Tyranny of Dragons: Hunt for the Wyrmspeakers

Creating your character

Characters are created before Session 1. Session Zero finalizes concepts, establishes party connections, and confirms everyone fits the campaign's tone. Every character must define their personal connection to Brennan Truequill — the murdered sage whose map started everything. Not a professional connection. Something real: a debt, a friendship, a letter he wrote that you never answered, a warning he tried to send that didn't reach you in time. This is the campaign's human scale. It shapes how the first chapter lands and what the ending means. Characters begin at Level 1 and will reach Level 15 across the full campaign. Use Point Buy or Standard Array. Official 2024 D&D 5e options are generally allowed — anything unusual, third-party, or homebrew requires approval before Session 1. Characters are built and managed in Fantasy Grounds Unity. I will provide instructions to new FGU players and help with setup before Session Zero. This campaign rewards players who investigate, make hard choices, and hold moral complexity. The targets believe in what they're doing. You will feel the weight of what this campaign asks you to do.

Preparing for the session

Before Session 1, players should: Join the campaign Discord server for voice, scheduling, session notes, and between-session communication. Download Fantasy Grounds Unity — the free demo version is sufficient. I hold the GM license. No paid subscription required. Start thinking about your character's connection to Brennan Truequill. We finalize this together in Session Zero, but having something in mind beforehand makes the conversation better. Have a working microphone and a stable internet connection. We use Discord for voice and text between sessions. No prior experience with Hoard of the Dragon Queen or Rise of Tiamat is required — and if you've read either module, no spoilers apply. This adaptation replaces the structure of both entirely. No prior experience with Fantasy Grounds Unity is required. Prior experience with D&D 5e basics is recommended but not required.

What Avner brings to the table

Tyranny of Dragons has always been a campaign with a ton of potential but a slog of downtime and serious lack of dragons and interaction with the main antagonists. I have adapted it into an action packed adventure full of intrigue, high stakes, and most importantly... more dragons. This is a fully prepared assassination campaign — every chapter written to published-module standard with read-aloud text, distinct NPC voices, encounter mechanics, and complete Fantasy Grounds Unity setup including maps, dynamic lighting, ambient audio, and token placement. Official FGU module assets from both source volumes are used throughout. My GM style is narrative focused but with dynamic combat and decisions that matter. Information is always available through multiple paths — no single failed skill check blocks progress and the world will be impacted by your decisions, successes, and failures. Combat is tactical and consequential. The five wyrmspeaker targets are people with deep motivations and depth. Named NPCs die with weight, not as statistics. Moral choices don't have clean outcomes. I use FGU's full feature set: dynamic lighting, initiative tracking, condition automation, area-of-effect templates, and handouts delivered at the right moment. Between sessions I send recap notes and keep the Kill Board and Faction War Board updated so the state of the campaign is always visible to the table. Session Zero is mandatory and covers safety tools, character creation, the Truequill connection, character concepts, and the two organization paths available after the first chapter — the Harpers or the Zhentarim. Both are fully developed. Choose based on who your character is, not which sounds more useful.

Homebrew rules

Inspiration — Players can carry up to 2 Inspiration at a time. It is awarded for decisions that reflect your character's personality, their connection to Truequill, and moments where you choose the interesting choice over the optimal one. Spend it on any d20 roll before you see the result. Flanking — Flanking is in effect. If two allies have a creature directly between them, both gain advantage on melee attack rolls against it. Positioning, terrain, and tactical coordination matter at this table. A well-placed assassin matters more than a high attack bonus. Hero Dice — Each player has a pool of consumable d6 Hero Dice, capped at your current Proficiency Bonus. They are earned through strong roleplay — character moments, choices that cost something, interactions that make the table lean in. Spend a Hero Die to add a d6 to any attack roll, ability check, or saving throw after you see the result. They do not refresh on a rest. They refresh when you earn them. 2014 Grappling Rules and Feats — Grappling follows the 2014 rules regardless of 2024 ruleset. Grappling Feats from the 2014 Player's Handbook remain available to all characters. If you built your character around a 2014 feat or grapple-focused build, it works here exactly as written using opposed checks instead of saving throws and allowing pinning.

How Avner creates a safe table

Session Zero covers all safety content before play begins. We establish Lines and Veils together — what is off the table entirely, and what should fade to black. Players can add to the safety list privately at any point during the campaign. No explanation required. This campaign contains political assassination, moral ambiguity, cult ideology, grief, war, dragon violence, and the deaths of named NPCs the party has reason to care about. The Thay sections carry dread and psychological pressure. None of it is gratuitous — the darkness exists to give the choices weight. During play, discomfort can be flagged by message or voice at any time. We pause, adjust, and continue. No one has to justify it. The danger belongs to the characters, not the players. Stars and Wishes runs at the end of every session. What landed, what could be better. I take both seriously.