Level range and review of Rise of Tiamat

The Rise of Tiamat, the second installment of the Tyranny of Dragons Adventure by the Wizards DND team, is the final installment. Following the events in the Hoard of Dragon Queen module, the adventure continues. Kobold Press also created and constructed this 96-page DnD module.

What is the Level Range of Rise of Tiamat?

Rise of Tiamat is a Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition adventure designed to begin with a party of four 8th-level characters, who should advance to 15th level by the time the adventure runs its course.

What’s the Rise of Tiamat?

This module continues from Hoard of Dragon Queen and is suitable for players aged 8-15. This module is more interactive than the previous installment and features a lot more sandbox components. That makes the module more suitable for experienced DMs.

Is Rise of Tiamat worth the effort?

Rise of Tiamat is insane and much cheaper than many digital-only adventures. The Rise of Tiamat is worth the $29.99 price, as it offers fourteen tales that will keep you and your gaming team busy for months. You can either succeed or fall under draconic tyranny. Things will never be the same again, no matter how you win or lose. The Rise of Tiamat, a fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons adventure, is designed to start with four characters of 8th level, which will then progress to 15th level when the adventure ends.

The Framework

The Rise of Tiamat is the attempt by the Cult of the Dragon to bring the goddess Tiamat to the Forgotten Realms. They have the help of the exiled Red Wizards of Thay and chromatic dragons. Five Wyrm speakers are leading the Cult of the Dragon. Each of them carries a dragon mask artifact, which will be helpful to bring Tiamat into the real world.

The Rise of Tiamat’s unique adventures is told through the Council of Waterdeep. This Council includes representatives from various cities-states and nations. The PCs’ actions will affect their reputation with each faction. Impressed factions will pledge increased resources (mostly military units) to help the party in the final fight. The GM can even track the PC’s standing concerning the factions by using a handy chart. While success is the most crucial factor in determining your faction standing, there are instances when you can help one faction while causing trouble for another. The presentation of these factions is what I love most. It also shows how the Council sessions are affected. That sets the stage for what the PCs’ actions will mean.

Each stage begins with the party meeting the Council. The party will be undertaking two missions in the first three stages. They will either strike at the Cult of the Dragon or its allies or secure additional allies. The Cult will launch an attack against the PCs during this stage. The fourth Council session ends. Now the PCs must travel with plenty of support to Tiamat’s location and stop her from entering the Realms.

The Adventures

These adventures include: venturing into the Arctic cold to find cold to slay the white dragon and gathering allies; digging into an ancient tomb to slay one Wyrmspeaker; exploring the elven forests to defeat a green Dragon, and uncovering a sinister connection to one of the council members; negotiating support with the metallic dragons; infiltrating the stronghold of a cult to get a dragon mask from one defector; and finally traveling to Thay to reach a deal with the primary Red Wizards to fight the Cult.

Some of these adventures are pretty extraordinary and merit highlighting. The Tomb of Desiderius offers a fascinating look into the trap-ridden final resting place of an old wizard. It is moving statues, a giant Indiana Jones-style rolling ball made of bones! The Tomb also has multiple groups, including the Wyrmspeaker’s forces and the original tomb occupants. There is also a Yuan-ti group that recently moved in. Each group has its motivations, so it can be not easy to negotiate or talk to the other before you draw steel.

Another one is Xonthal’s Tower. To reach the tower, the party must first solve a series of puzzles. Teleporters and an extradimensional basement are the basics of building the tower.

Problems with Rise of Tiamat ( Negative reviews)

It’s a bad sign that I feel the need for a whole section on this topic. The Council’s structure is fantastic, as I mentioned above. Some of the individual adventures are amazing. The Rise of Tiamat’s finale is a waste of all that effort. After all the council sessions, the parties have recruited all their allies and killed some dragons. Now, it’s time to bring their forces to battle. The battle’s status is merely a descriptive device. The GM instructs the GM to pair allied units against enemy units and then fight while the PCs enter their final stronghold. That is a complete waste of a fantastic setup.

Cultist of the Dragon

There’s also a similar, smaller-scale problem when securing the assistance of the metallic dragons. The PCs could assist some or all of the types of metallic dragons. There are also notes that some factions offer reputation bonuses to those who help their lands resist attacks by chromatic Dragons. These two are not connected. Does it make sense to have a formula that allows the PCs to choose which locations to protect by getting support from X-type dragons?

Some will be critical of “railroading” in the early adventures. That is mainly because the PCs can’t secure any dragon masks. Regardless of how good they are, they can only kill the Wyrmspeakers. That doesn’t stop them from continuing the ritual. I don’t think this is a problem. If you want to write a campaign with an epic ending, you must make sure that the PCs reach that epic finale. I would probably feel obliged to create similar instructions if I ran the campaign without these kinds of instructions. It’s not an issue for me, but I know others who have it, so I thought I’d mention it.

Conclusion :The Pros and the Cons of Rise of Tiamat

Pros

You can feel the open sandbox and move in a non-linear manner.
It is an excellent mix of session types, from combat to role play.

Good faction mechanics
Robust and epic story with solid plot development

Cons

Not suitable for new DMs

Some missions do not have clear failure consequences

Closing Notes

The Rise of Tiamat is an excellent improvement on the Hoard of the Dragon Queen’s story format and continues the story to its conclusion. Although the scenarios and sessions in this book are more complex than a standard module, they provide an excellent framework for seasoned DMs. The Tyranny of Dragons Campaign Setting is complete with the Rise of Tiamat.

The Rise of Tiamat contains a lot of excellent material. Even if you are only looking to find some great adventures, I believe the book is well worth the effort. To run it as a campaign, the GM will need to heavily revise the ending to ensure that the Council of Waterdeep encounters relevant.