it was designed to work with the Basic Rules that were online at that time and monsters in the appendix. Logistically, it made sense – give players a chance to start immediately with a new adventure. I don't envy Wolfgang Baur, Steve Winter and their team putting together an epic adventure without a finalized rule set for most of the development time.</p><p></p><p>As the first official 5th Edition adventure, <strong>Tyranny of Dragons</strong>, the official name of the two adventures when taken as a whole, is as epic as they come. WotC clearly wanted to kick off with a bang, and Kobold Press delivered. New leadership in the Cult of the Dragon has shifted its focus from undead dragons to plotting to free the dragon goddess Tiamat from her prison in Avernus and acquire a hoard of gold to welcome her return to Faerun (she is greedy, and dragons love a hoard). The plot takes the players through large chunks of the continent as the Red Wizards of Thay scheme with the cult to free Tiamat and a separate conspiracy seeks to shape the world in its image. From Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep to the Sea of Moving Ice and much more, <strong>Tyranny of Dragons</strong> provides an overview of the world that worked well for new and lapsed players as well as to introduce Faerun to the new edition.</p><p></p><p>Baur and the Kobold Press team also deftly worked in not just an introduction to factions but weaved them well into the plot as information sources, support and potential thorns in the characters' side, depending upon what the players decide to do. Within the story opportunities arise for rival sides like the Harpers and Zhentarim (as well as groups like the Lords Alliance who frequently disagree with both of those) to work together against a common enemy – but that doesn't mean it will smooth sailing.</p><p></p><p>The original <strong>Hoard of the Dragon Queen</strong> and <strong>Rise of Tiamat</strong> are fan favorites for a reason. It's a rollicking good adventure whether you're completely new to D&D (and role-playing in general) or just new to 5th Edition. Starting at 1st level and taking the players to 15th level before the final confrontation in the Well of Dragons, it gives players a chance to sink their teeth into the adventure, and they can fail. The final battle isn't hopeless, but victory is far from assured.</p><p></p><p>I do wish that in revising <strong>HotDQ</strong> and <strong>RoT</strong> to unify <strong>Tyranny of Dragons</strong> that they had adopted some of the conventions the more recent D&D adventures have added. Clearly defined adventure trees, <em>dramatis personae</em>, pronunciation guides, etc. are small things individually but make life much easier for busy DMs.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]115055[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>The concept art is a lovely addition. Unfortunately Tyranny of Dragons does not follow the convention of the more recent D&D adventures where the artist's name is listed on the page seam so you can tell who did what illustration. Still, in addition to the original art, <strong>ToD</strong> contains epic new images, details on the dragon masks, the cult's decorative regalia, etc. I especially like the sketches for the types of chromatic dragons with details next to them as if a zoologist was taking notes.</p><p></p><p>If you don't already own <strong>HotDQ</strong> and <strong>RoT</strong>, and are interested in the plot, purchasing <strong>Tyranny of Dragons</strong> is a no-brainer. You'll be getting a proven, popular adventure in a spiffy new edition with a gorgeous new cover and additional art.</p><p></p><p>If you do already <strong>HotDQ</strong> and <strong>RoT</strong>, purchasing <strong>Tyranny of Dragons</strong> is more of a judgment call, especially depending upon your budget. While it does incorporate the <a href="https://media.dnd.wizards.com/HotDQ-Errata.pdf" target="_blank">errata</a> to fix prior mistakes and omission, that and the <a href="https://media.wizards.com/2014/downloads/dnd/RiseTiamatSupplementv0.2_Printer.pdf" target="_blank">supplemental material for Rise of Tiamat</a> are still available online so purchasing the new version isn't necessary. If you're a completest, then buying it is an easy choice.</p><p></p><p>Original edition or revised, <strong>Tyranny of Dragons</strong> is a terrific adventure. It definitely set a high bar for launching the 5th Edition D&D adventures and well worth a look if you haven't already played it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="brimmels, post: 7836437, member: 6919689"] Gamers don't usually ask for a revision to an existing adventure unless it's to adapt it to a new edition, yet that's exactly why Wizards of the Coast produced the new edition of [B]Tyranny of Dragons[/B]. Fans online have been asking for an updated edition for some time. The fact that Tiamat and the Cult of the Dragon, especially one very prominent Tiamat follower, factors into the newest adventure, [B]Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus[/B], probably helped. [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="DnD_TOD_AltCvr.png"]115054[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [B]Tyranny of Dragons[/B] contains a revised versions of the previously released adventure books [B]Hoard of the Dragon Queen[/B] and [B]Rise of Tiamat[/B], packaged with extra material, errata and a brand new cover by Hydro74 that gorgeously displays the five heads of Tiamat. While our accompanying image shows off the cover accurately you really have to see it in person to get the full effect of the metallic inks, especially the metallic red artwork contrasted with the black matte background. Unlike Hydro74's cover for [B]Xanathar's Guide to Everything[/B] the matte portion is not a soft touch black cover they use on limited editions but it still looks terrific.. Reissuing [B]Tyranny of Dragons[/B] in its combined form is not an insult to the original version or, in my opinion, a cash grab. [B]Hoard of the Dragon Queen[/B] was produced by [URL='https://koboldpress.com/']Kobold Press[/URL], but the team had the disadvantage of creating the adventure while the rules for 5th Edition were still being finalized, and the book was released with before the 5th Edition Monster Manual was released so it was designed to work with the Basic Rules that were online at that time and monsters in the appendix. Logistically, it made sense – give players a chance to start immediately with a new adventure. I don't envy Wolfgang Baur, Steve Winter and their team putting together an epic adventure without a finalized rule set for most of the development time. As the first official 5th Edition adventure, [B]Tyranny of Dragons[/B], the official name of the two adventures when taken as a whole, is as epic as they come. WotC clearly wanted to kick off with a bang, and Kobold Press delivered. New leadership in the Cult of the Dragon has shifted its focus from undead dragons to plotting to free the dragon goddess Tiamat from her prison in Avernus and acquire a hoard of gold to welcome her return to Faerun (she is greedy, and dragons love a hoard). The plot takes the players through large chunks of the continent as the Red Wizards of Thay scheme with the cult to free Tiamat and a separate conspiracy seeks to shape the world in its image. From Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep to the Sea of Moving Ice and much more, [B]Tyranny of Dragons[/B] provides an overview of the world that worked well for new and lapsed players as well as to introduce Faerun to the new edition. Baur and the Kobold Press team also deftly worked in not just an introduction to factions but weaved them well into the plot as information sources, support and potential thorns in the characters' side, depending upon what the players decide to do. Within the story opportunities arise for rival sides like the Harpers and Zhentarim (as well as groups like the Lords Alliance who frequently disagree with both of those) to work together against a common enemy – but that doesn't mean it will smooth sailing. The original [B]Hoard of the Dragon Queen[/B] and [B]Rise of Tiamat[/B] are fan favorites for a reason. It's a rollicking good adventure whether you're completely new to D&D (and role-playing in general) or just new to 5th Edition. Starting at 1st level and taking the players to 15th level before the final confrontation in the Well of Dragons, it gives players a chance to sink their teeth into the adventure, and they can fail. The final battle isn't hopeless, but victory is far from assured. I do wish that in revising [B]HotDQ[/B] and [B]RoT[/B] to unify [B]Tyranny of Dragons[/B] that they had adopted some of the conventions the more recent D&D adventures have added. Clearly defined adventure trees, [I]dramatis personae[/I], pronunciation guides, etc. are small things individually but make life much easier for busy DMs. [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="IMG_2433.jpg"]115055[/ATTACH][/CENTER] The concept art is a lovely addition. Unfortunately Tyranny of Dragons does not follow the convention of the more recent D&D adventures where the artist's name is listed on the page seam so you can tell who did what illustration. Still, in addition to the original art, [B]ToD[/B] contains epic new images, details on the dragon masks, the cult's decorative regalia, etc. I especially like the sketches for the types of chromatic dragons with details next to them as if a zoologist was taking notes. If you don't already own [B]HotDQ[/B] and [B]RoT[/B], and are interested in the plot, purchasing [B]Tyranny of Dragons[/B] is a no-brainer. You'll be getting a proven, popular adventure in a spiffy new edition with a gorgeous new cover and additional art. If you do already [B]HotDQ[/B] and [B]RoT[/B], purchasing [B]Tyranny of Dragons[/B] is more of a judgment call, especially depending upon your budget. While it does incorporate the [URL='https://media.dnd.wizards.com/HotDQ-Errata.pdf']errata[/URL] to fix prior mistakes and omission, that and the [URL='https://media.wizards.com/2014/downloads/dnd/RiseTiamatSupplementv0.2_Printer.pdf']supplemental material for Rise of Tiamat[/URL] are still available online so purchasing the new version isn't necessary. If you're a completest, then buying it is an easy choice. Original edition or revised, [B]Tyranny of Dragons[/B] is a terrific adventure. It definitely set a high bar for launching the 5th Edition D&D adventures and well worth a look if you haven't already played it. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
The Return of Tyranny of Dragons: First Impressions
Top