In my party I have an oathbreaker paladin of Tiamat who left Bahamut to follow her. Soon there will be the possibility of him fighting against a young green dragon. He is in a mostly neutral party and they in general don't really care what they fight so the other party members will have no problem killing this dragon. The paladin will recognize that this dragon is a "child of Tiamat" and attacking it will have im go directly against his goddess.
How could I best handle the effects that this (possible) choice will have on his relation with Tiamat?
I bet that most of this advise could also be used for either clerics or warlocks that are in the same position.
Since it is a mostly neutral party, can the paladin convince them not to fight it? Do they know about the paladin's worship of Tiamat? Is the encounter happening in a place where it will be a fight to the death, or can the dragon escape? Do your monsters/NPCs die outright at zero hp, or is there a chance to heal them at the end of a fight?
Sorry for the barrage of questions, but would influence my response. In general, Tiamat is known to be very spiteful. If the paladin HAD to participate in the fight to hide his worship, which in turn would lead to greater things for Tiamat, she might forgive the attack. (Which leads to another question... what is the paladin currently doing to further Tiamat's will?) Also, be sure to flesh out the dragon a bit. For example, if the paladin tried to communicate with it, or heal it, how would it respond?
It's not at all obvious that Tiamat cares much about dragons fighting each other. Most dragons aren't really going around doing Tiamat's will, they're just going around doing stuff.
I Agree with pantagruel. If you want Tiamat to be angry, it’s certainly reasonable, but there’s no specific reason to have her angry. You could even go the other way. Tiamat is angry with the dragon and through her machinations sent the party to kill it for her.
The party is neutral but leans mostly towards good, not long ago they went out of their way to attack an evil creature that wasn't at that moment very threatning to the world but they went out to kill it regardless just to be sure it wouldn't endanger anyone in the future. This dragon is going to be bothering a small town and in exchange for something they really want they would have to rid the town of the dragon. The paladin (and the rest of the party) will up to the point they actually face the dragon be convinced it is no more than a wyvern, as thats what the townspeople think it is. Dragons are very rare in the current time of the world. The entire party does know about the paladin's worship of Tiamat and they have, in the past, all openly stated they do not agree with his worship of this evil diety. The fight is happening in a forest thats been transforming due to the dragon's presence. They will actually be in its lair with its newly started hoard. The green dragon will do anything in its power to protect that hoard. Yes up until this point all of the monsters/npc's have outright died at the end of the fight unless they specifically go for a non-lethal attack with a melee attack.
Currently the paladin is out on a quest to gather a few items for the cult of the dragon queen as they are attempting, in the future, to have tiamat return to the prime material plane.
I have dialogue planned where the dragon would recigonize the paladin carrying a certain essence. They will say, specifically to the paladin if combat started, " We serve the same queen. Do you really want to test her?"
Dear dungeon masters,
In my party I have an oathbreaker paladin of Tiamat who left Bahamut to follow her. Soon there will be the possibility of him fighting against a young green dragon.
He is in a mostly neutral party and they in general don't really care what they fight so the other party members will have no problem killing this dragon.
The paladin will recognize that this dragon is a "child of Tiamat" and attacking it will have im go directly against his goddess.
How could I best handle the effects that this (possible) choice will have on his relation with Tiamat?
I bet that most of this advise could also be used for either clerics or warlocks that are in the same position.
- thanks
Since it is a mostly neutral party, can the paladin convince them not to fight it? Do they know about the paladin's worship of Tiamat? Is the encounter happening in a place where it will be a fight to the death, or can the dragon escape? Do your monsters/NPCs die outright at zero hp, or is there a chance to heal them at the end of a fight?
Sorry for the barrage of questions, but would influence my response. In general, Tiamat is known to be very spiteful. If the paladin HAD to participate in the fight to hide his worship, which in turn would lead to greater things for Tiamat, she might forgive the attack. (Which leads to another question... what is the paladin currently doing to further Tiamat's will?) Also, be sure to flesh out the dragon a bit. For example, if the paladin tried to communicate with it, or heal it, how would it respond?
It's not at all obvious that Tiamat cares much about dragons fighting each other. Most dragons aren't really going around doing Tiamat's will, they're just going around doing stuff.
I Agree with pantagruel. If you want Tiamat to be angry, it’s certainly reasonable, but there’s no specific reason to have her angry.
You could even go the other way. Tiamat is angry with the dragon and through her machinations sent the party to kill it for her.
To answer your questions,
The party is neutral but leans mostly towards good, not long ago they went out of their way to attack an evil creature that wasn't at that moment very threatning to the world but they went out to kill it regardless just to be sure it wouldn't endanger anyone in the future. This dragon is going to be bothering a small town and in exchange for something they really want they would have to rid the town of the dragon. The paladin (and the rest of the party) will up to the point they actually face the dragon be convinced it is no more than a wyvern, as thats what the townspeople think it is. Dragons are very rare in the current time of the world.
The entire party does know about the paladin's worship of Tiamat and they have, in the past, all openly stated they do not agree with his worship of this evil diety.
The fight is happening in a forest thats been transforming due to the dragon's presence. They will actually be in its lair with its newly started hoard. The green dragon will do anything in its power to protect that hoard.
Yes up until this point all of the monsters/npc's have outright died at the end of the fight unless they specifically go for a non-lethal attack with a melee attack.
Currently the paladin is out on a quest to gather a few items for the cult of the dragon queen as they are attempting, in the future, to have tiamat return to the prime material plane.
I have dialogue planned where the dragon would recigonize the paladin carrying a certain essence. They will say, specifically to the paladin if combat started, " We serve the same queen. Do you really want to test her?"
Well thats the thing, this fight would be a test of his faith, if the paladin still attacks the dragon it will show his disloalty to tiamat.