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OK, I'm stuck. Looking for your ideas, hunches, and hare-brained schemes.
This takes place in my homebrew campaign, but it's a conventional Greyhawk-ish world, but with younger civilizations building on and exploring the ruins of an ancient realm that passed away somehow. The PCs (low-mid levels) have been adventuring around a small coastal village doing Good Adventurer Things.
I got a flash of insight that the Strange High House in the Mist (that's not what they call it, but that's how I think of it-HPL influence) has been bought by a wealthy young man, a merchant trader, who is fixing it up, ending the evil influence and entertaining the local notables, taking special interest in the PCs. He's actually a Young Adult Bronze Dragon, who loves the sea-side location and plans to.....
and there the flash of insight ends. I'm thinking of him mentoring the PCs as they progress, but I can't figure a good motivation for him to settle in this backwater hamlet.
What's he looking for? Sunken treasure? Defending the region against some impending evil? Mating season? Nothing seems to fit.
Help?
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Kobold Press
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What's he looking for? Sunken treasure? Defending the region against some impending evil? Mating season? Nothing seems to fit.
Wooing a local bronze dragon who already lives there might work (that's why he picks this particular location). Alternately, he might not be drawn *TO* the location so much as running *FROM* something else. Is he wanted for some draconic crime? Does he have a red dragon who wants his hide for poaching? Is there a tragic murder of his parents or sibling that makes him want to start over?
He seems like an interesting character, but I think good guys are always more interesting if they have some flaws or black sheep history too.
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Given what I know about Bronze dragons (from the Draconomicon) they are justice-enforcing and inquisitive beings. two ideas immediately spring up from that.
1) he could be part of some larger draconic policing force (I know it's kinda out there, but it's the kind of thing my group enjoys, so I tend to think along those lines) and that location is his watch-post. It could be he's responsible for watching for incoming trouble from the sea.
2) given that he entertains a lot and seems to be part of society, he could simply be there to learn more about humans (and other races).
And my own personal idea is why would he need a reason? They enjoy the seaside and being around lesser races, so he may just be there to enjoy himself. This is most likely the angle I would run. Or possibly he's stuck in human form, and this is his way of making the most of it.
However you run it though, I would be most interested in how he turns out.
Well, if its by the seaside, he could be looking out for pirates, mabye pirate slavers. Or he could be hiding from something, and uses his parties to gather information from people. The PCs would be very intresting to him, then.
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I almost always prefer flipping the script on the PCs, so to speak. I like non-traditional plot twists and the like.
To me, i think it depends on whether the characters KNOW the NPC is a dragon. If they learn ealy on that the character is a dragon, I'd go with the "renegade" idea, perhaps the dragon is accused of some crime the rest of his justice-inclined kin are hunting him for and the PCs will have a chance to befriend him and clear his name.
If they DON'T realize it, then he's the nice guy on the hill with a lot of contacts who could end up a major patron/ally. In this case, I'd let them get very attached to him, let him trust the PCs enough to let them in on hs secret, and then slaughter him when a BBEG find out who he is. Then you get the "BBEG just slaughtered a DRAGON. Uh-oh."
just off the top of my head. Though i like the first idea far more upon re-reading it.
Being a good dragon, and obviously having some interest in humaniods, perhaps he secretly courted a beautiful maiden who lives in the area. She probably doesn't know he's a dragon, or even that the noble is the same person. Anyway, she got pregnant, and the dragon moved into the area to prevent the huge uproar that is bound to occur when a half-dragon is born into an area (which is worse from a good dragon's perspective, a young child being killed/persecuted, or some baby being carried off and no one knows what happened?).
I actually like some of the ideas above, just giving another perspective. But really, if the PC's don't figure it out right away, then make him a plot hook. This mysterious noble asks the PC's to find various rare art objects for his hoard (secretly in a cave under the house) every once in a while, or has them go defend justice or something (someone mentioned bronze dragons do that above). Have fun with it. After all, dragons don't necessarily have motives that humanoids would, so have him ask the players to do something totally random occasionally.
I like the idea of the current civilizations being built on top of older ones. Here are some ideas:
1. He is there to make sure that some bad evil nasty creature remains imprisoned and doesn't get loosed on the world accidentally by the ignorant PCs.
2. (Similarly) He could be making sure that an evil and deadly artifact/weapon/item that was hidden or lost long ago remains lost/hidden.
3. He could have an interest in collecting objects (magical and mundane) from previous civilizations: sort of like an art collector or historian. That way he can serve as a means for disposing of any treasure or items the PCs come across that they don't want or need.
4. He has come to the area (or was sent by his superiors if he is a member of an organization or a patron of a god) to protect/aid/guide a group of heroes/villains that an ancient prophecy predicts will rise up and save/destroy the world. Alternately he could know of a prophecy that foretells the end of the world and wants to gather together a group of heroes to prevent it.
5. He is on the run from an organization that specializes in the killing, butchering, and selling of dragon parts or he could be on the run from a group of demon/devil worshipers who want to capture him and sacrifice him in a ritual to summon a powerful demon/devil lord.
*6. Perhaps he was a powerful creature or individual who has been reincarnated or transformed into a green dragon and is seeking a way to hide it or reverse it.
*7. Maybe his lair was taken over by an older and more powerful evil dragon and now he wants to develop a network of agents/spies to help him route the evil dragon out and get his lair back.
Just a few ideas.
**Edit: realized I miss-numbered by ideas.
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Thomas, in the early 80’s there was a trilogy of low-level adventures based around the port town of Saltmarsh (the adventures were called The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, Danger at Dunwater, and The Final Enemy). ..
Change “sahuagin” to “Deep One” and your Cthulu themes are back; their might be some Deep Ones in the town already (or proto Deep Ones),
eric,
Good call! I'm re-using the Saltmarsh map I made over 20 years ago, made of taped-together graph paper (waaaay before Dundjinni!).
Are there stats out there for 3.5 Deep Ones?
Thanks to all for all the ideas - I also like the idea that he's hiding out from ...something. And the Zorro idea. I'm going to have him drinking from a champagne glass with a pearl at the bottom of it, see if the PCs get it.
Another idea just came to mind: perhaps he has developed a taste for a rare delicacy that can only be found in this particular coastal region and has moved here in order to have a readier supply of it. The parties become the excuse/ruse he uses for acquiring such vast quantities of the delicacy.
I have to say I like the thought that he's just there because he wants to be. He's a freaking dragon. Barring someone killing him (unlikely), he's going to live well over a thousand years. Perhaps he just feels like spending 60 of them in an idyllic sea-side village with friendly, good-natured people.
You said something about him having ended the evil of the Spooky House before he arrived? Perhaps he was simply moving through the area and found this wrong in need of righting. Bronze dragons do things like that.
Perhaps he has a friend in the town. A young, curious, good-natured boy found his lair, and he's decided to move into town to watch over him, learn about humans, and just have a few enjoyable decades.
Perhaps he just feels he should be there in case something bad happens; good people need protectors. This doesn't necessarily require him to think anything bad will happen.
Maybe he likes the view.
Thomas, the setting you describe sounds an awful lot like Sandpoint and Varisia. If you can wait a month for Pathfinder to ship, you may want to just incorporate your ideas in with Varisia. I happen to know of an NPC that resembles your dragon/NPC in a lot of ways. If nothing else, the coastal mansion.