Extra! Extra! Ancient Dragon Rampages Kingdom!

As an NPC king you discover a dragon is terrorizing the countryside and heading for your home city and castle. The people are in fear. The army is roused and awaiting orders. Your advisors are on hand. Wizards, warlocks, witches, and worse are bartering their services. The leaders of the holy flock are praying for guidance.

What do you do?
Can you succeed?
How can a D&D kingdom defend itself from a massive ancient dragon bent on destruction?

PS: The PCs have sat this one out. No heroes, just normals.

EDIT: "Normals" are every character the Players do not control. You are the Dungeonmaster in the scenario.

Stats for those who want them:[sblock]Ancient Red Dragon

Gargantuan Dragon (fire)

Hit Dice: 34d12+306 (527 hp)

Initiative: +4

Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares), fly 200 ft. (clumsy)

Armor Class: 39, touch 6, flat-footed 39

Base Attack/Grapple: +34/+60

Attack: +45 melee (4d6+14, bite)

Full Attack: +45 melee (4d6+14, bite) and +40 melee (2d8+7, 2 claws) and +40 melee (2d6+7, 2 wings) and +40 melee (2d8+21, tail slap)

Space/Reach: 20 ft./15 ft. (20 ft. with bite)

Special Attacks: Breath weapon, crush, frightful presence, snatch, spell-like abilities, spells, tail sweep

Special Qualities: Immune to fire, sleep, and paralysis, vulnerable to cold, blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision, damage resistance 15/magic, spell resistance 28

Saves: Fort +28, Ref +19, Will +26

Abilities: Str 39, Dex 10, Con 29, Int 24, Wis 25, Cha 24

Skills: Appraise +25, Bluff +32, Concentration +39, Diplomacy +27, Hide -7, Intimidate +35, Jump +23, Knowledge (arcana) +29, Knowledge (history) +19, Listen +39, Move Silently +5, Search +25, Sense Motive +27, Spellcraft +27, Spot +39

Feats: Alertness, Blind-Fight, Cleave, Flyby Attack, Heighten Spell, Hover, Improved Initiative, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Quicken Spell, Snatch, Weapon Focus (bite)
Combat

Breath Weapon (Su): 60-ft. cone, 20d10, Reflex DC 36 half.

Crush (Ex): Area 20 ft. by 20 ft.; Medium or smaller opponents take 4d6+21 points of bludgeoning damage, and must succeed on a DC 36 Reflex save or be pinned; grapple bonus +60.

Frightful Presence (Ex): 300-ft. radius, HD 33 or less, Will DC 34 negates.

Snatch: Grapple bonus +60; claw against creature of Medium or smaller for (2d8+7/round, bite against Medium or smaller for 4d6+14/round; snatched creature can be flung 1d6x10 ft for 1d6 points of damage per 10 feet traveled.

Tail Sweep (Ex): Half-circle 30 ft. in diameter, Small or smaller opponents take 2d6+21 points of bludgeoning damage, Reflex DC 36 half.

Spells: As 15th-level sorcerer.

Sorcerer Spells Known (6/8/8/8/7/7/7/5; save DC 17 + spell level): 0--arcane mark, dancing lights, detect magic, ghost sound, light, mage hand, mending, message, read magic; 1st--alarm, mage armor, protection from good, ray of enfeeblement, shield; 2nd--alter self, bear's endurance, blur, resist energy, see invisibility; 3rd--dispel magic, heroism, major image, protection from energy; 4th--detect scrying, dimension door, fire shield, greater invisibility; 5th--dismissal, mind fog, permanency, teleport; 6th--circle of death, contingency, repulsion; 7th--limited wish, symbol of weakness.

Spell-Like Abilities: 10/day--locate object; 3/day--suggestion; 1/day--find the path. Caster level 15th; save DC 17 + spell level.[/sblock]

I offer the dragon my virgin daughter

I totally beat this level of Majesty by building lots of guard towers, upgrading them to having archers, upgraded my blacksmith until the dwarves moved into the kingdom and built ballista towers all the way around my castle and capital.

Easy.

Hrm... your scenario assumes that PCs are the only heroes out there? This is wildly different from my own game, in which many NPC adventuring groups would be competing with each other. Oh sure, some of them would die, but there are also heroes out there besides the PCs. Ah well, assuming this is true...

Find out why the dragon is rampaging. Dragons generally want wealth, so perhaps he is looting? Did someone anger him, maybe someone tried to steal from his horde and this is payback (ala The Hobbit). I would send someone to bargain with the dragon. Then when the dragon killed that person, I'd send a second one. Perhaps the dragon would be bored of killing diplomats after the first one.

I could try to collect 3000 1st level wizards to all cast magic missile repeatedly. 1 in 20 would get through the SR to deal 3.5 damage each. Two rounds of that would kill the dragon. They might be difficult to come by, though...

Running is always an option.

ThirdWizard said:

Did someone anger him, maybe someone tried to steal from his horde and this is payback (ala The Hobbit).

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Totally ripped off from Beowulf.

ThirdWizard said:

I could try to collect 3000 1st level wizards to all cast magic missile repeatedly. 1 in 20 would get through the SR to deal 3.5 damage each. Two rounds of that would kill the dragon. They might be difficult to come by, though...

Running is always an option.

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1 in 20 make their save vs fear to start off the battle.

ThirdWizard said:

I could try to collect 3000 1st level wizards to all cast magic missile repeatedly. 1 in 20 would get through the SR to deal 3.5 damage each. Two rounds of that would kill the dragon. They might be difficult to come by, though...

Click to expand...

IIRC there is no automatic success for a Nat20 on a caster level check. Isn't that true for all checks except Saves and Attack rolls?

Better off just sticking with a few tens of thousands of crossbowmen. They can beat DR on a critical if they roll well. It will take approximately 10,000 crossbow shots to get one decent hit.

About 1 million crossbow attacks could bring down that dragon.

I think negotiation is more practical.

I believe that the Spell Compendium contains a spell that reduces SR, and another that reduces DR. Once your wizards peg the dragon with a couple such spells, the massed crossbow fire will be much more effective.

Crothian said:

I offer the dragon my virgin daughter

Click to expand...

I accept. Carrying her off, I swiftly leave town, discarding the red dragon costume in a secluded location. Then, later that night . . .

What constitutes a 'normal'? Characters with NPC classes only? Characters without spellcasting ability? 1st level characters? Characters who fit the DMG demographics?

I guess I'll use 1st level characters.

What's the tech level available? With Iron Kingdoms military rifles, my soldiers can do 2d8 per shot with an x3 multiplier, with a longer range than the dragon's fear effect. I require only about 20,000 soldiers to kill the dragon in this way, which is actually feasible.

In fact, since my troops can only hit with exceptionally lucky shots, and if I'm free to equip them as I like, I'll give them LARGE Iron Kingdoms Military Rifles. They take a (meaningless) -4 to hit in exchange for greater range and 4d6 damage per shot. Now I can, on average, kill the dragon in one round with 8000 soldiers using crits alone - and they'll definitely get a second volley off before frightful presence kicks in, in case they 'roll' badly.

If IK guns aren't available, siege weapons are the best option for 1st level defenders. Anything that trades hit% for damage is good.

Alternately, any source of cold damage that DOESN'T require an attack or caster level check (or that works on a ranged touch attack).