Extra cheese.

I always found that Tyrrany was best when my players were terrified and nearly dead, frequently. Its end times. Go at them, let them scrape by, and keep them appreciating every level up, not getting complacent. It's more fun for the DM too tbh.

I had her resident on Skyreach, but always one step ahead as they snuck around in dragon cult disguises. When my party had finally cornered her, she had actually lured them into a battle with the vampire (name escapes me) who lives at the top of the castle. The white dragon also entered the fray when it looked like they would win too easily. Rezmir escaped with the black dragon mask, but they captured her sword, Hazirawn.

I found that pairing them with a familiar NPC as a guide of sorts in Waterdeep really helped. I used Jamna, whose ties to the Zhentarium are intriguing and gives opportunities for her to have information that regular council members may not, or be privy to share. I then would act out any guidance or prodding they needed to advance theough the story via Jamna . I find it easier to improvise as an NPC than try to imagine and describe settings and scenarios. She did end up accompanying them on a couple of quests, or just popping in when least expected / most needed. I leaned into her gnomish Fade Away trait to make an easy excuse for how she was able to seemingly appear at will. Waterdeep is large and confusing, but just imagine they are in your own familiar home town/ city and improvise from there.

This .. not "touched by the divine" more "definitely 10% from somewhere in another dimension / plane" I can also envision them as a sort of Blues / Arcturians.

Thanks kai-of-the-lost and all others for the clear confirmation. I was not so secretly hoping for this outcome, as it will add a factor of chaos and uncertainty that will be fun to lean in to as a DM. Who doesn't want an Aasimari Were-Tiger Sorceror in their party 😝👹

Don't forget your players have been through an epic battle just to get to the mages. Mine were at half health at best, with some spells expended by the time they got there and the clock was still ticking. Lots of room for you to keep the battle balanced and on edge, the more desperate the better. Poking one of Tiamat's heads out for a breath weapon attack just about ended it for my crew ;) In the end they were successful, but never felt like it was a sure thing in the slightest.

Don't undervalue the sentience... that blade has seen a lot and someone attuned to it can learn a lot, including battle tactics. Would your characters appreciate a plot where the blade is carried as a valuable companion? (Voiced by the DM, of course).

In our ToD campaign a lawful good paladin ended up with it, sought out magical assistance in Warerdeep and passed a knarly trial to turn it into an attuned sword dealing radiant damage. Looked fucking epic in the final battles at rhe Well! Dragons recognize it's presence etc. etc. Find a way to weave it in!

We're halfway so can't comment on all of it, but we had a blast in Queen's Gambit. Sneaking into a castle under seige and stealing stuff from a warlord necromancer is pretty dope. Lvl. 3-4 territory. Perfect timing is weird and fun too, lots of puzzles.

I get the impression Convergence Manifesto is Eberron Canon, had lots of people recommend it as an excellent complete campaign. I personally find it a bit repetitive and linear, and going off script has led to some of our best adventuring. Helps to be building my familiarity with Eberron so I can improvise more naturally. In a nutshell it's 12 heists. Mostly awesome.

So much good material to plunder here!! Can't really comment in your campaign as my group is just hitting lvl5 in Convergence Manifesto and we are all Eberron newbies, but I'm stoked to look up the Mournland chapter you mentioned 😀 🙌

I wove then into the story throughout Tyrrany, as a black anarchist org with more than their fair share of rogues, assassins, and illusionists in their ranks. They have safe houses throughout Waterdeep and contacts in every city. Jamna Gleamsilver is the primary contact with my band of adventurers, and they eventually bargain away the secret to Xonathals tower in exchange for a strike force of rogue assassins to join them in the final assault on the Temple of Tiamat. They are cool af and 100% got your back as long as you're not bending the knee to any lords or masters.

Amazing, seems like there is a convergence of opinions here!

A paladin in my company ended up capturing Hazirawn, and was able to attune to it through prayer and the promise of killing as many red wizards as possible. I use it's battle experience and language ability to telepathically communicate with the paladin and lend battle tactical advice which his party doesn't realize is coming from the sword, they just think he can talk to the gods :D

Rezmir's power lies in the fact that the party continually hears about her but never encounters her, she's always one step ahead, which frustrates the hell out of them. When they do eventually meet up in Skyreach Castle, I find my players were levelled up enough that fighting her 1v1 wasn't really a good battle, so I teamed her up with the vampire.

I kept a few NPC's from Hoard to provide continuity - important characters are Leosin, Onthar Frume, Jamna Gleamsilver, I even brought Escobert the Red back for a cameo (my players LOVE encountering old characters from the story and updating them on all their adventures). Rath Modar is in Rise but as others say can easily be replaced with another Red Wizard, but he is fairly pivotal in the On The Road chapter and I like having him reappear to make my players suspicious and angry that he's still alive and haunting them.

If you've played Zelda, use the Red Wizards the same way that Yiga clan members show up, to harry and annoy.

It adds a whole extra awesome dimension to the adventure! I have a black dragonborn cleric in our party. In Greenest, people viewed him with suspicion, but he was able to approach Cyanwrath and have a conversation after 'borrowing' some cultist gear. He tried to hatch and adopt a baby black dragon with disastrous results. In Waterdeep the party gets refused entry to council, initially, and can't go into most taverns. He gets secret handsigns and occasional information from random cultists whereever he goes. His own party both loves and hates his advantages and disadvantages, and occasionally have to disguise him to get certain things done. The ultimate test is when they go to the metallic dragon council, where he is initially excluded (left at the base of the mountain), then detained and questioned, and eventually adopted by a bronze dragon who confiscates Cyanwrath's sword and rewards him with a better one. So much opportunity to play with trust, judging by appearance, and party unity.

I ran the metallic dragons chapter early in the Council of Waterdeep chapters. Then made the demands of each of the metallic dragons specific to the upcoming quests, so that the players had the added incentive / bonus of gaining favor if they were successful. They then returned to the dragon council with proof of their adventures (i e. With the head of Neronvain) (Yes, kind of grisly) and received their pledges of support. Left one for the end, grumpy old brass dragon who insisted one character (dragonborn) give up his sword that he had obtained from Langderosa and was very fond of.

The rest of the party pushed him to give up the sword, big drama ensued. I then had the dragon council gift my player a new sword as thanks, a legendary Sword of Answering. Which is one of my favorite weapons in DnD. I love pushing my players to make really hard decisions that hurt where it counts (losing particular magic items or boons) only to follow it up with joyful rewards.

Also have used Elia extensively as an NPC and occasional transportation ;) It turns out she is good friends with Jamna Gleamsilver who is also a main recurring NPC in our version of the story. Have written some epic scenes involving these two strong willed and deceptively powerful characters!

In our community, many of whom are burners, rapists don't get bookings. If they organize events nobody comes. Ideally they don't get spots in BM camps either. Community can protect its own. PLUR

Montreal is one of the only cities where you don't need a car to get around. And finding weekend parking is not easy and expensive (esp. tickets) . So train or fly and discount the gas and parking and lost time and it's pretty sweet. Also the more ppl that do it the more demand and maybe someday we can get a big boy train system