BRAINSTORM: Stock my former dragon lair!

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Several hundred years ago, Green Mountain was the home to a clan of dwarves before a dragon conquered the mountain and drove them all out. (Sound familiar?)

Ten years ago, the dragon flew off and never came back. Where she went, and why, is unknown to the players.

Since then, the dwarves (and the dragon's former kobold servants, who were forced to live in a nearby complex of caves and not allowed into her lair) have attempted to retake the mountain several times, but to no avail.

Next adventure, my players will be taking their shot.

So, what's foiling the plunderers? What sort of stuff should be in a dungeon that once was a dwarven city and then had several centuries of a paranoid green dragon ruling the joint?

The overall flavor of the campaign is realistic fairy tale-derived/classic D&D, but go nuts within that framework.

Any and all suggestions appreciated!

 

[weem]

Hmm... Draconic Dwarves?

Think these (but with scales and a long tail instead of fur, paws, etc)...

Also, from a writeup of Green Dragons...

Green dragons revel in combat, and will often attack for no apparent reason. They are highly territorial, and will often view any intrusion into their domain, voluntary or not, as a personal affront. They are extremely cunning and duplicitous foes, and love double-crossing others. A traveler who stumbles into a green dragon's territory may be able to bribe the dragon for safe passage, but more often than not the dragon will pretend to agree and then attack the unsuspecting offender once their guard is down. Though aggressive, green dragons prefer to use magic before attacking physically.

So the Draco-Dwarves could be the protectors of the lair while the dragon is away perhaps. I could see them being very cult-like, etc. Part of the mystery/adventure could be discovering how the former Dwarves came to take on this new form, and how they became convinced to do the dragon's bidding... maybe this can be undone even.

They may work with other denizens of the lair as well (as their masters) to help protect it, and keep out unwanted guests.

There might also be a number of magic traps as they tend to use that before getting physical.

Anyway, just a quick few ideas.

 

[coyote6]

I'd go with some not-quite-living things -- undead, constructs, elementals, etc. Maybe throw in some cunning traps. Some of them could be things originally created by the dwarves (or from the dwarves, in the case of undead) and seized by the dragon for her own use.

You could have:

* a couple of golems/statues that the dwarves built, that the dragon defeated and repaired;

* shades of the slain dwarven defenders, bound by the dragon to protect her lair for all eternity, after they failed to protect their city;

* maybe a colony of dwarven ghouls, survivors that were herded together and left to starve, until some of them resorted to cannibalism and degenerated thereafter;

* spirits of rock that the dragon called up and bound to protect her new home; some kind of acidic elementals that she brewed up.

* Throw in some living spells, a la Eberron; that might be fun. Depending on the PCs' level, a living cloudkill, stinking cloud, or acid fog could all be appropriate for a green dragon.