So I trying to find an interesting plot for an upcoming campaign and during which I had thought of the party encountering a corpse of a dragon seemingly devoured by something and after following some leads the party will find out that they maybe dealing with a cannibalistic dragon. But... dunno what else can I do with it. Any suggestions?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Born under the watch of something from the furthest corners of the far realms.... It knows all.... it sees all... and it asks: "What is it that you want to see?"... and my answer is... ALL"
Do the "sacrifice to a dragon so they don't destroy our kingdom" thing, only instead of sacrificing a maiden or treasure, you have to sacrifice another dragon to them. The players need to find, defeat, and capture a dragon alive and present it to the cannibal dragon in order to be spared.
I like CharlesthePlant's idea, but might be inclined to say that a tribe or kingdom are trying to empower the dragon, and so are feeding it. Maybe so they take over the world, or like in League lore, where the targonians made aurelion Sol win their battles for them.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
Maybe make it an Evil dragon that was driven mad and for some reason was convinced eating other dragons made them more powerful. The adventurers could be tasked by a Good dragon (probably in disguise) to find the dragon killer. Depending on how long you want the campaign/story to be, maybe you can go onward to find out what drove the evil dragon insane/corrupted it. Maybe a cult is trying to enslave Tiamat (or some other evil dragon god) and evil-aligned dragons start to frenzy all over the world, causing them to act strangely and dangerously.
(to make my notes less confusing i will use a female silver dragon as an example)
Perhaps its a metallic dragon that was captured at a very young age (by chromatic dragons or dragonborn? who knows.) And she either had to turn on her fellow inmates for survival or was forced into some kind of gladiatorial combat where if you want to eat, then the winner eats the loser. No one expected the metallic of all things to have the savagery needed to survive the pit, but out of desperation, she did what she had to and ended up developing a taste for dragon flesh along the way.
Unfortunately, the experience and the overall confliction with her alignment drove her rather mad. Even worse, the mad thing eventually escaped. Now her twisted, ravenous mind seeks revenge. But after years of conditioning and being attacked by dragons of all shades, she now believes that all other dragons are to blame for her suffering and so she shall consume them all and claim their power for her own.
since the dragon is metallic, it is more likely the party will trust her. You could even have the them initially team up with her in one way or another, either to find the dragon eater or on other small quests early on so that her appearance is less suspicious. But over time the dragon's insanity slowly start to poke through.
Eventually, they either find the metallic after her most recent kill and she tries to play it off as self defense, only for her madness to start bleeding through enough for the party to realize they are in serious danger- or, when the party starts to get close to finding the culprit, the metallic misleads them into believing a nearby chromatic is the dragon eater, only for them to arrive and find that dragon eaten as well. Its at that moment they realize the metallic is blocking the exit...
if you plan on having this be an arc with a much longer buildup, you could even seed rumors or sightings every now and then where people find half eaten chromatics. (which no one would complain about, obviously.) but as time goes on people start finding eaten metallics as well, and thats where the party comes in.
After defeating the silver dragon, this could even lead off into another arc where they have to hunt down and dismantle whatever group has been stealing dragons for pit fights so this wont ever happen again.
I loved the lore behind Aurelion Sol, too bad he isn't as good in game but that's a topic for another time. I might combine some elements from each of your stories and create something big for my campaign, thanks for suggestions again!
Note: if anyone else wants to share their ideas do feel free to do so!
Born under the watch of something from the furthest corners of the far realms.... It knows all.... it sees all... and it asks: "What is it that you want to see?"... and my answer is... ALL"
An imposing figure slams through the front doors the Coastal Cottage tavern, and screams in the doorway for aid. Those who look, see a bronze-Dragonborn warrior covered in heavy wounds and blood, drop to its knees in anguish. As it fails, the fierce storm that had rattled the cottage for hours broiled over into rattling the now open door violently in the wind. A few onlookers stand in the madness, and those at the bar now face the windows as well, just in time for them to be shattered open by the hurricane force that sweeps through the room blowing the candle lights out. There are many screams in the darkness as the patrons rush outside to see the slaughter.
There are dozens of Bronze Dragon Wyrmling and a handful Young Bronze Dragon losing a desperate fight against an Adult Sapphire Dragon that has come to claim their lair as its own. There is an intense battle of lighting bolts as the storm drakes clashed violently above. With a fateful crash, the largest of the protectors is brought to the ground at the opening in front of the cave. The invader stepped on its neck, allowing it to squirm and howl for a moment before cracking it, and dragging it into the darkness. The majority of the wyrmlings flee instantly, and the few older drakes left circle the opening continuing to breath fierce lightning upon it to no avail before leaving as well.
"This was the report we received from the Coastal Watch nearly a week ago. It is deeply concerning as the brood of Bronze dragons that was nesting there will continue to return until either they are all dead or it is, and unfortunately, it seems that will only provide a steady food source for the creature. Go and seek the local dragonborn guards that were not exterminated, they may have insight on how to get into the cave without walking through the front. Then, put an end to this madness."
With that, the lord signed off on his dictated letter written by his courtly secretary, and sent it throughout the land. By the largest and most royal of his seals, this letter signaled that those mad enough to respond would earn a handsome reward should they succeed.
\\Months later\\
\\The group finds the body of a dead, rotting and decayed Bronze Dragon half eaten on a beach. The Costal Cottage tavern is nearby and they walk up to it to look for clues, only to find that letter nailed to the door and the place completely empty. From the building, the cave entrance can be seen far up on the cliff side, maybe two to three hours climb up and to the left.\\
So I trying to find an interesting plot for an upcoming campaign and during which I had thought of the party encountering a corpse of a dragon seemingly devoured by something and after following some leads the party will find out that they maybe dealing with a cannibalistic dragon. But... dunno what else can I do with it. Any suggestions?
Born under the watch of something from the furthest corners of the far realms.... It knows all.... it sees all... and it asks: "What is it that you want to see?"... and my answer is... ALL"
Do the "sacrifice to a dragon so they don't destroy our kingdom" thing, only instead of sacrificing a maiden or treasure, you have to sacrifice another dragon to them. The players need to find, defeat, and capture a dragon alive and present it to the cannibal dragon in order to be spared.
I like CharlesthePlant's idea, but might be inclined to say that a tribe or kingdom are trying to empower the dragon, and so are feeding it. Maybe so they take over the world, or like in League lore, where the targonians made aurelion Sol win their battles for them.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
Maybe make it an Evil dragon that was driven mad and for some reason was convinced eating other dragons made them more powerful. The adventurers could be tasked by a Good dragon (probably in disguise) to find the dragon killer. Depending on how long you want the campaign/story to be, maybe you can go onward to find out what drove the evil dragon insane/corrupted it. Maybe a cult is trying to enslave Tiamat (or some other evil dragon god) and evil-aligned dragons start to frenzy all over the world, causing them to act strangely and dangerously.
(to make my notes less confusing i will use a female silver dragon as an example)
Perhaps its a metallic dragon that was captured at a very young age (by chromatic dragons or dragonborn? who knows.) And she either had to turn on her fellow inmates for survival or was forced into some kind of gladiatorial combat where if you want to eat, then the winner eats the loser. No one expected the metallic of all things to have the savagery needed to survive the pit, but out of desperation, she did what she had to and ended up developing a taste for dragon flesh along the way.
Unfortunately, the experience and the overall confliction with her alignment drove her rather mad. Even worse, the mad thing eventually escaped. Now her twisted, ravenous mind seeks revenge. But after years of conditioning and being attacked by dragons of all shades, she now believes that all other dragons are to blame for her suffering and so she shall consume them all and claim their power for her own.
since the dragon is metallic, it is more likely the party will trust her. You could even have the them initially team up with her in one way or another, either to find the dragon eater or on other small quests early on so that her appearance is less suspicious. But over time the dragon's insanity slowly start to poke through.
Eventually, they either find the metallic after her most recent kill and she tries to play it off as self defense, only for her madness to start bleeding through enough for the party to realize they are in serious danger- or, when the party starts to get close to finding the culprit, the metallic misleads them into believing a nearby chromatic is the dragon eater, only for them to arrive and find that dragon eaten as well. Its at that moment they realize the metallic is blocking the exit...
if you plan on having this be an arc with a much longer buildup, you could even seed rumors or sightings every now and then where people find half eaten chromatics. (which no one would complain about, obviously.) but as time goes on people start finding eaten metallics as well, and thats where the party comes in.
After defeating the silver dragon, this could even lead off into another arc where they have to hunt down and dismantle whatever group has been stealing dragons for pit fights so this wont ever happen again.
Thank you all for your suggestions!
I loved the lore behind Aurelion Sol, too bad he isn't as good in game but that's a topic for another time. I might combine some elements from each of your stories and create something big for my campaign, thanks for suggestions again!
Note: if anyone else wants to share their ideas do feel free to do so!
Born under the watch of something from the furthest corners of the far realms.... It knows all.... it sees all... and it asks: "What is it that you want to see?"... and my answer is... ALL"
An imposing figure slams through the front doors the Coastal Cottage tavern, and screams in the doorway for aid. Those who look, see a bronze-Dragonborn warrior covered in heavy wounds and blood, drop to its knees in anguish. As it fails, the fierce storm that had rattled the cottage for hours broiled over into rattling the now open door violently in the wind. A few onlookers stand in the madness, and those at the bar now face the windows as well, just in time for them to be shattered open by the hurricane force that sweeps through the room blowing the candle lights out. There are many screams in the darkness as the patrons rush outside to see the slaughter.
There are dozens of Bronze Dragon Wyrmling and a handful Young Bronze Dragon losing a desperate fight against an Adult Sapphire Dragon that has come to claim their lair as its own. There is an intense battle of lighting bolts as the storm drakes clashed violently above. With a fateful crash, the largest of the protectors is brought to the ground at the opening in front of the cave. The invader stepped on its neck, allowing it to squirm and howl for a moment before cracking it, and dragging it into the darkness. The majority of the wyrmlings flee instantly, and the few older drakes left circle the opening continuing to breath fierce lightning upon it to no avail before leaving as well.
"This was the report we received from the Coastal Watch nearly a week ago. It is deeply concerning as the brood of Bronze dragons that was nesting there will continue to return until either they are all dead or it is, and unfortunately, it seems that will only provide a steady food source for the creature. Go and seek the local dragonborn guards that were not exterminated, they may have insight on how to get into the cave without walking through the front. Then, put an end to this madness."
With that, the lord signed off on his dictated letter written by his courtly secretary, and sent it throughout the land. By the largest and most royal of his seals, this letter signaled that those mad enough to respond would earn a handsome reward should they succeed.
\\Months later\\
\\The group finds the body of a dead, rotting and decayed Bronze Dragon half eaten on a beach. The Costal Cottage tavern is nearby and they walk up to it to look for clues, only to find that letter nailed to the door and the place completely empty. From the building, the cave entrance can be seen far up on the cliff side, maybe two to three hours climb up and to the left.\\