Lair of the dragon

[loodwig]

So, I'm trying to plan the next chapter of my adventure. The party has befriended a local duke, and he's asked if they'd take care of a dragon problem for them. About 15 years ago, a dragon was discovered in the local Mithral Mine, which scared off the local miners. Surprisingly no one was hurt, but since then the mine has been abandoned, has become an unsafe den of scary things (to say nothing of a dragon), and one of the chief exports of the duchy has ceased, resulting in growing tension between the kingdoms and general trouble for the villages that made their livings trading ore for food.

Now I want them to do more than encounter a copper dragon at the bottom of an abandoned mine (like, quest to the mine, journey through it, etc). It wouldn't make sense for there to be actual traps in the mine (maybe sections of wall that cave in). Beyond that, I am curious of 1 - what kind of food a dragon would eat to sustain itself while underground and 2 - what could the party fight on their way down that would pose a threat and move into a mine that has a dragon in it. Also, I'm assuming the miners channeled down and found the magnificent beast, which indicates that the dragon lived in a vast labyrinth below, and otherwise had little-to-no access to the surface. What questions should I answer about the dragon's modus operandi that give credibility to a creature potentially hundreds of years old living in a mine or caverns near a mine?

What I have so far is that the dragon is the oldest of 3 known living dragons in the kingdom, he's definitely good (albeit chaotic), he's aware of a problem that threatens the safety of the world, and was generally unhappy that a bunch of humans decided to dig up his home and create a racket in the process (though not without sympathy to their impoverished plight at present). Whatever horrid vermin that live in the mines / caves are food for the dragon (though I don't know what dragons typically eat in fear of making some sort of faux pas about dragon general knowledge).

Advice is appreciated. Thank you again.

[bjoern]

Well, word got out that there is a dragon in the mine. I'd say that its pretty well common knowledge around the few kingdoms close by. Let's say that kobolds from various mountain holes in the few hundred miles around the mine hear about the dragon. Kobolds worship and love dragons. They flock to it like some kind of messiah.
The kobolds would quickly fortify the mine with traps and defensible positions, as well as serve their dragon master and see to it that he always had fresh meat to eat. This could also work as a plot hook as to why theduke is aaddressing this problem now that the kobolds are raiding nearby farms for livestock to feed their master.

[Red Fel]

I agree with Bjoern that Kobolds are a good choice. (Although I think they prefer Evil Dragons to Good ones. Silly Kobolds.) I'd like to offer an alternative, which I will present in the form of a question.

To wit: Why did the Dragon move into the mine in the first place? Answer it right, and it addresses almost all of your concerns.

Consider this. Years ago, this Dragon discovered a portal to an Evil plane/ tunnel into the Underdark/ other source of menace and peril deep within the mines. He set up his lair over the portal/tunnel/source in an attempt to prevent things from making it through. He lacked the power to seal it himself, so instead he stands guard.

You've now addressed several issues. What will the party face? Creatures that make it past the Dragon guardian. What does the Dragon eat? Creatures that don't make it past the Dragon guardian. Why has the Dragon lived in isolation for so long? Been a bit busy guarding this portal/tunnel/source, guys. Why is he unhappy about being disturbed? Because these people don't seem to get how important his job is, and how important it is that they not distract him. And so forth.

It also creates a plot hook (e.g. sealing and/or traveling through the portal/tunnel/source), and creates an interesting personality conflict (a CG Dragon must be absolutely chafing under the responsibility of guarding this thing for so long).

[bjoern]

I agree with Bjoern that Kobolds are a good choice. (Although I think they prefer Evil Dragons to Good ones. Silly Kobolds.) I'd like to offer an alternative, which I will present in the form of a question.

To wit: Why did the Dragon move into the mine in the first place? Answer it right, and it addresses almost all of your concerns.

Consider this. Years ago, this Dragon discovered a portal to an Evil plane/ tunnel into the Underdark/ other source of menace and peril deep within the mines. He set up his lair over the portal/tunnel/source in an attempt to prevent things from making it through. He lacked the power to seal it himself, so instead he stands guard.

You've now addressed several issues. What will the party face? Creatures that make it past the Dragon guardian. What does the Dragon eat? Creatures that don't make it past the Dragon guardian. Why has the Dragon lived in isolation for so long? Been a bit busy guarding this portal/tunnel/source, guys. Why is he unhappy about being disturbed? Because these people don't seem to get how important his job is, and how important it is that they not distract him. And so forth.

It also creates a plot hook (e.g. sealing and/or traveling through the portal/tunnel/source), and creates an interesting personality conflict (a CG Dragon must be absolutely chafing under the responsibility of guarding this thing for so long).

I really like this idea! It will allow for a full on dungeon crawl (fun!) And then you've got the big plot twist if the dragon actually being theggood guy. He becomes an ally NPC (woot for being able to call in the muscle when you need it!) And then this adventure directly flows into the next one . Dekvung deeper below the mines and into the underdark to defeat the evil there.

[KingAtomsk]

I am saying this only for informational purposes and not to poke fun or insult - The word you are looking for is "Lair," meaning dwelling place, as opposed to "Layer" such as a layer of an onion or a layer cake.

[bjoern]

I am saying this only for informational purposes and not to poke fun or insult - The word you are looking for is "Lair," meaning dwelling place, as opposed to "Layer" such as a layer of an onion or a layer cake.

You know, not everyone likes onions.

[kestrel404]

Layer of the Dragon

Oh man, that title. Now I am having flashbacks to 'Buffy, the Vampire Layer" (SIC).

As far as the questions go:
1) Magic. Dragons can use divine spells as Sorceror spells, so Create Food is something they often have (because dragons are large, lazy and NOT STUPID).
2) Kobolds are a good choice, since they pair well with dragons. But also interesting would be:
Drow - They were planning on invading the mine to steel the Mithril from the miners, and the dragon heard about this and went in first. Now they are playing a deadly game of cat & mouse-army.
Dwarven Raiders - These dwarves have forsaken duty and honor and instead of looking to loot and pillage. They mined their way in through side tunnels when they heard about the dragon and have been working on stealing its hoard ever since. They will not be happy about new competition.
Pixies - There is no dragon. There is a powerful Pixie illusionist who brought a whole slew of tiny Fey with him, and they're attempting to set up a secret underground base in order to create a new volcano. Because all supervillians need secret underground bases built into volcanoes.

[loodwig]

Why did the dragon move into the mine? Or better still, was the dragon already there and the miners dug too far? In the story (so far):

Roughly 120 years ago, a massive earthquake occurred as the result of a miscast of some insanely high level magic spell. A city was nearly destroyed, a massive canyon was created, and a purple fog have been pouring out of the new river / canyon ever since. The fog itself, while exhibiting magical properties, is not harmful to people. However, plants and wildlife tend not to live where the fog is.

Hmm, how does this sound?

Much of the canyon rift is likely unexplored. As such, copperdude ventures into a cave that became exposed through the canyon, and has made his home inside while studying the fog. Having little love for civilization, he seeks to be alone with his study, and has learned that this fog, while seemingly harmless, is extra planar (abyssal?) and will eventually destroy all live on the planet... after hundreds of years. The solution requires dispelling the failed spell from 120 years ago, though this requires some unknown reagents and some better knowledge of the spell beyond the Dragon's understanding (e.g. the party needs to find a powerful wizard). As for the miners, the hammering was getting in the way of his work, they were chasing off all the food maybe, and he didn't want to have to deal with some petty humans trying to attack him for his alleged treasure hoard, so why not just make himself seem like a serious terror, scare off the pesky miners, and continue to work in peace?

As for Kobolds, I have two problems with them. First, they're stupid low level, and the APL is 8 at this point. I could make a room full of hundreds of them, but their spears are no match for even one of our party members (I don't think I could even break their AC of the party sorcerer except with a crit). Second, they're chaotic evil, and I need something more chaotic neutral or true neutral or neutral good... otherwise the dragon would hate them more than the pesky human miners that were in there.

Is there something else like Kobolds but not evil that I could use? Perhaps some fey (the party has a lvl 8 druid, so I'd rather avoid straight up animals)?

I really like the idea of things coming out of the rift. After all, the purple fog has to originate from somewhere... why not a hole in the world going straight to hell, or some other plane of unearthly unhappiness? Ideally, I'd avoid things like hell or the abyss, notably because it restricts me to a specific evil alignment, and my goal is more of just creating a barren world due to ecological crisis rather than terraforming golaron to be a new hell. But perhaps I'm putting too much thought into this.

[loodwig]

I am saying this only for informational purposes and not to poke fun or insult - The word you are looking for is "Lair," meaning dwelling place, as opposed to "Layer" such as a layer of an onion or a layer cake.

I looked at Layer and said "That can't be right... that's like cake layer." Thanks for giving me the right word.

[loodwig]

1) Magic. Dragons can use divine spells as Sorceror spells, so Create Food is something they often have (because dragons are large, lazy and NOT STUPID).

Good point. I mean, this is a smart shapeshifting creature that can fly, not some powerful beast of the Targaryen. For all concerned, he could just leave once in a while and go forth and dine on bread pudding in the local inn.

Drow - They were planning on invading the mine to steel the Mithril from the miners, and the dragon heard about this and went in first. Now they are playing a deadly game of cat & mouse-army.

I really like this except that the last boss was a Drow General who tried to do basically the same thing based out of a ruined city.

Dwarven Raiders - These dwarves have forsaken duty and honor and instead of looking to loot and pillage. They mined their way in through side tunnels when they heard about the dragon and have been working on stealing its hoard ever since. They will not be happy about new competition.

Super cool! Should I be worried that I haven't mentioned anything about evil dwarves yet? Should I feed in some rumors / local bad elements that give some foreshadowing?

Pixies - There is no dragon. There is a powerful Pixie illusionist who brought a whole slew of tiny Fey with him, and they're attempting to set up a secret underground base in order to create a new volcano. Because all supervillians need secret underground bases built into volcanoes.

This is really cool, but doesn't fit into my overall narrative. I think I'll have to use it somewhere else on a different class. Especially with the whole "this must be one of the other 3 legendary dragons! sorry, but your dragon's in another dungeon."

[kestrel404]

Super cool! Should I be worried that I haven't mentioned anything about evil dwarves yet? Should I feed in some rumors / local bad elements that give some foreshadowing?

I'd have people from closer to the mine itself mention that the mine has become haunted - late at night, there are sounds like mining coming from the abandoned mines. The Dragon has also been spotted coming and going from the mine itself irregularly (once or twice a month), so it's still there as well.

And the local tavern has recently been smashed up by a group of brawling dwarves. None of the locals know who they are or where they're staying, but that won't become obvious unless the PCs investigate.

Drop the hints seperately, so the PC won't see them as immediately connected.

This is really cool, but doesn't fit into my overall narrative. I think I'll have to use it somewhere else on a different class. Especially with the whole "this must be one of the other 3 legendary dragons! sorry, but your dragon's in another dungeon."

Go for it. The Pixie Trixter Illusionist ploy is a personal favorite.