Defending the Crashed Castle... (Tyranny of Dragons! Lvl. 8!
Stop the Dragon Cultists from unleashing an unspeakable evil upon the world! A-Play-As-You-Can campaign! Play the sessions you want; or, all of them!
$27.50
/ Session
Details
4 players following this game
Weekly / Sunday - 3:00 AM UTC
Oct 25 / Session 5
Session Duration / 2.5–3 hours
4 / 6 Seats Filled
Top Game Master
One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
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Schedule
Meet your party members
4/6
About the adventure
The cult of the dragon queen is on the move, and their ambition is nothing less than to summon Tiamat—the dread goddess of chromatic dragons—into the world. In Hoard of the Dragon Queen, you and your companions will be swept up in a continent-spanning struggle against dragon-worshipping fanatics, merciless raiders, and the overwhelming might of true dragons themselves. The adventure begins with fire and chaos as the town of Greenest burns under dragonfire. From there, your path leads into a tangled web of espionage, infiltration, and desperate battles. You’ll face mercenary armies, cultist caravans, and secret strongholds as you unravel the cult’s schemes. Every step brings you closer to the truth—and closer to the unthinkable: the rising of Tiamat herself. This campaign blends high-stakes action with intrigue, offering opportunities for tactical combat, daring roleplay, and tense decision-making. Whether you’re leading the charge against dragonspawn or playing a double game among the cultists, every choice shapes the fate of the Realms. New players will find an epic introduction to D&D, while veterans will enjoy the scale and drama of a modern classic. The question is simple: can you stop the end of the world before it takes wing?
Game style
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Sandbox / Open World
Theater of the Mind
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(27)
3 years on StartPlaying
589 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Knows the Rules, Storytelling
About me
You bring the characters. I'll bring the world. Together, we'll make it ours. I run living worlds where your choices matter. Bring me your character. I'll give you a world worth exploring—and then we'll discover together what happens when you start changing it. My games are story-rich, player-driven, and built around meaningful choices. NPCs remember what you've done. Decisions have consequences. Character backgrounds become part of the campaign. Stories develop in directions neither the players nor I necessarily expected when we started. With nearly 600 games hosted on StartPlaying and decades of tabletop RPG experience, I've guided adventurers through everything from sprawling campaigns to deadly one-night adventures. I welcome seasoned veterans and first-time players alike. I love sandbox campaigns, dangerous old-school adventures, mysteries, horror, exploration, and the occasional glorious dungeon crawl. My gaming library spans Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Mutant Crawl Classics, Call of Cthulhu, Traveller, Top Secret, Shadowdark, Dolmenwood, Mörk Borg, CY_BORG, Pirate Borg, and plenty more. But the system isn't the most important part. The players are. You bring the characters. I'll bring the world. Then we make it ours.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Pre-made characters are available or can also be made with me on Discord (scheduled live session or via message) using D&DBeyond. You do not need to know anything about character creation, how the game works, or anything about the game. We can cover all of this together. I will send you an invite to the campaign on D&D Beyond and Discord.
The heroes have disrupted the Dragon Cultist ferrying of treasure to points unknown. The cult acquired a friendly roost in Skyreach Castle, a flying fortress built by cloud giants. This castle was crash landed on the Miklos Glacier way up north. Now the heroes are trying to repair and relaunch the castle before various factions intervene. There is a tribe or orcs, some greedy dwarves and a local frost giant Jarl. Glazhael the White dragon is also lurking as he waits for an army of cultists to arrive kn support. The unknowns are the wizard strangely civilizing the Yetis and the elementals cavorting in the hot springs. Not to mention Ankhegs and a lone hermit... The characters must be smart in how they tackle the repairs—it’s clearly a well-fortified place but they have too few remaining ogres and a frost giant body guard to defend the castle for long... JOIN NOW FOR THE NEXT SESSION! Call it Chapter 8.5 of Tyranny of Dragons. This group plays fast paced shorter sessions of two (2) hours. Sessions are packed with Combat and RolePlay opportunities galore! Downtime is handled between sessions.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
The Theater of the Mind (audio portion of the adventure) will occur on Discord supplemented by images and battle maps as needed. You will need an account on Discord. Access to the dedicated server will be open prior to the game. Owlbear Rodeo may be used. No subscription is necessary. Characters will be made or provided on D&DBeyond. Players will make characters during session zero; or, we can make one prior to the game session. A pre-made character can be provided.
What Mark brings to the table
I am bringing decades of games experience, a robust community, in depth characterisation and the flexibility to adapt to player styles and choices. Free access to a starter set of rules will be provided. I am available to guide you through character creation on D&DBeyond. The narrative will be supplemented with images and maps on Discord and Owlbear Rodeo. Access to Battle maps and tokens will be on Owlbear Rodeo. No account is needed by the player.
Homebrew rules
We will craft the house rules we want to play in the first session...or play by the rules as written. You decide! Sword & Sorcery games are fun with luck, fleeting luck and modified critical hits...but we can play they way you want!
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Internet
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Mark creates a safe table
Each player will be provided with a private Discord channel for the discussion of issues or concerns before, during and after sessions. The content warnings will vary depending on the game choice, but it is highly likely the game will have levels of violence involving player characters and non-player characters, with death always being a possibility. SAFETY TOOLS ・During Session 0 we will discuss Lines and Veils. ・A 10 minute break will occur roughly halfway through the session. Additional breaks are always available on request. ・Further details of all tool implementations are provided within the discord server. Feel free to ask any questions for clarification.
Content warnings
Safety tools used