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Just started playing D&D 3.5ed. about 4 weeks ago, and the current GM is fine doing his thing as GM, but seems to want to PC more often. So, being interested in the opportunity, I'm about to try my hand at GM-ing in a few weeks. I have what I think is a pretty good idea for a story, and I hope they enjoy it, as much as I have had in my writing of it. What I'm wondering is, would it be completely ridiculous to introduce dragons at PC-lvl 3? I have a plan for a battle with a very young green dragon (which wont be too tough on them, I don't think), and a friendly very old, gold dragon that assists them in battle against an old black dragon. Obviously I don't want the dragons to lose their luster(to PCs) so soon, as I have intended for multiple dragon battles to take place, and also I have written in the gold dragon as a bit central to the story of the campaign(though he can be staved off for a later adventure in this story). Long story short, am I ruining any sort of mystique for the PCs by throwing dragons in the mix so early? Is there a level at which dragons might be more acceptably introduced?
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Jun 18, 2009 02:36
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Piell posted:A very young green dragon will be very tough but probably manageable. However, the "gold dragon assists the party against an old black dragon" won't work. A single attack from an old black dragon will most likely kill a character, and they won't even be able to hit it or beat it's SR. If you do do this, the players aren't going to be able to do anything other than watch the fight go down, so I wouldn't recommend it. Very glad for your input, tendrilsfor20 and piell, that could've been disastrously un-fun on my part. The plan is to make this (dragon vs. PC/NPC) part of the story, with increasingly great PC involvement. Combat against babby green dragon is entirely up to the NPCs, no gold dragon involved (haven't met him in the dragon form yet). Ideally, the PCs get a little pants-lovely when they meet the green dragon that they fight, then a lot pants lovely when they meet the old gold dragon, who ends up being friendly. Gold dragon should only weaken Black dragon to the point of becoming humanoid (a very short, narrative part, no dice rolls involved) and weakened enough so that he can be defeated by PCs. The PCs defeat the humanoid black dragon, and the gold dragon [as a dragon] flies back, *praises Bahamut* and whisks them back to the place they met. [humanoid gold dragon is, btw, the NPC that starts them off on this journey]. The other DM and I are basically, at this point planning on alternating turns DM-ing. Our stories have some coherence so far, I think, so I hope it works. The Gold dragon is not a one-off NPC, I'm planning to write him in to the story so that he gives quests, becomes less helpful [combat-wise], etc. We'll see though, if this doesn't work out well, it will be an idea scrapped, though I think your input shapes it back into something that could work. Thanks.
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Jun 18, 2009 04:12
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plarp posted:why doesn't the gold dragon finish off the black dragon if he is sufficiently weakened that level 3 PCs can kill him? My idea has been developing as the days go by [mostly due to input here, and from my re-thinking of the idea due to input]. The Gold dragon is introduced [though not known by PCs] as a humanoid who has a quest in a long forgotten wood. Arriving there, they wander around [due fights ensue], and eventually, after a med. length dungeon, they encounter previous humanoid NPC in his dragon form. Gold dragon has a plan to kill this black dragon -- who can not be killed by another dragon -- so the PCs arrange themselves around the marble pillars on this floating [circular] platform. Their arrangement is [hopefully] contrasting the depictions of certain gods on the pillars. Essentially, the PCs will need to figure out that their choice of pillar-activation [important to either healing gold, or damaging black], is dependent upon their alignment. Once the introductory fight [with dice rolls for activating pillars etc., and point reductions for being at the wrong pillar] is done (by which I mean, the PCs assist the gold dragon in his fight against the black dragon, not one round of turns until the gold one flies off and the black one turns humanoid), gold dragon flies off, knowing he can do no more, as he cannot defeat the humanoid version of this dragon, the PCs have to, it's written in the lore/legend/history. Both dragons will roll, against something, though I'm not sure yet. The PCs will be involved, which I'm also working out. So far the idea is to have PCs figure out which pillar to stand near and activate, then roll for hit, and then roll 1d20+30 for dmg to black dragon, then have the other two roll for hit, then roll 1d20+20 for heals to gold dragon. The rolls aren't concrete, but I think the idea is becoming moreso, and I appreciate your input. It seems like it'll be a hell of a time for my first DM.
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Jun 20, 2009 04:09
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You've all been right all along, in my mind it seems like such an epic thing to have happen, but it probably wouldn't be that fun for the PCs. I'm going to make them come back to that area at a later time, and fight it when they're higher level. Going to stick to the green dragon for now, and maybe just introduce the gold dragon to them, maybe not even that. Thanks for the advice.
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Jun 20, 2009 19:43
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RagnarokAngel posted:He said he's not doing it you can relax now. True, I'm planning on saving that encounter [minus the GD assist] for a time when the PCs are able to take it on themselves. After the last couple nights of DMing, my best advice [and it might be a restatement] is to be on your toes. PCs will do a ton of poo poo that wont be able to be forseen, and you'll have to react. To the contrary, you'll have the option to surprise your NPCs as much as you want with traps, encounters, etc. I'd also recommend preparing a good description of the terrain, which I don't do a terribly great job at just yet, which prompts a lot of questions from PCs, that I have to respond to off-the-cuff. I had a lot of pre-written clues, and bits of lore [elven, dwarven etc.], and was prepared to drop them when appropriate. Scored fairly big amongst the PCs it seemed. Thanks for the advice guys, it's seemed to have paid off quite well so far.
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Jun 24, 2009 04:03
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RagnarokAngel posted:Keep on the Shadowfell sucks for roleplaying. My group is pretty good about it and didnt feel much need to roleplay until pretty much the final battle. KotS may not seem too great for role-playing, but we've managed to not have a problem. I just finished this recently as DM after our switch to 4e, and we stumbled upon a 'house rule' of sorts that kind of forces role-playing in some way. After skill challenge checks on Sir Keegan [or any skill challenges/rolls against/for something verbal] you roll and then say what your character was going to say. The skill check, obviously, determines how effective your words were and the response the NPC gives. We also do this for combat, so if a killing blow is delivered -- or a particularly devastating one is -- you describe what your character does as he/she prepares and or delivers it. This may not work for everyone, but it works for us, and kept KotS fairly well role-played, though we care more about RP'ing than treasure for the most part.
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Aug 26, 2009 00:15
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Super Waffle posted:I make my players do that before they roll for a skill check. Takes a bit, but I can eventually coax out a sentence at least I can't imagine not having a background. I've only been playing for a few months now, and one of my favorite things to do is write background for characters I play. The last one I wrote was for my warforged paladin in Eberron and it ended up being some 4500 or so words.
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Aug 26, 2009 22:08
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