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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James McMurray" data-source="post: 20084" data-attributes="member: 743">Reapersaurus: Yeah, I¡¦m still posting here and there. The reason I enjoy people hearing about my party¡¦s deeds is because I like to get responses, both good and bad. They let me know what I¡¦m doing right and what I¡¦m doing wrong. They also give me ideas for future use in the game. Plus, there¡¦s the ego-stroking involved when people say ¡§that sounds like a fun game.¡¨ Why do you put so much stock in insisting that other peoples¡¦ games aren¡¦t being run correctly? ƒº  Well, I always let the party do what they want to do. They haven¡¦t always succeeded at what they planned, and there are usually consequences to their actions. In this case, the consequences of hunting down dragons was the enmity of a great wyrm. Please don¡¦t confuse my desire to let the players help shape the story with a ¡§give them everything they want when they want it¡¨ style of DMing. I try to have logical repercussions in my game world.  Well, her warning to the party took no more than 3 rounds: 1 to drop the corpse, 1 to speak, and one to breathe and fly away. There was very little risk involved in that situation, especially considering that the body was returned in a resurrectable condition. Had it not been, the party would have been more likely to recruit help and go after the dragon. I knew that about my party, and (through divination) so did the dragon.  When was she ever over confident? She has always done exactly what he needed to do to achieve his goals. No more, no less. In my mind, she has acted completely within her genius intellect, and demonstrated the qualities I feel a creature would have to have in order to live as long as he has: intellect, patience, and a willingness to not respond to every situation with a ¡§kill the bastards¡¨ mindset.  She is not afraid of them (them meaning the party). She is cautious about killing them outright, because generally speaking, people of that level of power have friends and allies who would come looking for them should they disappear. Even if these allies couldn¡¦t harm her, they could still cause her trouble and grief, and interrupt her other plans. This party is not the only thing she has going on right now. So, instead of killing them outright, and then having to wonder if other people (who are complete unknowns to her) might come after her, she prefers to get her goals accomplished other ways. She has, up to this point, been completely succesful in everything she has wanted. The party is no longer hunting dragons. She has been given the Holy Grail of Dragonkind (Dragon Mountain) with no risk to herself. Her hoard has increased considerably through these past events. One of the dragons who was killed (and it was the one who would be most likely to get along with her) will be raised from the dead and reinstated in its lair. Seems to me she¡¦s come out on top without having to resort to annihilating the party.  Why shouldn¡¦t he be overconfident (in regards to this particular party)? He lived with them for almost a year, and knows them inside and out. HE has demonstrated his ability to defeat them several times, and has been playing them like fiddles for months. Finally, since his capture at an early age, he has never been defeated by anyone or anything, including his mother, who was an ancient member of his species. Sounds to me like a good basis for confidence. Add to that a need to repress and counter an inferiority complex stemming from his early psychological scars, and you have all the makings of someone who is going to do everything they can to not be seen as weak.  The levels of wizard were highly effective in increasing his power. The sheer versatility inherent in the class made him ready for most any situation. The defensive spells afforded him made him a terror in combat. On top of that, the free item creation feats ensured that, while he was in his human disguise, he would be extremely well-equipped. As for increasing his age, the party met him when he was a wyrmling (only 5 years old). Twenty years have passes since then. Where would he have gotten those extra age categories from?  Another dragon (the sapphire) had used that technique on the party while Arthax (the red) was scrying. He liked the idea and decided to use it himself. He had to be nearby in order to retrieve the items from the party, plus he wanted to be able to watch his handiwork. The paladin didn¡¦t ¡§track him down,¡¨ he followed the filchers and noticed the dragon. The paladin rolled very well on his spot check, and the dragon was not ready to leave yet, as he still hadn¡¦t gotten the Amulet or the dragon bane sword, his two main goals. As for having months of planning blown up, so what? I enjoyed planning it, the party and I enjoyed ruining that plan, and a good time was had by all. I personally am not so attached to my creations that I would resort to cheating to make sure things to out how I planned. I¡¦m not saying that you are, but tere are DMs out there who do that, and I don¡¦t want to be one of those.  There¡¦s that ego-stroking I was talking about <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Everyone else: Don't wory, I'll reply, I'm just a bit pressed for time right now. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> (not that I actually expect anyone to worry...)</blockquote>

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