Hello, I’m a new DM about to run session one of Icespire Peak and a couple of my players have created backgrounds where they would want to save the dragon from being killed. I made it pretty clear in session 0 that the dragon needed to be gone for peace to be restored in Phandalin, and I was planning a dragon attack in session 1 (similar to hoard of the dragon queen where he comes in, kills some townsfolk, and leaves again) to emphasize that the dragon is evil and not just an innocent creature. But I also don’t want to just stomp all over my players creativity. Any ideas for how I could allow them the opportunity to convince the dragon to leave or otherwise prevent it from being killed while also resolving the story satisfactorily for everyone?
I was planning on running the revised version with the blue dragon for stronger connection to the cult of Talos, my only idea right now is to let the cult be the real BBEG of the story and one they’re gone the dragon is freed from their influence or something.
Maybe the Cult of Talos has an Orb of Dragonkind and once they are dealt with the blue dragon is thankful to be free to go back to the desert, instead of being compelled to be at a snowy mountain fortress. Plus, its fun to throw an artifact at a low level party and see what shenanigans ensue, especially when others find out they have it.
They could banish via magic, then again DoIP is a moderately low-level campaign for those types of spells, maybe have a magic one-use macguffin that can banish it.
What a great bunch of players! If they want an adventure where they save a dragon instead of killing it, I would definitely reward that.
Step 1: have the dragon terrify everyone but no one actually killed unless they initiated it
Step 2: you still need a big bad, so decide who is manipulating the dragon to behave this way. Is it someone in town trying to get other people to leave for some reason (perhaps they discovered the lost mine of phandelver and want it all to themselves)? Has another monster pushed the dragon out of it's home and its too scared to go back.
Step 3: make it clear to the players that they can subdue the dragon without killing it if it does come to a fight. Maybe they even need to defeat it first before it will listen to them.
There you go! A fun and original take on DoIP, no dragon killing required.
I would definitely recommend against pushing "the dragon is Evil you need to kill it" angle. If your players are not up for that kind of story (and fair enough) they will not enjoy it.
What a great bunch of players! If they want an adventure where they save a dragon instead of killing it, I would definitely reward that.
Step 1: have the dragon terrify everyone but no one actually killed unless they initiated it
Step 2: you still need a big bad, so decide who is manipulating the dragon to behave this way. Is it someone in town trying to get other people to leave for some reason (perhaps they discovered the lost mine of phandelver and want it all to themselves)? Has another monster pushed the dragon out of it's home and its too scared to go back.
Step 3: make it clear to the players that they can subdue the dragon without killing it if it does come to a fight. Maybe they even need to defeat it first before it will listen to them.
There you go! A fun and original take on DoIP, no dragon killing required.
I would definitely recommend against pushing "the dragon is Evil you need to kill it" angle. If your players are not up for that kind of story (and fair enough) they will not enjoy it.
Maybe the Cult of Talos has an Orb of Dragonkind and once they are dealt with the blue dragon is thankful to be free to go back to the desert, instead of being compelled to be at a snowy mountain fortress. Plus, its fun to throw an artifact at a low level party and see what shenanigans ensue, especially when others find out they have it.
This is a great idea, I love that it explains the one thing that still didn't make sense which is the blue dragon in the snowy mountains. Thanks for your help.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hello, I’m a new DM about to run session one of Icespire Peak and a couple of my players have created backgrounds where they would want to save the dragon from being killed. I made it pretty clear in session 0 that the dragon needed to be gone for peace to be restored in Phandalin, and I was planning a dragon attack in session 1 (similar to hoard of the dragon queen where he comes in, kills some townsfolk, and leaves again) to emphasize that the dragon is evil and not just an innocent creature. But I also don’t want to just stomp all over my players creativity. Any ideas for how I could allow them the opportunity to convince the dragon to leave or otherwise prevent it from being killed while also resolving the story satisfactorily for everyone?
I was planning on running the revised version with the blue dragon for stronger connection to the cult of Talos, my only idea right now is to let the cult be the real BBEG of the story and one they’re gone the dragon is freed from their influence or something.
Maybe the Cult of Talos has an Orb of Dragonkind and once they are dealt with the blue dragon is thankful to be free to go back to the desert, instead of being compelled to be at a snowy mountain fortress. Plus, its fun to throw an artifact at a low level party and see what shenanigans ensue, especially when others find out they have it.
They could banish via magic, then again DoIP is a moderately low-level campaign for those types of spells, maybe have a magic one-use macguffin that can banish it.
Mystic v3 should be official, nuff said.
What a great bunch of players! If they want an adventure where they save a dragon instead of killing it, I would definitely reward that.
Step 1: have the dragon terrify everyone but no one actually killed unless they initiated it
Step 2: you still need a big bad, so decide who is manipulating the dragon to behave this way. Is it someone in town trying to get other people to leave for some reason (perhaps they discovered the lost mine of phandelver and want it all to themselves)? Has another monster pushed the dragon out of it's home and its too scared to go back.
Step 3: make it clear to the players that they can subdue the dragon without killing it if it does come to a fight. Maybe they even need to defeat it first before it will listen to them.
There you go! A fun and original take on DoIP, no dragon killing required.
I would definitely recommend against pushing "the dragon is Evil you need to kill it" angle. If your players are not up for that kind of story (and fair enough) they will not enjoy it.
This is helpful, thank you.
This is a great idea, I love that it explains the one thing that still didn't make sense which is the blue dragon in the snowy mountains. Thanks for your help.