Introducing Nymixthriin

[Jedric]

I'm running Stolen Land right now, and I imagine my group will be taking on the Stag Lord in a few sessions. In an effort to shed some light on an otherwise overlooked encounter, and to add some dynamic objectives to the final fight of book 1, I've been thinking of replacing the caged owlbear with a very young silver dragon named Nymixthriin.

Background:

Nymixthriin was but an egg with Ithuliak descended upon his mother's lair. The matronly silver fought valiantly to defend her unborn children, but the great black wyrm proved too great a foe and slew her, smashing her eggs and stealing her hoard. Nymixthriin would have joined his poor siblings, but through a strange twist of fate, Ilthuliak's acidic breath brought down a cave wall in the battle, sealing the unborn dragon away. It would be some months before Nymixthriin would break from his shell and crawl into the gruesome aftermath. With nothing and no one to call his own, yet burdened with an unexplained desire to bring justice and law to this strange land, the hatchling set out into the wide world in search of someone to mentor him.

The wyrmling flew west over the Tors and into the lower Kamelands in search of companionship. He wandered alone for the better part of two years, his silver scales losing their youthful luster as he sank into the loneliness of depression. Then one day, as he was resting on the shore of the Tuskwater, he was attacked by a man clad in a helm of stag horn. The powerful man easily defeated the young and inexperienced dragon, and dragged him, barely alive, back to his fort on the north shore as a prize.

The Stag Lord's men said that they should skin Nymixthriin and sell his hide, but he had greater plans for the dragonling. Locking him in a dank cell, the Stag Lord came to the dragon each day and beat him bloody. He belittled Nymixthriin, starved him, and stole what little pride the young dragon had left.

Then one day, the cell door opened, and the Stag Lord threw in one of his underlings, a man that had not been completely honest about his take that month. "You must be hungry," the bandit leader growled. "Eat." And eat Nymixthriin did.

After that, the beatings stopped, and suddenly fewer bandits laughed at Nymixthriin from outside of his cell. He had become an instrument of the Stag Lord, a tool of justice that cut down unruly or too outspoken members of the bandit gang. For the last five years he has resided in that cell, all the while hating the Stag Lord. With that hate, however, he has grown strong.

If my players decide to infiltrate the fort instead of simply assaulting it, they'll meet Nymixthriin and begin to wonder why a silver dragon is aligned with the cruel Stag Lord. Canny players should make note of his ferocity and willingness to kill, but also his ill will towards the master of the fort. My vision is that, during the course of the final fight, Nymixthriin will be released by Dovan and attack the party. What I hope the party does (for their sake--even a very young silver is a very tough opponent for characters of their level) is try to reason with the dragon in the middle of the fight, appealing to his higher sense of righteousness and justice. If they are successful, Akiros (who will hear all of this) will also feel compelled to throw in with this new group of heroes. It always bugged me a little that the ex-paladin simply converts at the first sign of trouble, so I believe it would be much more poignant if he sees the "paladin of dragonkind" switch sides first.

Opinions?

[T.A.U.]

I think it's a wonderful addition to the Stag Lord fort.
It also open a lot of possibility for the future Kingdom, if Nymixthriin became one of their councilors with his draconic Charisma.
The only doubt is, are you going to make him an ally for your PCs with some Diplomacy check? Because it will be a DC 25 (Hostile)+Cha = 29...

[pennywit]

I like this little silver dragon. He's certainly more interesting than the owlbear. I have a couple thoughts, too:

1) The module, as written, assumes that if the players use subterfuge, they'll take a little time to tour the fort and get to know its inhabitants rather than attack immediately. If they do this, Akiros's betrayal doesn't quite come out of nowhere.

2) Since you have a few sessions, why not let the bandits come out and play? Dovan, Akiros, and Nymixthriin can all lead raids at various points (or be encountered alone), and the players can learn a little bit about the bandits' internal politics by interacting with them.

[Jedric]

T.A.U. wrote:

The only doubt is, are you going to make him an ally for your PCs with some Diplomacy check? Because it will be a DC 25 (Hostile)+Cha = 29...

We're actually playing with the D&D Next playtest rules (so there's been a LOT of converting involved), but the Charisma (Persuasion) roll at DC 20 should be more manageable. The important part, however, isn't what they roll, it's what they say. If they make a really compelling argument, I'm not against giving them advantage/temporary bonuses.

pennywit wrote:

1) The module, as written, assumes that if the players use subterfuge, they'll take a little time to tour the fort and get to know its inhabitants rather than attack immediately. If they do this, Akiros's betrayal doesn't quite come out of nowhere.

Good point.

pennywit wrote:

2) Since you have a few sessions, why not let the bandits come out and play? Dovan, Akiros, and Nymixthriin can all lead raids at various points (or be encountered alone), and the players can learn a little bit about the bandits' internal politics by interacting with them.

Any suggestions or encounter ideas?

[pennywit]

Jedric wrote:

pennywit wrote:

2) Since you have a few sessions, why not let the bandits come out and play? Dovan, Akiros, and Nymixthriin can all lead raids at various points (or be encountered alone), and the players can learn a little bit about the bandits' internal politics by interacting with them.

Any suggestions or encounter ideas?

Glad you asked. I didn't start considering these until my group was about halfway through SL, but here are two I used:

1) At the Temple of Erastil, Akiros arrived just after the players entered. They had no idea he was a bandit, just that he was a large man armed with a large sword. He asked if there was a bear there -- the on the players had just killed -- then he went inside the temple/bear cave area to pray. There was a bit of back and forth -- Akiros was cagey as hell about his background -- but this was enough to plant in my players' heads the idea of this guy named Akiros.

2) After my players had been gallivanting around the Stolen Lands for a while, Dovan paid their camp a visit along with some bandits. Dovan introduced himself and told the players to get out of the stolen lands, and my players told him to go to hell. Combat ensued. In this case, two things happened:

First, these bandits used smarter tactics than usual. Melee bandits maneuvered to get flanking (especially so Dovan could sneak attack). Meanwhile, other bandits absolutely refused to go into melee combat with the enlarged barbarian, instead plinking him with arrows.

When battle went against him, Dovan ran away.

A couple other ideas:

Decoy. One group of bandits ambushes the players when they stop for the evening and leads the players away. While they do that, a second group of bandits enters the players' campsite and steals the players' horses and supplies.

Kick 'em while they're down A group of bandits, led by Dovan or another named bandit from the fort, follows the players for several days. At some point where the players have fought a tough fight, the bandits attack the PCs while their hit points and other resources are low.

[Jedric]

pennywit wrote:

Decoy. One group of bandits ambushes the players when they stop for the evening and leads the players away. While they do that, a second group of bandits enters the players' campsite and steals the players' horses and supplies.

Kick 'em while they're down A group of bandits, led by Dovan or another named bandit from the fort, follows the players for several days. At some point where the players have fought a tough fight, the bandits attack the PCs while their hit points and other resources are low.

Ooh, I love these. Beautiful dirty GM tactics.

[pennywit]

Yes, they're dirty GM tactics. But they're also entirely fair, considering your PCs know that there are friggin' bandits running around.

In terms of fairness, I would let the PCs get Perception or Survival rolls to notice if the bandits are following them or laying an ambush.

[pennywit]

Hey ... what if Nymixthriin decides to pull a Mengkare?

[Jedric]

pennywit wrote:

Hey ... what if Nymixthriin decides to pull a Mengkare?

I'm not familiar with the reference.

[pennywit]

http://pathfinder.wikia.com/wiki/Mengkare

[Jedric]

Ah, I see. Maybe when he gets older, but right now I see Nymixthriin as needing some sort of leadership more than anything. From what I read, silver dragons, unlike many other true dragons, need a mentor to keep them on the straight and narrow and to help them "shine their scales." Nymixthriin, who was born alone and then "raised" for the last few years in captivity, would have only the basic understanding of what it would mean to be a true silver dragon. His instinctual pursuit of justice at this point would be at all costs, whether for better or worse. My main goal is for the PCs to either take him under their wing and provide a good example (which is looking like a decreasingly good idea with every session) or to help him find a mentor so that he doesn't become a tarnished silver. Later on, if the party plays their cards right, he could be a valuable ally in the fight against Ithuliak.

[Adumbration]

I borrowed Nymixthriin Sunday night when my players attacked the Stag Lord head on. It was going quite poorly until they convinced him life could be better without the stag lord.

Nymixthriin flew off to "find himself" at the end of the day, but now I am thinking the party may hear rumors of a silver dragon "attacking" people. I will need to construct these attacks so that it is Nymixthriin trying to enforce "justice", but doing it a bit too harshly. The party will need to help him learn how to best serve justice without being a tyrant.

Overall, a fun addition, thank you Jedric for creating him.

[Jedric]

@Adumbration: Happy I could give back to the boards who have given me so much!

[Adumbration]

So before I could start thinking of ways to bring Nymixthriin back to cause some issues for the PC's, one of my members is wanting to put him up as the ruler of their nation. Now, i doubt the rest of the group will approve of this, but I certainly wonder how an emotionally scared, immature silver dragon on the throne would work out for them.

Mengkare 2.0 for sure.

[Jedric]

None of your players want the throne for themselves?

[Adumbration]

Oh some do, it's just the player who wants the dragon doesn't want them on it. (For in character reasons)

Could get interesting.

[Jedric]

Sounds like it. Keep us updated.