From: stv@unislc.uucp (Steve Spencer)
Subject: Re: To Kill a Black Dragon
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Organization: Unisys Corporation SLC
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 16:41:51 GMT

Marcus M. Trevino (thedm@leland.Stanford.EDU) wrote:
: 
: Okay, I'll try to pick up from the diversion tactic.  Now, as was mentioned
: in a previous post, Black Dragons like to make things SUFFER!!!  Depending
: on the determination of the party, and the amount of preparation the party
: took, i.e. did they try to plan a way to escape from the dragon.  Since the
: party has a Wild Mage, and since I am not too familiar with the concept behind
: the Wild Mage, I am ASSUMING that the mage can cast a levitate spell.  If
: this is the case, then the plan I am concocting might just work.  Now, prior
: to the rescuers, should have gone to a harbor city, In the Forgotten Realms
: that shouldn't be too hard, and bought the Largest net possible.  Preferably
: a Fishing Net, i.e. the ones used to capture large amounts of fish.  Now,
: before preceeding to summon the dragon outside by making lots of racket, the
: wild Mage levitates the Net to the top of the cave entrance.  Once that is
: accomplished, the Mage should cast an invisibility on the net, that is if
: the mage can cast the invisibility spell.  Now the Mage should cast Magic 
: Mouth on the Cave wall, and have it say something like " WOW!! LOOK AT ALL
: THIS TREASURE IN HERE" and have the triggering effect be something like
: it will say this when something strikes the wall, say like a rock or an
: arrow, etc.  Now that the trap is set, the characters start to make all their
: commotion.  Now when the Black Dragon comes out, he will see a bunch of 
: pathetic, seemingly low level adventures, having a terrible time.  If the
: characters roleplay properly, the Dragon will toy with them like a cat toys
: with a mouse.  At first, the Dragon will not want to kill them quickly, 
: because then he would not enjoy himself as much.  The party obviously poses
: no threat to the dragon, as a mouse poses little threat to a good sized tom
: cat, and will want to further their "suffering".  Now the DM might have
: the Dragon act menacing towards you, or swat at you with his massive size,
: but the DRAGON SHOULD NOT try to kill the party off instantly.  Now if the
: party itself makes measly attempts to fight back, like throwing rocks or
: something, the Dragon will probably find this amusing, and try to "heckle"
: the adventures even more.  
: 
I tell you what... That is just a BIT too much assumtion for me. I sure as
heck wouldn't want to be the one being "toyed" with, in hopes that the 
dragon wouldn't kill me.

: While this little cat and mouse game is going on, the savior of the princes
: preferably her fiance, will have worked his way into the cave, and free
: the prisoner.  Once the woman has been save, the savior should then flee the
: cave as fast as possible, maybe try to pick up some cool looking items if 
: possible, and once they are in good hiding position, the savior should hurl
: a rock or fire a bow at the wall with the magic mouth spell on it.
: Now Remember, the Dragon will only be toying with the adventurers at this
: point, and once he hears the magic mouth say "LOOK AT ALL THIS TREASURE"
: as loud as possible, the Dragon, being an intelligent creature, will 
: immediately change his interest from that of the party and to that of the
: trespassers of his trove.  Also Remember, The Dragon will be INFURIATED
: that someone had the nerve to violate his cave with their presence, and
: will want to get to his cave as quickly as possible.  Now, even though the

And, being an intelligent creature, the dragon is not going to leave his
"toys" to roam free while he checks out the intruder. In fact, he will more
than likely figure that one of their horde has infiltrated his lair. Either
that, or he might simply decide that it is stupid to turn his back on a 
bunch of people who, even thought they appear weak, might pose at least
an annoyance. So, in any case, more than likely the dragon will use his
breath weapon on the characters (not his claws/bite, he is in a hurry
remember).


: Dragon still might want to play with his toys, he will be even more concerned
: with those that he thinks are in his trove.  Once the DRagon gets to the 
: opening in the cave, the Wild Mage should dispel his levitation spell, which
: will in turn, drop an invisible net on the Dragon, and if not totally entangle
: him, should at least slow him down.  NOw the party can either
: (a) try their luck and use what little advantage they have and try to
: subdue the beast, Black Dragons are one of the easier Dragons to subdue,
: and then take its horde
: 
: or
: 
: (b) Flee as quickly as possible, for the last things on the mind of the
: Dragon will be the fleeing "toys", and he, now even more furious, will really
: want to kill those who are inside his cave, and have caught him in this really
: weak trap.
: 
: And presto, You have saved the princess, you didn't have to kill the dragon,
: you did an outstanding job of rolePlaying, and you got away with your lives.
: 
: By the time the Dragon Realizes what happened, you should be back on the
: road, on your adventuring ways.
: 
: Hope this helped,
: 
: TheDM @ Stanford University
: 
: Marcus Trevino
: 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
| It's the sputter of a raindrop. It's the sunlight on my face |
| My mind's eye into other realms. It's my paradise escape.    |
| Steve Spencer	SLC, Utah 	stv@unislc.slc.unisys.com      |
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