So... Dragons... Their demigod powered huge as heck and VERY emotional but honestly how often does anyone use them? I mean most ppl think of them as mindless badass monsters to just kill but how often do you use them as npcs that just... Exist? Their either godlike beings, Warlock Patrons, final bosses... But does anyone just use them?
I put together a horror one-shot for my players (level 6 at the time, I believe) set in the Mere of Dead Men in the Forgotten Realms. A nearby village had been raided by gnolls; the players and a handful of NPCs were hired to go into the Mere and bring home as many people as they could. They were stalked by gnolls and gnoll-adjacent monsters as they traveled through the Mere, losing a few of the NPCs along the way. But they also met twin drow elves who were aloof but cordial and helped the party eventually get to the center of the Mere. They found the gnolls and some cultists were summoning Yeenoghu using the villagers as sacrifices. So on top of a bunch of gnolls and other monsters, Yeenoghu pops in and it looks utterly hopeless for the party. Then the other big reveal: the twin drow shapeshift into Voaraghamanthar and Waervaerendor, the twin black dragons who live in the Mere of Dead Men. While they're fighting their own thrilling battle against a horde of gnolls and cultists, my players also had front-row seats to an epic throwdown between two adult black dragons and a demon lord who was essentially invading their territory. After the battle the party maintained a cautious alliance with the black dragons, who help them escort the remaining villagers back home.
I took liberties with giving the black dragons the change shape ability common to metallic dragons and also with depicting Yeenoghu as significantly larger than his description in Out of the Abyss suggests. But in my defense, Rule of Cool.
If you're encountering a dragon in my game with the intent of combat, you're ****ed. If we're at a late enough stage(13th and over), you have a chance. Prior to that, you made an active decision to kill yourself after I warned you *many* times.
Dragons in my games have multiple actions, multiple reactions, legendary actions, legendary resistances, etc. 5e has a balance around action economy, but I like my dragons to be the only thing in the fight. So if they are fighting, they are gonna put up a fight. I don't give them the raw destructive power so much as something that has the ability to be a threat, it will take a beating, it will make saves of all sorts and it will not go down in two rounds while acting extremely intelligent and using everything to it's advantage.
Wyrmlings and dragon adjacent things I don't really touch, but I also make it a point to say that these things are far removed from a true dragons lineage and don't possess anything close to what a real dragon has.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So... Dragons... Their demigod powered huge as heck and VERY emotional but honestly how often does anyone use them? I mean most ppl think of them as mindless badass monsters to just kill but how often do you use them as npcs that just... Exist? Their either godlike beings, Warlock Patrons, final bosses... But does anyone just use them?
Threat
Captive to be freed
Lost puppy
Friend
Patron
All those things.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Allies acting out of motivated self interest.
I put together a horror one-shot for my players (level 6 at the time, I believe) set in the Mere of Dead Men in the Forgotten Realms. A nearby village had been raided by gnolls; the players and a handful of NPCs were hired to go into the Mere and bring home as many people as they could. They were stalked by gnolls and gnoll-adjacent monsters as they traveled through the Mere, losing a few of the NPCs along the way. But they also met twin drow elves who were aloof but cordial and helped the party eventually get to the center of the Mere. They found the gnolls and some cultists were summoning Yeenoghu using the villagers as sacrifices. So on top of a bunch of gnolls and other monsters, Yeenoghu pops in and it looks utterly hopeless for the party. Then the other big reveal: the twin drow shapeshift into Voaraghamanthar and Waervaerendor, the twin black dragons who live in the Mere of Dead Men. While they're fighting their own thrilling battle against a horde of gnolls and cultists, my players also had front-row seats to an epic throwdown between two adult black dragons and a demon lord who was essentially invading their territory. After the battle the party maintained a cautious alliance with the black dragons, who help them escort the remaining villagers back home.
I took liberties with giving the black dragons the change shape ability common to metallic dragons and also with depicting Yeenoghu as significantly larger than his description in Out of the Abyss suggests. But in my defense, Rule of Cool.
Wow that's awesome though sucks gnolls are always evil
If you're encountering a dragon in my game with the intent of combat, you're ****ed. If we're at a late enough stage(13th and over), you have a chance. Prior to that, you made an active decision to kill yourself after I warned you *many* times.
Dragons in my games have multiple actions, multiple reactions, legendary actions, legendary resistances, etc. 5e has a balance around action economy, but I like my dragons to be the only thing in the fight. So if they are fighting, they are gonna put up a fight. I don't give them the raw destructive power so much as something that has the ability to be a threat, it will take a beating, it will make saves of all sorts and it will not go down in two rounds while acting extremely intelligent and using everything to it's advantage.
Wyrmlings and dragon adjacent things I don't really touch, but I also make it a point to say that these things are far removed from a true dragons lineage and don't possess anything close to what a real dragon has.