Kingmaker and Dragons!

[Mr.GM]

Hi guys

Soon I will start a kingmaker campaign and it's my second run. The first time the PCS died in RRR and this time I have made many changes in the campaign. Then an idea has come to my mind: Dragons!

Taking advantage of the whole history of Choral the Conqueror wanted to give a more draconic touch to the campaign. I've been thinking about reducing all of the fairies and adapting the story, especially the ending, so that it has more to do with the dragons than with Nyrissa, or that Nyrissa is not the final boss but a part of a larger conspiracy of Choral.

I'm going to put a lot of my own story especially from the 2nd book onwards, although in the first I'll start by getting several kobold tribes and replacing the mites with a new kobold tribe. And I also want to put dragons that, with their own allies, fight for control of the stolen land and Brevoy for hundreds of years.

That's why I ask for your help, I do not know if anyone has had this idea before, since I suppose I was not the first one to think of it. Any type of material that can help me with this: weapons with history that fit in this type of game; modules that can help me to give this type of setting; ideas of your own harvest that you wanted to share.

Any help will be very grateful and I will be putting you as my heroes advance in this game of Kingmaker.

Thank you very much

[Lord Foul II]

This is very cool
I personally took a paramilitary group of Drake riders called the fanged legion and has them get interested in the new kingdom and one of their goals was to find the lost heir of Choral, one of the PCs, not knowing this plan built a bastard child tiefling/kobold of the vanishes house
I am anxious to see your plans

[Mr.GM]

I thought about changing Nyrissa for a dragon sorceress who, allied with Ilthuliak, used a powerful magic artifact that managed to erase Choral and all her progeny, hence her sudden disappearance. The problem with that plan was that the artifact had side effects, such as locking Nyrissa and Ilthuliak on their own plane, besides not killing Choral but only banishing him to another plane, and both have been trying to escape with more or less success.

Throughout the campaign they will already be on the verge of being able to force an entrance to their plane, apart from all this they with magic are already capable of influencing or appearing in the real world.

Nyrissa intends to use the artifact again, but this time she wants to use the new realm of the PCS as a source of power, causing a mass massacre in order to end Choral before he manages to escape.

Besides the use of the artifact had another effect, not only killed the progeny of Choral but dragons who lived in the Stolen Lands also, When this happened some of the most powerful dragons before dying sealed their souls in their most precious possessions, creating thus artifacts with the power of the dragon that resides inside. With the death of these dragons other serpents (descendants, enemies ...) flew to the Stolen Lands to claim the treasures and territories of these dead dragons. This gives me a great opportunity to present different dragons with motivations to: either join Ilthuliak in his plan to take down the great red dragon before it rises again; or with the PCS so that a Rift between the dragons does not occur again and, now, between the races of the Stolen Lands.

Choral as the campaign develops will try to appear in his human form (a young man with red hair and golden eyes) and help the PCS if he sees them in distress (although it appears as an astral form, really is still locked in his plane but 200 years trying to escape have given him this ability ... although he can not use his powers freely the sealed powers of the great red dragon are enough to lend a hand to the PCS in situations of necessity), he will try to force everything so that they finish with the artifact that has him prisoner. When the PCS finish with Ilthuliak and Nyrissa the previous spell of the artifact will be broken like the artifact and Choral will be released. When this happens he will harangue the dragons that are still faithful to him and will continue with his plans of conquest, taking his position as King of Brevoy immediately and placing his eye on the realm of the PCS, which he now considers his greatest threat.

As for Vordakay I have thought about changing it from a cyclops to a lich dragon, but this idea is still curdling and I have to think about it well although I am attracted by the idea of ​​Vordakay trying to create an undead empire and raise the dead dragons as his subjects

This is what I have thought so far, but as I say I still have to develop the story much more. What do you think?

[pennywit]

Mr.GM wrote:

I thought about changing Nyrissa for a dragon sorceress who, allied with Ilthuliak, used a powerful magic artifact that managed to erase Choral and all her progeny, hence her sudden disappearance. The problem with that plan was that the artifact had side effects, such as locking Nyrissa and Ilthuliak on their own plane, besides not killing Choral but only banishing him to another plane, and both have been trying to escape with more or less success.

Throughout the campaign they will already be on the verge of being able to force an entrance to their plane, apart from all this they with magic are already capable of influencing or appearing in the real world.

I think it might be interesting to recast Thousandbreath as a sort of "prison for legends" that holds Ithuliak and Choral and others, with Nyrissa as a warder who is also a prisoner on the plane. All three of these -- Nyrissa, Ithuliak, and Choral -- are able to interact with the PCs through agents or through visions. At the climax of the campaign, perhaps the PCs could free one -- and only one -- of them from Thousandbreath.

You may find some more things to consider in Paizo's supplements Fey Revisited, First World, and Dragons Unleashed. The latter includes a fey silver dragon with a legendary sword and ties to the Stolen Lands and Ithuliak.

Quote:

Besides the use of the artifact had another effect, not only killed the progeny of Choral but dragons who lived in the Stolen Lands also, When this happened some of the most powerful dragons before dying sealed their souls in their most precious possessions, creating thus artifacts with the power of the dragon that resides inside. With the death of these dragons other serpents (descendants, enemies ...) flew to the Stolen Lands to claim the treasures and territories of these dead dragons. This gives me a great opportunity to present different dragons with motivations to: either join Ilthuliak in his plan to take down the great red dragon before it rises again; or with the PCS so that a Rift between the dragons does not occur again and, now, between the races of the Stolen Lands.

To keep things nicely mythical, I'd try to keep the dragons themselves offstage until the PCs reach at least 9th or 10th level. There are several potential dragons to deal with:

• Choral the Conqueror
  
• Ilthuliak
  
• Amvarean, the silver dragon Ilthuliak slew
  
• The white dragon in Iobaria (I can't remember its name, can look up later)
  
• The fey silver dragon in Dragons Unleashed (can't remember her name, will look up later)
  
• Silver dragon listed among random encounters
  
• Black dragon listed among random encounters
  [*} Three unnamed red dragons who assisted Choral the Conqueror
  

For the artifacts, I think you could use the old "collect the McGuffins" plot. Several items already in the campaign, including Briar, the Stag Lord's helm, Ovinnrbaane, and Vordakai's ruby eye, could be reskinned as dragon-related artifacts.

Quote:

Choral as the campaign develops will try to appear in his human form (a young man with red hair and golden eyes) and help the PCS if he sees them in distress (although it appears as an astral form, really is still locked in his plane but 200 years trying to escape have given him this ability ... although he can not use his powers freely the sealed powers of the great red dragon are enough to lend a hand to the PCS in situations of necessity), he will try to force everything so that they finish with the artifact that has him prisoner. When the PCS finish with Ilthuliak and Nyrissa the previous spell of the artifact will be broken like the artifact and Choral will be released. When this happens he will harangue the dragons that are still faithful to him and will continue with his plans of conquest, taking his position as King of Brevoy immediately and placing his eye on the realm of the PCS, which he now considers his greatest threat.

If you go this route, I suggest combining some of the "continuing Kingmaker" plotines from the end of Sound of a Thousand Screams -- specifically Choral's return and the Brevic civil war -- and combining them with Redcelt's A Game of Thrones in Brevoy. If things build to releasing Choral, then you want your players to already have a stake in Brevic politics.

Quote:

As for Vordakay I have thought about changing it from a cyclops to a lich dragon, but this idea is still curdling and I have to think about it well although I am attracted by the idea of ​​Vordakay trying to create an undead empire and raise the dead dragons as his subjects

Check out the third-party Dread Vampire and Dread Lich templates for some ideas here. Also, consider working out those mass combat rules and giving Vordakai some undead armies of his own.

I, personally, would keep Vordakai as a non-dragon -- a sort of third party who looks to create trouble for everyone.