During the next session, I intend to prepare the following scene for my PCs: As they travel the road, they spot a trio of red dragons torturing someone. It's a goblin and three young red dragons are slowly spitting lava on him and killing him.
The idea is for three dragons to be:
- teen-age-ish retarded
- stronger then PCs
Basically I want to explain to players: Dragons r evil.
thoughts?
Yes, and?
>>47167254
Well ..
- Is this consistent with young red dragons?
- Is it wrong in some way?
- Is it too edgy?
etc ...
>>47167285
Sounds like a good idea.
>>47167285
Why would they torture a goblin? Why not a human?
Also, consider dropping it to two red dragons. One stays in Melee range and the other does cheesy fly by breath attacks
Also, don't make encounters with the assumptions that the PCs won't fight. It's dungeons and DRAGONS.
what level are the PCs? Have they fought dragons yet? Why not change it to "a single young red dragon is stealing sheep & maidens (and sheep maidens) from a village
>>47167545
They happened upon a goblin.
>>47167570
>Also, don't make encounters with the assumptions that the PCs won't fight. It's dungeons and DRAGONS.
Well, up to this point they KNOW dragons are deadly encounter.
>what level are the PCs?
Too low.
>Have they fought dragons yet?
No, but they have heard rumors.
>Why not change it to "a single young red dragon is stealing sheep & maidens (and sheep maidens) from a village
Too classic.
>>47167570
It's better to do a "here's why dragons are dangerous, they're nasty in Melee, nasty at a range, and can get nastier with just a pinch of prep time" than "here are three powerful and evil monsters just randomly on the road, don't fight them tho silly heroes u r not strong enough :^) aren't I a cool DM I made a fight that's too hard for you! Lmao!"
>>47167655
>
It's better to do a "here's why dragons are dangerous, they're nasty in Melee, nasty at a range, and can get nastier with just a pinch of prep time"
How do I do it?
>>47167614
A single young red dragon in 3.5 is challenge rating 7. A level 3 party of 4 has a good chance to fight one and win, though they may take heavy casualties. Set your party up to be awesome and overcome the odds. What's the point of them not being able to fight an encounter which YOU designed to be way too powerful
>>47167717
>What's the point of them not being able to fight an encounter which YOU designed to be way too powerful
To give them a feeling of "there is shit out there, that is too powerful for us to handle. It may be a calf-sized dragon" also "we should not try to stab everything that is evil and we meet".
>>47167717
he specified they're retarded teenagers. They'll be easy to overcome.
>>47167768
The problem is that IF they are in a stabby mood they WILL get killed instantly. If you want to punish them for being too aggressive, make the fight risky, but at least give them a chance to win.
Also three dragons is too many, especially if they're torturing a single goblin (as opposed to, say, a giant, or a village). Dragons are rare and powerful.
If you absolutely need to send three dragons, make them cocky and prone to fight among themselves, like the three trolls in the Hobbit.
>>47167768
You can achieve that with a single young red dragon though.
Plus: you didn't roll those dragons on a random encounter table. If you want to teach the players that lesson, put together a random encounter table with widely varying challenge ratings. If you CHOOSE to slap something on the table intentionally, it's YOUR fault if the players think they can beat it and die trying. If you build a random encounter chart, that isn't on you. That's "oh shit a Gorgon."
>>47167817
>make them cocky and prone to fight among themselves, like the three trolls in the Hobbit.
That's exactly what I had in mind.
> it's YOUR fault if the players think they can beat
I don't think they will.
>That's "oh shit a Gorgon."
Nice one.
>>47167935
so what's your question?
>>47167951
As I've said. I like to have my ideas inspected. Often as not there's something highly retarded in them and I prefer for you guys to spot this before the session.
Also, help much appreciated. Thanks
>>47167242
Well, aside from everything else pointed out so far, there's also the fact that three juvenile red dragons are right next to each other, let alone in the same territory, and not ripping each other's throats out. Red dragons are supposed to be among the most aggressive and territorial types of dragons. As soon as the eggs are hatched the parents both leave so they don't have to put up with each other anymore and share their territory with their brats, leaving the hatchlings to fend for themselves.
>>47168241
Good point. In my setting I was thinking of dragon hatchlings starting their life in a flock, but slowly abandoning it/being driven away by aggressive siblings.
I may switch to a single dragon, though.
>>47168313
Sticking together for a bit might work until they start developing their breath weapons and start fighting for territory. A bunch of (relatively) tiny predators would be able to hunt and survive better together than apart.
