Dragon Encounters and World Building


Advice


Here's something I posted in http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2qwu6?Sell-me-why-is-your-build-the-BEST-at-Sla ying#30

There was a thread a few weeks ago asking for advice on making an epic Great Wyrm Red Dragon encounter. I assume a great wyrm red dragon will have a lot of defenses to use up supplies of PCs before they reach the dragon, and might (in one of my campaigns definitely) have a network of spies, and agents who hire adventurers. The PCs in question may have procured items and artifacts for the dragon through an intermediary, the dragon probably knows their strengths and weaknesses. If I were running the encounter, the dragon would have a lernean cryohydra or similar encounter two or three encounters before the dragon's lair, to use up protection from element supplies (and maybe catch the PCs off guard if they only have protection from fire). One or two encounters before the lair are a pair of advanced iron golems, the fight will make a lot of noise and give the dragon time to cast buff spells.

Once in the lair, the dragon has levers on the ceiling, disguised as stalactites:

Lever 1: pours steak sauce on PCs
Lever 2: Activates anti-magic field starting at height ten feet above floor level
The dragon then uses his/her breath weapon to melt piles of gold at a higher level, turning them into molten gold (combo lava/quicksand rules)
Lever 3: Pours molten gold into anti-magic field area where some or all PCs are
Lever 4: Opens trap door to 40'x40'x80' deep pit, and gravity drops molten gold into pit
Lever 5: Pours water into pit (which has an anti-magic field, of course)
Lever 6: Release the kraken

With the network of spies, the dragon will have countermeasures prepared for PCs who can fly.

I'd like to have a thread on dragon encounters and world building without derailing a fun and informative thread on dragonslayer builds.

"Ye Olde Magicke Shoppe" is fun for players and changes the game- players can sell and buy magic items to customize their gear to match a build. Which is great for players, and a change from AD&D where you made the best of whatever magic items you the magic item tables produced. But the magic shop could be used for world building and encounter design- imagine a world where every potential BBEG and major potentially allied NPC has arrangements with magic shops to be alerted of major purchases and specific kinds of purposes. A lich in a castle full of undead might want to know if a group of PCs is stocking up on undead bane and holy weapons. All the dragons in the region would be interested if PCs buy dragon bane weapons, arrows of dragonslaying, and elemental/energy resistance items. Powerful NPCs might want to have the option of finding out whenever expensive magic items are bought or sold (think gun registration and tracking except for magic items instead of guns, and major NPCs instead of the gub'mint). The major NPCs and major monsters pay a small retainer to magic shops and buy and sell magic items, so are also valuable customers. And a magic shop not taking part in the registration/tracking arrangement might fall victim to tragedy, either deliberate or from lack of protection. And a kingdom might raise taxes on a magic shop not informing them of major purchases. Long story short, magic shops could be an important part of the behind-the-scenes stuff in world- and campaign- building.

A second world-building element that can be used in dragon encounters is the role they play in the world. A red or blue dragon might create a buffer zone between monsters territories or kingdoms, and removing that dragon could lead to warfare that spills over to friendly kingdoms and nations. Good-aligned NPCs, nations, and organizations could have a vested interested in not letting a powerful dragon be killed.

A third element could be a council of dragons or alliances between dragons. Dragons live a long time, so metallic and chromatic dragons could be on friendly terms. Forgotten Realms had a council of dragons (either in 1E or 2E) that I thought was a cool concept. Imagine PCs hacking or sneaking their way through a red dragon's lair to kill the dragon and take the loot, only to run into a metallic dragon halfway through. The metallic dragon could have a mutual defense agreement with the red dragon while staying at the lair, and the PCs would either have to talk their way out of it or fight the metallic dragon.

Those are some thoughts, I'd love to hear others' thoughts.

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