-Necropsiix, deep dragon vampire in Nova Vaasa.
-Basilisk (from Gaz. 2), kobold sorcerer/dragon disciple.
-a currently unnamed aurak draconian in Sithicus.
-a silkwyrm (from Dark Sun setting) in Kalidnay.
-a female emerald dragon in the Verdorous Lands
-an awnsheghlien roaming the Core.
-a journal that details the defiler dragon metamorphosis process and the sorcerer-kings (imagine the horror when someone reads this book
)-a folkloric land linnorm in Tepest.
Comments? Suggestions?
Have you considered a sleeping dragon that PCs have to keep from waking up? No doubt some noble-minded family has been performing a ritual every ten or twenty years to make sure it stays asleep...and there is a hitch this time around. Either the new generation doesn't care, or has lost the information...or something has disturbed the cycle - perhaps a theft from the horde. A dark spin on this could be that in a faustian bargain the PCs have gotten a magic sword that they needed to defeat foe "X". Of course the sword came from the horde and the dragon is now in danger of waking up unless returned... This might play well in Mordent.
-Eric Gorman
The idea? A dragon (most likely red, for dietary reasons) harasses an Island Kingdom (new island of terror). To appease the beast, the King has arranged to send it a maiden every month and treasure every week. As you can imagine, taxes are crushing the poor, and everyone dreads the monthly lottery.
The kicker? Dragon is not the Darklord. Darklord is a a Courtier whom is in charge of drawing the names. Gifted at Sleight of Hand, this courtier has managed to arrange who dies for quite a while now. He has also used non-dragon assassinations to cement his own power and position.
When sucked into Ravenloft, he was cursed that, if he falls in love with anyone (or has children of his own), they will be picked when of age. If he rigs it, the paper changes. If the name was never added, the paper still reads that name. Every women in has family has since become scooby snacks for the Dragon.
Mission? either his daughter is next, OR he has a thing for the princess and she's about to turn the age of womanhood...and enter the lottery. PCs are asked to slay the dragon. Of course, dragon rejuvinates (death lasts maybe a day) so long as the courtier lives...
:whatsthis (reads sleeping dragon idea): Yeah, I actually considered it once (again 2nd ed.) only with a dragon mummy (what can I say, I was on a CotN/VRG kick for dragons
) in Har'Akir, though it never saw fruition.gonzoron--Great minds think alike :invasion: I always thought it would be an interesting adventure that the DP would decide to finally give her own real dragon (what is it they say about wishing for something enough times...
)Epicfetus (does that make you an atropal?)--I like it! I like it! I did have an idea for a domain ruled by a mist dragon once (but since it appears that mist dragons have vanished to the mists
I don't have an idea what type of dragon I would use now).As far as other dragons in RL, they don't have to be true dragons to be effective, just dragon-linked.
Some other ideas: a shadow fey, a couple of NPCs made courtesy of the new Races of the Dragon book, an intelligent dragon bane sword, the Falkovnian wyverns...heck, even a charlatan or someone who is on the Path of the Dragon.
I had an idea for an adventure based off of the story of St George and the Dragon, though it doesn't fit into my current campaign plans.
The idea? A dragon (most likely red, for dietary reasons) harasses an Island Kingdom (new island of terror). To appease the beast, the King has arranged to send it a maiden every month and treasure every week. As you can imagine, taxes are crushing the poor, and everyone dreads the monthly lottery.
The kicker? Dragon is not the Darklord. Darklord is a a Courtier whom is in charge of drawing the names. Gifted at Sleight of Hand, this courtier has managed to arrange who dies for quite a while now. He has also used non-dragon assassinations to cement his own power and position.
When sucked into Ravenloft, he was cursed that, if he falls in love with anyone (or has children of his own), they will be picked when of age. If he rigs it, the paper changes. If the name was never added, the paper still reads that name. Every women in has family has since become scooby snacks for the Dragon.
Mission? either his daughter is next, OR he has a thing for the princess and she's about to turn the age of womanhood...and enter the lottery. PCs are asked to slay the dragon. Of course, dragon rejuvinates (death lasts maybe a day) so long as the courtier lives...
Hmmm... sounds heavily inspired by the movie "Dragonslayer," but I like it... ;)
Don't forget Banemaw, the "dragon" of Nidala. (A fictitious dragon Elena Faithhold made up to cover for her razing her own disloyal villages.)
I've been toying with the idea of having a "real" dragon (or dragonkin) show up in Nidala and using this fiction to its own advantage. Or even a good-enough illusionist...
) setting...I REALLY loved the Ebb concept in Gazetteer II, and I even created an Islan of Terror dominated by a REALLY senile white dragon (who killed all of its offsprings in order to acheive lichdom... Well, it's more complex than this, but it's not the right time, now ^_^).
That said, I really love the concept you proposed for Basilisk (I never thought about a dragon disciple... A shame it was never detailed in the Gazetter) and the linnorm... The only problem with the linnorm would be the EXCESSIVE POWER...
I think it would work better as an adventure hook: it is said an ancient dragon sleeps in a cave near Lake Kronov, and now the charachters must work the ritual/slay the monster/do the generic heroic thing to prevent its awekening.
You can always pull out an evil red or black dragon that demands payment in cash of the loot the party has on them. You should back up this one dragon with the extended family members flying around for back-up support!
In Ravenloft?
Riiiiiiiight...
That said, I really love the concept you proposed for Basilisk (I never thought about a dragon disciple... A shame it was never detailed in the Gazetter) and the linnorm...
Thank you
I'll try to get some stats of him made ASAP (I want to pick up Races of the Dragon first).The only problem with the linnorm would be the EXCESSIVE POWER...
I think it would work better as an adventure hook: it is said an ancient dragon sleeps in a cave near Lake Kronov, and now the characters must work the ritual/slay the monster/do the generic heroic thing to prevent its awekening.
I won't deny the problem, that's why I chose the land linnorm over the corpse terror or dread (Oh, how I struggled with that pun-waiting-to-happen
). I still have access to the original 2nd ed. stats for other linnorms but I was feeling too lazy to go look for them. I was thinking its titular name (as known to the residents of Tepest) as The Lazy Wyrm (or somesuch)Maaaaayyyybeee the one in the Shadow Rift, but only as a "Oh crap, what have we stumbled across now?" type of game session. Not simply an encounter but an entire session or two, and none of the PCs should survive the confrontation unless they run incredibly fast, since I also believe the key to a great RL campaign is to have the players run Commoner-type characters. No special abilities to start. Just farmers, aristocrats and wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time types.
They need their brains and lots of luck to survive the entire campaign, no relying on the trusty spellbook and expert swordsman skills. Give them a knife and a slim chance of survival and let them play by their wits. Any run-ins with a dragon should be like you or I encountering a real evil dragon. Can you beat your previous speed record? :evillaugh
Maybe a Lamordian researcher, looking to become the setting's greatest paleontologist, has been putting together fossil bones of strange, long-extinct reptiles, as he tries to determine what manner of colossal beasts once roamed the land. Unfortunately, some of the bones he finds are actually the Mist-imported remains of a dracolich, which need only be reassembled to revive them....
A pocket domain could be concealed inside a child's storybook, which tells fanciful tales of dragons. Its darklord, imprisoned in the book after murdering the child it once belonged to, might control the dragon that dwells within the pocket-domain ... or might be hunted down and eaten by it each day, unless someone else stumbles into the domain and can be duped into taking the darklord's place as dragon-snacks.
How about a "dragon" that's really a golem? Either a statue that's possessed and animated by a spirit (could be a good idea for Rokushima, where statues of oriental dragons are common in architecture and landscaping), or a dread golem created by someone trying to bring a "mythical" creature to life?
In a little "idea-writing session" (
) on Rokushima Tayoo, I created a golem shaped like a dragon, created by an obsessed artisan who sacrificed his wife to build this masterwork golden statue.Again, in Rokushima Tayoo, I created one dragon for every island, using Oriental Adventures and the Folkloric Fey template.
Oriental dragons, being different from the western ones, are much more easily placed in Ravenloft: they ARE part of the land. ;)
Every idea I told here is copyrighted. :D
Also, there's a dragon golem-like thing in the excellent Dungeon module "The Ghosts of Mistmoor" which isn't exactly RL, but should be. There's a treasure vault in the mansion with a trophy stuffed dragon that animates for some reason that I forget.
In Gaz II, p50, stats for Martira Bay there is one Harbor Watchmaster Hoelgar Arnutsson Brd8. I just found in my 1992 Trading card set a Hoelgar Arnutsson, a 10th level Fighter(Berserker). So I suppose Brd is a typo and should mean Brb, which makes more sense for a Watchmaster.
I would probably make him a Ftr/Brb or Ftr/Frenzied Berserker though. I have no idea why his level is lower than on the card, but he could have been drained.
His extrapolated stats from the 2E trading card are: AL CE; Str 15 Dex 14- Con 15-18.
Possessions: bronze plate, helm, greatsword +3, dragonslayer (probably gold)
Background: Hoelgar and his warriors slew an entire brood of gold dragons, save one fugitive. Its mother, as she died, cursed Hoelgar to utter destruction when "the golden eyed youth wields the silver blade". Hoelgar followed the youth, intending to slay it before the curse could be fulfilled and became trapped in Ravenloft.
..so there's a young gold dragon loose in Ravenloft semi-canon somewhere!
I'd give the Dragon one level of Avenger and make him young or very young.
I once added a dragon to Ravenloft. It was a large black dragon. I decided that the Dragon would walk on it's hind legs if not all of the time, much of the time. It also only struck at night, ensuring that noone new what it looked like. The attacks only took place at lone houses in rual areas. Most accounts left in sounding like some large man creature. The house that the heroes are stay at got attacked. The torch light only lit up the front of the beast at which point I described what they saw, a description in line with the monster manual. After the door was torn open, they could see a dark figure with what appeared to be a cloak outlined by the stars. When they got the torches lit, it's face was illuminated and apeared to be a large skull with horns coming out of it, large and sharp theeth, Clawed hands and feet, and what appeared to be a big black cloak. Those with good spot check recognized them as wings. The description had players envisioning anything but a dragon. The cleric tried to turn it as you would and undead creature. Others thought it was a demon or devil. I described the breath weapon in such a way as to not give it away. It vomitted forth a foul and acrid smelling liquid that burned their flesh along with everything it touched. When the dragon began to loose it flew away. Then, they had to hunt it to it's cave lair.
It was a dragon encounter that was more in line with the story of Beowulf then the stories of fairy tale dragons. I felt it suited Ravenloft fine
It would appear that some of you are only thinking of true dragons. Remember, there is a pseudo-dragon (from Gaz. 1, I believe) and "corrupted" copper (?) dragon (in one of the Kargatane BOS books) in Forlorn.
Keep the ideas coming. Here's another one: Intelligent, dragoncraft items.
-an awnsheghlien roaming the Core.
what's that?
Also, didn't Azalin have a shadow dragon in his castle?
Also, didn't Azalin have a shadow dragon in his castle?
The dragoness, Ebb, now resides in the Mountains of Misery with his mate, a male shadow dragon... And maybe an egg or two. ;)
Is that awnsheghlien wandering Ravenloft from any core source?
The presence of a dragon in this sort of setting is a little less problematic than otherwise. The dragon is synonymous with the Emperor and is the true power behind the throne - perhaps there's been a change of leadership? Maybe the dragon has found a way to escape the Mists, and now the humans who used to draw on its secret power are now unable to enforce their will on an empire.
Something similar could be done for the (more canonical) Rokushima Taiyoo domain. Asian representations of dragons frequently have them living in swamps, ponds, lakes, rivers, and seas, and they are more than just tenants there - they often reflect the area's nature. So if you were to poison a river, you might end up poisoning the dragon too (or maybe making it poisonous instead). This also means frequently the dragon itself doesn't deal directly with humans - it might instead send bad weather or sink ships or cause floods. An adventure could well revolve on the efforts of a town to appease an angry river dragon.
Is that awnsheghlien wandering Ravenloft from any core source?
Not that I recall. It was something I wanted after seeing Gregor Zolnik reveal his blood ability. At the time, I was trying to make a dragon or dragon-like creature from each campaign world (still do). Speaking thus, can somebody PM me with a dragonmark or dragonshard NPC(?) from Eberron for RL. My current budget and campaign won't allow for me to pick up the Eberron core book.