Last session, the party picked up a side quest to head into a swamp not far from the town they are currently staying in. In the swamp was a young black dragon and I had planned a combat encounter, but the party started talking to it, said a lot of very charismatic things, and made some unusually good persuasion rolls. Rather than forcing the situation, I went with the vibe and it turned into a social encounter. The party took care of their business and left and the dragon must have been pretty bewildered by the end of things, but it did not attack. So now I have a young black dragon establishing itself and its lair in a swamp less than a day's journey from a decent-sized port town. I guess it's time to flesh out the dragon's personality, background, motivations, desires etc. Black dragons seem like real jerks, but maybe this young buck has the sense to play the long game.
I'm trying to figure out how that kind of neighborly interaction would work in a long-term sense.
If this is a typical D&D world, black dragons don't have to immediately destroy all creatures within a region, as long as they have a reason not to do so. Maybe it knows the players are too strong of a threat at the immediate moment, and knows that it can outlive all of them, so it just has to wait. Maybe it doesn't really like the flavor of humanoids, but will eat them if food comes short. Also, you could just have this dragon be curious. It wants to see what the players are up to, and will attack them or the town if they become too much of a threat, encroach on its territory, or it just gets bored of watching over them.
Black dragons are jerks, they normally love just utterly destroying nearby civilizations, but that doesn't make them less curious, or make any of their other needs less important. Maybe the dragon just got lonely, and the fact that the players could speak in a comprehensible way was surprising to it. It was genuinely interested in what they were talking about, and wants to talk again, so will hold off because of that.
But, remember, they are still evil savage dragons. Maybe if it wants to talk to them, and they're off on an adventure, or are busy, it will get angry and destroy the town when it is weakest, and then kill the players when they get back, just for a small petty thing like that. Dragons are smart, they are sometimes social, but they are still strange, and will react extremely to small problems, because they don't think the same way the players do.
I hope this helps.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
If the town is aware of the dragon, they could bargain with him offering tribute in exchange for the protection of the town. The town may want the prestige of having a dragon protector, if only in name, and provide supplies and gold for his treasure horde and sacrifice prisoners and other no-do-gooders to the dragon as food or slaves.
Or the Dragon could subvert some local tribe of swamp dwellers (lizard men, Yuan-Ti, or cultists) to harass the area outside the town stealing goods, people, livestock and gold for their dragon ruler-god.
If the young dragon recognizes that the party could kill it, it would start cultivating allies (lizardfolk, sahuagin, whoever). Black dragons are amphibious, so it's not going to be engaged in a fight unless it wants to be and time is very much on its side. Even if they're nodding acquaintances, adventurers can be as unpredictable violent and greedy as any dragon, and a smart dragon won't just take a chance on their goodwill. It can maintain an uneasy detente with the town, but it will basically be waiting for its friends to grow old and die before it eats the place.
Given that social encounter with persuasion rolls occurred, presumably the PCs convinced the dragon of something. What was that?
Black dragons don't see like the type to keep their words, and they aren't notably intelligent or wise, but they probably don't feel like being killed by adventurers either, so it might just leave the area. It also might try to ambush the PCs, or convince some other monsters to attack the PCs and then swoop in when the PCs are weakened.
I always imagine Black dragons' as having extremely bad acid reflux. Maybe it's just sick, wounded, or hiding from something much more dangerous. Either way, having a black dragon as a fair weather friend could be entertaining. Kind of like that one friend you have that seems to hate everyone.
You all have given me some great inspiration for some dangling plot hooks.
He lives in a swamp, so there could be a ruined village overtaken by the marsh and plants. Perfect place for a young dragon lair and perhaps the flooded tunnels under the village harbored additional secrets lost to the stagnant water.
Dragons tend to collect followers. Lizardmen, kobolds, etc. He might be building up some lackeys to make raids and bring him tribute
The reason the party went there in the first place was to harvest a particular semi-sentient plant endemic to that swamp for the village alchemist. Maybe the regional effects from the black dragon's presence create a fertile ground for that plant to thrive, increasing its potency.
A dangerous alliance that will doubtless end in death, but the mayor of the town might attempt to buy off the dragon with protection money and gifts in exchange for the dragon ravaging those who might want to cause trouble in town.
The dragon will double-cross the party, but not until he decides the time is right. Until then, they might be useful. But he also prepares his defenses against them.
Thanks for all of this and keep it up if there are still ideas on your mind.
A black dragon my players met last year is a druid leading a tribe of drow beneath a jungle ruin. They and their ancestors had been guarding a plot token for thousands of years. Luckily one of the PCs is a ranger who belongs to (kind of) the same druidic sect, so it wasn’t a violent meeting. She’s even sending one of her followers to be a student to said ranger soon (don’t tell my player). Black dragons can be jerks, but more importantly, they can be whatever you want them to be.
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Last session, the party picked up a side quest to head into a swamp not far from the town they are currently staying in. In the swamp was a young black dragon and I had planned a combat encounter, but the party started talking to it, said a lot of very charismatic things, and made some unusually good persuasion rolls. Rather than forcing the situation, I went with the vibe and it turned into a social encounter. The party took care of their business and left and the dragon must have been pretty bewildered by the end of things, but it did not attack. So now I have a young black dragon establishing itself and its lair in a swamp less than a day's journey from a decent-sized port town. I guess it's time to flesh out the dragon's personality, background, motivations, desires etc. Black dragons seem like real jerks, but maybe this young buck has the sense to play the long game.
I'm trying to figure out how that kind of neighborly interaction would work in a long-term sense.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Up to you, you're the DM.
If this is a typical D&D world, black dragons don't have to immediately destroy all creatures within a region, as long as they have a reason not to do so. Maybe it knows the players are too strong of a threat at the immediate moment, and knows that it can outlive all of them, so it just has to wait. Maybe it doesn't really like the flavor of humanoids, but will eat them if food comes short. Also, you could just have this dragon be curious. It wants to see what the players are up to, and will attack them or the town if they become too much of a threat, encroach on its territory, or it just gets bored of watching over them.
Black dragons are jerks, they normally love just utterly destroying nearby civilizations, but that doesn't make them less curious, or make any of their other needs less important. Maybe the dragon just got lonely, and the fact that the players could speak in a comprehensible way was surprising to it. It was genuinely interested in what they were talking about, and wants to talk again, so will hold off because of that.
But, remember, they are still evil savage dragons. Maybe if it wants to talk to them, and they're off on an adventure, or are busy, it will get angry and destroy the town when it is weakest, and then kill the players when they get back, just for a small petty thing like that. Dragons are smart, they are sometimes social, but they are still strange, and will react extremely to small problems, because they don't think the same way the players do.
I hope this helps.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
If the town is aware of the dragon, they could bargain with him offering tribute in exchange for the protection of the town. The town may want the prestige of having a dragon protector, if only in name, and provide supplies and gold for his treasure horde and sacrifice prisoners and other no-do-gooders to the dragon as food or slaves.
Or the Dragon could subvert some local tribe of swamp dwellers (lizard men, Yuan-Ti, or cultists) to harass the area outside the town stealing goods, people, livestock and gold for their dragon ruler-god.
If the young dragon recognizes that the party could kill it, it would start cultivating allies (lizardfolk, sahuagin, whoever). Black dragons are amphibious, so it's not going to be engaged in a fight unless it wants to be and time is very much on its side. Even if they're nodding acquaintances, adventurers can be as unpredictable violent and greedy as any dragon, and a smart dragon won't just take a chance on their goodwill. It can maintain an uneasy detente with the town, but it will basically be waiting for its friends to grow old and die before it eats the place.
Given that social encounter with persuasion rolls occurred, presumably the PCs convinced the dragon of something. What was that?
Black dragons don't see like the type to keep their words, and they aren't notably intelligent or wise, but they probably don't feel like being killed by adventurers either, so it might just leave the area. It also might try to ambush the PCs, or convince some other monsters to attack the PCs and then swoop in when the PCs are weakened.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone. This has given me some ideas of how this NPC may develop in the story as time goes on.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I always imagine Black dragons' as having extremely bad acid reflux. Maybe it's just sick, wounded, or hiding from something much more dangerous. Either way, having a black dragon as a fair weather friend could be entertaining. Kind of like that one friend you have that seems to hate everyone.
You all have given me some great inspiration for some dangling plot hooks.
Thanks for all of this and keep it up if there are still ideas on your mind.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
A black dragon my players met last year is a druid leading a tribe of drow beneath a jungle ruin. They and their ancestors had been guarding a plot token for thousands of years. Luckily one of the PCs is a ranger who belongs to (kind of) the same druidic sect, so it wasn’t a violent meeting. She’s even sending one of her followers to be a student to said ranger soon (don’t tell my player). Black dragons can be jerks, but more importantly, they can be whatever you want them to be.