Running Dawn of a New Age with Dragotha still around

[The Black Fox]

I have no idea if anyone even looks at this portion of the Board anymore, but I am looking for guidance.

After many years of play, my players and I have reached the last chapter, Dawn of a New Age.

However, in the last part, they failed to defeat Dragotha. Mainly because they avoided the encounter with Balakarde, thinking it would be a diversion.

Anyway, they are entering Dawn without defeating Dragotha. So he is still there. Furthermore, there are several bits in Dawn's beginning that providers additional benefits provided Dragotha is defeated (the additional powers of Zosiel's Circlet).

So what to do? Is it still possible to them to go to Balakarde's spirit in Worm Crawl Fissure to get the benefits he could provide against Dragotha? Are there other ways to activate the additional power of Zosiel's Circlet?

I'd hate to set up the PCs to get slaughtered after such a long campaign, but I have difficulty seeing how they can win at this point. They've actually been a very good party, acting very smartly, until they botched it with Dragotha.

So I am looking for guidance. Especially from anyone involved in a campaign where Dragotha was not destroyed in the previous part. How did it turn out?

[Tendentious]

I ran AoW and luckily didn't have the problem of a still-kicking Dragotha at the end.

One possibility is that the party are aided by Lashonna. She still wants Dragotha destroyed and is probably disappointed that the party failed to do so. Her course of action may depend on whether the characters are aware of her loyalties, but she may be prepared to form an alliance of convenience with the party in order to take Dragotha down.

I could see the final encounter being Kyuss and Dragotha vs the party and Lashonna - until Dragotha falls, at which time Lashonna switches sides. Or, if the party is smart, they deal with Dragotha before the final encounter by luring him somewhere and destroying him, after which Lashonna perhaps retreats to the spire and is encountered as written.

As to Zosiel's Circlet, assuming Dragotha is not destroyed before the final encounter, destroying the negative energy device under the city seems like a suitably important event that might justify releasing the circlet's full potential.There was no inherent connection between the circlet and Dragotha such that his death was the only thing that could power it.

If you're concerned that the party can't deal with Dragotha without the Balakarde fragments, then perhaps his master (I can't remember his name as written; I called him Tenser in my game) followed in the party's wake into the Wormcrawl Fissure and collected the fragments. Or (more plausibly) as a final gift he provides the characters with some minor artefacts that will help against Dragotha - which are just re-skinned versions of the Balakarde fragments. The player's don't need to know that they missed something from the previous scenario.

[redzimmer]

Since once a great long time ago Dragotha sought lichdom to avoid the eternal wrath of Tiamat, what I would do is give the PCs opportunity to make a brief detour to Avernus.
There they can petition Her Majesty to give some anti-dracolich aid.

I would imagine She's been stewing over his avoiding her for a couple thousand years and would be happy to treat with mortals who would grant Her revenge.

[Kobold Catgirl]

Oh, I wish I'd seen this earlier. Hope it's not too late!

Incidentally, didn't Tiamat personally kill Dragotha when she got bored of him? She might be mad at him getting so many of her brood killed fighting giants, though. The settlement clearly stated that she got the kids and he got to die screaming.

Dragotha is a pretty incredibly adversary, and he's not going to stay in the Fissure—he'll be moving out and preparing to usher in his master and destroy the treacherous Lashonna. I might just add him in as a fourth great obstacle to weakening Kyuss's power. Or perhaps the group arrives to find Lashonna's and Dragotha's forces duking it out, and everyone else is caught in the crossfire. Perhaps Manzorian sends the party to face Dragotha prior to everything—Dragotha has moved to prepare to punish Lashonna, and his backup lair happens to be situated quite nearby a certain Tomb of Horrors.

If you want to be really mean, maybe Dragotha shows up to attack right after the group bests Lashonna, attempting a dastardly scry-and-fry.

Perhaps, as was suggested, Lashonna is so desperate to avoid Dragotha's vengeance she is willing to sell out Kyuss to do it (just as Dragotha is willing to stand by and let Kyuss stand alone if his phylactery is threatened). Maybe the two dragons are flying above the city in pursuit of one another, and the group must actually fly up to confront them. Only their determination to destroy one another would make such a battle balanced, obviously.