A question on my campaign [Archive] - Wizards Community

A question on my campaign [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Koofoo95
12-22-05, 01:53 AM I seek the knowledge of the wise boardmembers of the WOTCFRMB. The current campaign I am running the PC's decided to abandond the plot I had set up and become dragon hunters, this spawned from an NPC I was introducing and went on from there... but anywats I have no problem with this at all, the players are happy with it, and it is intresting to see what they can pitting there minds against a dragons. One player had expressed a monotiny in the campaign which I am attempting to break, so thats where my plea for aid comes in, what would you suggest I do to break the monotiny of slaying some of the most fearsome creatures of all time?
Alurvelve
12-22-05, 02:10 AM Maybe to get them back on track to your campagin make one of the Npc's of your campaing a dragon in disguise. Or let them fight a dragon using all its firepower in a open space and tear the group up a few times. Maybe that will change their mind about hunting what is supposed to be the most dangerous creatures alive. But thats me, i can be mean at times lol.
Silverpanther
12-22-05, 05:22 AM get the draconomicon and use the techniques and dragon fighting abilities/styles in there... i don`t think that your chars are going to hunt them voluntarily any longer :D

if you use that, you will have no problems with your campaign ;)
Crust
12-22-05, 08:26 AM That's the danger in being dragon hunters or undead slayers. If you're only doing one thing, that one thing can get boring.

The up side is that for the chromatics (I assume you're hunting the evil dragons), each color boasts a different climate, so use that. Take them on a jungle romp through Chult in search of an ancient green. Have them explore a massive volcanic network of tunnels and caves (perhaps encountering a thall community of orcs or bugbears) in search of a red. Send them to the Anauroch in search of a blue (perhaps bringing the Shade enclave into the mix).

Also, make sure to add another facet to the plot aside from just hunting dragons. Turn it into a search for knowledge and spells for the wizard. Give the warrior a rival to struggle against throughout the campaign. Perhaps create a rival group of dragonslayers who often steal the prize from the PCs. See what they do.
Mr.Moonrat
12-22-05, 10:42 AM Make a dragon that really acts as it have about 18 in intelligence. Then the hard thing is to get to the dragon at all. In the adventure Dragon Mountain the red dragon transformed himself to one of his kobold guardians. And he let a (upgraded) kobold guardian be polymorphed into the dragon himself. The dragon wached the player attack the wrong dragon, using up many of their best spells, smite evil and so on. Then when the player understood they had targeted the wrong opponent, it was show time for the big red evil thingy...

Another alternative is to force the player to negotiate with an evil dragon to have the possibility to get to the real foul one. That can be a healthy thing as a change.

Or let a dragon not be a cliché evil type. Let him be something in between good and evil. Let the players wonder if he deserves to be attacked or not. Let the dragon have good motives, but perhaps secret truly evil ones in disguise.

Let the dragon have two maidens as prisoners. If the players get close to his cave he will kill the maidens. The players must be told that in advance, so they can prepare. It is fun to prepare as a player I think!
Then kill off one of the maidens as soon as the players do just a little mistake. Then they must really think ahead if not this mission will end up very bad.

Let a good colored dragon have such a big flaw that the player must start to think of killing him, even if he is (for example) a silver dragon. But do not let the flaw be so big that it is an easy choice for the players.

All in all; make the dragons difficult to categorize in the classical evil-or-good-way. Let them be unique beings. Let the players have a really hard time. The feeling of success afterward will be so much more genuine.

I agree it is easy a campaign like this ends up in a monotonous way. But there must not be an evil dragon killed in every session. It can be the end of a whole campaign. A well planned campaign can involve about ten game sessions just to find the real dragon enemy (the dragon behind the dragon's throne!), the proper items, side-quests and so on.
velglarn
01-16-06, 08:23 AM Use some RP things, maybe the Cult of the Dragon is searching for some dead dragons, and they hire a skilled agent to follow the pcs. The hired one appears as a friendly npc, but is a deadly assassin. And some powerful npcs seek that assassin, so they arrest pcs as they try to find dragons to slay.
Old Sparky
01-16-06, 09:56 AM I agree with Crust in that doing anything repetitively can get old, whether it be hunting dragons or undead or crawling through dungeons for more gold. You need to spice things up a bit...

For one thing, just because they are dragon hunters doesn't mean everything the do and every monster they fight has to be a dragon. They can bump into all sorts of things while hunting dragons, and may need to fight them off. On top of that, not everything rumored to be a dragon needs to end up being a dragon... perhaps the party follows some rumors and stumbles on some displaced dinosaurs or gnome illusionist who loves scaring the locals with big, scary dragon illusions.

Also, put some fun into the hunt. Its one thing to know a dragon(s) lairs in a certain region, but finding the lair should be more difficult. It could require the party acquiring the services of a guide (someone or something that has seen which mountain the dragon always flies to, or maybe the dragon's favorite watering hole). Perhaps give them a dragon to look for that hasn't been seen in a few centuries, making the search all the more difficult; the party could seek a sage to gain clues, and the sage would probably want some service in exchange beforehand (since expecting pay from a dragonhunter could be an iffy proposition).

Another twist is to set up a more organized lair than usual. If the dragon is sufficiently old and powerful enough, it may have guards, traps, and other features to its lair that the party must fight/sneak past before they even see the dragon. Try using some unusual guardians (but give a good explanation for why/how they are there) to throw the party off... golems are good, as are elementals and/or fiends. The dragon may have traded something to a wizard in the past for golems (or offered to trade, but then devoured the fellow)... elementals could be summoned and/or bound to guard by magic items. Fiends might also be there as part of an exchange of services (or summoned if the dragon's sorcerous might is greater than usual). My personal favorite was a captured nymph that a green dragon kept as a treasure in and of herself. Locked in a cage and stripped nude, she was clearly visible once adventurers were close enough to see the treasure hoard, thus leaving the party subject to blinding or death even if the dragon wasn't there to guard his lair.

Another good way to liven things up is to give your dragons some personality beyond being powerful, greedy, hungry forces of nature. Do all dragons attack immediately when their lair is invaded? Probably, if the invaders are charging headlong with spells and weapons flying... give the dragon a chance to get the drop on the adventurers, and he'll have a chance to talk to his potential meals.

What's to talk about? Some dragons like to boast, others play the inquisitive role to gather as much information as possible to make use of after devouring the annoyance, and some may have no desire to fight --offering to barter the adventurers into leaving them alone (unlikely, but it could also be a trick to lull them into feeling safe only to have the dragon pounce on them outside its lair). Maybe the dragon could be entirely reasonable and willing to talk, telling tales of other dragons whose lairs it knows of (an easy way for it to get rid of competition, and give it time to move its lair or better prepare to defend it when the adventurers next return).
Sylivren
01-16-06, 11:39 AM Another good idea, if you want you character to leave the dragon thing for a little while so it doesnt get boring, is using someone important from his past or someone he treasures to give him another kind of quest, such as a sister whose boyfriend was captured by the evil mages of Zhay or a friend who was murdered by drows...focus his energy elsewhere, and make sure the party will follow. This way not all of your gaming sesions will be about dragons.
Good luck to you!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Koofoo95 12-22-05, 01:53 AM	I seek the knowledge of the wise boardmembers of the WOTCFRMB. The current campaign I am running the PC's decided to abandond the plot I had set up and become dragon hunters, this spawned from an NPC I was introducing and went on from there... but anywats I have no problem with this at all, the players are happy with it, and it is intresting to see what they can pitting there minds against a dragons. One player had expressed a monotiny in the campaign which I am attempting to break, so thats where my plea for aid comes in, what would you suggest I do to break the monotiny of slaying some of the most fearsome creatures of all time?
Alurvelve 12-22-05, 02:10 AM	Maybe to get them back on track to your campagin make one of the Npc's of your campaing a dragon in disguise. Or let them fight a dragon using all its firepower in a open space and tear the group up a few times. Maybe that will change their mind about hunting what is supposed to be the most dangerous creatures alive. But thats me, i can be mean at times lol.
Silverpanther 12-22-05, 05:22 AM	get the draconomicon and use the techniques and dragon fighting abilities/styles in there... i don`t think that your chars are going to hunt them voluntarily any longer :D if you use that, you will have no problems with your campaign ;)
Crust 12-22-05, 08:26 AM	That's the danger in being dragon hunters or undead slayers. If you're only doing one thing, that one thing can get boring. The up side is that for the chromatics (I assume you're hunting the evil dragons), each color boasts a different climate, so use that. Take them on a jungle romp through Chult in search of an ancient green. Have them explore a massive volcanic network of tunnels and caves (perhaps encountering a thall community of orcs or bugbears) in search of a red. Send them to the Anauroch in search of a blue (perhaps bringing the Shade enclave into the mix). Also, make sure to add another facet to the plot aside from just hunting dragons. Turn it into a search for knowledge and spells for the wizard. Give the warrior a rival to struggle against throughout the campaign. Perhaps create a rival group of dragonslayers who often steal the prize from the PCs. See what they do.
Mr.Moonrat 12-22-05, 10:42 AM	Make a dragon that really acts as it have about 18 in intelligence. Then the hard thing is to get to the dragon at all. In the adventure Dragon Mountain the red dragon transformed himself to one of his kobold guardians. And he let a (upgraded) kobold guardian be polymorphed into the dragon himself. The dragon wached the player attack the wrong dragon, using up many of their best spells, smite evil and so on. Then when the player understood they had targeted the wrong opponent, it was show time for the big red evil thingy... Another alternative is to force the player to negotiate with an evil dragon to have the possibility to get to the real foul one. That can be a healthy thing as a change. Or let a dragon not be a cliché evil type. Let him be something in between good and evil. Let the players wonder if he deserves to be attacked or not. Let the dragon have good motives, but perhaps secret truly evil ones in disguise. Let the dragon have two maidens as prisoners. If the players get close to his cave he will kill the maidens. The players must be told that in advance, so they can prepare. It is fun to prepare as a player I think! Then kill off one of the maidens as soon as the players do just a little mistake. Then they must really think ahead if not this mission will end up very bad. Let a good colored dragon have such a big flaw that the player must start to think of killing him, even if he is (for example) a silver dragon. But do not let the flaw be so big that it is an easy choice for the players. All in all; make the dragons difficult to categorize in the classical evil-or-good-way. Let them be unique beings. Let the players have a really hard time. The feeling of success afterward will be so much more genuine. I agree it is easy a campaign like this ends up in a monotonous way. But there must not be an evil dragon killed in every session. It can be the end of a whole campaign. A well planned campaign can involve about ten game sessions just to find the real dragon enemy (the dragon behind the dragon's throne!), the proper items, side-quests and so on.
velglarn 01-16-06, 08:23 AM	Use some RP things, maybe the Cult of the Dragon is searching for some dead dragons, and they hire a skilled agent to follow the pcs. The hired one appears as a friendly npc, but is a deadly assassin. And some powerful npcs seek that assassin, so they arrest pcs as they try to find dragons to slay.
Old Sparky 01-16-06, 09:56 AM	I agree with Crust in that doing anything repetitively can get old, whether it be hunting dragons or undead or crawling through dungeons for more gold. You need to spice things up a bit... For one thing, just because they are dragon hunters doesn't mean everything the do and every monster they fight has to be a dragon. They can bump into all sorts of things while hunting dragons, and may need to fight them off. On top of that, not everything rumored to be a dragon needs to end up being a dragon... perhaps the party follows some rumors and stumbles on some displaced dinosaurs or gnome illusionist who loves scaring the locals with big, scary dragon illusions. Also, put some fun into the hunt. Its one thing to know a dragon(s) lairs in a certain region, but finding the lair should be more difficult. It could require the party acquiring the services of a guide (someone or something that has seen which mountain the dragon always flies to, or maybe the dragon's favorite watering hole). Perhaps give them a dragon to look for that hasn't been seen in a few centuries, making the search all the more difficult; the party could seek a sage to gain clues, and the sage would probably want some service in exchange beforehand (since expecting pay from a dragonhunter could be an iffy proposition). Another twist is to set up a more organized lair than usual. If the dragon is sufficiently old and powerful enough, it may have guards, traps, and other features to its lair that the party must fight/sneak past before they even see the dragon. Try using some unusual guardians (but give a good explanation for why/how they are there) to throw the party off... golems are good, as are elementals and/or fiends. The dragon may have traded something to a wizard in the past for golems (or offered to trade, but then devoured the fellow)... elementals could be summoned and/or bound to guard by magic items. Fiends might also be there as part of an exchange of services (or summoned if the dragon's sorcerous might is greater than usual). My personal favorite was a captured nymph that a green dragon kept as a treasure in and of herself. Locked in a cage and stripped nude, she was clearly visible once adventurers were close enough to see the treasure hoard, thus leaving the party subject to blinding or death even if the dragon wasn't there to guard his lair. Another good way to liven things up is to give your dragons some personality beyond being powerful, greedy, hungry forces of nature. Do all dragons attack immediately when their lair is invaded? Probably, if the invaders are charging headlong with spells and weapons flying... give the dragon a chance to get the drop on the adventurers, and he'll have a chance to talk to his potential meals. What's to talk about? Some dragons like to boast, others play the inquisitive role to gather as much information as possible to make use of after devouring the annoyance, and some may have no desire to fight --offering to barter the adventurers into leaving them alone (unlikely, but it could also be a trick to lull them into feeling safe only to have the dragon pounce on them outside its lair). Maybe the dragon could be entirely reasonable and willing to talk, telling tales of other dragons whose lairs it knows of (an easy way for it to get rid of competition, and give it time to move its lair or better prepare to defend it when the adventurers next return).
Sylivren 01-16-06, 11:39 AM	Another good idea, if you want you character to leave the dragon thing for a little while so it doesnt get boring, is using someone important from his past or someone he treasures to give him another kind of quest, such as a sister whose boyfriend was captured by the evil mages of Zhay or a friend who was murdered by drows...focus his energy elsewhere, and make sure the party will follow. This way not all of your gaming sesions will be about dragons. Good luck to you!