D&D 5E - The Rise of Tiamat

W e a k e n i n g t h e D r a g o n Q u e e n
The actions of the heroes in and prior to this final battle
can reduce Tiamat’s power before she appears. Make a
note if any of the following events occurs:
• The count of rounds over which the ritual is successfully
focused is reset to 0 because the ritual is
interrupted for two successive rounds.
• The Mask o f the Dragon Queen is destroyed, or is
removed from Severin’s body and taken from the temple
sanctuary (area 13).
• The characters hold any of the dragon masks, or can
otherwise prevent one or more masks from being
used in the ritual. (The Black Dragon Mask might
have been claimed by the characters in the previous
adventure.)
• Severe damage is inflicted to the Temple of Tiamat, as
from an earthquake spell.
• The sacrifice of prisoners in front of the temple is
stopped. This might have been previously accomplished
by attacking the dragons or by cutting off the
flow of prisoners to the area.
When any of the previous events occurs, the following
penalties are applied to Tiamat, in this order:
• Tiamat’s attack and breath weapon damage is reduced
by 15, and her hit points drop by 75.
• Tiamat loses her Regeneration trait, her hit point
maximum is reduced by 75, and her immunity to
bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non-
magical weapons becomes resistance instead.
• Tiamat loses Limited Spell Immunity, and her hit
point maximum is reduced by 75.
• Tiamat takes a -5 penalty to attack rolls, saving throw
DCs, and to her AC, and her hit point maximum is
reduced by 75.
• Tiamat can take only three legendary actions, and her
hit point maximum is reduced by 75.
If all the above penalties are successfully applied,
Tiamat is effectively reduced to a challenge rating 18
foe—but that’s still a deadly fight for four 15th-level
characters. Without all five reductions, the characters
stand little chance of surviving a battle against the
Dragon Queen, much less winning it.
Banishing Tiamat. If the characters reduce Tiamat to
0 hit points, her Discorporation trait kicks in. The portal
collapses as the shrieking Dragon Queen disintegrates
and is dragged back to Avernus. She w ill remain
trapped there until someone else can recreate the
conditions of the ritual and try again to free her.
Ruthless Play and High Stakes. Except as noted
above, Tiamat should not be arbitrarily weakened in
the interest of a fair fight. Presenting the Dragon Queen
as anything less than a deity undercuts the whole
adventure. Characters who tangle with Tiamat must
know that they are in the fight of their lives.
No individual’s survival matters against the goal
of stopping the Dragon Queen’s return, and heroes
sometimes die for the greater good. Certainly, fallen
characters can be raised again if Tiamat is defeated.
And if she’s not defeated, dying might not be the
worst option.
V i c t o r y o r D e f e a t
The fate of the world hangs on this final battle.
Whether the heroes and their allies win or lose, the
consequences w ill be felt across Faerun.
T h e H o r r o r o f D e f e a t
A victory for the Cult of the Dragon is a real possibility
in this adventure, and would be catastrophic for Faerun.
With Tiamat ascendant, the age of mortals comes to
an end and the age of dragons begins. Nations and
kingdoms shatter, civilization collapses into bloody war,
and chaos reigns supreme.
None of the Dragon Queen’s mortal agents receive
the rewards they expected. The Red Wizards who
freed her are devoured or driven away, hunted by the
forces of Szass Tam. The cultists who orchestrated
Tiamat’s return fare little better, with the Dragon Queen
not caring which mortals her draconic subjects hunt,
consume, and enslave. The glorious reign of dragons
that Severin hoped to usher in and rule becomes a
brutal world where evil dragons dominate all.
Such dark times need not mean the end of your
campaign, however. The characters have lost a crucial
battle, but they might survive to continue the war. Their
new goal is to find a way to banish or destroy Tiamat for
good, bringing peace to the world once more.
A f t e r m a t h o f V i c t o r y
Tiamat’s threat ends if she is sent back to the Nine
Hells, but the aftermath of victory can create challenges
the adventurers must deal with. This includes helping
the hundreds of prisoners remaining in the Well
of Dragons. Severin’s fall also leaves hundreds of
unrepentant cultists still loose in the world, hungering
for power and revenge in light of their recent failure.
Moreover, much of the wealth of the Sword Coast is
sitting in the Well of Dragons. Along with dealing with
vengeful cultists, the characters might take a lead role in
getting the treasure back to its original owners or their
next of kin, while dealing with con artists, thieves, and
treasure hunters looking to exploit what has suddenly
become the richest dungeon in Faerun.
Among the cult’s former allies, the vindictive
chromatic dragons scatter back to their lairs, but only
after many of them try to claim choice pieces of treasure
or barrels bulging with gold and gems from the cult’s
hoard. Furious at having their queen vanquished,
the chromatic dragons might engage in sprees of
destruction not seen in Faerun for centuries.
Even victorious, the armies of good w ill have paid
a steep cost in the fight against Tiamat. In addition to
soldiers, leaders representing the ruling nobility of
countless regions and houses w ill have fallen in the
fight. The situation is not all bleak, however. Stirring
instances of generosity and cooperation w ill stand out
amid the darkness—and none of those w ill be greater
than the legend of the adventurers. For generations,
folk w ill look to the exploits and sacrifices of the heroes
for inspiration as they rebuild and set their sights on
better days.