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General Tabletop Discussion
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How many (ancient) dragons would it take to destroy a (dwarven) city?
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<blockquote data-quote="Zaruthustran" data-source="post: 6412169" data-attributes="member: 1457"><p>What's the dragon's motivation? What's it after?</p><p></p><p>The reason I ask: as has been shown, an ancient red has many ways to single-handedly destroy this city. What would help pick the method, then, is knowing what the dragon wants. Does it want a particular treasure? Slaves? To make an example/fame? To cause suffering/humiliation? </p><p></p><p>That last one would make a good story. Maybe, long ago, a young red dragon made a lair. A troupe of dwarven explorers found that lair, killed the dragon, and sold the hatchlings to ambitious adventurers who wanted to explore the 1E "dragon subdual" rules. The explorers used the meager horde to establish a city. Now, hundreds of years later, the lone surviving hatchling is back. It doesn't just want to destroy the city. It wants to make the city suffer. Everyone loves a revenge story.</p><p></p><p>So, in this case, go with the starvation route. The dragon scorches the earth, kills entire caravans, re-routes or poisons water supply. It allows a few escape parties to flee until they get overconfident and send out a large exodus, and it wipes that out. It fakes a wing injury and lures a foot army out onto the field, and then bolts up, soars overhead, and enters the caverns. It fries everything it can find--particularly homes and food stores--before roaring out again, just before the returning army reaches the gate. With no food and no families, the remaining dwarves scatter or die in droves while trying to force a head-on confrontation. The dragon avoids or traps the golem defenders. </p><p></p><p>My point: don't just figure out the mechanical facts, figure out the motivation. Make it a story.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Zaruthustran, post: 6412169, member: 1457"] What's the dragon's motivation? What's it after? The reason I ask: as has been shown, an ancient red has many ways to single-handedly destroy this city. What would help pick the method, then, is knowing what the dragon wants. Does it want a particular treasure? Slaves? To make an example/fame? To cause suffering/humiliation? That last one would make a good story. Maybe, long ago, a young red dragon made a lair. A troupe of dwarven explorers found that lair, killed the dragon, and sold the hatchlings to ambitious adventurers who wanted to explore the 1E "dragon subdual" rules. The explorers used the meager horde to establish a city. Now, hundreds of years later, the lone surviving hatchling is back. It doesn't just want to destroy the city. It wants to make the city suffer. Everyone loves a revenge story. So, in this case, go with the starvation route. The dragon scorches the earth, kills entire caravans, re-routes or poisons water supply. It allows a few escape parties to flee until they get overconfident and send out a large exodus, and it wipes that out. It fakes a wing injury and lures a foot army out onto the field, and then bolts up, soars overhead, and enters the caverns. It fries everything it can find--particularly homes and food stores--before roaring out again, just before the returning army reaches the gate. With no food and no families, the remaining dwarves scatter or die in droves while trying to force a head-on confrontation. The dragon avoids or traps the golem defenders. My point: don't just figure out the mechanical facts, figure out the motivation. Make it a story. [/QUOTE]
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How many (ancient) dragons would it take to destroy a (dwarven) city?
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