How to Introduce Dragons

Great post over at ChicagoWiz (here) on dragons, perhaps the most under-used monster in the game ostensibly named after it. As he puts it,

"I don't care who you are... but when a dragon gets thrown into the game, especially to 1st thru 3rd levellers... hearts get racing, dice and pencils get clutched and PCs go running for the hills. It's just the coolest. I love the build up too... nervous horses or dogs, sounds, strange smells... then WHAM, the thing goes gliding overhead. Sinister, nasty, hungry... and totally in control of its domain."

This really resonates to me, because the basic mileau of my Arizona Adventures campaign is dawn of civ, and is therefore, "dragon and giant" heavy. It is my basic premise that outside of the immediate protection of the armed forts, there are no "scaled down" areas which just happen to be perfectly suited for beginning low-level characters. In short, if you choose to go into the wilds of magic Arizona, you better be ready to bring it, cause all the bad ass shit is there waiting for you. (see the previous post on "keeping PCs alive" for the necessary attitutude of latitude that must accompany such a natural and dangerous campaign mileau.)

So, how to introduce dragons into play with some kind of panache? Here are some ideas (1d6 + 1d4):

2 - Flying far overhead, you see the small outline of a dragon. Appears to be flying over you and away, but wait.... was that its head twisting to look down in your direction?

3 - As you scramble over the hilltop's rocky edge, in the valley below you see scene of chaos and mad movement, as a herd of horses/goats/cows flees in all directions in panic, a dragon having alighted in their midsts, clawing and biting wildly to bring down a meal....

4 - Your horses are suddenly snorting and skitish, rising and ready to bolt. As you struggle to keep them down, a terrifying roar emanates from the thich grove of trees to your right. You turn to see two little dragon heads peer quizically out from the brush on the ground-level. Suddenly the loud roar again sounds out from back in the trees, but closer this time... Mommy is apparently looking for her wayward babes...

5 - You see smoke rising in two columns from a dark medium-sized cave opening in the hill in front of you, and the whooshing of air from what sounds like the breathing from some large sleeping beast. Suddenly the loud regular breathing stops, replaced a second later by the sound of shifting rocks.... You see glowing eyes peer out from the darkness, surveying you silently, and the dim outline of a dragon's snout barely visible in the cave's opening...

6 - As you scan around in the bright distance, two hilltops to your east, you see what appears to be a laying dragon, curled up upon the hot rocks, sunning itself in the heat...

7 - Off in the distance to your left, a movement catches your eye, what appears to be a dragon digging his claws and snout into the rocks and dirt, seeking some unknown object in the small hole before it....

8 - As you stumble through the rocky ground around a turn at the base of the cliff wall, your feet stop cold and your blood freezes at what lies no more than 50 feet in front of you: a dragon, clawing and tearing into the dry bones of some unfortunate creature lying on the ground in front of it... Your mouth turns to cotton as that idiot Fighter calls out loudly from behind you, "Hey, what the holdup?" The dragon snaps its head up from the bones and turns to look, settling its gaze right on you....

9 - Crashing and loud screaming break out in the trees ahead of you, followed by a loud roaring sound... Suddenly a dragon comes crashing through the trees towards you, twisting at a rope slung arounds its neck. As it stumbles forward, you see a mountain giant dragging behind it, desperately holding onto the rope, and another giant running behind, trying to catch up, calling out to his partner....

10 - The distant sound of two furious beasts in combat quickly gets much louder, rapidly approaching... Suddenly, over the treetops near the river, a flying horse hurtles forward and down, a roaring dragon right behind it. The singed and bleeding creature whinnies in pain as it hits the ground running. As it turns to look over its shoulder at the pursuing dragon, it sees you, and quickly changes course, running straight at you, whinny-ing for help...


A straight 1d8 roll for dragon size can be used for the truly random experience. Or, just roll a d4 for its age, to give a young party more of an incentive to man-up and fight.

Keeping your PCs Alive

Different gamers put different emotional investments into their characters. Some don't mind losing characters, because they just enjoy the Game itself. TPK? No problem. Roll 'em up, get it on!

Some, however, develop elaborate back stories and personalities for their characters, and the loss of their personal in-game avatar is traumatic. My girls for example, love elaborate characters, with intricate and complex backgrounds full of webs of intrigue and unique personality traits and family histories, etc... Such characters cannot simply be cast aside lightly.

Thus, I need ideas that facilitate keeping characters alive. This is treating the game like a heroic movie, which gives the lead character chances to escape what in harsh game terms should have been instant death. Think: Luke Skywalker knocked out by Sandpeople, but not killed, hung from the roof of the ice cave, but not eaten, dropped into pit to be eaten by monster, rather than directly executed, and so on.

Some of it became cliche and trite, think of Austin Power's take on 007's various escapes... "Why don't you just shoot him, numbnuts?" But in game terms, such devices are there to allow the characters to lose, yet not be eliminated, to be set back severely, yet keep the game fun and give them a second chance at success. So, how can we do this in the AD&D environment?

First of all, keep in mind, not all battles are to the death, or even to the pain***. The results of losing fights can vary considerably, depending on the monster faced, sentient or non-sentient, and the impetus for the fight in the first place.

Also, remember the importance of Charisma checks. Most of the time, sentient creatures will attempt to bluff and bully their way to domination. The word here is role-playing, you know, the RP in RPGs! Charisma scores and reaction tables play a big role here, so use them. Don't forget, the goal is to accomplish some task, acquire some object or reconoiter some information, not just slaughter everything. That is called Hack-and-Slash, which has its place, but that place is not foremost.

The simplest solution to losing a fight is always...

A) Highway Robbery!
Waking up in a lot of pain, stripped of all equipment and treasure. Returning to home base without weapons or rations will be quite an task, won't it? Used to thinking outside the box? I hope so...

When fighting sentient monsters, a battle loss might also result in...
B) Capture!
This could involve any number of end-points, which would create entire new adventuring hooks, and might depend on charisma checks as well. Some possibilities...
-The forced march.... Remember Frodo's capture and forced march deep into enemy territory? This may actually result in the advancement of the PCs progress. Can our heroes find a way to escape and continue their quest???
-Pressed to row aboard a pirate ship.... Nice fresh sea-air sounds fun, hope you can swim well, when the Kraken rips the ship in half...
-Saved for use as sacrafice to demon-gods in evil temple... Being well-fed and carefully groomed is just the beginning...
-Taken deep below ground and forced to dig for Drow at the end of a whip... Oh, shazzbot...
-Field laborer in foreign kingdom.... Too bad you spent so much time building up that physique, tough guy, how you gonna get that chain off your neck....
-House slave in some mad magician's castle... Sounds pretty interesting, doesn't it? What happens when your master loses control of the creatures he has been summoning/creating, or decides you are the perfect test subject for his new spell...
-Chained to a wall in an Orc dungeon... Better hope your family likes you enough to pay the ransom...

Non-sentient creatures will fight for territory or out of hunger. This brings up many different fight loss scenarios.
-Dropped off into the nursery... The little hatchlings need sustenance, don't they? Can our heroes ward off the little ankle-biters and get out of there before mommy comes back?
-Put in the storage box... The big nasties are busy feasting on the horses and NPCs, the heroes appear to be on the dessert menu...

Of course, the fight loss might be interrupted by...
C) Outside intervention!
--Priestly prayer has a certain percentage of being heard and answered... What is rule, 1% per level of the character, for getting some divine intervention?
- Competing monster.... The sounds of battle attract many onlookers, some of which might be hostile to the attacking monster, perhaps trying to muscle in on the food, or take advantage of the weakened creature... "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" would seem to apply here, perhaps giving the heroes a precious few seconds to escape or hide. Of course, this might also lead to an "Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire" scenario...

--Helpful monsters... The MM is full of powerful creatures who love to intervene on behalf of people supporting their alignment. "The heat from the dragon's breath sears your skin as you dive behind the rock for cover. The huge beast rises to its full height above you as you raise your broken sword in one last gesture of defiance. Suddenly a powerful sound rings out, like a giant lion's roar, and the earth shakes as huge flat feet smash into the ground behind you. You turn to see what appears to be a giant lion, with pegasus wings and a man's bearded head, which then leaps over you, clawing savagely at the dragon's head, driving it back from you and your almost-broken companions...."
See: Lammasu, Shedu, Hollyphant, Ki-rin, Deva, Planetar, Agathion, Moon Dog, others....

-Helpful humans, demi-humans, semi-humans to the rescue... Hearing the sounds of battle, some locals decide to intervene, to thwart their ancient foe, or to gain some allies, or some appreciation money, or out of sheer goodness.... Could be a wandering adventurer, a band of elves, a troop of centaurs, etc. Wheew, good thing they arrived right in the nick of time....

Anyway, keep a few of these options available and in-mind, to avoid any unwanted TPK's that your dice might lead you into.


*** "to the pain" :
Prince Humperdinck: First things first, to the death.
Westley: No. To the pain.
Prince Humperdinck: I don't think I'm quite familiar with that phrase.
Westley: I'll explain and I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon.
Prince Humperdinck: That may be the first time in my life a man has dared insult me.
Westley: It won't be the last. To the pain means the first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles. Then your hands at the wrists. Next your nose.
Prince Humperdinck: And then my tongue I suppose, I killed you too quickly the last time. A mistake I don't mean to duplicate tonight.
Westley: I wasn't finished. The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right.
Prince Humperdinck: And then my ears, I understand let's get on with it.
Westley: WRONG. Your ears you keep and I'll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, "Dear God! What is that thing," will echo in your perfect ears. That is what to the pain means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever.

Everyday Psionics: the Psychic Reader

The village psychic is a common feature in all human habitations. The typical psychic is a willowy individual with a strong spirtiual sensitivity, being, often as not, poor in common sense but good with people. In game terms, they have a low strength and constitution, average to low intelligence, but high wisdom with average to high charisma.

Being spiritually inclined, with a stronger constitution, they might have made an effective cleric. Without a psionic master to apprentice them, they never really develop the full range of their mentalist potential, but they can often parlay their natural psychic talents into profitable careers.

In game terms, their natural talents lie in the areas of psychic sensitivity, and psychic projection. Specific disciplines would include precognition, object reading, clairaudience, clairvoyance, and locate person. Astral travel would also be present, but in an uncontrolled form, mainly occuring at night while the psychic slept.

--Low level psychics can be found in tents and at fairs, struggling along in poverty reading palms and fortune telling.
--Those with more skill and accuracy will be found in their own shops in town, with a regular clientelle and a solid reputation for useful information.
--The most accomplished psychics will be wealthy, working directly for kings, nobles, and merchants, and will not be availble for immediate pubic consultation.

Adventuring Hooks

Consultation with psychics can be a regular source of adventuring hooks.

PCs can find themselves hired out to find lost people or items, perhaps with only a map drawn by a psychic (of questionable repute) to guide them.

PCs might pay a psychic for rumors and information that the psychic has picked up from her clientelle. Naturally, the psychic would be privy to all manner of secret information, and might divulge some, in complete confidence and secrecy of course, for the right price.

A psychic might come to the PCs, warned in a dream of an impeding danger/disaster, begging for assistance.

The PCs might be accosted by strangers, or by law enforcement, for their role in some dark dealings, which was revealed by the "spectral evidence" testimony of a psychic at trial.

Perhaps a local psychic saw the PCs doing something IN THE FUTURE, which motivates the townsfolk/authorities to give the PCs some trouble.

Druids in the Wild

In the Arizona Adventures campaign, druids are part of an ever-present network that can be found, and that CAN FIND YOU, pretty much anywhere you go in the wilderness. I think of the druid network as a group of self-appointed "park rangers", and they view the whole state as their park.

[Suddenly and surprisingly, from behind a tree a man steps out, mostly naked, with wild dreadlocked hair and dark sun-baked skin. He raises his hand in greeting, and says, "Hi, I'm Druid Bob, welcome to the Coconino National Forest Preserve. We invite you to enjoy your visit to our forest, and would like to kindly remind you to be a respectful visitor by picking up all garbage as you travel. The fire danger level is code red this week, so please, no campfires in the forest; remember, only you can prevent forest fires..."]

They are absolute masters of the terrain, and pretty much know everything there is to know about the monsters and humans in any area. They are likely to be keeping tabs on any intruders, probably in an unobtrusive animal form.

Depending on the actions and attitudes of the PCs, the local druids can either be guardian angels or avenging angels:

--A druid might help the PCs out of a tight spot, or provide them with some saving resource.
--A druid might reveal to the party a crucial piece of information about the area, like monster lair locations, or dungeon entrances.
--A druid might also attempt to recruit the PCs into an adventuring hook, like asking the PCs to take care of an intruding magic user who has been upsetting the balance of nature lately with his monster summoning and wacky experiments.
--If the PCs are the cause of the disturbance, or decide to disregard the "park rules", a druid may become the party's hostile stalker...

In Arizona Adventures, the druids maintain a headquarters of sorts in the area of Fountain Hills (south of the Tonto Forest, at the NE edge of the Phoenix valley), tending the sacred fountain there. They are the only group to be trusted by and have a positive relationship with the Elves of the Tonto Forest.

They also maintain a permanent liaison in Tempe to consult with and advise the Arya leaders there. The druids are privy to an widereaching network of knowledge, extending even outside the Arizona region, and so their counsel is well-regarded and highly sought-after. Their yearly blessing upon the domesticated animals and crops is also highly valued.

In return for the druids' services, the Arya leaders have agreed to recognized Celt sovereignty over the wilderness regions, and to seek the druid's permits for any major activities there. The Arya leaders also agree to send their clerics and fighters to combat any undead which make their way into the druid's wild lands.

Making the Mythic Mundane

I really like chatdemon's analysis of the overuse of mythic creatures, over at Stocking the Dungeon (http://stockingthedungeon.blogspot.com/2010/06/setting-campaign-mood-mundane.html).

His point: keep the magic alive by NOT using too many mythical creatures. His example was a throw-away minotaur encounter in Keep on the Borderlands. Mine would be sub-level of the Giant's keep, where 20-odd trolls populate a cave room, right next to a cave room with a ancient red dragon, next to a cave room with 10 fire giants, etc.... I found the The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan to give off a similar feel, too overstocked, if you know what I mean.

I like the idea of an exploration, a discovery, wrapped in a puzzle and a mystery, surrounded by meaningful role-play, with a feeling of building suspense and mounting danger. If you want an exercise in victory via dice tossing, you would play Risk, right?

I am keeping the thrill in mythic monsters, by, number one, making the PCs human-centric. In Arizona Adventures, the different races are totally foreign. There are no random dwarves or elves cruising through town, and a visit to a elven forest or dwarven cave will be weird, and pregnant with danger. Heck, in my campaign, the different human races are mistrustful and competitive, and there is no such thing as a Common language.

The standard monsters in mythic Arizona are giants and dragons. Giant insects, birds, and mammals are also a regular feature of the dangerous wilderness, but they are large versions of regular animals, not mythic at all. The standard crew of humanoid tribes can add to the sense of drama and intrigue, as SENTIENT monsters create many adventuring hooks. But, come on, how deep in the monster manual do you need to dig to create a good adventure?

You should probably be able to number your list of standard/mundane monsters on two hands (e.g. dragon, giant, troll, goblin, orc, gnoll, centaur, werewolf, griffon, etc.). We consider them "mundane" monsters, because they are so common in our cultural myths, your players know of them and expect them to be there.

In other words, mythic creatures should be rarely used, and only used when set up with a meaningful context. In other words, chimeras/hydras/sphinx/medusa are not just part of the regular ecosystem. They a break in the regular fabric of the world, perhaps the creation of some insane mage, perhaps brought to our world from some foreign plane of existence, or working on behalf of some unknown god. Keep them special by keeping them rare, and using them only in the service of a larger story arc.

Of course, in the "mythic megadungeon" all bets are off, anything goes, and the appearance of the wonderous mythic is to be expected. (H.T. http://www.philotomy.com/#dungeon). Let's put it this way: there are dungeons built by human hands for human purposes, and there are dungeons built by dwarves and goblins, but then there are dungeons which seem to have a life and purpose of their own... With no known bottom, with seemingly random and shifting connections to various planes of existence... Every campaign should have at least one mythic megadungeon.

Best Table Ever

Random consequences for your drunken whoring? Yeah, we do that.

http://oldguyrpg.blogspot.com/2010/07/ladies-or-dudes-of-night.html

1. You're in love! You're going to have to go visit her EVERY TIME you're in town. 1d100% of your wealth goes to her during those visits as well. Save vs. your wisdom to break this cycle.

2. You're in love, but it ain't because you wanna be! She tosses a charm person on your ass. Use your version's rules to adjudicate. 1d100% of your wealth goes to her every time you see her.

3. Mamma got a squeeze-box... you didn't regain any health or rest enough to gain spells. You are one tired puppy. In fact, you're basically at risk for constitution rolls until you get a full day's rest. You stud!

4. You're married! Congrats! 1d20% of your wealth went to the drunken wedding party after. Now you have to support 1d10 family members (parents, grandparents, siblings, children) too. 

5. The pimp wasn't in no mood to see his bitch with you. 1d4 hp loss from the fight. 25% chance the local law got involved. 50/50 they believe you or him.

6. Man, you run your mouth. If you are in possession of knowledge of some great treasure, very likely the local thugs are going to go after it first. Roll vs. intelligence to be aware that you ran your suck.

7. Man, she ran her mouth! Good thing you were listening and now you're in possession of an oral treasure map. I hope you got those directions right.

8. Go see the cleric for that Cure Disease spell. You need it, badly.9. Go see the cleric for that Cure Poison spell. Don't even ask.

10. You shouldn't have called her THAT while she was ... well, you know. Not only did you take 1d4hp damage, but there's a 10% chance you ... well... suffered a scarring injury. Since I'm equal-gender offensive, this could count for both sexes.

11. She wasn't who you thought she was! Now the local ruling class is UPSET that you've besmirched her honor. Better bribe or run.

12. She wasn't what you thought she was! Polymorphed ugly bad monster. Roll for initiative...

13. The law breaks down the door and you're in chains for murdering the working ladies. Except... you didn't. But she is messed up. What are you going to do? 

14. You wake up cocooned in spider webbing in the middle of the wilderness. WTF?!?!

15. You wake up in a graveyard in a coffin. WTF?!?!?

16. You wake up in your own bed and there are strange marks all over your body. They don't wash off. Everyone now avoids you and makes the sign of warding evil. And why do you keep hearing evil laughter in the silence?

17. You have the Gamblers Debt Mark! Just how much did you drink and why don't you remember gambling away your future? Who owns the mark? And when will they collect?

18. You sly dog! Now she wants to work for you. And she says she has some information that could make you King of the Underworld. Do you trust her?

19. ROBBED! 1d100% of your wealth and 1d6 items of yours are gone! 

20. You wake up tied to an altar with a bunch of Amazonian women chanting to a very nasty looking demon idol. Wait... what are you doing with that knife THERE??!?!

Everyday Psionics - the Animal Whisperer

Wild psionics exist throughout society, and in a given campaign, can add great flavor to the role playing. Today: the Animal Whisperer.

The Animal Whisperer is a high-charisma individual who exhibits unconscious skills in the psionic type of Communication and Control***. In game terms, he is adept at Charm and Mass Charm. As a skill level 1 or 2 psionic, simple-minded creatures, like insects, reptiles, and fish, he can manipulate easily, while most mammals and birds respond to him readily enough with small efforts, especially when combined with mundane training techniques.

The Animal Whisperer typically advertizes his services as an animal trainer, and training hunting dogs and guard dogs is his stock and trade. He has also produced many prize-winning hunting falcons and messenger birds.

The Amimal Whisperer can also turn a nice profit as a caravan driver. The most stubborn mules move quickly and quietly when he is driving them. Veteran teams of docile draft horses seem to cover twice the ground per day under his guidance. Animals never spook or run away under his care, even when surrounded by fierce carnivorous threats that normally send pack animals bolting in panic.

The Animal Whisperer is also prized by ranchers at round-up time, and to bring back valuable animals which have escaped the herd. He can also be hired to break in wild stallions.

An Animal Whisperer of questionable ethics is also higly prized in the criminal underworld, being hired by thieves and assassins to neutralize guard animals.

The Animal Whisperer is always well-liked, with many would-be friends, including a large stock of female admirers. He attributes his luck with the ladies to his "charm and wit", but he secretly realizes that when he concentrates, he can subtely bend people to his will almost wordlessly. This power scares him, and he does not speak of it to anyone. [In game terms, the ability to Charm people is a skill-level 3 ability, so it is slightly beyond his power to control or exploit with confidence].

The Animal Whisperer is also secretly plagued with hearing voices inside his head, especially in crowds when he is tired or lets his mind wander. For this reason, despite his popularity, he tends to prefer solitude, and usually lives in untrafficked areas, alone with his menagerie of pets and animal companions.



*** Communication and Control type disciplines:
Charm, Confuse, Dispell Exhaustion, Emotion, Empathy, ESP, Hypnosis, Invisibility, Detect Lie, Dominate, Mass Charm, Mass Confuse, Mind Bar, Hold Creature, Sleep, Suggestion, Telepathy, Forget, Fumble, Hallucination, Possess, Summon, Feeblemind, Mass Dominate, Mass Hallucination, Commune with Dead, Contact Other Plane, Exorcise, Mass Possession, Commune with Divine, Commune with Nature, Geas, Hallucinatory Terrain.