Question: What to do after Hoard of the Dragon is complete

Hey guys, So we probably only have between 2-4 more sessions (depending on what the party does of course) before we wrap up Hoard of the Dragon Queen.  My question to you is this: What do you want to do once it is complete?  I take nothing for granted and won't assume everyone wants to stay on for more but those that do I want to know what you would like to do.  So here is a list of suggestions from me and you guys can comment or provide other suggestions. I will say that this pre-made has not been my favorite to run.  I have, for the most part, stuck with it as it was written because to change it would require a lot of work. I hear The Rise of Tiamat is better but still there is no mystery and investigation to understand what is happening and that is probably my biggest gripe about it.  From almost the start you know that the Cult of the Dragon is trying to bring Tiamat into the world.  No misdirection, no mystery, nothing.  Just a "here it is" stop it from happening. Post Hoard of the Dragon Queen Continue on with The Rise of Tiamat asap Do some homebrew side adventures to get a level or two and then continue on with The Rise of Tiamat ( I have a some good ideas for these adventures already) Play a different pre-made campaign like Out of the Abyss using the existing characters (an Underdark campaign versus demons and drow) Play a totally homebrew campaign using our existing characters Have someone else DM a campaign I really like the group we have and I enjoy playing with you guys.  I hope everyone wants to continue playing.  Please post things you would like to see done differently or have suggestions besides how we should proceed.  The game is yours and I want everyone to be having fun doing it.  If that means changing things up I am totally cool with whatever. If I had my way I personally would like to do some homebrew side adventures and see what you guys think of them and if you really  like them we just continue on a homebrew custom campaign.  If you don't like them then we continue with either Rise of Tiamat or another pre-made campaign. Thanks, Nick

Personally, I've liked both the main campaign, and the homebrew sections you've made in the past. I say whatever you want to run, run it. If you havent enjoyed DMing the pre-made, and want to switch to a more homemade story, go right ahead, I'm positive I'll have fun either way. I will say (and I'm sure you know this already) that switching over to homebrew stuff is going to probably be a lot more work on your shoulders.

I'm inclined to stick with Rise of Tiamat or do Out of the Abyss. 

I'm open. Either way sounds good to me.  I don't suppose there's any chance we could move the start time up one hour (i.e. one hour earlier), though? 10pm to 1am eastern time makes for a slow Monday morning.  I'll still play if we can't move the start time, but I thought it was worth asking.  

I would like to do a small adventure or two before we start Rise of Tiamat and I will be happy.

I will look into starting a tad earlier.

If you move it up, I'll be an hour late most weeks. I have no problem with that but that's the reality of the situation. 

Also I'm not opposed to doing something in between. I was talking more about long term homebrew. We definitely need to level up before Tiamat. We are a level lower than what the adventure was designed for right now and it'd be bad to fall further behind

Brian said: If you move it up, I'll be an hour late most weeks. I have no problem with that but that's the reality of the situation.  No, if it isn't something everyone can't accommodate then we won't do it.  If Eugene needs to leave 30 min early or something that is fine also. 

Sure, I wasn't asking for anyone else to miss out on the game -- like I said above, I thought I'd ask, simply because it would be more convenient for me.  I will have long Mondays starting in January (12 hour work day) so there's a chance I'll have to drop out then (or maybe just quit a half hour early, as Nick suggests), but I'm still planning on participating as long as I can.  As for the home-brew, I would very much like at least some home-brew adventuring before moving onto a published module.  I'm even willing to play a longer stretch of home brew too.  Also, I'd prefer not to do Out of the Abyss, simply because I'm already playing that with another group, but, again, I'll play either way. Finally, let me note that I'm new in this group, only having played the last four sessions, so I'd suggest that my opinions ought not to carry as much weight as those of you who've been involved in this group since the beginning! Thanks!

I am also open to changing the night we play on 1 hour early. I can play on pretty much any night. Is this an option for anyone else?

I currently have games Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. I could play Thursdays but would probably show up late a lot of the time if we moved the time up. 

Brian said: I currently have games Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. I could play Thursdays but would probably show up late a lot of the time if we moved the time up.  Then we stick to the current day/time.  No problem.

I honestly don't mind showing up late if that's better for everyone.  The group should come first on this.  Similarly, I will defer to the group regarding Rise of Tiamat v. homebrew.  

I think doing a short adventure or two before we start Rise of Tiamat would be great and give me the chance to do some home brew as well.

I am good with moving on or trying other campaigns and also looking forward to more homebrew as well.  I think if we continue on with Rise of Tiamat, we should at least try to do the homebrew before hand.  I have a friday evening/night game that starts at 7:30 pm central time and we usually play until 3 am. so any other night is fine with me. I am still on recovery for the next 3-5 weeks so I'll be here if you have any questions for me.

I know I've been gone for a little bit and I apologize for that, but I wouldn't mind either premade or homebrew.