TL;DR Looking for a fun way to run my party through (something) under a volcano to find an item, but they don't know it's in a dragon's lair. And then they have to make a choice.
The campaign is a homebrew pirate island adventure. The party just hit Level 11 and are about to embark to a second island. They are on a mission to recover an artifact from the heart of a volcano island. The island, called Forgefall, is a tropical region inhabited by a smithing community of dwarves, gnomes, and halflings. There's lots of shipwrights and blacksmiths and tinkerers in Bouldern, the port city where the party lands. The person who's paying the party sent them to meet their contact. It turns out to be (insert a cool NPC here) at an inventor's guild on Forgefall who knows the whereabouts of the artifact.
So the party (insert something they learn here) that leads them to a way under the volcano. They go there, and do some stuff. Yadda, yadda, yadda. (insert great ideas here).
THE ARTIFACT IS IN THE HOARD OF AN ANCIENT DRAGON IN MIDDLE OF THE VOLCANO!!! (insert options here, or back away slowly)
Well, volcano immediately makes me think of fire elementals, though their CR is a bit too low. Instead, I would use groups of fire elemental myrmidons and earth elemental myrmidons, maybe giving a hint that something lives under the volcano and summoned them.
For the entrance, you can always use the classic lava door (kind of like the one in the Incredibles).
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Well, volcano immediately makes me think of fire elementals, though their CR is a bit too low. Instead, I would use groups of fire elemental myrmidons and earth elemental myrmidons, maybe giving a hint that something lives under the volcano and summoned them.
For the entrance, you can always use the classic lava door (kind of like the one in the Incredibles).
And the dragon can have children. Or the ancient dragon is gone, leaving only young and adult children. Then the party has to get out before the mother gets home.
Nothing wrong with using Fire Elementals, sure they're only CR 5 but a squad of them is still dangerous. Likewise Salamanders. I would, however, consider tossing some non-fire-themed things in there so the PCs stocking up on fire resistance potions/gear/etc won't just let them walk over everything. If you want to be really annoying, fight a Iron Golem in an area that does fire damage every turn (though... an ancient red dragon is actually incapable of damaging a Iron Golem).
If you have Volo's Firenewt Warrior's are cute little (evil) humanoid creatures who live around volcanoes. Salamander's are also a good choice. You can potentially have Fire Giant's as well, although they hate dragons (Yet I seem to recall them defending a red dragon's lair in Neverwinter Nights).
One thing to consider is that the Red Dragon is going to know that lava can destroy their gold, so I would expect their treasury to actually be away to the side of the volcanic tube somewhat. There could be warding spells to keep the lava at bay if it did go down that way, and this could easily be something the players would be able to manipulate to distract the dragon. A Red Dragon is going to prioritise saving its whole horde over recovering one item, so putting the horde at risk of being destroyed by lava will give the players time to get away as the dragon remedies the situation. Then the dragon will be coming after them again, making a good repeat adversary - assuming the party takes that route to combatting the dragon!
How did (insert cool NPC name here) know the location of the artifact?
Perhaps (Insert cool NPC name here) is a rival dragon in humanoid form, who wants the artefact for themselves, but isn't powerful/stupid enough to go in and take it? Could lead to interesting events!
[Edit] Ooh, even better idea!
The NPC asks them to bring them the artefact for examination before they take it away.
The party navigates through the dragon's lair, not encountering the dragon but encountering traps, minions, and other hazards.
They return to the NPC, and they are very interested in how they got past the traps. The NPC takes the artefact, sighs and says "I guess I'll have to improve my defences", turns into a dragon and flies off. The Party was essentially a fire-drill for the Dragon to make sure their lair was impregnable!
That's a good observation. Seems the NPC wouldn't be able to KNOW where it is or they'd just try to get it themselves. Unless...
Option 1: They have heard rumors, but don't know how to navigate the landscape themselves (vulnerable to fire?). Or they just want a reward for the tip.
Option 2: Someone else saw it or described it, and the person cast locate object within range of the artifact.
Option 3: They have seen it, but didn't dare try to retrieve it without the help of a trusted group (the party).
That's a good observation. Seems the NPC wouldn't be able to KNOW where it is or they'd just try to get it themselves. Unless...
Option 1: They have heard rumors, but don't know how to navigate the landscape themselves (vulnerable to fire?). Or they just want a reward for the tip.
Option 2: Someone else saw it or described it, and the person cast locate object within range of the artifact.
Option 3: They have seen it, but didn't dare try to retrieve it without the help of a trusted group (the party).
Option 4: ???
Option 5: They know about the artifact and the dragon, but they don't want to have to fight it. So they send the party in instead, "forgetting" to mention the dragon.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
A synthesis of all these ideas might be like the setup of the Hobbit. EVERYBODY knows where the artifact is - nobody wants to wake up the dragon. So maybe only one guy is willing to risk his entire city for a quick payday? Or who believes in the party's cause enough?
And, just to say going forward to whomever finds any value in it: A lot of the time, the stuff I hand wave past to get to the "interesting" stuff, I go back and I find out that that actually WAS the interesting stuff.
How did (insert cool NPC name here) know the location of the artifact?
Perhaps (Insert cool NPC name here) is a rival dragon in humanoid form, who wants the artefact for themselves, but isn't powerful/stupid enough to go in and take it? Could lead to interesting events!
[Edit] Ooh, even better idea!
The NPC asks them to bring them the artefact for examination before they take it away.
The party navigates through the dragon's lair, not encountering the dragon but encountering traps, minions, and other hazards.
They return to the NPC, and they are very interested in how they got past the traps. The NPC takes the artefact, sighs and says "I guess I'll have to improve my defences", turns into a dragon and flies off. The Party was essentially a fire-drill for the Dragon to make sure their lair was impregnable!
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TL;DR Looking for a fun way to run my party through (something) under a volcano to find an item, but they don't know it's in a dragon's lair. And then they have to make a choice.
The campaign is a homebrew pirate island adventure. The party just hit Level 11 and are about to embark to a second island. They are on a mission to recover an artifact from the heart of a volcano island. The island, called Forgefall, is a tropical region inhabited by a smithing community of dwarves, gnomes, and halflings. There's lots of shipwrights and blacksmiths and tinkerers in Bouldern, the port city where the party lands. The person who's paying the party sent them to meet their contact. It turns out to be (insert a cool NPC here) at an inventor's guild on Forgefall who knows the whereabouts of the artifact.
So the party (insert something they learn here) that leads them to a way under the volcano. They go there, and do some stuff. Yadda, yadda, yadda. (insert great ideas here).
THE ARTIFACT IS IN THE HOARD OF AN ANCIENT DRAGON IN MIDDLE OF THE VOLCANO!!! (insert options here, or back away slowly)
Well, volcano immediately makes me think of fire elementals, though their CR is a bit too low. Instead, I would use groups of fire elemental myrmidons and earth elemental myrmidons, maybe giving a hint that something lives under the volcano and summoned them.
For the entrance, you can always use the classic lava door (kind of like the one in the Incredibles).
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
And the dragon can have children. Or the ancient dragon is gone, leaving only young and adult children. Then the party has to get out before the mother gets home.
I have a weird sense of humor.
I also make maps.(That's a link)
Nothing wrong with using Fire Elementals, sure they're only CR 5 but a squad of them is still dangerous. Likewise Salamanders. I would, however, consider tossing some non-fire-themed things in there so the PCs stocking up on fire resistance potions/gear/etc won't just let them walk over everything. If you want to be really annoying, fight a Iron Golem in an area that does fire damage every turn (though... an ancient red dragon is actually incapable of damaging a Iron Golem).
If you have Volo's Firenewt Warrior's are cute little (evil) humanoid creatures who live around volcanoes. Salamander's are also a good choice. You can potentially have Fire Giant's as well, although they hate dragons (Yet I seem to recall them defending a red dragon's lair in Neverwinter Nights).
One thing to consider is that the Red Dragon is going to know that lava can destroy their gold, so I would expect their treasury to actually be away to the side of the volcanic tube somewhat. There could be warding spells to keep the lava at bay if it did go down that way, and this could easily be something the players would be able to manipulate to distract the dragon. A Red Dragon is going to prioritise saving its whole horde over recovering one item, so putting the horde at risk of being destroyed by lava will give the players time to get away as the dragon remedies the situation. Then the dragon will be coming after them again, making a good repeat adversary - assuming the party takes that route to combatting the dragon!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
How did (insert cool NPC name here) know the location of the artifact?
Perhaps (Insert cool NPC name here) is a rival dragon in humanoid form, who wants the artefact for themselves, but isn't powerful/stupid enough to go in and take it? Could lead to interesting events!
[Edit] Ooh, even better idea!
The NPC asks them to bring them the artefact for examination before they take it away.
The party navigates through the dragon's lair, not encountering the dragon but encountering traps, minions, and other hazards.
They return to the NPC, and they are very interested in how they got past the traps. The NPC takes the artefact, sighs and says "I guess I'll have to improve my defences", turns into a dragon and flies off. The Party was essentially a fire-drill for the Dragon to make sure their lair was impregnable!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
That's a good observation. Seems the NPC wouldn't be able to KNOW where it is or they'd just try to get it themselves. Unless...
Option 1: They have heard rumors, but don't know how to navigate the landscape themselves (vulnerable to fire?). Or they just want a reward for the tip.
Option 2: Someone else saw it or described it, and the person cast locate object within range of the artifact.
Option 3: They have seen it, but didn't dare try to retrieve it without the help of a trusted group (the party).
Option 4: ???
Option 5: They know about the artifact and the dragon, but they don't want to have to fight it. So they send the party in instead, "forgetting" to mention the dragon.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
A synthesis of all these ideas might be like the setup of the Hobbit. EVERYBODY knows where the artifact is - nobody wants to wake up the dragon. So maybe only one guy is willing to risk his entire city for a quick payday? Or who believes in the party's cause enough?
And, just to say going forward to whomever finds any value in it: A lot of the time, the stuff I hand wave past to get to the "interesting" stuff, I go back and I find out that that actually WAS the interesting stuff.