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Sleeping alcoves carved off the main hoard cavern with permanent albeit simple illusions casting a different hue upon whatever resides within.
A privateer galleon. A trophy from the dragon's past.
Hanging cages of captured (and now mostly skeletal) bards who spread disparaging stories about the dragon.
The dragon entertains on occasion. A collection of barrels, kegs and wines ala http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2010/01/18/six-geeky-drinks-for-the-dungeons-an d-dragons-table/
and tobacco with selection of pipes ala http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/browse_all.cfm
with a side room set up with proper ambience: Sign-in guest book, fire place, mantle, portrait, throw rug/exotic fur, smoking jackets etc.
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A wall full of pegs upon which numerous bags, pouches and strung jars hang from. Investigation of said items reveal the mundane and grisly bits of hair and/or dessicated body parts with no particular pattern. There are no ritualistic aura or symbolism involved either.
These are contractual items left by survivors of dragon. The dragon uses these items to summon the "permitted to depart alive" adventurers/explorers for a variety of tasks requiring thier specialty, to clean its litter box or defend its hoard in a more humane manner to add to its summoning collection. Which may explain why the dragon is so well informed and able to influence the outside world.
just trying to keep the post alive :)
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Leather Golem, constructed as a masterwork backpack. Will self-pack (tends to avoid sharps), tie itself shut and adjust to fit at direction of wearer. Command words are clearly marked in an older dialect of common. Common tongue command words are non-combat oriented.
1)To stealthily leave a trail of items to follow; sharp items are selected and deposited first.
2)To grapple the wearer when so commanded in the draconic tongue. Gets +10 if worn.
3)Any draconic commands will override the common tongue commands.
1. A horn that summons Tiamat.
2. A sword that cuts through anything.
3. A trident that fires powerful bolts of lightning.
4. A net that heals all wounds when laid over someone.
A large portion of the coins and gems have been made into a beautiful mosaic that covers the floor of the lair.
An anvil with arcane runes, a bag of autumn leaves, bracers made of a viscous fluid and a book that leaks shadows? twin tone flute, cask of cheerful duelist, monkey pants.
A collection of trees. (or a collection of sprites pinned to trees if you look close enough).
A wyvern ship head.
Three green worms.
A ten mounted dragon heads. Most are small, but the newest might be medium or even large.
A sled dog team championship trophy.
A bat with bright pink hair and an earing.
Actually I am really liking the forest in a cave thing.
A glass goblet with a crack that continuously bleeds.
Twenty seven lances, broken.
PS. The entrance to every chamber in a dragons lair should have a 30' V shape or a 5x60 hall. just sayin Oh yeah, flesh/ice/iron golems as appropriate.
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The skulls of defeated would-be dragonslayers, each coated in gold or silver molten from some of the plainer coinage in the hoard. While a few notable trophies are kept on their own stands, most have been worked into a necklace or crown made specifically for the dragon's natural form.
While the gold/silver coating process has fused most of their jawbones shut, a few have been treated so that they are capable of movement and thus capable of being targeted by speak with dead.
An eerie flicker comes and goes within their empty eye sockets, hinting that the dragon has claimed more than merely their skulls as jewelry.
Scimitar of the Thousand Cuts - A favorite of torturers, this weapon won't kill you, just make you wish it did. The ultrasharp blade does normal lethal damage but wounds inflicted by the weapon heal on their own at the rate of one point per round, just as if the victim were wearing a ring of regeneration. The victim automatically stabilizes if dropped below zero hit points by this weapon, and the weapon ceases to deal further damage to a victim once he reaches one point shy of his negative CON total. The sword does not interfere with bleed damage from other sources, does not regenerate damage from other sources and cannot regenerate lost limbs. Vicious versions of this blade regenerate damage to the wielder in the same manner as the target.
Rapier of Deferred Damage - When in use, this rapier's blade seems to blink in and out of existence, and attacks made with the weapon suffer a 20% miss chance due to this effect. However, the blade is actually oscillating in time rather than space. One minute after a strike fails due to the blink effect, the blade appears seemingly from nowhere and strikes successfully, even if the target is no longer in the same location. For these deferred strikes, the target is denied his DEX bonus to AC. However, any extra sneak attack damage the wielder might deal under such conditions only applies if that extra damage would have applied during the previous combat (i.e., if the wielder was a rogue and the target was flanked during the combat, then sneak attack damage would apply to the deferred hits.)
A level 17 rouge! You might want to check on that.... :D
Sorry, couldn't resist. Though it would be interesting for it to have previous adventures who had tried to best it stuffed and displayed...
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I can't believe no one has suggested this yet, so I shall.
* A Ten-Year Old boy named "Eric," who plays chess quite well, having been taught the game by the Dragon, who was too lazy to move all of his own Eric-Sized (as in, the same size as Eric) pieces and thought it was great fun to have the boy move hundred-pound wooden pieces about on a board. The boy is either a kid with a heart of gold, or secretly the Dragon's Familiar. In either case, the kid carries around a secret gemstone within his abdomen that will contain the Dragon's soul within it on the moment of death, and slowly turn the boy into the Dragon over the course of the next 20 years.
At which point, all bets are off.
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1. A horn that summons Tiamat.
2. A sword that cuts through anything.
3. A trident that fires powerful bolts of lightning.
4. A net that heals all wounds when laid over someone.
Sir my group would humbly like to petition you to move to New York and run ALL our games.
Food, drinks and ex wives on us.
A collection of Dragon sized Teeth Grills
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Here's something I threw in a dragon's horde a while back that I thought was a neat idea:
A painting of the dragon destroying a nearby village, painted by an expert painter.
Many years ago the dragon attacked a village nearby, completely destroying it in a bold display of its power. Many villagers, including a skilled artist, witnessed the flashy attack and took it upon himself to paint the dragon in a menacing pose, unleashing its breath weapon upon a cottage and a group of hapless commoners. It's anybody's guess how the dragon found out about this painting, but it was so impressed with how the artist captured its raw power that it couldn't pass up such an impressive painting. It keeps the painting in a very prominent location in its lair, and it likes to take on the pose from the painting whenever finishing off a group of intruders.
Mummified halflings preserved, dressed up in nobles outfits and costume jewelry arranged in a nearby alcove like a diorama of a gala in a country estate.
Tiny to small Silver dipped fey creatures that may or may not be alive under the coating arranged in a pastoral seen dipped or treated with gold.
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- A Giant Iron Key
- An alchemical silver Long Sword that glows brightly, pulses and hums (+1 and acts as a rod of metal and mineral detection)
- A Gelatinous Cube in a hole used to clean the dragon's gold.
- A Nymph in a silver cage and a Succubus in a cold iron cage (both cages suck out their innate travel magics). The Succubus is disguised to look identically to the Nymph and they both accuse the other of being a demon and promise to reward the ones who set them free. The Succubus has learned the Undetectable Alignment spell at the cost of loosing her ability to summon other demons.
- A collection of crowns from the princesses that have been sacrificed to it.
- A stone of Good Luck that weighs 200 lbs that stops working if shrunk or put in a extra-dimensional space.
A large jar of preserved eyeballs that, if sipped from (only a certain number of times/day) grants the effect of a Countless Eyes spell.
A crystalline vial, stoppered and sealed with rare wax. Further examination reveals that the crystal is of a type only found in rare deposits on the Plane of Earth where the oppressive weight of stone has crushed the very essence of another element down to a solid state. Within the vial is a liquid, purely transparent that has a faint aroma that cannot be placed. The liquid is angel's tears.
A cold iron chastity belt. Engraved onto the metal of the belt: "Do not open, ever. Property of the succubus ___________." Beside the belt are the shattered pieces of the belt's key; the belt is locked but empty. The belt radiates a magical aura, but all the magic does is make sure that the wearer cannot use translocational magic to leave without it; the belt will also shift in size and shape if the wearer does to maintain its function.
A clear box glowing with a red light. A stack of red feathers lie within. The note attached to the box says "Phoenix feathers. Break in case of emergency." Each feather acts as a one-shot magic item, duplicating the effects of a breath of life spell.
Beside the chastity belt is another item, a small pouch of rare herbs. Examination by someone with an appropriate skill reveals that these are from all over the world. The scroll case lying with the pouch holds the recipe for a powerful aphrodisiac. Every herb is an ingredient for this item, which duplicates the effects of an elixir of love but affects even creatures that are normally immune to poison or drugs and requires a DC 23 Will save to resist. There's enough for one dose. One ingredient is missing: dragon blood.
A stuffed tyrannosaurus rex.
A 20 ft. high copper piece, standing upright.
A crusty old butler who keeps the place tidy.
And who is also a 10th level Fighter/10th Level Rogue, don't forget.
A gavel that when banged on a wooden desk casts Zone of Truth 3 times per day DC 20 Will save
After vanquishing the evil dragon, the adventuring party sees a giant portal leading to a demi-plane where it is rumored that the dragon holds his precious hoard. Legends tell that this hoard is infinite and sustainable, and that a skilled mind and patient laborer could live off of it forever.
They pass through only to see livestock, crops, spices and other agricultural trade goods as far as the eye could see, carfully tended by the now deceased dragon. A farm demi-plane where the dragon both made its food, and made its money.
Trade goods means you can pay the party in w/e you want. Even cinnamon.
A masterwork broken club
A empty barrel
A bag with one card from the deck of illusion, the goblin!
Ya he was a poor dragon...damn gnomes stole it all when he was out raiding the country side.
An address list of demi-draconic offspring.
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An address list of demi-draconic offspring.
Ooh, a scandalous ledger or 'little black book' filled with names of prominent merchants and local authority figures and clergymen and arcanists, and what 'dirt' the dragon has on them, could be neat, with poisonous insinuations that these worthies have been sending the dragon tribute, paying bribes and even kidnapping and sending him fair virgins for his devouring pleasure, in some cases, for decades.
Particularly scandalous is that is a tissue of lies, concocted by the dragon out of sheer viciousness... He may have one or two agents in the outer world, but this particular journal details fantastical fabrications he has penned to sully the reputation of those who have *not* been dealing with him.
A beautifully crafted set of dueling pistols that radiate a very high level of magic (transmutation)
They appear to be +3 pistols that when used grant the wielder both Quick Draw and Snap Shot
However when shot the bullets turn into small flags that pop out from the front of the barrel. Each flag says BANG!
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I see what you did there.A stuffed tyrannosaurus rex.
A 20 ft. high copper piece, standing upright.
A crusty old butler who keeps the place tidy.
I don't get it.
Complete set of life sized humanoid action figures with accessories. [previous dragon slayers]
The Heroes
1 Human Paladin, +1 Holy sword/Fire resistance armor +2
1 Human Cleric [Good], Head band of Mental prowess +2 Wis/Cha
1 Halfling Rogue, Cloak of resistance +3, Ring of Shielding
1 Elf Wizard, Handband of Int +4, Pearl of power lvl 3
1 Half-orc Barbarian Belt of Physical Might +4
The Villians
6 Goblins w/ dog slicers
4 Orcs w/ falchions
1 Human Cleric [evil], Horn of Good/Evil, +3 morning star
1 Necromancer, Necromancers Athame, Pearl of Power
And maybe throw in a few monsters like an owlbear or a manticore.
[All the above figures are perseved people] The Dragon could set them up in mock battles or have them worship him...or they could be animated as zombies and sent to attack the party. A little psychological warfare, the Heros are lost heroes or missing relatives.
Add in some coinage and jewelery to round it out. You should add or change the wealth to fit your campaign.
Have the dragon play with the figures during combat.
Paladin[dragon using "human voice"] Halt unbelievers! Or I Shall Smiteth thee!
Halfling: I'll cut ya'.
I don't get it.I see what you did there.A stuffed tyrannosaurus rex.
A 20 ft. high copper piece, standing upright.
A crusty old butler who keeps the place tidy.
The Dragon lives in the Bat Cave...animated series.
A desk with a set of letters from other dragons
A picture of said dragon with some other dragons, perhaps very young or old
A collection of old relics the dragon has kept for barter with other dragons
A fully operational summoning circle (it has been used to summon extraplanar creaturers which delivered packages between the dragon and its trading partners)
A cave with walls made of cristal, constantly shedding multicoloured light.
A storyteller golem, knowing many draconic tales and legends.
What's more how do you deal with getting stuff out of there and selling it?
Well, speaking to PC greed . . . .back in the day, I had a mage who was the vassal of a very cash poor but artifact rich liege. They pooled thier pennies and the mage made a WAND OF ITEMIZE, which either turned an item to cloth or shrank it down to a fraction if its real size and weight for three days or so.
They eventually got a portable hole and Turuvielle used to strip whole dungeons, to recreate them in the basement. . . . seriously, columns of semi-precious stone, lintels, EVERYTHING, not just a few paltry coins or some heavy statuary.
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Complete set of life sized humanoid action figures with accessories. [previous dragon slayers]
If the dragon knows Simulacra (or can pay an ally to cast it for him), or some sort of lesser version of Simulacra that creates duplicates that have no class abilities or supernatural abilities at all (and only 10% of hit points and damage done via attacks, being quasi-real shadow creatures), he could even have a dozen servants made up of identical copies of the adventurers he's slain in the past.
One knight, in particular, he has two copies of, and, if asked, he'll explain either that; A) the famous knights were twin brothers, and one came to avenge the other, and died in the same place (and manner) his brother had died, which the dragon found poetic, and a bit funny, or B) he hated this knight so much that he used a scroll of raise dead, and then killed him again, more slowly, this time, to really savor the experience. He likes to have two answers for every question, depending on his mood. Keeps people guessing...
A calendar made by an Ancient Civilization that predicts the end of the world at a point in the very near future. Next to that are predictions made by the dragons alter-ego an evangelist preacher that have predicted the end of the world on 7 different occasions, none of which have come true, obviously
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A calendar made by an Ancient Civilization that predicts the end of the world at a point in the very near future. Next to that are predictions made by the dragons alter-ego an evangelist preacher that have predicted the end of the world on 7 different occasions, none of which have come true, obviously.
Oh, that's hot. With no optimization at all, an adult green dragon could have a Diplomacy or Bluff score of +20 or higher, more than enough to convince entire villages worth of humans (dwarves, whatever) to hand over all of their life's savings to a 'cult leader'...
"You must have raided a lot of caravans to get all this coin!"
"What, me, in a pitched battle with caravan guards? Please. I just talk to people and they end up giving me all of their money..."
Dotting because of hilarity
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Larry Elmore (I think) did a picture of a dragon being attacked by a group of dwarves. One dwarf is dangling from a lance in the dragon's chest. Another dwarf is beneath the dragon's foot. A few others are in equally precarious positions. There was a Dragon article years ago that had magic paintings. I immedaiatly thought of this picture when reading that article. Anyway the fight on the Core Rule Book has a good dragon fight on it that would work. Anyway hung with pride on the wall is a picture whose command word died with the dragon. When the party enters the alcove with this picture failing to say the password they are pulled into the painting. Here is where you can have some fun. The just defeated the dragon likely they are not full strength, this can effectively be round two. One PC is dangling from the lance in the dragon's chest, one PC starts the fight being grappled by the dragon (under its foot), another is on its back, another being swung about in its teeth to be flung across the room. Perhaps this is an old picture of the dragon just defeated an age category ago, or it is a silver or gold dragon (perhaps trapped). Do they try to use diplomacy? Do they off a good dragon? Are they now stranded on the far side of the world on a completely undiscovered continent?
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Larry Elmore (I think) did a picture of a dragon being attacked by a group of dwarves. One dwarf is dangling from a lance in the dragon's chest. Another dwarf is beneath the dragon's foot. A few others are in equally precarious positions. There was a Dragon article years ago that had magic paintings. I immedaiatly thought of this picture when reading that article. Anyway the fight on the Core Rule Book has a good dragon fight on it that would work. Anyway hung with pride on the wall is a picture whose command word died with the dragon. When the party enters the alcove with this picture failing to say the password they are pulled into the painting. Here is where you can have some fun. The just defeated the dragon likely they are not full strength, this can effectively be round two. One PC is dangling from the lance in the dragon's chest, one PC starts the fight being grappled by the dragon (under its foot), another is on its back, another being swung about in its teeth to be flung across the room. Perhaps this is an old picture of the dragon just defeated an age category ago, or it is a silver or gold dragon (perhaps trapped). Do they try to use diplomacy? Do they off a good dragon? Are they now stranded on the far side of the world on a completely undiscovered continent?
This is really clever!
I have been gone for a while, and this is still my favorite thread. Renewing it for new ideas. I am getting ever closer to having to actually create my adventure with said dragons hoard
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A 20 ft. diameter hole filled with dirt, and, in that dirt, a single bedraggled looking white oak tree, ever on the brink of death from lack of natural light and the shock of having been transplanted to this unnatural location. Within this tree, a dryad lies in a near comatose state. The dragon went through great effort to transplant this tree into his lair (without killing the dryad, and he unintentionally killed four other dryads before getting this far), and is fussily attempting to keep the tree alive via watering the soil, watering the soil with blood, 'feeding' the soil various kinds of meat or dung to richen it, providing magical light all year round, etc. He's quite frustrated, but has no intention of giving up on this 'project.'
Anyone who can find a way to get the tree back into a more natural environment (without killing the already shocked plant) will restore the dryad to health, and earn her eternal gratitude.