Appendix E: Concept Gallery - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Appendix E: Concept Gallery. Just as most adventurers don't walk into a dragon's lair without a plan, neither were D&D's iconic monsters developed without considerable forethought. This gallery explores some of the behind-the-scenes development that went into creating Tyranny of Dragons, as well as defining a spectrum of monsters, allies, and enemies that would feature in Dungeons & Dragons offerings for years to come. On the following pages, you'll find a number of images designed to serve as story beats in the larger Tyranny of Dragons campaign. These images were created to define impactful moments in a hypothetical Tyranny of Dragons tale, one which then could be explored by multiple teams over the course of multiple projects-be they games, fiction, or otherwise. Some elements you'll recognize from the events of the Tyranny of Dragons adventures, while others were meant to provide inspiration for events parallel stories could detail. Beyond these, this gallery also includes a number of designs focused on threats integral to the Tyranny of Dragons campaign. This includes explorations of well-known Forgotten Realms villains, like the Cult of the Dragon and the Red Wizards of Thay. The images herein show just a few avenues explored in updating these foes to the most current edition of the game, along with notes taken from internal concept and story documents. Some present ideas never fully expressed in Tyranny of Dragons, while others reveal deeper depths to adventure elements hiding whole conceptual icebergs. Certain components central to the adventure also see extensive exploration, like the garb of the Red Wizards, the iconography of the Cult of the Dragon, and-of course-the multiple deadly aspects of one of the campaign's central magic items, the Mask of the Dragon Queen. Several other locations and characters also feature prominently in this collection, many being aspects of the Forgotten Realms or underpinning the wider D&D multiverse that have seen artisti...