The Dragon Quest
by phoneixmclI'm doing this in sections I hope it helps the GAZ. The Dragon Quest adventures are pretty weak so unless you want a lot of cardboard monsters I wouldn't recommend.
This is based on canon material (Dragon Quest Adventure Book) in my own retelling.
The Dragon Quest
Long ago dwarves mined the mountains which over look the modern day village of Torlynn. The dwarves mined a powerful ore that was used to make magical weapons. This ore was called the eisenmond (i-sen-mond).
As they dug deep into the mountain they awakened a red dragon by the name of Estorax Rex. Estorax Rex led a war between his lizard man worshippers and the dwarves. After losing many, the dwarves were able to imprison Estorax Rex and his cult with the power of a large magical nugget of eisenmond called the Eisenkern. Eisenkern was placed at the seal of the gate in the hands of a statue referred to the dwarfs as the "Stone King". The dwarves left the mountain for future prospects believing the dragon sealed for good.
The Eisenmond Blade
1000 AC The Minotaur Dabokia and his humanoid gang learn about the power of Eisenkern. Seeking to make a weapon of great strength Dabokia steals the nugget of ore and returns it to his ruined castle nestled in the thick woods two days ride from Torlynn. Dabokia smiths the ore into a magical two handed sword called Jamnar.
Dabokia the Minotaur: AC 6; HD 6; hp 30; MV 120' (40'); #AT 1 1 gore/ 1 bite or 1 weapon (Jamnar); Dmg 1d6/ 1d6 or by weapon type +2; Save Fighter 6; ML 12; AL Chaotic
Dabokia will begin combat by attempting to bum rushing the closet opponent with his gore. He then will try and bite that same opponent. After that he will use his weapon, Jamnar.
Jamnar: two-handed sword 1d10 +2, +4 against dragons
When a dragon is near Jamnar glows bright blue. If Estorax Rex is ever killed Jamnar will melt into a pool of worthless metal because of the spell cast on the nugget it was made from, Eisenkern.
Jaws of Flame
Once Dabokia stole the Eisenkern the spell was weakened. Estorax Rex and his lizard men immediately begin tunnelling out of the mountain lair. Creating a giant hole in the side of the peak Estorax Rex escapes and immediately terrorises Torlynn. Demanding all of the town's gold and treasure, Estorax Rex takes Stephanie a town local hostage and returns to his cave to await tribune in two days.
Estorax Rex the Red Dragon; played as a small red dragon. (Original adventure was for third level adventures.) Spells: fear, shocking grasp and slow.
Estorax Rex is a talking dragon. He is ruthless and enjoys killing almost as much as treasure. In order to increase his treasure he will go to any lengths from hostages to extortion. He prefers ripping adventures limb to limb and roasting them with his breath than spell casting. Estorax Rex is the proverbial cat to the cat and mouse game. His lair is often protected by lizard men who worship him like a god. These guards make it difficult to enter his lair while he is asleep.
Stephanie of Torlynn; No special stats play as commoner. AL Lawful.
Stephanie is a local town beauty and damsel and distress. She will fall madly in love with her rescuer.
A Call to Glory
These are things that are inferred about Thunder Rift by the Dragon Quest adventures.
- They have an autumn like season with deciduous trees that loose their leaves near Torlynn.
- Burgomaster Gustovan is fat and heavy with a thick moustache and uses a monocle. He talks slow, heavy voice with a thick accent. (German?)
-Dwarvish runes are the same whether ancient or modern.
-eisenmond is a glowing iron that amplifies magic spells placed on them (Blue Steel?)
- Thunder Rift Minotaurs have smithing abilities powerful enough to make magic weapons.
- There is a forest two days ride from Torlynn. I don't have the Thunder Rift module yet but I think that means a couple of things for the size of the valley. It is either 64 miles from Torlynn to the northern tip of the Gauntlin Forest (riding horse forest) or it is 68 miles from Torlynn to the edge of Bright Woods (riding horse hills and forest).
- The mountains near Torlynn are sleeping volcanoes. They are not active or dormant. They have hot springs and lava flowing on the inside.
Hope these inputs help the project. This really is based on TSR material. I think we can treat the Dragon Quest adventures kind of like how GAZ 1 dealt with B6 and not kill off the dragon just trap him by returning the sword to the "Stone King". Hope it helps.