[3.5] BBEG wants to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight

[hymer]

Spoiler: Background

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There is this (potential) BBEG lich wizard, Rothgor. Evil old Rothgor is pursuing an old prophecy, which says that a lich riding an undead dragon will conquer the continent (at least he believes that this is what it's saying). So he has already attained lichdom by killing a bunch of elves – a requirement to his descension to lichdom that I fiated for fluff more than anything else. About fifteen years before his attack on the elves he secretly assassinated an important human leader, which led to the collapse of a human empire. He did this loosen up the main future competitor for world domination, but also because they would have assisted the elves when he attacked. Now, instead, the humans gave him cover by sacking an elven city.
Rothgor timed the attack so it looks like human marauders were guilty of raising lots of undead rather than him. He is nearly done consolidating himself in the former elven lands, now turned into undead-infested wastelands, where his servants search for more corpses to animate. He just needs them to stamp out a few stubborn elven guerrillas, while he keeps lying low.
What he’s turning his attention to now is the humans he framed almost ninety years ago. He knows of a nearby dragon whose potential carcass is an excellent candidate for animation, but his undead army is for conquering the continent later, so he’d rather not waste it on fighting the orc and hobgoblin servants of the dragon. Also they might lose.

Rothgor’s cunning plan is this: To give a dragon the impression that humans want to kill it and reanimate its corpse. The dragon knows of the mentioned-in-spoiler prophecy as well, so it should be plausible. It should be enough to get the dragon to strike first. Also, it should get the dragon to particularly target human magicians, which would be Rothgor’s main obstacle in dealing with the humans. Once the two sides have weakened each other sufficiently, evil old Rothgor can step in and pick up a nice pile of corpses for his undead army, including that of the dragon. And, of course, start his conquest spree with the survivors he’s tricked.
So here’s my question: How does a 13th level wizard lich, preferably with no cheese and only well-flavoured DM fiat, get the dragon to fall into this trap? It will have spies in human lands, keeping what watch they can on potential troublemakers, like spellcasters and political leaders.
The region is generally low power: Nobody so far can cast more than 7th level spells. Human capability is likely spell level 4, and no more than a handful of these would be around, until the PCs get there, or until they get help from someone who can, like elven fugitives.

All thoughts, ideas, comments, etc. are appreciated.

[jiriku]

Trivial solution: Disguise self as one of PCs. Appear in tavern, and brag about plan to kill dragon. Do this in different times and places. Done.

Slightly more advanced: Hire the PCs to kill the dragon, preferably through an intermediary who doesn't know your true identity and will honestly believe the offer to hire is genuine. Now the threat to the dragon is real.

More cunning: Manipulate the dragon into approaching you as an oracle. Lie.

[facelessminion]

Slightly more advanced: Hire the PCs to kill the dragon, preferably through an intermediary who doesn't know your true identity and will honestly believe the offer to hire is genuine. Now the threat to the dragon is real.

I'm rather a fan of this one. The dragon is an evil dragon, with evil followers, and a horde of treasure, is it not? It shouldn't even take that much of a nudge to get most packs of murder hobos to go after it.

Edit: Bonus points if you can spin it so it seems like the dragon was the real mastermind between the Lich's previous bout of elficide. Add some self-righteous fervor to mix into the PC's loot-lust.

[hymer]

Trivial solution: Disguise self as one of PCs. Appear in tavern, and brag about plan to kill dragon. Do this in different times and places. Done.

Slightly more advanced: Hire the PCs to kill the dragon, preferably through an intermediary who doesn't know your true identity and will honestly believe the offer to hire is genuine. Now the threat to the dragon is real.

More cunning: Manipulate the dragon into approaching you as an oracle. Lie.

Thanks for replying!
As for getting the PCs involved, that won't work. Half of them aren't human, and they have no political power as of yet. They would get killed, but not by an invading army. They're also not important enough, yet, to be on the radar screen of Rothgor or any dragon. They've helped thwart one of Rathgor's servants, so he probably doesn't even know their names.
A fake oracle sounds like an interesting idea. Care to elaborate?

@ facelessminion: Rothgor will need to make plans without relying on PCs or other human adventurers, I'm afraid. Thanks, though.

[jiriku]

Well, you're a lich. We can assume you've been around for a while. You are conceivably older than the dragon. You're unthinkably clever and brilliant; probably smarter than the dragon or any of its minions. You set up an identity, decades or centuries in advance, as a draconic oracle. People from time to time approach you in your dragon-oracle guise, and you duly proceed to use divination magic and clever guesswork to answer their questions in exchange for heinously large sums of money. When the opportunity presents itself, you turn this even further to your profit by answering in ways that suit your goals. Also, you discreetly hire bards to tell stories (some fabricated) about the wise old oracle, so that the renown of the "oracle" spreads far and wide even though you take the time to answer very few questions (perhaps only a handful per decade). A few years before you desire conflict between dragon and players, you appear as the oracle and give loaded answers to questioners, answers that hint at the prophecy and dragon-death and adventuring party. Essentially you hijack the questions and use them to spread propaganda that will make the dragon VERY NERVOUS about things, and will give the impression that you know far more about the matter than you've let on. Eventually, the dragon approaches you, perhaps through an intermediary or minion, and seeks answers to its own question. You give it the answers that will manipulate it to do as you wish.

[facelessminion]

The oracle route is a very clever way to get the dragon nuked, yes indeed. And while a mage may not be inherently all that great at lying, there are always ways around that...

Edit: Come to think of it, this particular flavor of lich should likely make a magic item with always-on Glibness anyway.

[Red Fel]

Step one, Disguise Self as an old traveler whose cart has broken down along the side of the road, very far (several days travel) from the nearest city. He flags down a passing carriage/wagon/horse/transport/what-have-you. Says he needs to get to get to the capital as quickly as possible. Acts suspicious, nervous, fidgety. Over the course of travel, he loosens up, and reveals that he found some cast-offs from a nearby dragon's hoard. Out of gratitude for the transport, he gives his rescuers a souvenir or two from the alleged hoard, along with vague hints as to how to find some loot of his own.

Step two, the rumor mill. Pull similar stunts, sell rare-looking and valuable objects and drop hints about their origins.

Step three, validation. A few whackjobs will go off on their own to find dragon loot. Set up elaborate illusions so that self-proclaimed "dragon hunters" will believe they actually found dragon treasure.

Step four, sit back. Soon the entire country will be consumed with dragon hunting fever. A few alleged successes - easy ones, at that - will make everyone go into a frenzy to find dragon treasure. When a few of them start running into real dragons, and getting killed, the kingdom will take notice, and demand that these "dangerous creatures" be eliminated before they kill again - with a reward from the recovered loot, of course.

Soon, the dragon will be forced to take action, if only in self-defense. This unprovoked aggression by the kingdom below cannot be allowed to continue!

Step five, profit.

[hymer]

@ Jiriku: That's an impressive scheme! I can't actually use it (for one thing, Rothgor became a lich less than a century ago, the dragon has centuries on him), but I like it.

@ facelessminion: I think Rothgor prefers to work via minions, anything to distance himself. He needs to lie lower than low, or he'll get a whole bunch of factions on his case.

@ Red Fel: That's beautiful! Now I want the PCs to fight an illusory dragon. Rothgor should also get out word that an intact dragon carcass would be bought for lots of monies, so the dragon hunters/victims will be carrying stuff to bring big dead bodies back, and can be interrogated to reveal this chilling (to the dragon) bit of deception.

[facelessminion]

Hymer, I was meaning him having Glibness specifically for very occasional use during his oracular meetings - most of the time the lich would be best served by telling the truth! And, naturally, most of his interactions would be through minions.

I don't necessarily think that saying you need the corpse would be a great idea, though? It is easy enough to restore bits of a corpse, after all... and letting the dragon hear about the need would pretty well insure the gig would be up.

Why not just have an interested intermediary contact the party once the heroes won the day? Some small, inoffensive museum or something.

[hymer]

Hymer, I was meaning him having Glibness specifically for very occasional use during his oracular meetings - most of the time the lich would be best served by telling the truth! And, naturally, most of his interactions would be through minions.

I don't necessarily think that saying you need the corpse would be a great idea, though? It is easy enough to restore bits of a corpse, after all... and letting the dragon hear about the need would pretty well insure the gig would be up.

Why not just have an interested intermediary contact the party once the heroes won the day? Some small, inoffensive museum or something.

Rothgor hasn't had time to set up the oracle business as mentioned. He's only a little 90-year-old lich. I think he'd probably get the same bard minion who helped him make the glibness magic item to do the actual portraying the oracle if he had had the time.
Rothgor doesn't say that he needs the corpse. He gets word out in magical and adventurer circles that a corpse is wanted, making it seem like the humans are trying to do what he is really doing: Getting an undead dragon for fulfilling a prophecy of conquest. The dragon, knowing of the prophecy, would be likely to assume some human necromancer was trying to take over the continent using the dragon's corpse as a mount, and so go to considerable lengths to destroy human magicians and potential warmaking equipment, such as people.