Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Radijs 01-06-07, 08:30 PM	My players are going to face a dragon soon and I'd like it if it where able to make use of its environment. They are ECL 9 so surrounding it with liquid lava isn't really that a good idea, since it will be snatch, drop, Player kill and thats something nobody likes. So what could I do instead? Jagged rocks? partially solidified but still hot lava?
Darth Sephiroth 01-06-07, 09:52 PM	Perhaps use boiling water in the cauldera. The water has collected there since the last erruption and its building slowly underneath and the lava is being diverted by the something the former owners of the castle had done to protect it creating an area where the magma is redirected before its surfaced, but some of the heat slipped through to create a lot of hot water and steam, perhaps a very shallow pool of acrid and extremely hot water that barely reaches higher than the soles of your boots while the castle rises from that and is formed of the lava rock.
Tarus 01-08-07, 12:40 PM	Alternatively, the water could be acidic. There are 'sulphur' lakes near volcanos that are very corrosive and poisonous.
Far_Traveler 01-08-07, 01:14 PM	Does it have to be a fire dragon? Bronze Dragons get Water Breathing (and a lightning breath weapon), so do Black Dragons. an aquatic battle might be what you need. Or an ice dragon can be incredibly dangerous, but not as much as a firey one, as most surfaces would be solid instead of LIQUID HOT MAGMA
Ocalus 01-08-07, 01:43 PM	Make sure there is a very large metal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, attached to a suprisingly long and sturdy piece of chain…
MinuetofElves 01-08-07, 07:17 PM	I'm just reaching here, and it is just a suggestion, but have "stepping stones" in the lake of MAGMA. Say a 15ft x 15ft foot piece of land and many of these are scattered thoughout the magma 5,10, or 15 feet apart from each other (it would require a jump check to move from one to the other) Or, have pieces of hardened magma (aka rock) throughout the lava pit, and of course moving from one to the other would take a jump check. If you wanted to make it more realistic have some the hardened magma, go back into the lava and have new patches form, but that might make it too complicated.
Aegeu 01-08-07, 08:34 PM	At CR 9, the dragon probably won't have the abilities that make lava so deadly (i.e. snatch). Or, if you think the lava is to dangerous, simply put the lava outside the castle, so it becomes the stereotypical moat of lava instead of the stereotypical pit of lava.
Radijs 01-09-07, 05:53 PM	The encounter went well, far beyond what I expected. The fight took place on an island in lava, it was quite big and allowed for a lot of cover from ruined parts of a castle. In the end the dragon only snatched up a cohort when it was almost dead and flew over the lava threatening to drop her unless they surrendered or left. due to a slight oversight the PC's got a chance to go for the dragon when it flew over the access bridge hoping that the cohort would fall onto the bridge and survive the barbarian charged but missed, the wizard then went on to hit him with an ice storm but that spell both killed the dragon and the cleric. It was quite dramatic when I got the cleric to hold on to the edge of the bridge, call out to the party leader (and noble knight); "I've always believed in you..." before letting go and falling to her doom in the lava below.