|
|
Post by dm_mainprize on Dec 28, 2015 17:49:34 GMT
|
|
Samuel Wise
Demigod
Ready to Help...
Posts: 989
Favorite D&D Class: Warlock
Favorite D&D Race: Mousefolk
|
Post by Samuel Wise on Dec 28, 2015 20:33:48 GMT
Here are a couple of ideas:
1. I'll start of with a crazy one, which might be more difficult to implement. It has to do with the picture of that skull. What if you gave characters a skull that allows them to resurrect people who have died recently (you would obviously have to know your players). However, what they don't know, is that the more people they bring to life, the stronger the dragon trapped inside gets. Perhaps he can even control those who were brought to life. In that sense you could just make it a village, instead of giving to your players. Perhaps a harsh famine occurred and everyone was resurrected by the priest who found this artifact. Now there is a dragon controlling an entire town as he grows stronger. Perhaps he is instructing them to seek out new victims to resurrect or instructing them to build him a new body.
2. If it works you could put it on a NPC and have him or her be an artifact, perhaps someone who lives forever... because s/he has a dragon stuck inside him/her, Or it could be a bloodline, an alpha dragon passed down generation after generation, like a crazy disease. Perhaps it happens when a NPC dies, when a bloodline strays from its path, when a NPC completes a particular quest, or... falls in love? Just another idea, but thought it would be fun, somehow.
3. Perhaps the dragon is spawned from the sword after it is used for suicide. I'm taking this idea from Tolkien and the cursed blade from the Children of Hurin... in that same vein perhaps these weapons can communicate to the players in some way.
I wanted to write something about the triangular pendant, but I couldn't shake off those fingernails. Well, I hope one of these were helpful, it sure gave me some ideas for my own campaign. Hurrah!
|
|
|
|
Post by dm_mainprize on Dec 28, 2015 20:47:07 GMT
Well those are some freaking great ideas, love the resurrection chalice and will be most likely using it! Also any time the father of Turin Turambar is mentioned I get really excited so thanks for that! The fingernails are creepy!!! So here is something I have come up with for the amulet that looks like its cracking from lava. Check out this doc and give me some feedback if you can. So it seems I'm going to give each artifact a value of 1000 and have using these items reduce that value. Once it hits 0 the dragon will be set free. The Waecan Chalice Can heal and allow health to be given, can revive the dead. Doing so eventually resurrects the dragon trapped inside it. The Aemer
Grants the wielder a variety of fire magic abilities as they increase in level. Lots of use eventually leads to the dragon trapped inside it being released. |
|
DM Sol_train
Squire
Back behind the screen 20yrs post 2E
Posts: 33 
Favorite D&D Class: Druid (Pathfinder Wolf-shaman)
Favorite D&D Race: Human
|
Post by DM Sol_train on Dec 29, 2015 2:46:05 GMT
An alchemists kit that has an unusual earthware beaker set for potion brewing/mixing, could be found as part of a treasure horde, or in a "junk shop". Allows the user to create potions of spells they don't actually know, but requires more than the typical amount of materials (and uses up one of their casting slots for the day). The excess is what allows the trapped spirit to gain the power it needs. Perhaps a green?
A ring of swimming (eventually grows in power to water walking, underwater breathing, mass underwater breathing). When used provides the benefits as stated, but also drains a point of STR or CON each use or per hour if used continually (the power gathering aspect). These would be temp losses regained by sleeping or with a restoration spell. Likely a black with their water affinity.
Since these kind of objects IMO would operate at some point similar to intelligent weapons, in that they would subconsciously or eventually consciously convince the owner to use it more and more - or to adorn it with mystical etching/gems, etc this could also eventually complete the release overtly. In the hands of a non-good character, this or any of the items you work out may be able to operate as an NPC regarding the items interaction with its owner and entice them to do things to release the dragon sooner with promises of power, riches etc.
|
|
|
|
Post by dm_mainprize on Dec 29, 2015 3:16:47 GMT
Awesome Ideas Sol. Really love the idea of the potion making set!!
|
|
|
|
Post by joatmoniac on Dec 29, 2015 9:25:31 GMT
I like the idea of having a set number of points used up before the dragon is released. Have you thought about where each item will be in relation to completion when the campaign starts, or will they all be at 1000 when you start? Will these items come into the hands of the players, and how many of them were you thinking about introducing? Should be interesting regardless of the answers to these questions. I think the helmet could be interesting in terms of pushing the limits the player who is wearing it is willing to make. Could start out as a bonus to armor that begins to have damage reduction properties as it goes along. That could show itself as life force being drawn out of the attackers. There becomes an insatiable desire to get hit to help feed the power of the helmet. Could allow for shifting using the reaction to intercept a hit that is intended for someone else. Cool stuff, and excited to hear which eventually gets out first!
|
|
|
|
Post by friartook on Dec 30, 2015 16:57:36 GMT
You could also associate the dragons with locations rather than items.
I did something similar to this in my last campaign. The last dragons had all been imprisoned in locations around the world, and some Dragonborn had formed a cult to release them (doing this would destroy the world, as the world was formed from the body of Tiamat and her minions...but that's a long back story there I'd be happy to elaborate on elsewhere).
Anyway, the last green dragon was imprisoned in a giant tree. The fruit of this tree is rumored to be a panacea, so some clerics sent the PCs to get some fruit and bring it back. None of the parties involved realized that by taking the fruit, they would break the enchantment holding the dragon and release (which ended up happening of course).
I had a couple other ideas: an undead dragon (Dracolich by stat block) trapped deep the bowels of an elven monastery that would be release if a basin was filled with elf blood; a red dragon imprisoned in a volcano (hadn't fleshed that one out yet); a white dragon imprisoned in the polar ice cap; the black dragon was imprisoned beneath the lost Dwarven homeland, and taking the lost crown of the Dwarven King from the head of a certain statue would release it.
Just an alternate suggestion to items.
|
|
|
|
Post by dm_mainprize on Dec 30, 2015 18:23:04 GMT
Awesome idea friar, I like the idea of some cultural attempting to throw a princess or prince into a volcano to raise their master! Locations add a different variety of ways for things to go down. I think I may end up with a combination of these methods. Or maybe even am item having to be brought to a certain location.
|
|
Samuel Wise
Demigod
Ready to Help...
Posts: 989
Favorite D&D Class: Warlock
Favorite D&D Race: Mousefolk
|
Post by Samuel Wise on Dec 31, 2015 6:15:25 GMT
Awesome idea friar, I like the idea of some cultural attempting to throw a princess or prince into a volcano to raise their master! Locations add a different variety of ways for things to go down. I think I may end up with a combination of these methods. Or maybe even am item having to be brought to a certain location. Mixing those ideas together would make a great campaign. Just think about giving the characters one of these cursed items and, in order to destroy it and release the dragon, they must bring it to a particular volcano an throw the item into the volcano! Oh... wait... |
|
|
|
Post by robosnake on Jan 6, 2016 21:50:09 GMT
I like the idea of the items, locations, etc., constituting a hard choice. For example, the PCs have these awesome items, and every time they use them, the trapped dragons inside them get a little stronger. If they break the items, the dragon is freed, and the only way to defeat it is to kill it then and there. So do they try to hide the items so no one uses them? But they're legendary items - adventurers will come from all over the world to seek them out. Do they use the items, reasoning that it is for the greater good? Then these powerful evil dragons grow incrementally stronger, maybe for future generations to deal with.
I also like the dragons' prisons being associated with particular places. A whole dungeon could be a dragon's prison, built to prevent people from finding the prison's focus and releasing the dragon. But dungeons draw adventurers like flies. So you get through the monsters who have taken up residence in this dungeon - it's probably themed to the element that the dragon represents, like air and lightening for a blue dragon for example - and what's the MacGuffin? A geode. Break the geode open? You've just released an ancient blue dragon. Now maybe you have to convince other adventuring parties not to travel to the remaining Great Elemental Dungeons, because each one has a MacGuffin that releases a dragon. And of course they assume that you just want the loot for yourselves. So do you fight other heroes to stop them? Then you have fewer allies to help you with this ancient blue dragon that...someone let free. Ahem. Do you try to bury the dungeons, or hide traces of their existence? Bind planar beings and elementals there so it's even harder to get through them? Etc.
|
|
