Comments

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  Kallak

  Posts: 1,090 September 2013

  In my mind I guess the idea of a dragon encounter at level 3 boils down into one of two camps.
  
  [1] The encounter is run such that the dragon becomes a series of environmental factors more than an direct opponent. In essence the party is escaping or avoiding it while dealing with secondary effects of its actions. Examples might include:
  
  -A missed tail slap strikes near the group forcing them to dodge [X], with [X] being rockfall from the cavernous ceiling, a large statue or column falling onto its side, or a drop into the abyss as the bridge/ledge/ground is taken out from underneath them.
  
  -The party enters a suitably confined or narrow space that the dragon cannot easily follow into and thus with appropriate (and fast) skill checks, they can stay one step ahead of the monster as it squeezes/breaks its way through, moves to cut them off or shoots the occasional gout of breath weapon into the area.
  
  -The dragon discovers signs that "someone" is in the area, but does not know who or where they are. Thus, the party must move quickly, but with stealth to avoid being found as the dragon furiously scours the area in search of the intruders.
  
  [2] The dragon has a reason for not annihilating the group immediately. Maybe it wants to turn them into minions, or the group has access to some thing or place that it does not, or it knows more than the party does about the current situation, such as the existence of an equally powerful monster manipulating those sending the group out in the first place.
  
  Depending on how you want to run the encounter, the story can change is fairly large ways.

  All the best,
  - Kallak
  
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  jjhighberger

  Posts: 9 September 2013

  Interesting ideas Kallak thank you
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  Desert_Son

  Posts: 16 September 2013

  Kallak posted:
  
  bq. The dragon has a reason for not annihilating the group immediately.
  
  Another variation on Kallak's 2nd scenario:
  
  The dragon is the mastermind, but not in the traditional "straight-up-opponent" sense. Rather, the dragon needs to engage a group of adventurers for some other (future, mysterious, challenging, not-solvable-by-showing-up-as-a-dragon) task, and wants to make sure it is going to get a reliable group that works well together, knows how to make the most of their skill sets, can handle themselves in a fight, has the brains to solve some puzzles, and can demonstrate some measure of discretion when there appear to be multiple interested parties at stake. The whole thing is a test, to see if this particular group of characters is right for the job. Even how they handle the reveal could be part of the test. Do they take it in stride? Counter-negotiate for additional terms? Do they storm off in a huff? Promise revenge? Say "I don't get it?"
  
  Maybe a few church or local officials turn up to actually help with the reveal, taking the party to meet the dragon, as it turns out they were part of the act. "Yes, we did ask you to retrieve the orb, and you did, so now I'd like you to meet my employer, Vemethrazal the Unrepentant."
  
  What if the dragon isn't the original dragon that wanted to try this? The original dragon got somehow preempted, usurped, delayed, indisposed, or what-have-you, by the interloping dragon. Eventually down the road the party will need to figure out what's going on and decide if they want to align with one dragon or the other (or neither). What if both dragons are good dragons (or evil ones, for that matter), but operating at cross-purposes? What if one of the dragons was good, but it's the evil one that ran interference and has "lured" the party away? Will they figure it out? Will they find a way to escape, or set right what has gone wrong?
  
  Could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
  
  Or the foundations of stunning treachery.
  
  Good luck!
  
  Still learning,
  
  Robert, Adventure Log writer for "Geeks Distributed":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/geeks-distributed
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  Adenides

  Posts: 416 September 2013 edited September 2013

  Greetings,
  
  Not entirely sure if you hadn't already considered this....but what if the orb of farseeing is ACTUALLY a "dragon's eyeball".
  The player's don't realize the dragon is using it to scry on the heroes perhaps when the heroes believe they are scrying on something else?
  It also gives the dragon a reason to not flat out eliminate the heroes. What if they are really doing it's bidding and don't realize it?
  Perhaps it would like it's eye returned?
  Perhaps the heroes bringing the eye to "where ever" is exactly what the dragon wants.
  Feel free to ignore this post. I tend to drink on weekends and have poor impulse control.
  
  -Peace-

  Post edited by Adenides on September 2013
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  jjhighberger

  Posts: 9 September 2013

  Desert Son, I'm gonna have to read over this one a few times to fully grasp the scope but i like where its headed. TY
  not quite sure i understand the 'reveal'
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  Desert_Son

  Posts: 16 September 2013

  jjhighberger,
  
  In this case I was thinking the reveal is the revelation of the dragon as having put the characters through all that effort to find the orb as a test. The characters go the exploration, the labyrinth, fighting the bugbear, solving the puzzle, all of it. It's a challenge to their abilities, skills, group cohesion, etc. Then, as they return, triumphant, orb in hand, to meet the people who sent them on the quest, surprise!
  
  **Local:** "So glad you found it! Now we just need to hand it over."
  **Characters:** "Hand it over? We brought it to you."
  **Local:** "Yes, and now you will take it to . . . our employer." (Or benefactor, or whatever mysterious title you want to employ) Local gives a mysterious smile. "Be at the standing stone just beyond the river in two days at sunset."
  
  Characters go to the standing stone (or maybe they don't, as they're suspicious, so maybe something needs to happen to spur them along), and at sunset a dragon descends from the skies and lands. Surprise! Meet the mastermind. That's the reveal (or one of many, depending on how deep you want to make the twists and turns). Mastermind (dragon) explains that it was kind of a test, like an audition, or a job interview, and now that the dragon knows they can handle it, it's ready to let them in on some _real_ jobs.
  
  Insert your cleverly fiendish series of tasks, plot twists, double bluffs, red herrings, arduous missions, duplicitous intrigue, double and triple crossing, tempting treasure, competing interests, and more! It all depends on how far you might like to take it. Maybe the crew ends up working for the dragon for a while. Maybe along the way they find out there was originally a _different_ dragon planning this, so now they need to figure out who is this imposter dragon, and what are the implications of one dragon posing as another? If there is an imposter dragon, is it a hero or villain? What about the original dragon that was supposed to play the mastermind? What happened? Was it a good dragon or an evil one?
  
  It's up to you how complex you want to make it. If you prefer to keep it more straightforward, the dragon is simply the dragon who wanted to test the team and see if they are the ones the dragon needs for work on later tasks.
  
  All of which is just a variation of what Kallak was talking about in the second scenario: a reason for the dragon NOT to stomp the PCs . . . yet. (Or, at all, if the dragon is a good dragon and the PCs are heroes. Again, it just depends on what story you are interested in weaving). The main point is, one way to come up with a reason for the dragon not to pound on low-level characters is the dragon needs them for something now (or later, or both).
  
  Of course, the characters may also feel like they didn't want to be "tested," so that can also create a creative story tension to work with. "You set us up!" "I had to know you were right for the job. Not just anyone can do this." "How do we know we can trust you?" "You don't, anymore than I know I can trust you, and yet this is how these things have been done since interested parties started working together at the dawn of time." "It better be worth it!" "Oh it is. Have you ever heard of the **insert mysterious lost treasure item here**? No? Well, perhaps it wouldn't interest you. Maybe you aren't the right people for the job after all . . . " "Hang on, we didn't say no, we just want a little more honesty . . . " etc.
  
  One thing to be careful of is sometimes deep and intricate plotting can rub players the wrong way. Sometimes they may just want to kick in doors, fight monsters, and take their stuff. And rarely does anyone like to feel like a pawn, or lose agency in the decisions of their characters. Whatever route you choose, you should keep in mind that playing a character means being able to direct the character, not just be a pre-programmed robot that serves a plot device (like a dragon). But if your players like role-playing as well as roll-playing, then the reason the dragon does not want to stomp them yet (if at all) can also be a reason the team wants to have additional interaction with the dragon for the longer term, which may aid you your storytelling.
  
  Hope this helps, and if I have only muddied the waters, then I apologize.
  
  Still learning,
  
  Robert, Adventure Log writer for "Geeks Distributed":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/geeks-distributed
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  jjhighberger

  Posts: 9 September 2013

  Thanks again for all of your inputs. this is more than enough information to mull over.
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  Desert_Son

  Posts: 16 September 2013 edited September 2013

  Good luck, sorry about the long-winded answers. Thanks, and good gaming!
  
  Still learning,
  
  Robert, Adventure Log writer for "Geeks DIstributed":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/geeks-distributed

  Post edited by Desert_Son on September 2013