 | |
| Rules required | Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition |
|---|---|
| Character levels | 1-7 |
| Campaign setting | Forgotten Realms |
| First published | 2014 |
Hoard of the Dragon Queen is an adventure module for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It is the first part of the Tyranny of Dragons storyline and followed by a second adventure, The Rise of Tiamat. [1]
Hoard of the Dragon Queen and a second adventure, The Rise of Tiamat , pits the player characters against Tiamat. [2] [1]
In an audacious bid for power the Cult of the Dragon, along with its dragon allies and the Red Wizards of Thay, seek to bring Tiamat from her prison in the Nine Hells to Faerun. To this end, they are sweeping from town to town, laying waste to all those who oppose them and gathering a hoard of riches for their dread queen. The threat of annihilation has become so dire that groups as disparate as the Harpers and Zhentarim are banding together in the fight against the cult.
Hoard of the Dragon Queen was released on August 14, 2014 as part of the fantasy storyline called "Tyranny of Dragons", which launched alongside the new edition and is told through game supplements, video games, and other outlets. [2] [3] [4] The first three chapters were also released as part of a free D&D Encounters kit for the D&D Adventurers League, the official organized play program by Wizards of the Coast. [5] [3] [1]
The adventure was created by Kobold Press under commission from Wizards of the Coast. [6] [7] [8]
During San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Wizards of the Coast announced on their Twitch stream that a new edition of Tyranny of Dragons was scheduled to be released on October 22, 2019. This new edition repackages Hoard of the Dragon Queen and The Rise of Tiamat together as a single volume. It also includes a full errata, a reworked opening chapter, and new cover art from artist Hydro74. It was only available from local game and hobby stores. [9] [10] [11] James Whitbrook, for Io9 , reports that "the re-release incorporates player feedback from the first two releases to smooth out the progressive curve of the quests presented in Hoard of the Dragon Queen and The Rise of Tiamat, which will encompass all the tweaks and addendums made to how D&D fifth edition plays in the five years gamers have had their hands on it. As an included bonus, the book will also include extra resources for players and dungeon masters that were only previously available online, as well as a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes concept art made for the adventure that rivals even Tiamat’s most desirable loot". [11]
Tyranny of Dragons is scheduled to be rereleased in January 2023 with new cover art that features Tiamat. [12] [13] [14]
Jonathan Bolding, for The Escapist , wrote that "structurally, it's a solid premise and interesting, but in play and as written the middle sections really tend to lag and create dragging, boring play where dungeon masters have to narrate hours of travel and punctuate when something 'interesting' happens. Even if your group are the types to go out of their way to familiarize themselves with the plethora of interesting NPCs that the adventure includes as part of their caravan north, only a bare handful of those NPCs actually matter outside their adventure segment". [15]
AV Club's Samantha Nelson wrote that "the game does a great job at creating urgency. You can rest and heal, but doing so comes at the cost of one of the possible quests and the experience points you would gain for completing it. But players who want to do everything are setting themselves up for failure. One quest actually leads you into an ambush by cultists looking to stop your party’s meddling. If you don’t see it coming, you’re in for a really hard fight. The adventure also makes the bold decision of starting your heroes off as losers". [16]
Bleeding Cool's Gavin Sheehan wrote that "the rewards are minimal, especially in the experience department for the first few episodes. It’s enough to get by but not enough to make the characters super powerful moving forward. Normally I would say this is a nice balance of power and experience, but doing the math on a fresh character sheet, it feels like you’re always on the cusp of being great when you truly need to be great. [...] The story itself truly picks up when you hit Castle Naerytar, which is much further down the road after you’ve figured out who you are and what works best for your character, and hopefully have reached Level 5 in grand fashion". [17]
DieHard GameFan said that "overall, Horde for the Dragon Queen is a great co-release to go with the Player’s Handbook. The adventures are fun, they are well written and well balanced, and with eight different episodes in this campaign, you’re really getting a fantastic deal for your [money]." [18]
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). It has been published by Wizards of the Coast, later a subsidiary of Hasbro, since 1997. The game was derived from miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game Chainmail serving as the initial rule system. D&D's publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry, which also deeply influenced video games, especially the role-playing video game genre.
Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories. Several years later, it was published for the D&D game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987. Role-playing game products have been produced for the setting ever since, in addition to novels, role-playing video game adaptations, comic books, and the film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Ravenloft is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a pocket dimension or demiplane, called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of land pieces called "domains", brought together by a mysterious force known only as the Dark Powers. Each domain is tailored to and mystically ruled by a being called a Darklord who is forever trapped and surrounded by magical mists surrounding the domain. Strahd von Zarovich, a vampire in the original AD&DRavenloft I6 module released in 1983, became the first Darklord, both ruler and prisoner of his own personal domain of Barovia. The story of how Count von Zarovich became Darklord of Barovia was detailed in the 1993 novel I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire. As originally established in the Ravenloft: Realm of Terror boxed set known as "the Black Box" released in 1990, the Ravenloft campaign setting was located in the Ethereal Plane. As a physical manifestation of that plane, lands, monsters and even people were created out of the mysterious mists, and the realm acted as a prison where one could enter or be transported, but means of escape were few. Other Ravenloft Domains and Darklords were eventually added in various AD&D 2nd edition products establishing a core continent attached around Barovia which could be traveled to by others if their respective lords allowed entering or leaving their borders; while some Domains remained isolated in the mists and were referred to as Islands.
The Open Game License (OGL) is a public copyright license by Wizards of the Coast that may be used by tabletop role-playing game developers to grant permission to modify, copy, and redistribute some of the content designed for their games, notably game mechanics. However, they must share-alike copies and derivative works.
Keith Baker is an American game designer and fantasy novel author. In addition to working with Wizards of the Coast on the creation of Eberron, he has also contributed material for Goodman Games, Paizo Publishing and Green Ronin Publishing. In 2014, Baker and Jennifer Ellis co-founded the indie tabletop game company Twogether Studios.
D&D Adventurers League is the organized play association for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) roleplaying game which is officially administered by D&D's publisher, Wizards of the Coast. It was rebranded with the launch of D&D's 5th Edition in 2014. Prior to 2014, it was known as the Role Playing Game Association Network. The organization was originally established by D&D's previous publisher, TSR, Inc., in 1980.
Tiamat is a supremely strong and powerful 5-headed draconic goddess in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The name is taken from Tiamat, a goddess in ancient Mesopotamian mythology. She is the queen and mother of evil dragons and a member of the default pantheon of Dungeons & Dragons gods. Her symbol is a five-headed dragon.
The Rise of Tiamat is an adventure module for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Kobold Press, also known as Open Design, is an American game company that produces role-playing games and game supplements.
Out of the Abyss is an adventure module for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
D&D Beyond (DDB) is the official digital toolset and game companion for Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition. DDB hosts online versions of the official Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition books, including rulebooks, adventures, and other supplements; it also provides digital tools like a character builder and digital character sheet, monster and spell listings that can be sorted and filtered, an encounter builder, and an interactive overlay Twitch Extension. In addition to the official D&D content available to purchase, it also provides the ability to create and add custom homebrew content.
Tomb of Annihilation is an adventure module for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The adventure was inspired by Tomb of Horrors.
Princes of the Apocalypse is an adventure module for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Storm King’s Thunder is an adventure module for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is a third-person action role-playing game published by Wizards of the Coast and developed by its subsidiary Tuque Games. Based on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing system, the title of the game alludes to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, although its story and gameplay are not related to those earlier titles. The game was released in June 2021 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is a sourcebook for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 2020. The book is a supplement to the 5th edition Dungeon Master's Guide (2014) and Player's Handbook (2014).
Spelljammer: Adventures in Space is a boxed set for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The boxed set includes three sourcebooks: the Astral Adventurer's Guide, the Light of Xaryxis, and Boo's Astral Menagerie. It was published by Wizards of the Coast and released on August 16, 2022.